The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 131

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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 131

 

The cavalry dragged in prisoners bound with ropes. At the front of the group was Jason.

 

“D-Duke Castulo! Why is that man still here?”

 

The Valdinians who recognized Jason’s face were shocked.

 

Hadn’t he been caught trying to frame the Princess and expelled from the Royal Palace not long ago by the Queen Mother’s order?

 

“We found him hiding in a village behind where the rebel forces were stationed. All of them were armed.”

 

“It’s a misunderstanding! I was merely trying to lend a hand in suppressing the rebels!”

 

At Gilliphos’s words, Jason hastily made excuses.

 

He had fled with Ost, but ultimately couldn’t escape Gilliphos’s persistent pursuit and was captured like this.

 

On the miserable journey of being dragged like a donkey, he had heard that Valdina’s king had returned.

 

And now, before Jason’s eyes as he entered the castle, he could see the bloodied and captured Regent and the mountain of corpses from his private soldiers.

 

‘It failed. It failed spectacularly!’

 

Who could have known the king would return this early! And after avoiding so many of the Regent’s traps!

 

Jason bit the inside of his cheek, trying to regain his composure.

 

However, Jason wasn’t the only one whose mind was racing furiously. The Regent’s eyes flashed.

 

“It’s the Duke, Your Majesty. The Duke committed these acts and pinned them on me. Look, bringing private soldiers into Valdina – see what he was trying to do…!”

 

The Regent moved first. He was blaming everything on Jason.

 

Jason was horrified.

 

The very instigator of this chaos was now pinning the blame on him – Jason wanted to strangle the Regent to death for his shameless behavior.

 

“King of Valdina, that’s not true. This is a petty slander by that man trying to escape his crimes.”

 

Jason suppressed his rising anger and hastily made excuses.

 

His soft and gentle voice made him appear like someone who had been falsely accused.

 

“You may not know, but despite being a member of Kazen’s diplomatic mission, I worked to ensure twice the amount of aid reached Valdina. I also helped the Princess by guaranteeing a fair duel. How could someone like me try to harm Valdina?”

 

However, Sisear didn’t let Jason cleverly twist the facts to gain Peleus’s favor.

 

“Duke Castulo, was it also slander when you secretly brought wolves into the royal hunting competition to attack Princess Medeia and make her fall off the cliff?”

 

Sisear’s cheek, struck by the Regent’s knight, was swollen, and his monocle was even cracked.

 

But his characteristically cold and sharp criticism remained unchanged. He was truly an iron-blooded chancellor.

 

“For that incident, the Queen Mother banished you from Valdina. Yet instead of returning to Kazen, you deceived our eyes and brought in an army. Weren’t you harboring resentment against the Valdina Royal Family and trying to help the rebels?”

 

“Exactly! That man was planning to kidnap Medeia and then stage a rescue from the rebels to set foot in the Royal Palace again!”

 

The Regent chimed in, thinking this was his chance.

 

The fact that Sisear was a political enemy he had wanted to kill was forgotten from his mind.

 

He was now desperately trying to pin this whole affair on Jason.

 

‘I must survive first. I must avoid execution at all costs!’

 

Even if it meant turning the Duke, who had been his ally, into an enemy.

 

The loyalty they had shared was brief, and the instinct for immediate survival was stronger than anything else.

 

Where was the man who had just been threatening his mother and niece while crying out for the throne?

 

People frowned.

 

If one aimed for the supreme position, they should at least show qualities befitting it.

 

The Regent’s shameless appearance, trying to avoid execution, even seemed cowardly.

 

Those present weren’t fools.

 

How could they not notice that some agreement had passed between the Regent and Kazen’s Duke?

 

‘No matter how much he wanted to become king, to bring in Kazen’s Duke? Was he planning to make our Valdina a vassal state of the Empire?’

 

Meanwhile, Jason sighed.

 

He wanted to gouge out his own eyes for trying to scheme for power by joining hands with such a foolish and cunning bastard.

 

“Duke Castulo, just confess already. You came to Valdina aiming to be the Princess’s consort. Since Medeia is young and weak, you planned to seize control of Valdina instead and enter the imperial succession struggle!”

 

The Regent was relentless.

 

As long as he could shift his crimes away, he didn’t hesitate to expose the secret deal between them.

 

“Regent!”

 

Jason’s heart sank.

 

Though it was all true – that he had tried to use the Princess and aimed for Valdina’s backing – he realized he didn’t want the Princess to discover this fact.

 

“N-no… That’s not true.”

 

Jason hastily turned toward Medeia.

 

“Princess! Surely you don’t believe that slander? I simply… truly… felt genuine affection for you. I can swear to God that I sought no compensation.”

 

He stretched out his arms and shuffled toward her. His voice and gaze toward Medeia were desperate.

 

“…”

 

However, Medeia stepped back with an expressionless face.

 

She didn’t even want Jason’s shadow cast on the ground to overlap with hers.

 

A handful of contempt that flashed through her green eyes was momentary.

 

But even though he couldn’t see it for long, blood siblings seemed to be different in some way.

 

Peleus noticed that his sister was repulsed by the Duke.

 

‘Dea, your incompetent brother has put you through too much hardship.’

 

First his uncle, and now even Kazen’s royalty.

 

His heart ached thinking of his sister who had to navigate treacherous schemes and traps alone among the pack of wolves constantly eyeing Valdina.

 

His blue eyes had already grown remarkably cold at the Duke’s revelation that he had targeted Medeia.

 

Peleus coldly looked Jason up and down from head to toe.

 

Now that he existed, that man would never again set foot on this land.

 

He had no intention of tolerating any filthy seed’s approach toward his only sister.

 

Jason also noticed the king’s gaze watching him. He felt a chilling killing intent behind his neck, like being targeted by a hunter.

 

Among the Agema too, fierce hostility toward Jason blazed.

 

‘That greasy Duke of Kazen dared to covet our Princess! Moreover-‘

 

After securing victory on the plains through Medeia’s wit and warnings, the Princess had long since become an object of respect among them.

 

Jason felt like he was going crazy in this seemingly hopeless situation.

 

“Your Majesty, there really has been a misunderstanding.”

 

“Then can you prove that any of these accusations are false, Duke?”

 

Medeia’s calm question stabbed Jason in the solar plexus.

 

The fake evidence created by the Princess, and now the circumstances of his involvement in the rebellion had been discovered at the scene.

 

Jason himself knew that mere verbal excuses would be useless.

 

“Though misunderstandings and mistakes are complexly intertwined, I won’t flee from the damages Valdina has suffered either. I will certainly compensate later. Sufficiently enough that Valdina won’t be disappointed. So that this incident won’t affect relations between our two countries-”

 

“That won’t be necessary.”

 

Peleus’s cold voice echoed.

 

Jason’s eyes widened. Was the king believing his words? A ray of hope appeared on his pale face.

 

“Your Majesty, you cannot let this matter pass like this.”

 

When Sisear, unable to understand his judgment, reluctantly stepped forward, Peleus continued.

 

“The calculation for the price of lives will be settled right here and now.”

 

What did that mean?

 

Jason didn’t even have time to wonder.

 

Peleus drew his sword. Swish- In the place where only the soft sound of cutting wind remained,

 

“Guh, urgh…”

 

The knight standing beside Jason collapsed. His helmet bore a laurel wreath emblem.

 

Those watching the scene couldn’t hide their shock.

 

In the moment when sharp killing intent pressed down on their shoulders, a life had ended.

 

“Duke, I’m sparing you completely unharmed despite your capture while helping rebels, so surely you won’t begrudge losing just one limb.”

 

Clank. Peleus sheathed his sword again.

 

His economical movements even felt reverent.

 

“However, I will formally request from the Empire later the price for Kazen’s royalty interfering in Valdina’s internal affairs and threatening my sister.”

 

His method of gradually cornering his opponent, as if this wasn’t the end, resembled that of his blood relative.

 

Jason was dumbfounded.

 

The dead man was his last remaining hidden piece. Alarms rang in his head.

 

‘Did he know Ost’s identity and kill him? Was the king also behind the earlier attempt on my life?’

 

Whether the cold anger in those blue eyes was for targeting his sister or for Duke Castulo himself was unclear.

 

However, one thing was certain.

 

The king before his eyes, who had killed the recluse in the blink of an eye… was silently warning Jason.

 

If it hadn’t been him, it would have been you.

 

Goosebumps rose along Jason’s spine.

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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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