The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 190
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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 37
‘You won’t stop as long as you draw breath. I can’t let it repeat again.’
They eliminated Valdina’s loyalists, drove a wedge between the Queen Mother and isolated Medeia completely.
Using her seal as pretext, they oppressed the people and caused countless casualties through fake rebellions.
They drove Sisear, the only pillar protecting the precarious kingdom, to madness and made him take his own life.
They planted traitors to massacre Peleus’s loyal Royal Guard and branded him with the lifelong disgrace of being a crippled king.
Among all of this, what sometimes made Medeia unbearable was,
“Medeia, a monster wave occurred in Valdina. I don’t know how many monsters swarmed even reaching here to Kazen, how many knights we lost…”
“What about brother Peleus? Medeia, you’re being too harsh to me who rushed all the way to Kazen worried about you after hearing the Saint became Empress. I thought of you as my dear sister, but in the end you only worry about your blood brother.”
“Dea, how long do you plan to leave Valdina’s throne empty? Even to honor brother’s will, shouldn’t you quickly decide on a successor? Hmm?”
It was their endless greed for the throne, and her own foolishness for not recognizing enemies even when they were by her side.
“Dea!”
Just then, a familiar voice broke through Medeia’s thoughts. It was Peleus.
‘You can’t come this way.’
Noticing her brother trying to rush toward her with a face that had lost composure, Medeia frowned and firmly shook her head.
Peleus hesitated. He seemed to be trying to understand his sister’s incomprehensible intentions.
‘I’m sorry I can’t tell you everything, Peleus.’
Yes, her insistence on handling them with her own hands was also her atonement to her ruined homeland and brother.
It was a moment when Medeia’s nerves were briefly disturbed by her brother’s face crossing between past and present.
Crack!
With a chilling sound of rupture, the stained glass filling the temple walls shattered.
It could no longer withstand the aftermath of the explosion.
“Medeia, no!”
The moment sharp fragments as beautiful as their colors flew in all directions,
A strong force caught her waist and her body was lifted up. At the same time, she was pulled into an embrace as solid as a wall.
When Medeia stiffened in surprise, crash! Glass shards pierced sharply into the floor.
It was the spot where she had been standing just moments before.
She had nearly been pierced by glass fragments by a hair’s breadth.
The embrace that filled her vision with darkness. Arms that wouldn’t let her go as if crushing her.
From her protector rose a sharp aura of flawless protection, as if he wouldn’t tolerate even light fragments touching Medeia.
The solid chest her cheek touched rose and fell violently.
“Haa, haa…”
The other person’s ragged breathing told of the urgent situation just moments before.
A deep musk scent penetrated her nostrils.
“You really…”
A burning voice settled near her invisible ear.
“Make it impossible to take my eyes off you.”
Gone was his previous unobstructed leisure, his words cut off as if chewed and pronounced.
Medeia’s eyes widened as she lifted her head.
Blazing golden eyes were glaring at her.
Twisted lips. A sharp voice that seemed to leak through clenched teeth.
It was a raw appearance with his previously relaxed demeanor shattered.
“…First Prince?”
Her small, fumbling lips made a sound.
Why was he? How was he here? Why me?
She couldn’t find answers to any of the questions that arose.
The First Prince seemed to have no intention of answering either. His firm arms that wouldn’t relax at all conveyed a clear intention.
“Wait-“
Before Medeia could speak again, he swiftly covered something over her head.
And while holding her in his arms, he quickly left the temple.
It didn’t take long to realize that the soft fabric touching her cheek was the hem of his clothes.
The form that wrapped her like a cocoon from external stimuli was unfamiliar yet gave a strange sense of stability.
“Dea!”
Peleus strode toward her. Behind him were Neryl and the Agema.
“Are you hurt? That was almost a disaster!”
Though Peleus rarely raised his voice to his sister, this time was different.
It was horrifying to recall the moment when falling glass fragments were dropping toward Medeia.
“Why did you hesitate? You should have gotten out immediately-“
Peleus, who was uncharacteristically losing composure and pouring out urgency, stopped short.
The First Prince was still holding Medeia. Moreover, his sister’s small face was completely wrapped in his collar.
“…”
Chezare also seemed to come to his senses, as he gently set Medeia down on the ground with efficient movements.
Smoothly, the sleek fabric fell away, softly brushing against her skin.
“I apologize. The situation was urgent, so please forgive the rudeness to both of you.”
The First Prince stepped back as if it had never happened that he caught her. And he confidently requested forgiveness without a trace of servility.
Medeia felt a bit dazed.
Seeing his distorted expression just moments before felt like a dream.
“First Prince. Thank you for saving my sister.”
Peleus, who had no intention of quibbling over rudeness in an emergency situation, expressed his gratitude first.
He recalled the fragments that had been embedded where Medeia stood, by a hair’s breadth difference.
‘If it hadn’t been for this man…’
Peleus swallowed a sigh mixed with relief and anxiety.
Boom!
And at that moment, an incomparably more chilling explosive sound occurred.
‘This is the last one.’
It was the first and last explosion that Medeia had allowed, or more precisely, that the Claudio family had prepared.
People all turned their heads toward the temple where the sound came from.
They could see the interior devastated as statues exploded from the blast.
Especially the altar area, which had been directly hit by bronze fragments that were once the goddess statue’s wrist, was completely shattered like cookies.
Less than an hour ago, they had witnessed Peleus performing the Continental Conference ritual in that very place.
“If the holy water had been sprinkled just a little later…”
People shuddered.
“That really would have been a disaster!”
“What on earth is happening?”
Fortunately, people had been able to safely evacuate outside the temple before the explosion occurred.
“We were able to get out quickly because of that smoke. Otherwise, we would have been confused without understanding what was happening.”
The smoke rising from the pillars and small explosions had alerted the distinguished guests.
“Really… we’re lucky. The goddess must have protected us!”
“Could it be because Valdina is a land of protection?!”
Or perhaps it was because this Continental Conference was particularly auspicious, they said.
But the faces of the Holy Kingdom delegation who actually served the goddess were not as bright as these others.
‘Even if this is Valdina’s land, what collapsed was the goddess’s temple! Who would try to attack Her, no, our Holy Kingdom!’
Though the evil hands reaching toward the Holy Kingdom weren’t new, this was the first time they had attacked an entire temple so boldly.
A pale blue flame blazed on Baor’s face at the seriousness of the situation.
“Theo, check on the Saint.”
“…”
“Theodore. What are you staring at so absent-mindedly?”
Knight Commander Leonor grabbed Theo’s arm.
“It’s nothing. Just a moment, I’m sorry, Commander.”
“I know you’re shocked, but we’re Temple Knights. We need to stay alert especially at times like this.”
Despite his deliberately stern voice, Leonor patted Theo’s shoulder and turned toward Rachel.
“Saint, are you alright? You look pale. Were you too shocked?”
Meanwhile, Rachel was also horrified for a different reason, unable to hear Leonor’s question.
‘Didn’t they say the explosion would only target the Emperor? Why did they make it so big that we’d get caught up in it too?’
Even now, voices calling for Rachel while crying out in shock and pain from here and there were making her ears ache.
“In any case, everyone made it out safely before the explosion and there seem to be no casualties, which is truly fortunate. It doesn’t seem like a monster wave broke out either.”
It was when Leonor, having assessed the surrounding situation, spoke.
“Aaaaaargh!”
As if to contradict his words, a loud scream echoed.
“Th-this… that came from inside there, right?”
“My leeeeeg!”
The agonizing scream was so intense that one could keenly feel the pain the person was experiencing.
“Over there! There’s still someone inside!”
Someone pointed toward the interior.
“Ah! It’s true! There, can you see?”
“Someone’s trapped! They couldn’t get out!”
Hidden by the broken altar and statue, only a man’s face was barely visible above the debris. Even that was covered in blood and dust, making it difficult to recognize who it was.
Except for one person.
Except for a mother who could recognize her own child that she bore in pain under any circumstances.
“Aaaaah, Samon-!”
Catherine let out a heart-wrenching scream.
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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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