The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 269

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Part 2, Chapter 116

* * *

Valdina Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace was bustling with wedding preparations.

With the Queen Mother’s passing, only Peleus and Medeia remained as the royal family members currently in Valdina.

Since there was no royal woman to oversee the Princess’s wedding, the Valdinians moved even more cautiously to avoid any mistakes.

“Put that over there, and load that into the chest! Make sure to waterproof everything so nothing gets damaged.”

Lady Pinatelli, the Imperial Maid Supervisor who was sternly directing the palace servants, felt heavy-hearted.

“I can’t help but worry whether Her Highness, still so young, will be able to manage well in that foreign land of Kazen…”

“Please don’t worry too much. Since Her Highness’s husband-to-be cherishes our Princess so much, it should be fine.”

The elderly maids said this while looking at the mountain of gifts from the 1st Prince.

“Even though his father, Emperor Kazen, opposes it, the 1st Prince shows no signs of backing down. The 1st Prince’s faction is handling all of Kazen’s royal correspondence entirely on their own.”

Regardless of social status, marriage was the same everywhere.

When a husband became a strong pillar of support, one wouldn’t easily be shaken by any storm.

But if it were the opposite, they knew from life experience that even the most solid city walls would crumble from the foundation.

While Valdina’s palace attendants were busy preparing the Princess’s wedding,

the Princess’s palace was absorbed in an entirely different matter.

“Your Highness… A letter has arrived.”

Saya quietly approached Medeia.

From her unusually hesitant demeanor, Medeia could immediately guess the sender.

“Is it from Theo?”

Saya nodded.

A few days before Medeia’s party left the Holy Kingdom, an unexpected visitor came to see Medeia.

It was Theo.

The handsome young Holy Knight appeared more mature than before.

“Your Highness… I have something to tell you.”

Facing Medeia, he hesitated for a long while before speaking in a trembling voice.

“I’m sorry, but I no longer have the energy to prove anything more to those who cry out for faith. Please leave.”

Medeia issued an order to leave with the same indifferent expression as always.

Theo bit his lip.

Every word the Princess of Valdina threw at him seemed to pierce his heart coldly.

“…You know it too, don’t you.”

“Know what?”

“You felt it, didn’t you. I know. You were the only one who recognized her wickedness.”

Medeia paused.

“Are you talking about your Saint?”

“That woman is not my Saint.”

Theo’s answer was as swift and clear as a blade.

Even he was momentarily flustered by his own unwavering certainty.

‘It feels like I should say that.’

This irresistible feeling of his body moving before his mind was still captivating Theo.

If he hadn’t held onto his reason, the moment he faced the Princess of Valdina, he might have knelt at her feet and shown her reverence.

No, it felt like he absolutely had to do so.

Like a stray dog finally meeting its true master, awe and affection surged from his chest.

‘These aren’t my emotions.’

Even in the confusion where reason and emotion moved separately, Theo knew exactly what the problem was.

“I want to uncover the truth about the Saint.”

What Theo held out was a small fox-shaped badge.

“Recently, a young awakened priest who was close to Saint Rachel disappeared. No one is looking for him.”

“It’s strange, Brother Noah disappeared. After meeting the Saint. Sob… No one will listen to me, Sir Knight. Sob…”

The young priest who had barely escaped danger when Rachel fabricated the false oracle had last sought out Theo.

“I believed that when the Saint appeared, the Holy Kingdom would regain justice and the world would be saved. But what is reality?”

Theo continued.

“The Holy Kingdom has become more tyrannical, monster waves are growing stronger, and dark, ominous energy is spreading through the temple instead of holiness.”

“…”

“I don’t think that’s a coincidence. And you must feel it too. Whether the Saint we believe in… is really a ‘Saint.'”

Medeia shattered Theo’s expectations with an indifferent voice.

“How would I know that? Don’t you think you’re asking the wrong person? You should seek out His Holiness the Pope or the High Priest.”

“Didn’t you see anything? Am I the only one who felt their ugliness?”

Theo’s eyes reddened.

His voice was filled with despair as if even his last bastion of faith had crumbled.

“I just escaped the shackles of being a sacrifice, and now I don’t want to bear the stigma of being a wicked woman who has bewitched even a Holy Knight.”

Medeia passed by him indifferently.

“I don’t conspire with anyone who lacks the courage to verify the truth of the justice they themselves proclaimed.”

Theo, struck at his weak spot, couldn’t say anything and hung his head.

It was when he staggered and nearly collapsed, disappearing from sight.

“This… belongs to Noah.”

Kensington approached Medeia.

“The subordinate you sent to the Holy Kingdom?”

She pointed to the fox badge Theo had left behind.

The dried dark red blood on the badge was an ominous color. Kensington’s face hardened.

“Yes. I was wondering why communication had been cut off, but in the end…”

She wore a sorrowful expression.

“What about investigating Rachel?”

“I apologize, Your Highness. We haven’t found any significant clues yet. It seems only that Holy Knight, Theo, saw something different.”

If only he had discovered the Saint’s strangeness that even keen spies couldn’t detect.

“That might be so.”

“Your Highness, if Rachel really isn’t a Saint, what reason would she have to sacrifice priests?”

Kensington asked curiously.

“Well. We’ll know the answer soon enough.”

Medeia shrugged and glanced toward where Theo had been.

“It seems he realized it on his own this time.”

Theo, the strategist of the rebels.

Even if he took the wrong first step, once he recognized that deviation, he was sharper than anyone at uncovering the truth.

Just as he had uncovered the reality of the rebels.

And not long after, Theo contacted them through Saya like this.

[Saya. I witnessed Saint Rachel brainwashing attending priests to make them into slaves. It appears to be black magic.]

The letter written on parchment was clearly hastily scrawled, perhaps to avoid the Saint’s eyes.

[This could endanger the continent. If you can forgive my foolishness, please convey this fact to the Princess.]

“Black magic…”

Rachel uses black magic?

Medeia’s index finger tapped on the table.

Black mages, who based their power on primordial darkness, stood in opposition to the Holy Kingdom that supported the goddess who tried to eliminate that darkness.

To think the Saint the continent had longed for was actually a black mage. This was enough to turn the Holy Kingdom upside down.

‘So Rachel’s holy power might be fake.’

Indeed, even in her previous life, Rachel had only demonstrated complete holy power when she first appeared on this continent as a Saint.

After that, when Rachel became Kazen’s Empress, she left the Holy Kingdom entirely and rarely used holy power.

The frequent monster waves. Holy power displayed only at convenient timing.

Moreover, the black light that Medeia had seen with her own eyes flickering from Rachel’s body…

“If the source was actually black magic, everything would fall into place.”

Medeia’s eyes gleamed sharply.

* * *

Princess Medeia’s palace in Valdina.

“Priest Anastasia, should I place this here?”

Chief Priest Anastasia, following the Pope’s orders, had accompanied Medeia’s party all the way to Valdina.

She was now helping the Palace Attendants move the consecrated artifacts that had arrived as ceremonial gifts.

“No, you mustn’t touch that seal. The consecration will become incomplete, so it’s better to move the entire box—”

Just then, a shadow fell over her head, and Anastasia looked up. It was Princess Medeia.

“Priest Anastasia.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it had gotten so late…”

She had also been assigned the task of teaching Medeia the Temple’s doctrines.

It was a mandatory custom for any royal who would perform ceremonies at the Central Temple, the core of the Old Church.

“No, you said we’d skip today’s lesson. I have something I’d like to ask you privately.”

“Something to ask… me?”

Anastasia looked puzzled.

This beautiful Princess had remained consistently calm from their journey together from the Holy Kingdom until their arrival in Valdina.

This was the first time she had asked something on her own initiative.

“Please ask me anything.”

Since the person she served was favorably disposed toward the Princess anyway, Anastasia was prepared to answer anything within reason.

“Among the Temple’s sacred relics, is there something that can detect traces of evil?”

The Princess added quietly.

“Such as black magic, for instance.”

“Did you say black magic?”

Anastasia tilted her head.

‘She’s curious about black magic, which has all but disappeared from the continent?’

Then again, wasn’t this the Princess who had hunted the sacrifice herself instead of following the oracle? Her interests would naturally be different.

“Hmm… Among the sacred relics in the Central Temple… there would be the Chalice of Sacred Oath…”

The Chalice of Sacred Oath was a pair of chalices, one made of gold and one of silver, where gold symbolized the male god’s protection and silver represented the goddess’s life force.

The meaning was to form a sacred bond by dividing holy water between the chalices and drinking from them.

“It’s a sacred relic personally blessed by the Goddess, so if someone contaminated by black magic touches it, that filth cannot be hidden and remains visible.”

Being the Pope’s right hand, she was well-versed in the affairs of the Temple’s deepest secrets that ordinary priests knew little about.

“Ah. And there’s also the Mirror of Origin.”

Anastasia, who had been frowning as if searching her memory, clapped her hands together.

“It’s a sacred relic kept in the Mirror Chamber that reflects the true essence of anything. Whether wearing a mask or a hood… it reveals everything. That’s how our Temple Knights used this relic to catch spies who had infiltrated the Holy Kingdom during the holy war.”

“Are both sacred relics still effective?”

“Of course they’re effective. However, since it’s been so long since the holy war, they’re rarely used now, so aside from elderly priests, few remember them.”

And Anastasia added proudly.

“Moreover, the current Holy Kingdom has become incomparably stronger than during the holy war, so it’s not a place where evil ones can easily infiltrate.”

“…”

Medeia didn’t bother to shatter that belief.

“But Princess, why do you ask about this…?”

“Ah. There’s something I’d like to request for the wedding preparations.”

Medeia bit her lip as if hesitating for a moment. She clearly showed signs of uncertainty.

“However, I’m not sure if this would cause even greater trouble on top of the kindness His Holiness has already shown…”

“Not at all, His Holiness instructed us to reflect Your Highness’s wishes as much as possible!”

Anastasia waved her hands.

While there were many who became arrogant backed by the Pope’s authority, this Princess remained consistently humble and prudent.

It was perhaps natural for one who served God to feel favorable toward such a person.

A strange light flickered in Medeia’s green eyes.

‘Shall I test you once, Rachel?’

Whether what has sustained you all this time is truly divine power.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————