The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 18
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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 18
“No. He agreed. To take full responsibility for the housing of retired soldiers within the Royal Palace.”
“Haa.”
Only then did Neryl let out a sigh of relief. Her master was a person as straight as bamboo – once he said no, it was no until the end.
He was someone who wouldn’t bend his will even with a blade to his throat, so she thought the Princess would fail.
‘That’s why I too haven’t dared to visit him since leaving the knight order.’
“Want to say goodbye before we go?”
Medeia gestured with her chin over her shoulder.
The door to the study where the Duke would be was still firmly closed. Neryl shook her head.
“He wouldn’t want to see me. And I need to return to the Royal Palace before evening.”
The two came down to the courtyard where the carriage would be to return to the Royal Palace.
“Your Highness, the carriage you came in seemed worn, so we prepared a new carriage. Please come this way.”
Having received word from the Duke, the butler guided Medeia with a much friendlier attitude than before.
The carriage tied in the courtyard looked like an ordinary four-wheeled carriage at first glance.
But upon closer inspection, the exterior was reinforced with thin steel plates and the wheel rims were also made of iron.
“The carriage may have changed, but the coachman remains the same. I’ll safely escort you to the Royal Palace without letting a speck of dust touch you.”
When Tom spoke while leaning against the carriage, Neryl strode over.
With her back to the Princess, she grabbed Tom’s collar with one hand and struck his solar plexus with the other.
“Get lost. Don’t ever show your face again.”
“Kugh…! It’s… hurtful when you say it like that, my friend.”
Between his smiling lips, Tom had to grit his teeth. What was he eating at the royal court to become this strong?
“Wow… This is really no joke.”
He had to force strength into his trembling knees to avoid collapsing disgracefully in front of the Princess.
“You think I wouldn’t know you deliberately brought that piece of junk carriage?”
When Neryl glared at him, Tom raised both hands as if surrendering.
“You think I wanted to do it? This side doesn’t want to upset noble people either if we can help it.”
Those words meant…
“Master ordered you to do it?”
“The moment you or the Princess stepped out of the carriage and opened your mouths, I would have turned the horses back to the Royal Palace.”
Neryl’s heart grew cold. It had all been a test.
If she had gotten out and clashed with Tom or tried to forcibly silence the soldiers, today’s meeting would have fallen through too.
Did Master know everything? Is that why he stopped me?
‘Just how many moves ahead is His Highness seeing?’
Seeing Neryl at a loss for words, Tom sneered.
“Did you think our master was someone just anyone could meet if they asked? How naive.”
“Just anyone? How dare you call the Valdina bloodline just anyone?”
When Neryl shot back, Tom shook his head as if fed up.
“You’re just like a hen protecting her chick. You seem a bit more twisted than before too.”
Then he added.
“Well, I should say what needs to be said. Master said earlier that your choice to serve the Princess as your lord wasn’t a foolish one.”
“What?”
Neryl turned her head toward the tower where the Duke’s room would be.
Beside the purple curtain, she seemed to make eye contact with a familiar silhouette.
“…So when even Master acknowledges you, what would I gain by throwing a tantrum? I’ll also make up for what happened earlier and return to being a faithful coachman, hey! Where are you going!”
Tom shouted at Neryl who suddenly turned and ran toward the Marquis’ Mansion.
“Your Highness, please wait a moment!”
Neryl, who had easily ignored Tom’s words, shouted toward the Princess.
She climbed the stairs two or three at a time.
The stone steps were steep and she quickly became breathless, but Neryl didn’t stop.
Creak.
She opened the mahogany door and walked down the corridor. Familiar curtains, furniture, and carpets greeted her.
Like that day in her vivid memories, her master stood by the window.
“Huff, Ma, huff, Master…”
Gilliphos slowly turned around. At the end of his inevitable sigh was a trace of laughter.
“Well, your impatient nature hasn’t changed.”
“Tom, said, huff, that Master acknowledged, huff, my choice, huff.”
“So you ran here for that? To hear those words from this old man’s mouth at all costs?”
Anger flashed across Gilliphos’s face.
“No, huff, no.”
Neryl caught her breath, raised her head, and grinned.
“The weapon I left with you, phew, I’ll take it back. You still remember the bet, don’t you?”
She walked steadily forward and took back the great sword that had been hanging on the wall.
“Stay healthy, Master. I’ll see you again.”
“Take care, child.”
Duke Gilliphos waved his hand dismissively and slammed the door shut as if telling her to leave quickly.
“Abandoning your knight title to become a Princess’s maid? Are you in your right mind?”
She had been a cherished disciple. That’s why he couldn’t understand it even more.
“Was it His Majesty? Who put such useless thoughts in your head? Do you think I raised you to die a dog’s death in factional struggles?”
“If not me, Princess has no one right now. I want to protect Her Highness, Master. Please allow it.”
“The moment you leave this door! You are neither my disciple nor a knight. If you want to go to the Princess, leave your sword and go empty-handed.”
“Master…!”
“Unless I acknowledge it, you can never wield that again.”
“That heartless girl, when I told her to leave it behind, she really threw it down and left.”
The Duke, who had been reminiscing about the past, shook his head. He looked down below the window.
“Neryl, you are better than me.”
His disciple saw stars even in the mud, but he could not.
After the late king died, he lost hope.
He gave up both the desire to raise Valdina back to a great nation and the power-hungry hyenas who constantly watched for opportunities.
He despaired that stars would never rise again.
The stubbornness and foolishness of bygone years felt fresh again.
Perhaps it was truly I who was foolish. Still, what’s fortunate is,
“I am the Princess of Valdina. I simply must do what I must do as a Princess.”
“God has not yet abandoned this country.”
The light of Valdina has continued on.
A faint smile appeared on Gilliphos’s face as he watched the departing carriage.
* * *
[I have found suitable land.]
A few days later, Duke Gilliphos sent word through Neryl.
It included general plans and related matters.
The location of the land was coincidentally near the city walls.
“If needed, he intends to use it for defending the Royal Palace.”
It was fitting for someone with a general’s background.
“Neryl, tell the Duke to get a roster of the retired soldiers staying there. Including all their accompanying families.”
That way they wouldn’t dare think of joining the rebel forces.
Even though she had spent her entire fortune to provide them a way to live, Medeia had not an ounce of trust in them.
Humans tend to forget kindness once their bellies are full.
“Strictly speaking, retired soldiers are the royal family’s responsibility, yet Your Highness spent your entire fortune to help them…”
Neryl couldn’t hide her displeased expression.
“Why, worried I’ll become penniless?”
“…Honestly, if this is an investment, I think it failed. You’re pouring water into a bottomless jar.”
Medeia chuckled at Neryl’s rare complaint.
“I’m a cursed princess after all, so I’ll just become a bit more miserable than now. Rather than Valdina collapsing, it’s better for me alone to go bankrupt, right?”
The lightly thrown joke had something strangely bitter about it, making Neryl hesitate.
The Princess always treated herself as firewood that could be burned at any time for Valdina’s sake.
‘It’s as if Your Highness owes some debt to this country…’
There was a desperation that went beyond the simple patriotism that royalty would naturally have.
‘I’m too foolish to follow Your Highness’s perspective.’
Neryl didn’t know what made her young master like that.
“…If Your Highness goes bankrupt, I will serve you.”
That was all she could manage to say.
“Ahaha.”
The light laughter scattered gently under the sunlight.
“Yes, then I’ll live with Neryl, I suppose.”
Why did that faint smile somehow make her heart ache?
It was when Medeia was entering the palace. A maid who had been waiting approached her.
“What is it?”
“Your Highness, Lady Claudio is waiting inside.”
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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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