The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 11

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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 11

Mariyu quickly added her words in a panic.

“Only then. The Princess deliberately kept her distance from me because she was afraid the Maid Supervisor would retaliate. Now she’s back again.”

“Really?”

Samon rolled his eyes.

“Of course. You know too. How much the Princess trusts and relies on me.”

Her lips went dry.

Only then did Samon relax his shoulders and smile.

“The palace is noisy inside and out because of the Maid Supervisor, giving me quite a headache. Show me your leg. Is it here?”

Samon familiarly reached his hand toward Mariyu. Even while rolling her eyes, Mariyu pretended to give in and fell into his embrace.

“That old fox daring to hurt my love. Don’t worry. That woman will be replaced anyway. Father has already found a replacement.”

She felt his hot breath.

“Darling, you love me, don’t you?”

“Ha, Mariyu. I want to marry you right now.”

Samon whispered sweetly in her ear.

“Me too.”

He kissed her with his thin lips and whispered once more.

“But my love, you need to do well so I can bring you before my parents. As a minor duke, I need justification to take a commoner like you as my wife.”

Samon looked down at Mariyu.

He wrapped strands of red hair spread across the white sheet around his finger.

When Mariyu closed her eyes feeling dizzy, he pulled her hair to force her eyes open.

“My dear cousin’s most cherished maid must be you, Mariyu. You need to know everything Medeia does, everything she thinks.”

Samon frowned his handsome features. Between his petty eyes, his mouse-like black pupils gleamed strangely.

“Mari, do you understand what I’m saying? Do you properly comprehend?”

Mariyu became anxious.

The nameplate of “Prince Claudio’s wife” that had been hovering before her eyes seemed to have already fled far away.

“…Of course. Don’t worry, darling. I can do anything for you.”

So Mariyu hugged him tightly. Believing that the momentary emptiness that passed through was just unfounded worry.

* * *

Even without Samon’s request, Mariyu did her best to somehow win the Princess’s favor.

But those green eyes showing her any warmth seemed utterly hopeless.

The Princess didn’t completely drive Mariyu away. But she also didn’t let her hover around nearby.

The kind Princess who used to tell her every little detail and explain everything thoroughly was no longer there.

‘I need to return to how things were before Samon finds out.’

Her nerves became sharp.

Somewhere between impatience and anger, Mariyu paced.

“…That bracelet is quite pretty.”

The Princess looked at Mariyu indifferently. And threw out a sudden remark.

Mariyu’s pupils shook.

“I don’t think I’ve seen it before. Who gave it to you?”

The golden bracelet shaped like rose vines had small rubies embedded in each bud.

Every time she moved her arm, the delicately carved hanging buds swayed gently. The vivid colored rubies emitted a brilliant light.

It was clearly an expensive bracelet at first glance.

Somewhat excessive for a mere maid to possess.

“Re, received? Th, this is something my mother left for me!”

Mariyu was startled and unconsciously pulled down her sleeve to cover the bracelet.

“After mother passed away, I kept it in her keepsake box the whole time, so Your Highness wouldn’t have seen it.”

Even in this situation, she used her dead mother as an excuse to stimulate the Princess’s guilt.

But the bracelet was actually a gift she had received from Samon last night.

“Take it, Mariyu. You asked if I love you, right? I hope this becomes proof of that.”

She had casually worn it on her arm to show off to the other maids, but didn’t know the Princess had already seen it.

“Is that so?”

“Of, of course. If not from mother, where else would I have gotten something like this?”

“That’s true.”

The moment the Princess lightly agreed, paradoxically, fire blazed up inside Mariyu.

‘That’s true? Right now, she’s looking down on me as a lowly commoner girl who only serves her?’

A half-blood, who doesn’t even have a wonderful, wealthy, handsome lover who gives such gifts.

‘How dare, how dare!’

Just as black letters flowing from within began to form endless lines.

Pfft. There seemed to be a faint sound of laughter. Mariyu raised her head.

Medeia was looking at her with a slight smile at the corner of her mouth.

“Your, Your Highness?”

Seeing the Princess’s smile, goosebumps rose on Mariyu’s back.

She couldn’t predict the moments that seemed peaceful but suddenly turned cold.

“Your, Your Highness. Then I’ll take my leave… Please call me whenever you need me.”

Gone was her morning resolution to cling to the Princess’s ankle and stick to the end, as Mariyu hurriedly stepped backward.

If she stayed longer, everything would be discovered.

His lover, her own inferiority complex toward the Princess, and even the inexplicable fear she felt from her.

“A keepsake… What an interesting lie.”

Watching Mariyu’s retreating figure as she fled, Medeia muttered.

“A lie?”

“The flower decoration on that bracelet earlier isn’t a rose, it’s a trumpet. It’s also the emblem of the tribe that assassinated the Emperor of the Kazen Empire, so its use was completely banned on the continent.”

Because it was such sad and shameful history, Kazen more strictly prevented the use of trumpet patterns in other countries too.

The pattern that had been banned for decades was allowed again only after Kazen’s First Prince won his conquest war.

Among the kingdoms he annihilated was that Trumpet Tribe as well.

“So it can’t be a keepsake time-wise. The First Prince’s victory was long after her wet nurse died.”

However, besides their secret relationship, the bracelet revealed more clues.

Medeia’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“Uncle’s family was already in contact with the Empire.”

After the First Prince’s victory, the imperial family monopolized the trumpet pattern and only distributed it to a select few.

“Samon is always overeager. He must be dying to show off that his father is in contact with the great power Kazen. Though it’s still just showing off to a mere maid under his father’s pressure.”

He probably doesn’t even know what he gave to Mariyu.

She recalled his past appearance, leading the charge to advocate for Peleus’s dethronement.

“Their lack of cleverness is so helpful. Should I thank them?”

Or is my dear cousin brother quite serious about love?

Then, Neryl asked.

“Does Your Highness mean that Prince Claudio’s family is colluding with the Empire? Even if the Prince aims for the throne, what could the Empire gain?”

Why would the superpower Kazen bother to join hands with a noble from a barren northern small country?

“The Emperor of Kazen doesn’t want our Valdina to grow larger. So we must somehow stop my brother.”

Peleus is someone who would break rather than bend.

Even when surrounded by hordes of demons, he never bent to the Kazen Emperor’s whims.

“Then the aid promised by the Kazen delegation coming this time is also…”

“A deception. The Emperor doesn’t want us to win, so he’ll somehow find an excuse to refuse aid.”

Medeia’s face hardened.

“And ultimately, it will lead to rebellion.”

In her past life, that’s exactly how it unfolded.

Relief was desperately needed to prepare for the harsh winter approaching soon.

Kazen suddenly refused aid.

Valdina had to exhaust its already struggling treasury to urgently obtain food.

Even that wasn’t enough, leading to severe food shortages.

Voices condemning the incompetent royal family grew louder, and all blame was directed at King Peleus.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the people’s anger reached its peak, traitors led a rebellion.

Fake traitors who were hired and supported by the Regent.

The leaders of the rebel forces were those blinded by the Regent’s gold coins rather than patriotism. They incited the people and retired soldiers who were exhausted by war and starvation.

And they kidnapped Medeia, branding her with the stigma of being a princess who abandoned her people and fled, adding strength to their cause.

Settling the chaos caused by the rebels and seizing the throne while both the king and princess were absent from their positions—that was the Regent’s plan.

“A rebellion…”

Neryl’s expression became grave.

‘Even now, resentment is already high because of the war, but if Kazen’s aid disappears as Your Highness said…’

The starving people would no longer be able to endure it. If the rioters rose up like wildfire, could the current Valdina withstand it?

‘This is a serious matter that could bring down the royal family. But the Empire is behind it?’

Neryl was outraged.

“No matter how powerful Kazen may be, how dare they try to harm another nation’s king—aren’t they afraid of the backlash?”

Medeia smiled bitterly.

“Oh, no one will know that the Regent and the Empire are already in cahoots.”

Because all those who had already noticed or knew had been eliminated.

‘The rebels crossed the city walls too easily and quickly. Claudio must have made arrangements beforehand.’

If Peleus hadn’t returned quickly after winning the war, everything might have flowed according to the Regent’s plan.

‘Soon the rebels will breach the Royal Palace.’

Therefore, they must prevent them from entering the Royal Palace from the very beginning.

Medeia rose from her seat and headed toward the window.

The city walls were visible in the distance.

“Neryl, where is your master now?”

If it was the former Captain of the Royal Guards, Gilliphos, he could serve as a breakwater to stop them.

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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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