The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 280

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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 127

“Medeia, there’s something you need to know first.”

Chezare suppressed his emotions and calmly changed the subject.

He hoped Medeia wouldn’t feel anxious.

He hoped she wouldn’t feel like her weakness had been exposed, nor perceive him as an enemy she needed to prepare countermeasures against.

“Saint. Representative of the Goddess. Or the Child of Prophecy. Do any of these sound familiar?”

“What?”

“If you didn’t know before, you need to know from now on. They all refer to you, Medeia.”

Since she was already on the board, not knowing who she was would only lead to defeat.

“What are you talking about?”

At Chezare’s words, Medeia paused and quietly fixed her gaze on him.

“Do you know about the Shadeia Tribe?”

Shadeia.

At the familiar word, she unconsciously touched her necklace.

It was something the Old Woman from the Swamp Village of Tamsik had given her.

“The Shadeia Tribe were the first humans to convey the will of the gods for generations. Among them, the Shaman was called a prophet and representative of the gods. Eventually, they disappeared after being persecuted by the Holy Kingdom and wiped out by disasters.”

Also, Chezare had extracted one of the Attending Priests today.

Coincidentally, it was the Disciple of the Central Hall of the Golden Tower who had once healed Samon’s lost leg and served Rachel’s commands from closest to her side.

That’s how he learned.

“To resurrect the Primordial Darkness, they first had to bring down the Shadeia people chosen by the Goddess.”

Medeia was stunned.

“So that’s why…”

Rachel’s actions from her past life, when she had targeted everything of Medeia’s, clicked together like the teeth of gears.

“So that’s why she tried to take everything.”

My achievements, my husband, even my child – everything.

Her feeling of being robbed hadn’t been just her own delusion.

“Chezare, how do you know about Shadeia?”

“The one who told me about Lakru of the Dawn was a Shaman of Shadeia. It was the only way to break the curse.”

‘That curse too… was it all planned…?’

Medeia drew in a breath.

She knows.

How much Chezare, the 1st Prince of Kazen, had struggled to survive and climb to this position.

At the end of all that desperation,

The fact that even he had ultimately been swept up in the Black Mages’ grand scheme and met his end with a death sentence made a corner of her heart ache.

Was this because Medeia too had been consumed as fuel to light the flames of others’ ambitions, creating a strange sense of kinship?

“…Do you believe what the Black Mages told you?”

Tears that couldn’t be contained in her wet eyes flowed down.

Chezare quietly wiped them away.

“There’s no reason not to believe it.”

A nonchalant tone. A monotone, low voice.

Listening to his words made the tremendous events of tonight seem like nothing at all.

Medeia’s eyes shifted slightly.

‘What I saw earlier too.’

Could it have been part of the past that the Child of Prophecy sees?

Medeia clenched her fist.

“What you saw today too?”

For a moment, Chezare, caught off guard, hesitated.

“Can you really believe that I lived through one life and came back?”

He quietly murmured.

“Yes.”

“…”

“Medeia, what you saw might be an ability possessed by the Child of Prophecy. They say the representative of the primordial was powerful enough to encompass reality, future, and past.”

Chezare lightly touched the necklace hanging around Medeia’s neck.

While she had been unconscious, the necklace had been glowing continuously.

“Good, then this will be easy to explain. You’ll be able to understand.”

Medeia forced the corners of her mouth upward.

“Why I can’t accept you.”

Being blinded by love and strangling family members was enough to happen once.

“I can’t repeat it again. So you should give up too. As I promised, I’ll fulfill the responsibilities this marriage requires. But as for emotions-“

However, Medeia couldn’t continue her words as arms quietly pulled her into an embrace.

The embrace was broad and solid, just like in the vision.

When she buried her head, the world seemed to grow distant, and it felt like she could easily hide herself from the dangers targeting her.

‘Like before…’

She carelessly thought how nice it would be if he held her crushingly tight with all his strength.

“Medeia.”

Then, a low voice resonated.

“You don’t have to love me.”

Chezare looked down at the green eyes that looked up at him with a start.

The delicate body that had shrunk as if trying to escape didn’t even fill his embrace.

“I’ll do that part.”

How had she been bearing the weight of all these memories on those shoulders?

‘Had she said she would definitely survive?’

That had been his complete arrogance.

On the trajectory of stars that Medeia had changed, he had merely existed.

“I’ll make you Emperor.”

Chezare now understands the meaning of the promise Medeia had made.

What a huge gamble it must have been for her.

How much worry and fear she must have endured before extending her hand to him, after being thoroughly betrayed by Jason.

“Dea, just stay here. By my side.”

He can now fully understand that this unbreakable, solid wall is something Medeia built to protect herself.

So he doesn’t feel impatient.

“I’ll fill in the affection and longing,”

“…”

“And I’ll repay all your unfinished grudges, every single tear you shed.”

Heat and cold alternated and mixed together.

“You don’t have to do anything.”

Whether it came from his eyes looking at her, from his whispering voice,

Or from the small kisses scattered along her jawline, Medeia couldn’t tell.

“Don’t try so hard. Just give me a chance to prove myself, give it only to me. Dea.”

His voice was hoarse as he pressed his lips to her temple.

Without realizing it, tears flowed down her cheeks.

“I…”

Medeia raised her gaze.

The decorations arranged in the room caught her eye carelessly.

The sweet fragrance reaching her nose, the brilliant candlelight and blooming roses.

Only then did Medeia realize that today was their wedding night.

Noticing Medeia’s body stiffening, Chezare gently stroked her back.

“Don’t worry. When you accept me, that will be our first time.”

I’ll continue to be here. I’ll keep knocking on your door, bringing you gifts, trying to see your smile.

And someday, if you come to miss me too, then open the door for me.

I’ll keep waiting for you here.

* * *

Central Temple, the Pope’s Office.

“Did something happen last night?”

“Why?”

“Just, the atmosphere feels strange. Oddly chaotic. The Temple Knights are all on edge too…”

The wedding guests could feel the subtly unsettled atmosphere of the Holy Kingdom that had changed in just one day.

“Since we came all this way, we wanted to see His Holiness, or at least a High Priest to receive blessings, but they’re not allowing any audiences at all.”

“And telling us to leave the temple so urgently like this, when the joyful reception atmosphere from yesterday hasn’t even faded yet, it feels like we’re being driven out.”

“You must have eaten too much of the World Tree fruit to lose your senses, but this is the Holy Kingdom. The Central Temple, no less. Having enjoyed human celebrations in the sacred temple for a day should be enough. They probably need to return it to a place of prayer.”

At the point when even these grumbling people were leaving the Holy Kingdom one by one,

Pope Benedict pressed his throbbing head.

Since last night, the nights at the Central Temple had passed both chaotically and eerily quiet.

The High Priests still couldn’t escape the shock of the revealed truth, and the Temple Knights were busy searching the temple for traces and connections of the fake Saint.

“Your Holiness. His Majesty the Emperor and Her Highness the Princess of Valdina, and the 1st Prince of Kazen have arrived.”

However, while refusing all other visits, these guests absolutely had to be met.

Even the fact that the Princess of Valdina was the real Saint they had been searching for had to be set aside for now—

Because there was a problem that needed to be resolved, yet was too shameful to even speak of.

“Please, I implore you. Allow this old man to humbly and earnestly request that we be permitted to personally oversee the execution of the criminal Rachel.”

“…”

The Holy Kingdom had no choice.

Rachel’s existence, and her disposal, had to be kept strictly confidential.

It wasn’t enough that a Black Mage had infiltrated the Central Temple, the sacred ground of the old faith,

If it became known that she had brazenly risen to the position of Saint and strutted around the temple, the already shaking faith of the continent would surely crumble like autumn leaves in the wind.

“Does the Holy Kingdom have no shame? Do you still think you’re qualified to speak of God?”

When Diangel shouted as if incredulous, the priests couldn’t lift their heads in shame.

Then, the Pope bowed his waist.

“I know this is an presumptuous request to make of Your Highness, who is the victim. However, as one who leads the old faith, this disgrace must be corrected by our own hands. We cannot allow the Goddess’s name to be mocked any longer by wicked hands.”

“…”

“So please, I beg you. Just this once, give the Holy Kingdom a chance to pay for its sins.”

The Pope with his bent waist looked pitiful.

Medeia recalled the kindness this old man had shown her when she received the Evil Dragon’s oracle.

Medeia answered calmly.

“Let it be as Your Holiness says. However, I have a request to make as well.”

“Please speak. This old man will do his best within his capabilities.”

“I ask that you do not reveal the existence of a new Saint to the continent. I desire neither the treatment nor the handling that comes with being a Saint.”

At this, the High Priests beside the Pope, who had been in a daze, suddenly stood up.

“Wh-why? Your Highness, now that the Holy Kingdom has finally found the real Saint…”

“How can you not wish to reveal the sacred position bestowed by the Goddess!”

“Wasn’t that Saint title the very thing you sought to find while persecuting the Shadeia tribe?”

At Medeia’s point, the High Priests were flustered but couldn’t easily give up.

“B-but… even so, the Saint we’ve waited so long for…”

“Were you this persistent when you tried to sacrifice that ‘Saint’ as an offering?”

Thud—!

Then, they flinched at the rough thunderous sound.

‘How did he…’

Seeing the stone chair the 1st Prince had kicked fly lightly like a wooden chair and roll across the floor, they trembled.

“Does the Goddess’s will even exist in the first place? Then why did the oracle target the real Saint?”

At the 1st Prince’s sharp question, the High Priests were left speechless.

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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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