The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 28
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 28
The reports Lady Pinatelli had brought were scattered everywhere.
The angry Queen Mother had thrown and scattered the documents.
“Embezzling the palace’s assets to fill her own belly? How dare she lay hands on Medeia’s things—she’s lost her mind!”
“Yes, Your Majesty. She even replaced all the personal items the Princess uses with inferior goods and falsified the documents.”
Lady Pinatelli added.
“The maids from the Princess’s Palace who were executed before were also accomplices who aided in the embezzlement under Lady Quizin’s orders.”
The dead could not speak, so they were completely transformed into Lady Quizin’s minions.
She had certainly planted some spies, so it wasn’t entirely fabricated.
By appropriately mixing truth and lies, a natural plausibility was created that supported Lady Quizin’s corruption.
“Ha! What audacity. Her guts have completely spilled out of her belly!”
“The Princess’s Palace is the most neglected place in the Royal Palace, so she thought no one would pay attention.”
“How could such a cunning and vile woman be the Mistress of Maids?”
Moreover, what made the Queen Mother most furious was,
“How dare she use me to try to cast out Medeia? Has her mind spilled out of her belly?!”
No matter how cold I may be, would I cast out my own granddaughter with my own hands!
The Queen Mother trembled with rage, as if forgetting the harsh words she had poured on Medeia.
‘The second prince said Quizin plotted this because he would cast me out.’
She recalled the words spoken that day by the maid who had betrayed her granddaughter. If the very person who had installed and removed Lady Quizin as Mistress of Maids was her own son,
‘Did Quizin really commit all this corruption alone?’
Just then, the maid assigned to watch Medeia came running.
“Your, Your Highness the Princess has collapsed!”
* * *
The Queen Mother, who had rushed over in haste, examined her unconscious granddaughter.
“She was already collapsed when we arrived.”
The Princess, hastily moved into the chapel, was completely pale.
“Why was she discovered so late? Didn’t anyone know her condition was like this?”
“Your Majesty the Queen Mother ordered that no one should approach her…”
The maid answered hesitantly.
The Queen Mother was shocked by her granddaughter’s condition, which was much worse than what she had only heard in reports.
She endured five days wearing just one thin dress?
“Why are her lips all cracked? You should have given her medicine to apply.”
“But, but Your Majesty ordered us to absolutely not give her even a drop of water…”
“Since when have you followed my words like they were worth their weight in gold! Don’t you have any sense!”
The Queen Mother fumed. She was furious at the senseless servants.
She also glanced briefly at the collapsed Medeia.
“That stubborn little wench. She’s trying to torment this old woman. Isn’t that right?”
“Pardon? Yes…”
“Yes what! How dare you!”
The Queen Mother seemed to just want to vent her anger. The maids didn’t know what to do.
“What are you all doing? The Princess has collapsed—are you going to make her spend the night on this cold floor?”
“Pardon? Then, then…”
“Move her to the palace! You, go fetch the court physician!”
“Yes, yes!”
Hadn’t she just been scolding the collapsed Princess moments ago?
The maid was bewildered by the Queen Mother’s unpredictable reaction.
Lady Pinatelli would have read her intentions, but she was away from her post at the moment.
At the frost-like scolding, the maids lifted the Princess and carried her on their backs. The Princess still hadn’t regained consciousness.
“To the Princess’s Palace!”
A pale hand dropped limply.
The Queen Mother’s face turned deathly pale.
For a moment, she recalled the time she had identified her son’s corpse.
That terrible memory of touching her son, who had lost all vitality and hardened like a block.
“Medeia!”
She quickly turned her granddaughter over. Only after confirming the faint breathing did she let the maid carry her again.
Late at night. The Princess’s Palace was in commotion.
Partly because the Princess, who had been punished in front of the chapel, was brought in collapsed,
But more importantly, because the Queen Mother, who rarely moved about, had made a visit.
“We, we greet Your Majesty the Queen Mother. Infinite glo, glory with the light of Valdina—”
“Enough, just properly serve your master.”
The Queen Mother frowned.
The Princess’s Palace was filled with cold air.
No matter how secluded the evening, it had a desolate feeling as if no one lived there.
The young faces that seemed inexperienced in palace etiquette were displeasing.
Why were such riffraff swarming around the Princess?
“The original girls caused problems, so the former Maid Supervisor sent them all away. They were replaced with girls who had just entered the palace.”
Lady Quizin, who had returned, whispered.
“Quizin, that shameless woman caused trouble to the very end.”
The Queen Mother frowned as she looked around the palace.
“I express gratitude for Your Majesty’s generosity. Her Highness the Princess will not forget this grace either.”
“Be quiet. Did you think I didn’t know you were also trying to sweet-talk this old woman?”
When Lady Pinatelli smiled gently, the Queen Mother snapped, asking if she thought she didn’t know the inside story of why she had been bringing news of the Princess so diligently.
“Your Majesty, please forgive me. Perhaps because I’ve grown old, my heart has grown weak for no reason.”
Just then, a maid who had been coming out with a wet towel spotted the Queen Mother and stepped aside.
“I greet Your Majesty the Queen Mother.”
“…”
Through the slightly open door, the bedroom curtains were visible.
Lady Pinatelli noticed that the Queen Mother’s attention was constantly drawn toward the bedroom where Medeia would be lying.
Click. The lady quietly moved toward the bedroom and opened the door.
The Queen Mother stepped inside as if entranced.
The lady hid her smiling face and lowered her eyes.
* * *
Inside the Princess’s bedroom, it was slightly warm.
Not because firewood had been burned to heat the room, but because of the feverish, labored breathing.
“That’s enough.”
The maid standing by the bed spotted the Queen Mother and tried to wake Medeia.
The Queen Mother waved her hand.
It was an order for everyone to leave. Lady Pinatelli led the maids inside out.
Click. The door closed.
The Queen Mother silently looked around the bedroom.
This was her first time visiting both the Princess’s Palace and Medeia.
However, the peeling paint and crude decorations everywhere were an eyesore.
“Even though she’s the King’s only sister…”
How could the room of this country’s only Princess be in such a state?
Even the sheets Medeia was lying on were rough.
They weren’t the lowest quality, but they weren’t high-quality goods worthy of royalty either.
“Mmm…”
“…Are you coming to your senses?”
Just then, Medeia opened her eyes, burning with fever. Seeing the Queen Mother standing beside her, she muttered dazedly.
“Fa…ther…?”
And she stretched out her trembling arms to tightly grasp the Queen Mother’s sleeves.
Despite having no strength, she gripped so tightly that the veins on the back of her hands stood out, yet she wouldn’t let go.
“Hehe. I look exactly like mother, so when you miss mother in the future, you can just look at my face.”
The Queen Mother and Medeia’s father looked exactly alike.
At one time, her husband had been disappointed that she was the spitting image of her mother.
So it wasn’t unreasonable for the feverish Medeia to be confused.
“Wh-what nonsense are you talking.”
The Queen Mother was flustered and tried to shake off her arm, but suddenly stopped.
She had spotted an old pendant placed beside the bed. Its shape looked strangely familiar.
Click. Inside the opened pendant,
“Johann…”
Was a portrait of her eldest son.
It had been touched so much that the colors of the portrait had faded from wear.
After alternately looking down at the pendant and her feverish granddaughter for a moment, the Queen Mother turned her head and stood up.
“Your Majesty.”
When the Queen Mother came out, everyone rose in unison as if they had been waiting.
“Princess’s fever won’t break. What should we do?”
The sound of the maids chattering could be heard. The Queen Mother frowned.
“Is the Court Physician still not here? Why is it taking so long?”
“Well, that’s… Ah, here he comes.”
Just then, the maid who had gone to fetch the Court Physician returned. However, she came back empty-handed and alone.
“Y-Your Majesty the Queen Mother. I behold the infinite light of Valdina-“
“Enough. Where is the Court Physician that you come alone?”
The Queen Mother waved her hand to dismiss the formalities and asked directly.
It was strange. The Court Physician’s Infirmary, which was stationed in the palace in real-time, wasn’t that far from the Princess’s Palace.
“He said he’s busy right now and can’t come, but he’ll come as soon as he finishes his examination, so he told me to go ahead first.”
“How could that be? Didn’t you properly explain the Princess’s condition?”
“I did! I repeatedly told him that Princess Medeia had collapsed and her fever was like a fireball, so please come quickly…”
The maid protested as if wronged.
“…But he said he couldn’t come right now because he had to treat Princess Claudio’s wound…”
“Virna? Where and how and how badly was she injured?”
The Queen Mother reacted sensitively to the news that her beloved younger granddaughter was hurt.
If it was serious enough that he couldn’t come for an examination right away, it must be no small matter.
“Well…”
The maid answered hesitantly.
With an expression that showed she wasn’t sure if she should say this.
“Sh-she cut her hand while opening an invitation.”
“What did you say?”
The Queen Mother asked back, as if she couldn’t believe it.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————