The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 179
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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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Part 2, Chapter 26
“Hah, if father had shown even half less of that disgraceful behavior today, things wouldn’t have gone so wrong. Drawing the saint’s attention for nothing…!”
After his father left, Samon burst out in frustration.
The current situation of Claudio’s family was like a beautiful but rotten fruit.
On the surface, they appeared to be joining hands with Jason, gaining the Emperor’s trust and riding high, but inside they were rotten to the core.
Perdickas II had saved Claudio’s family by handing over the 4th Princess and the Elamouz Strait.
However, when Valdina began trading in the strait, and when it was discovered that Sardenia Island, which the 4th Princess had handed over, contained vast deposits of mithril.
“Do you know what I lost because of you worthless vermin—!”
Perdickas II’s rage reached its peak.
That day, Samon nearly died from the Emperor’s beating. Like father, like daughter, the Emperor mercilessly struck him with an iron staff.
His arm broke while trying to block the staff, and Samon had to spend nearly half a year wrapped in bandages.
The secret order Perdickas II gave him for this Empire proclamation ceremony.
“Kill him, bring him down, just make sure he doesn’t sit on the throne. Make a hole in that damn Valdina Royal Family for you to squeeze through! If you fail, I’ll slice your necks stitch by stitch and feed them to the dogs.”
Perdickas II could not be satisfied with merely ruining a celebration.
These old pieces of trash he had brought from Valdina at great cost had to prove their worth.
“The fortunate thing is that Valdina’s royal line still has only one king.”
For three years, Peleus had not married.
Countless marriage proposals had been sent to Valdina, but not a single one had been successful.
With the empress’s seat vacant, there were no heirs either.
It meant that if just Peleus alone fell, the throne would pass to Claudio.
For that to happen, there needed to be a major change in Peleus’s circumstances.
Something big enough that Peleus could no longer perform state affairs, requiring them to find another replacement.
“If we fail to accomplish the Emperor’s orders, all that awaits us in Kazen is death.”
Samon bit his lower lip hard. He couldn’t hide his tension at the situation that had gone wrong from the very start.
“It’s just that the celebration has ended. It’s too early to give up. The night of Saint Augustine remains.”
Raju approached and patted Samon’s shoulder, reminding him.
Count Raju was a much more reliable person to Samon than his pathetic biological father.
“Saint Augustine… That’s right. Ah, I had forgotten, Uncle.”
Samon’s anxious voice relaxed with relief.
The night of Saint Augustine was a traditional grand festival enjoyed by people across the entire continent, regardless of nation.
The Holy Kingdom had allowed Valdina to host the event that had previously only been held in the Kazen Empire.
It was compensation for helping them discover the saint.
Though subtle conflicts existed internally due to Rachel, outwardly it gave the impression that the Holy Kingdom valued diplomatic relations with Valdina enough to entrust them with the continental festival.
Samon and Count Raju, who couldn’t know the detailed internal circumstances, thought so as well.
“The continental festival’s sacred flame sent by the Pope will soon arrive at the strait. Are the preparations complete?”
“Yes, Uncle. Everything is perfectly prepared, so it will proceed as planned.”
Samon nodded at Raju’s question.
On the night of Saint Augustine, when Peleus climbed up and lit the sacred flame, the festival would begin.
The moment Peleus climbed the altar holding the Pope’s torch, the altar would collapse. Stone walls and statues would crumble, covering the body of the sacred slaughterer.
Whether he would still maintain his sanctity while crushed under the massive stone statue was unknown.
* * *
Click.
After finishing his conversation with Raju, Samon left the study.
“Master.”
The waiting elderly butler offered him a white handkerchief.
Samon glanced down at his hand. The glass face of his wristwatch was cracked, slightly scratching his skin.
“Let me escort you to your bedroom. I told the madam that you had already retired to your chambers.”
“…Thank you, Alberto.”
Samon praised the butler as he passed.
The elderly attendant hastily found in the Kazen Empire was hunched over but quite capable.
Especially quick-witted, he earned Samon’s trust by skillfully deflecting his mother and sister’s hysterics, just like today.
“Haah.”
Samon closed his eyes.
The eventful day unfolded like a panorama.
Suddenly, the wound from the broken watch glass stung again.
Samon roughly rubbed the skin where blood droplets had formed with the white, pristine cloth.
More painful than the physical pain was the memory of having to shamefully kneel and look up at Peleus before the banquet hall.
The piercing gazes of people that hurt him. The cold chill of marble penetrating his knees.
The humiliation of bowing his head, unable to meet Peleus’s eyes…
‘Peleus, you should have killed me then.’
Because if it’s not death, I will never give up your position.
The throne that had been elevated to an imperial throne in three years. That indifferent face sitting there, receiving people’s respect and cheers.
Sparks flew in Samon’s eyes.
“They say you can find a lifelong connection on the night of Saint Augustine. Hah. I wonder if it will be so gracious to him as well.”
It was a soliloquy filled with spite and hatred.
“…”
“Let’s go back.”
“Yes.”
The attendant followed Samon without a word, as if he had heard nothing.
“Master, please rest well.”
The attendant who closed the door came out of Samon’s bedroom.
“Butler, please go to sleep. It’s late at night!”
“Yes, you all go in too. Ring the bell if anything happens.”
“Yes!”
The slow footsteps echoing in the corridor stopped only when the butler entered his own room.
With a peeling sound, a dark mustache fell off.
Thud. The white wig came off as well.
“I thought I was going to die from the heat.”
The butler’s back, as he straightened his stiff body, was perfectly straight as if it had never been hunched.
Splash—
Next to the bathtub where he refreshingly poured water, on the clothes he had thrown off, lay a red fox-shaped pendant.
* * *
Knock knock.
Meanwhile, Raju, who had remained in the study, looked up at the sound of knocking.
“You…!”
It was Catherine. Raju hurriedly looked around.
“It’s fine. The children and he are all asleep. If anyone comes, I’ll make an excuse that I came to ask you about today’s events instead.”
“…Cat, don’t I know you? You’re not making an excuse, you came here for that reason from the beginning.”
Raju sighed and let Catherine in. And as she had hoped, he told her about what had happened at the palace.
“Damn it, I knew it! We have to live in this hell forever. Sob…”
When her worries became reality, Catherine burst into tears.
“I can’t endure it anymore. Rather than going back to Kazen, it would be better to just die here.”
“Shh, my love. Don’t say such things. You don’t need to worry. Both you and our Virna will be able to remain in Valdina.”
Raju comforted Catherine. In his arms, she looked up with tear-filled eyes.
“How?”
“It’s related to imperial orders, so I can’t tell you the details.”
“But if we fail…”
Catherine was still anxious. Despite making many schemes and taking every precaution, they had always failed against the Medeia siblings.
“I know what you’re worried about. That’s why I’ve taken additional measures. I just sent a drug to the king.”
“Medicine?”
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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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