The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 105

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 105

* * *

“Stand up, Princess. Marching is ultimately a battle of willpower. Do you understand?”

Thud. Medeia, who had fallen to the ground, only opened her eyes when the thick cloud of dust that had risen began to slowly settle.

“Haah…”

She swallowed a sigh that could have been either relief at being alive or regret at failing to land safely, then lifted her body.

The moment the wolf pounced on her, Medeia had thrust a poisoned dagger into the beast’s neck.

And together they had been pushed off the cliff.

Fortunately, the trees that grew densely near the cliff and the wolf that fell with her served as cushioning to soften the impact.

‘By now the hunting grounds must be in complete chaos. They must have realized I’ve disappeared.’

Medeia raised her head.

She could see the dizzyingly high cliff of the ravine from which she had fallen.

To forget the pain spreading throughout her body from the impact of the fall, Medeia chewed and swallowed several painkillers she had hidden away.

The bitter taste like wormwood awakened her distant consciousness.

‘Time isn’t very generous. I need to move before the tracking team arrives.’

The hollow wind couldn’t escape the steep ravine and only made an ominous wailing sound.

She could see trees densely packed on both sides.

In fact, Valdina was a barren mountainous nation famous for its dense forests and remote regions.

Being pristine land, there were countless places untouched by human hands or traces of magical beasts.

The reason they only hunted in the Royal Hunting Grounds was because it was realistically impossible to manage this entire vast and dense mountain with limited resources.

‘So it’s perfect for hiding for a few days.’

Medeia had expected her paternal uncles to target her.

Not only had she completely thwarted their ambitious plans, but she had also become a hero to the people, so there was no way the Regent could let it slide.

“Don’t worry, Dea. Just trust your brother. I’ll definitely keep you safe.”

“Safe, my foot.”

Didn’t that mean he would definitely kill her among the wolf pack? Medeia snorted.

“Claudio. Since this is a gift you prepared for me, I shall properly accept it.”

Her paternal uncles would have no choice but to search for her desperately, if only to avoid suspicion of having killed the Princess.

The niece they had tried to eliminate with their own hands, they would now desperately hope was merely alive.

Medeia intended not to leave this mountain until they were dried up with anxiety.

The longer the time when her safety remained unclear, the deeper the Queen Mother’s and the Valdinians’ suspicion and anger toward her paternal uncles would grow.

After erasing traces of her fall, Medeia moved her heavy body and began walking.

Soon, her figure disappeared among the thickets.

The ravine became as quiet as death again, as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Rose Estate in District 2.

After obtaining the Queen Mother’s official passage permit, Facade could enter and exit the Royal Palace more frequently.

The silent shadows roamed the palace searching for their leader’s antidote.

“But we still haven’t found the Dawn’s Dew. Moving secretly to avoid surveillance is also slowing us down.”

Garo drooped his eyebrows. He spoke while tugging at both his cheeks in frustration.

“Maybe it would be easier if the Regent started a rebellion and turned the palace upside down…? But if I say this, am I too much of trash?”

“…”

“Hey, why aren’t either of you answering? It’s a joke!”

Ignoring Garo who was making pointless jokes, Terrence glanced at his close friend.

Though he still maintained his leisurely expression and languid atmosphere, he noticed the gradually fading vitality.

It was because the curse’s seizures had become more frequent.

‘There really isn’t much time left. If we can’t find the Dawn’s Dew, Chezare won’t have any more chances.’

A thread of anxiety rose in everyone’s hearts.

But no one voiced it aloud.

They knew that the moment they voiced their anxiety, indescribable despair would crush them.

They focused only on finding the Dawn’s Dew, that one and only cure.

Thus another day of their limited time was passing by.

Then Alpha came in carrying a letter. His steps were unusually urgent.

“It’s a message from Zeta. Princess Medeia has disappeared.”

* * *

In the dim night, Chezare stood beneath the tall tree where Samon had been found.

He turned his body toward the spot where the Princess’s dead horse had collapsed.

The dark red bloodstains still vividly remaining allowed him to imagine the urgent tragedy of that time.

“My lord. The Royal Investigation Team found dead horses and wolves near the cliff. It seems the Princess was being chased and fell off the cliff…”

A sneer played around the sculptural face beneath the mask.

“Even the Princess’s cape was found torn to shreds, so if she fell into the thousand-foot abyss while injured… The prevailing opinion is that there’s no hope.”

“That can’t be.”

A low murmur echoed as if answering Alpha in his recollection.

This easily? Her, of all people—Medeia?

Chezare didn’t believe it.

Medeia, who had carefully laid trap after trap targeting the Regent until now, would give up on herself so easily?

Knowing the current precarious situation of Valdina that would fall into the Regent’s hands if she died?

However, his sharp reason sometimes told him that human lives could fade away very fleetingly.

Even people as solid and strong as an unshakeable rampart against any storm sometimes make choices completely unlike themselves in a single moment.

“Chezare, you are not my son. You are the illegitimate seed of my husband and the former Empress. From the moment he threw you into my arms, I have never not hated you.”

“Then you should live and watch me die with your own eyes, Your Majesty the Empress. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Just as his noble and unshakeable stepmother had let go of life in a single moment.

“Chezare, I can no longer endure.”

“No.”

The Princess is different. She’s not like his stepmother who withered away like a doll day by day with indifferent eyes.

Chezare murmured quietly.

“She’s different from mother. She is the same kind of person as me.”

He had seen an unextinguishable flame in the Princess’s eyes. She would not give up until the blue fire demon completely devoured its target.

Chezare was certain. Because he was the same way.

So—

At that moment, something glinted faintly beneath the tall tree. Chezare bent his waist.

“…A metal needle.”

More precisely, it was from the cat brooch he had given to Medeia.

When he had commissioned this accessory, he had the craftsman leave a mark on the metal needle that could identify its owner.

The faintly remaining bumpy marks when he touched the tip of the metal needle.

‘She’s alive.’

When he discovered that, Chezare unconsciously exhaled. Without realizing that slight relief had emerged.

‘Samon fell into the Princess’s trap.’

Chezare began walking.

* * *

Beneath the black ravine illuminated by moonlight.

Chezare, who was about to take a step, hesitated and frowned at the sharp pain in his heart.

Dark red veins were climbing up his fingertips and forearms.

“…Damn it.”

A crude curse leaked between his elegant lips.

Just as it had spread from his fingertips in a dark blue color, hideous black discoloration had long since appeared on the left side of Chezare’s chest where his heart was located.

But he couldn’t stop. Chezare spat out a clot of blood and began walking again.

The traces continued deeper into the forest.

Could a Princess raised in a greenhouse go this deep? Could she survive for days in such a forest, avoiding the wild and beasts?

Were these traces he was following really the Princess’s?

The confidence he had held that she was alive gradually faded.

How much further had he walked? Chezare stopped in his tracks. The trail had ended.

He raised his head. In the Deep Mountains, he spotted a small cave that could shelter from beasts and rain.

Fallen leaves were piled high in front of the cave. Chezare stepped inside.

There were traces of a campfire that had been lit. However, only ashes remained, with no embers left, so he couldn’t be certain.

Just as a questioning doubt arose,

Whoosh—Chezare narrowly dodged a crossbow bolt that grazed his neck and turned his body in the darkness.

“Show your face.”

A voice no different from usual. Still flushed cheeks. A round face. A small frame.

The green-eyed girl he had been searching for all this time stood before him.

With a crossbow aimed at him.

Beside her lay a rabbit, apparently from hunting she had been doing.

The Princess hesitated, recognizing the white half-mask Chezare wore.

“Akaress? How did you get here—”

In that moment, it felt as if his reason snapped.

The moment he faced the Princess who was alive and gazing at him, it seemed as if all the logic and reason floating in his mind had been completely erased.

“Medeia.”

He strode forward with large steps.

And as if to crush Medeia, he embraced her in his arms.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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