The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 16

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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 16

Rumors had already spread throughout the royal palace, and he spat excitedly as he spoke.

“The Mistress of Maids completely took control of the palace and tormented the Princess. They only gave rotten food to the Princess’s Palace and stuck needles in her clothes.”

“That’s right, that’s right. I heard it from a shoe shiner on the capital streets too. It got so bad that the Princess couldn’t endure it alone and gave her jewels to her maids, begging them to please stop the harassment.”

People tilted their heads. They couldn’t believe it.

“Is that really true? She’s a princess after all, so how could servants treat their master like that?”

“Princess or not, she’s an orphan with no king brother to protect her. What other family does she have to shield her? That’s why those worthless people looked down on her. Well, look here. What could a naive girl the age of our Emma do all by herself?”

The soldier said while stroking his daughter’s head.

The girl with braided hair was quite tall, reaching about her father’s chest.

But the girl’s hands were still small, and baby fat remained on her cheeks.

“Father?”

The girl looked up at her father with innocent, round eyes in bewilderment.

It was a moment when everyone who had been passionately arguing felt embarrassed.

People suddenly realized.

The princess they had been cursing with harsh words just moments ago—calling her cursed, greedy, a parasite—was the same age as that girl.

What had they just done?

Had they poured all their resentment and anger onto a young girl who didn’t even know the bitter taste of the world yet?

“Those damn bastards, just leaving them be.”

“Even so, she’s the king’s sister, part of the Valdina bloodline—how could they treat her like that?”

They added their words as if angry. It was partly to ease their hidden guilt.

“But you know what. Still, the Princess’s uncle is that, that Regent, Prince Claudio—didn’t they know that?”

Then, someone pointed out.

“Those jewels the Princess supposedly sold were all gifts from that Prince too. How could someone who’s a Regent not know that his beloved niece was being harassed? I don’t understand it.”

“Listen here, do you know how ambitious the Prince, no, the former Prince was in his youth?”

“Having the throne taken by his nephew, the one remaining niece must have been a thorn in his eye. Anyone can pretend to be affectionate in front of others, can’t they?”

“Come on, surely not.”

“Anyway, that’s why it’s sad when you don’t have parents. The Princess is pitiful too. Cursed or whatever, left alone at such a young age.”

The conversation shifted to the topic of whether Regent Claudio truly cared for his niece, the Princess.

“Still, I don’t like it. I can’t trust the king who gave the seal to such a young child in the first place.”

“It’s all because of this damn war. When will it ever end!”

“When will the goddess of victory come to our Valdina!”

The soldiers’ conversation, hot like a boiling pot, moved on to an endless topic.

In any case, the loudspeaker Medeia had given to the maids had done its job.

Through rumors spreading by word of mouth, the Valdina people’s firm trust in the Regent would gradually fade.

Medeia closed her eyes and leaned back.

She recalled her foolish past life. She made a resolution. This time, she would definitely make it different.

The sunset-tinged sunlight shone directly on her face.

Clatter. The carriage started moving again.

* * *

They finally arrived at Gilliphos’s estate.

“I greet Her Highness Princess Medeia.”

Following the guidance of the butler who bowed politely, Medeia entered the estate.

Like its owner who had stepped back from all power, the estate had a rough but dignified charm.

“He is waiting. Neryl, you stay here.”

The butler spoke in front of the thick mahogany door.

“I am also Her Highness’s guard. I must stay by her side.”

Neryl firmly shook her head and blocked Medeia’s path.

“Are you worried His Excellency might harm Her Highness the Princess? Do you intend to tarnish your master’s honor as well? Step aside.”

Though the butler coldly scolded Neryl, she did not move aside.

Perhaps it was because the harsh criticism from the people toward her master that she had heard earlier pained her heart.

Like a mother bird protecting her chick, her appearance was quite sharp, and her two legs planted on the carpet were solid like old trees.

“Your stubbornness remains the same.”

The butler shook his head and turned toward Medeia.

“Your Highness Princess, though it may be presumptuous, my master said he will not meet unless it’s a private audience. He also said he would understand if you returned to the palace due to safety concerns.”

The butler was polite and smooth as if he had prepared the answer in advance. Neryl was greatly disappointed.

‘Does Master also wish to sit above Her Highness’s head! How is this different from the Regent?’

“I didn’t expect Master to do this. If he was going to insult me like this, why did he reply to my letter?”

When Neryl was about to protest with a stern face, a small hand was placed on her shoulder.

“It’s alright, Neryl.”

That was all, yet the explosive momentum that seemed ready to burst subsided.

Neryl, reading the Princess’s intention, stepped back.

“Go in.”

There were no arguments. That rather made her seem like the master of this place.

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

The butler tried to hide his surprise at the young Princess who, like a seasoned old tree, did not lose control of the situation.

Rustle.

As if only the sound of Medeia’s dress hem lightly dragging on the ground existed, the interior was silent.

The room she entered was filled with a heavy atmosphere.

A pressure that seemed to weigh down on her shoulders.

Even amid this, a sharp atmosphere where she couldn’t let her guard down.

Befitting a warrior who had once taught knights and been active at the front lines of battlefields, various weapons hung on all sides of the Marquis’s room.

Medeia looked at the old man with his back to the window.

Rather than his still robust build, her eyes first went to the leather strap that neatly tied back his white hair and his thick beard.

“Your Highness Princess.”

Former Captain of the Royal Guards Gilliphos turned around. His back was straight even in old age.

“It’s been a long time, Marquis Gilliphos.”

“Time is indeed fleeting.”

Marquis Gilliphos looked at the Princess.

The young child who used to sob while clutching a pillowcase had grown up considerably and now stood before him alone.

“You remain unchanged as always, Marquis.”

But she still had soft down on her face.

Her light eyebrows, round face, and small stature reminded him of a young fawn that hadn’t fully grown yet.

That’s why Gilliphos couldn’t completely believe the rumors.

That this delicate girl, who seemed like she would struggle to hold a silver spoon, had whipped the Maid Supervisor?

‘The exaggeration seems a bit much.’

“I heard the news. You saved my inadequate disciple. This old man offers his belated gratitude.”

“Neryl is my person, so there’s no reason for you to thank me, Marquis.”

Gilliphos was inwardly relieved by the Princess’s answer.

Even if she was a naive and foolish princess, she seemed to take care of her own people, so his disciple wouldn’t die a dog’s death.

“Since you’ve made this difficult journey, I will be honest as well.”

As if the perfunctory greetings ended there, Gilliphos opened his mouth.

“It’s good that Your Highness has become wise, albeit late. However, I have been away from state affairs for a long time and have no intention of returning.”

“…”

“If you sought me as a replacement for the Regent, I must tell you that I dare not bear that weight.”

‘Having fallen out with the Maid Supervisor, she must have been anxious.’

Gilliphos thought the Princess had sought him out because she wanted his backing.

‘If not that, why would she risk this long journey to meet me in secret?’

Bitter bile rose in his stomach. It was disappointment in the child of the lord he had served his entire life.

‘To think the Princess would show such a weak side, looking for someone else to lean on again.’

His lord had certainly been an admirable person, but Gilliphos thought his bloodline was a complete failure.

The former king’s brother was a wolf coveting the throne, his son was a stubborn fool obsessed with war, and his daughter was a frail idiot.

“Your Highness the Princess. You must not be swayed by their tongues. They only use Your Highness for their own benefit.”

“So, are you saying you’re not? I know full well that you’re after the seal!”

Gilliphos’s earnest advice was overshadowed by the whispered provocations of cunning individuals in the Princess’s ear.

“A leader’s power comes only from the people’s trust. You must listen to their cries. This is my final counsel before I leave.”

But the Princess ultimately turned away from Gilliphos’s loyal advice, and in the end, he left the Royal Palace behind and departed from politics.

Because he saw no hope in the Princess who had become the Regent’s puppet, nor in this country.

“If the former king were still alive, it wouldn’t have come to this… Does God turn His back on Valdina?”

Valdina lost its light. And it seemed unlikely to sparkle again anytime soon.

So now he had no intention whatsoever of entering the mire of power again.

“I am old now, and I have many things to protect. When I can barely sustain myself, how could I bear Your Highness’s great undertaking?”

Medeia could tell that Gilliphos’s narrowed eyes were observing her.

“You might ask what more I could want after living so long, but please remember this old man’s final request, whose dream is to live thin and long.”

Gilliphos drove the point home.

He didn’t hide his intention to avoid Medeia using old age and frailty as an excuse.

‘His dream is to live thin and long?’

Gilliphos, who spoke such words, had died in her past life blocking the demon beasts from entering the Royal Palace when hordes of them attacked Valdina.

Even when the Regent and other nobles all fled, he remained until the end and protected Valdina.

“I understand your thoughts well.”

One of his eyebrows rose.

Medeia’s expression remained unchanged. She seemed neither disappointed nor angry.

A look of surprise appeared on Gilliphos’s face.

‘I thought I was confident in my ability to read people.’

Strangely, he couldn’t read anything from the expression of the young Princess before him.

Then, Medeia placed a bundle of papers on the desk.

It was when Gilliphos narrowed his eyes to read the letters on the paper.

“This is my entire fortune. I have a favor to ask of you.”

As expected.

Gilliphos let out a sigh at the Princess’s predictable reaction.

“Your Highness, as I said again, no matter what you offer, I have no intention of leaving this place—”

“No. What I need is neither your protection nor your support.”

Medeia firmly cut off his words.

“Then…?”

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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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