The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 180

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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 27

“Yes, that drug gradually makes one’s temperament rougher. It makes you lose reason and become hot-tempered. It makes you suspicious of people and explosive over small matters.”

Raju nodded triumphantly.

“Yes. It’s truly fortunate that they came all the way to the strait. My love, it means God is on our side.”

If it had been Valdina Palace, it would have been difficult to find an opening, but this is a separate palace.

There are countless outsiders coming to find opportunities in this new land called Elamouz.

Raju disguised himself as one of them and barely managed to place an assassin next to Peleus.

Peleus had won on the plains, but in return, he had killed countless people.

War may wear the face of the victor, but it is not always kind to the victor.

Even on the plains, there were still defeated soldiers who had lost their homeland and prayed for Peleus’s death while harboring poison.

Raju secretly made contact with them.

Among them, he had the most skilled one drug Peleus.

“Don’t worry, my love. Peleus will no longer be able to maintain his position.”

From his affectionate voice, one could tell how much Raju loved Catherine.

“…”

Catherine gazed at her lover quietly.

Raju was completely different from her husband who used to snap at her, or her son who was kind but ignored her.

She massaged Raju’s tense shoulders.

“I’m worried that I’ve made you overexert yourself too much.”

“It’s fine, my love. For you, nothing is difficult. Not just Virna, but your husband and son as well.”

Catherine wiped away her tears. Love and gratitude toward Raju filled her heart.

“Hoakin, don’t even mention that pathetic man’s name!”

Over the past three years, all she had confirmed was the shabby and cowardly appearance of her husband.

When Samon was desperately trying to find a place to survive by groveling to Kazen nobles, and when Virna was struggling under the Dowager Empress’s harassment, he only drank heavily and avoided the situation.

“That man calling himself a father just drinks recklessly trying to escape! He has no qualifications, that man!”

The marital relationship that had been decent on the surface didn’t even maintain its minimal form after Prince Claudio’s house collapsed.

Hoakin no longer respected his wife, and Catherine, who had seen her husband’s rock bottom, also found him pathetic.

What had sustained their marital harmony was the noble status of royalty and the wealth that had overflowed in their hands.

Now that all of that had disappeared, the bare faces they had left for each other were only ugly.

“Catherine, I’m always ready.”

Raju had informed his lover that there was a method called divorce.

He wanted to hold his lover rightfully under the early sunlight rather than these secret nighttime meetings.

Catherine hesitated. She bit her lips.

“I want to do that too. But the children…”

How would they accept it? And what should she say to Virna?

That Count Raju, whom you hate for being vulgar, is actually your real father?

Blind love is momentary, but its responsibility was reality. Catherine still didn’t have the confidence to bear that weight.

Seeing her troubled expression, Raju kissed Catherine’s cheek again.

“I know, I understand.”

Even while vaguely sensing that she would never leave Hoakin in the end, Raju pretended not to know and held her in his arms.

“Roby, I love you. My love will be yours alone forever.”

Catherine also felt guilt.

So she whispered the only thing she could promise, love.

Gentle hands traced rough surfaces along his spine as they embraced each other without any gap.

Moisture rose.

On the night of Saint Augustine, perhaps the blessing of Saint Augustine, who is said to bless the lovers of the century, was what they needed most.

* * *

Valdina Palace.

Contrary to Raju’s thoughts, the palace’s security was not so easy.

“After the celebration, we deliberately relaxed our guard to let those targeting His Majesty lower their guard. We managed the newcomers who had entered the palace less than three years ago separately. In the process, we caught a tail.”

The spy Neryl brought was already dead.

“We caught him red-handed trying to drug His Majesty’s food. But… he had hidden a poison sac between his teeth.”

Bulging eyes and a complexion turned purple. Trying to hide the existence of those behind him with death as soon as his identity was discovered meant he was a trained individual.

In this process, Zeta, a guard from Facade sent by Garo, played a major role.

She tracked the traces of the spy’s entry into the palace and found other individuals who had infiltrated the imperial palace besides the dead spy.

However, as soon as their identities were discovered, they all chose to commit suicide.

Neryl bowed her head.

“I apologize for not being able to capture them alive.”

“It’s fine. Sir Hertoss, can you find out what this is?”

Medeia spoke calmly.

Royal physician Hertoss, who tasted the white powder the spy had with his pinky finger, frowned.

“It’s monga leaves. It’s an herb used to treat coldness, but it has the drawback of gradually making one’s temperament ferocious.”

He said it was fortunate they discovered this drug early.

“If taken long-term, patience becomes shallow, one becomes quick to anger, and eventually becomes easily explosive. It gradually changes the blood vessels, so even I wouldn’t have been able to accurately diagnose His Majesty’s condition.”

“What kind of bastards use such vile methods.”

Neryl was indignant.

Since Peleus had become emperor, those bastards couldn’t target him with a single blow, so they chose a secret scheme that could eliminate him slowly.

“Your Majesty, I will definitely find out who did this.”

“There’s no need, I already know.”

“Who else would target me but Claudio.”

Peleus answered instead of Medeia.

His indifferent expression was as cold as if it contained ice. But his guess was slightly wrong.

‘Raju has considerable knowledge about rare plants.’

Even in the previous life, Raju had eliminated Jason’s political enemies with that extensive knowledge. Sometimes he would even tell Medeia what plants he had used.

‘Raju, you’re hastening your own death.’

Medeia’s green eyes turned cold.

She pushed the paper containing white powder on the table.

“Neryl. Send this to Umberto. Tell him to feed it to Raju.”

Umberto is currently disguised as Samon’s butler and managing Claudio’s estate.

So he could easily place colleagues on Raju’s side, who frequently visited the estate.

“Raju? You mean Jason’s retainer?”

“Yes. He’s been in the same boat with Claudio for a very long time.”

Medeia nodded.

“Aren’t you curious about how this poisonous herb changes people?”

“Yes, thanks to this, we’ll be able to confirm it directly before our eyes.”

Peleus frowned at Neryl’s agreement.

Returning Raju’s scheme wasn’t the ultimate solution to the problem.

“Dea, I cannot understand why I should let those bastards live.”

Peleus, who rarely spoke of past events, asked Medeia.

“The strait has also become ours, Valdina’s, so there’s nothing more to worry about. They’re people who know neither repentance nor their place. Their nature ingrained in blood cannot be severed until their heads are cut off.”

Peleus didn’t know about Claudio’s layers of accumulated dampness.

But having rolled around battlefields for so long, he instinctively knew that their ambitions could only be abandoned through death.

“Dea, it’s not that you, with your soft heart, felt sympathy seeing their miserable state, is it?”

Medeia chuckled.

The clear laughter that rang out like dew was bright, not matching the content.

“That’s impossible. Peleus, you know how I brought down Claudio.”

Peleus, who had returned from the battlefield, had heard everything about how his one and only sister had eliminated the kingdom’s vermin.

Even so, it was amusing that he still couldn’t hide his worry as if his sister were still an innocent seven-year-old.

“I’m sorry, brother. I caused you worry by making an unnecessary request.”

“Don’t say such things. Dea, if you wish for it, there’s nothing that can’t be done. They’re lives that can be taken anytime, just letting them be a little longer. Don’t worry about it.”

Peleus comforted her, worried that his sister’s feelings might have been hurt.

“Don’t worry. Since all the prey has gathered in one place, there’s no need to wait any longer. Now it’s time to open fire.”

Suddenly, Peleus flinched at a thought that crossed his mind.

There was no way his sister wouldn’t know Claudio’s true nature. If that was the case…

“Don’t tell me, Dea. Did you deliberately lure them here?”

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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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