The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 208

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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 55

As Theo’s face momentarily crumbled, Leonor gave a shallow warning.

“It seems Valdina intends to cover up the engagement for the Princess’s reputation and only highlight the attempted assassination of the Emperor, so don’t go around mentioning it anywhere. Understood, Theo?”

“…Yes, Captain.”

Theo nodded at Leonor’s advice and steadied his momentarily shaken resolve.

The handsome young knight’s face soon regained its original composure.

“But still, something’s strange. They say the 1st Prince killed Jared…”

Leonor tilted his head.

As if something still bothered him, doubt showed in his slightly twisted lips.

The severed hand, stab wounds in the chest and shoulder, and marks left on the neck. After a fierce struggle, he had clearly died from a broken neck at the end. But.

“The coroner who examined the corpse said the bastard’s internal organs were burned. All of them, black as charcoal, like pieces of wood that would crumble at a touch.”

“What? All his organs were burned? Did the 1st Prince use magic or something?”

“That’s not certain either. No matter how precise flame magic is, could it leave the outside intact while burning only the inside so black?”

Moreover, those dark swordsman assassins who supposedly attacked Emperor Peleus were also suspicious.

The traces and aura they left behind were of a type never before seen on the continent.

“It was a dark, evil energy. As if it were primordial.”

But that too made no sense.

Hadn’t the primordial darkness been extinguished long ago under the goddess’s light thousands of years past?

Was it the instinct of one devoted to the goddess?

Leonor felt the need to investigate in detail how the demoted Imperial General Jared was connected to them.

“Could it possibly be… divine punishment that the goddess inflicted on him, Captain?”

Then, his Knight Subordinate spoke.

“Divine punishment?”

“Well… it appears in the old myths too, doesn’t it? The story of a villain whose entire body was burned black by transparent lightning as divine punishment from the goddess.”

“That’s just mythology. Stories from thousands of years ago that might not even be true.”

“True, you’re right. I just mentioned it on the off chance.”

At Leonor’s point, the Knight Subordinate scratched his head and nodded.

Their gaze slowly returned to the pillars rising tall in the square.

The questions that had briefly surfaced soon faded in the noisy clamor of the crowd filling the vast space.

* * *

The story of the corpses hung in the square spread like wildfire.

The Valdinians’ anger boiled over, and voices of condemnation toward Kazen could be heard beyond the palace walls.

“This is going too far, no matter what. Without any thought of coordination, you immediately let the people tear us apart and even displayed a torn flag. This is excessive humiliation.”

The Kazen Envoy protested.

“Excessive? That’s an expression to use when Kazen’s general snuck into our strait like a rat and dared to try forcing himself to become a royal consort by taking our Highness.”

Sisear spoke dryly.

Though his face showed no emotion, unlike before, it was cold enough that no room for compromise could be found.

“J-Jared was recently stripped of his 10-star general position. We truly didn’t expect this either, and how he got here is completely-“

The envoy too found the process and results of this incident merely bewildering and shocking.

Jared did the kidnapping, and then the 1st Prince killed him. What on earth was going on?

“Truly pleasant excuses to hear. Is that so?”

Then crack, the quill shaft in Sisear’s hand snapped.

At that murderous sound, the envoy flinched in surprise and hunched his shoulders.

“You didn’t know the traces of a 10-star general… That makes it all the more convenient. Enough to wonder if Kazen’s Emperor deliberately aimed for this and demoted him.”

“Prime Minister, be careful with your words!”

“I simply cannot keep up with your cunning schemes. Just when I assume the worst, you show me an even worse worst. Is this too an arrangement by the master you serve?”

The envoy’s face reddened with humiliation.

Immediately after the incident, 1st Prince Chezare and Duke Jason were sent back to Kazen.

Since both were royalty and the matter was grave, the Head Servant accompanied them.

This meant that among the remaining envoys, there was no one capable of properly grasping the current situation and negotiating with Valdina.

At the same time, there was also no one present who could keenly perceive the changes and flow of Valdina, which had transformed from the former weak nation that once bowed before Kazen.

“Jared isn’t even an Imperial citizen, strictly speaking. Our Majesty employs capable and talented individuals regardless of status, so he was lucky to gain a Kazen title. So it’s inappropriate to see this entire matter as our responsibility.”

The envoy’s voice now carried anger. It was the height of shameless behavior.

“Moreover, our 1st Prince personally dealt with that villain Jared anyway. What he did ultimately ended as an attempt, and Princess is safe too.”

There was arrogance mixed in, essentially asking what they could possibly do about it.

“Even so, our Empire felt deep responsibility and tried to provide appropriate compensation. But for Valdina to insult His Majesty’s dignity like this.”

The Kazen envoy crossed his arms.

Growing confidence filled his chest as he spoke.

Yes, no matter how much Valdina had developed, it still wasn’t enough to completely shake off the burden of being a new empire.

“You’re not thinking of going to war. Don’t forget that Valdina too must find a compromise at the appropriate time.”

“A compromise?”

Sisear snorted.

“Do you think such a thing exists?”

“Then you truly want to go all the way? You know better than anyone that this brings more loss than gain for us-“

CRASH-!

Then, a loud crash silenced the envoy.

“Wh-what?”

The envoys looked around with confused faces. They soon spotted Diangel bursting through the door.

Behind him, armed Agema were boldly stepping into the envoy’s quarters.

In his hands, radiating menacing killing intent, was a deadly hammer.

BANG-!

Diangel strode forward, placed a large piece of timber against the quarters’ door, and roughly hammered it.

BANG-! BANG!

With successive thunderous blows, the envoy’s quarters were instantly sealed.

“Wh-what is this…”

“You cannot take a single step out of here now. Nor will you be able to return to the Empire.”

“You mean to take us hostage?! How dare you detain Kazen’s high-ranking envoys!”

The envoy’s face turned pale.

“Oh, do you think this is the end?”

Sisear pointed out the window.

There, armed Agema filled the space in front of the palace.

“Our Majesty departed for the Central Trade Route this morning. Those are the rear guard.”

The Central Trade Route was Kazen’s trade route located in the continent’s center, a key location for east-west material movement across the continent.

Connected to various cities and agricultural centers within the continent, it was also a pathway for essential resources like grain and iron, as well as various commercial goods.

King Peleus of Valdina taking the Agema meant he intended to block that stronghold and strangle Kazen’s lifeline.

“Th-that can’t be. The Central Trade Route, how could you reach there-“

“You underestimate the mobility of the Agema who roamed the plains for 10 years. Soon, when all materials heading to Kazen through the Central Trade Route are blocked, it will be the most certain message to your Emperor.”

“You people… do you truly mean to wage war against us? Are you confident you can handle it?”

Sisear asked back.

“Then did you move without such confidence yourselves?”

“I keep telling you we didn’t move…!”

The envoy felt like he would go mad with injustice.

Originally, this matter wasn’t Perdickas II’s order but Jared’s solo independent act.

However, the bastard had died just like that, and dealing with the aftermath had become their responsibility.

Against this Valdina that seemed blinded by rage.

The Kazen Envoy glared at him with a disgusted expression.

“…It’s a fight that leaves only losses for both sides. Moreover, Valdina currently lacks the capacity to face Kazen. Sisear, you can’t possibly not know that.”

Sisear spat out a sneer.

“Sometimes you must move even when you know. Like when you need to bite and tear the throat of a mad dog that’s snuck into your home to drive it out.”

Sisear’s cold voice echoed through the room.

“Gladly, so they won’t even dare to set foot here again.”

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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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