The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 29
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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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Chapter 29
“Right now, you’re telling me that the court physician refused the Princess’s summons just to treat a mere paper cut?”
The maid realized there was something wrong with her answer upon seeing the Queen Mother’s expression turn cold in an instant.
“…I have committed a mortal sin. Please forgive me.”
In fear, she quickly bowed her head and begged for forgiveness.
However, the Queen Mother’s face had become even more menacing.
“You will return to the court physician immediately. Don’t mention that I am here, and tell him the Princess’s condition is critical and urgent. If you fail to bring him, know that you will be expelled from the palace. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes!”
Terrified by the sharp threat, the maid nodded and hurried back in a panic.
Watching the frantically running figure disappear, the Queen Mother suppressed her rising anger.
“What kind of absurdity is this… How exactly is this palace being run?”
Her wrinkled hands were trembling with rage.
“…Your Majesty, please calm your anger. It will harm your frail body.”
“A mere physician without even a title dares to ignore a royal summons?”
Of course, as a court physician, he would have wanted to curry favor with the Regent’s daughter rather than the despised Princess.
The Queen Mother frowned.
“There must be a reason why he prioritizes Princess Claudia over Her Highness the Princess.”
Lady Pinatelli pointed out in a calm voice.
The Queen Mother also understood the human nature of bowing to the strong and being cruel to the weak.
But even so, she hadn’t expected that even the humble servants attending the royal family would dare to disregard Medeia.
‘If it’s like this even with the King’s seal, if I truly took the seal away from Medeia…’
She could envision the miserable future her granddaughter would face. The Queen Mother sighed.
“The end times, truly the end times.”
How much time had passed?
There was commotion outside the bedroom door. It seemed the awaited person had finally arrived.
Before the Queen Mother could adjust her appearance and settle properly in her seat, the bedroom door burst open.
“Damn it, I’m here. Happy now? Where’s the Princess?”
His footsteps were so disgruntled that they sounded thoroughly unruly. The medical bag in his hand was also quite modest.
“Why all this fuss over a fainting spell? Isn’t this the first or second time the Princess has collapsed? She’s got a tenacious grip on life, so she’ll stubbornly get back up. Did you really have to drag me here right now?”
He seemed to have no intention of carefully examining the patient from the start.
The court physician walked into the bedroom.
“She’s lying there just fine! It’s not like her life is hanging by a thread! Damn it, if I fall out of favor with Princess Claudia, will you people take responsibility?”
He was so busy venting his irritation at the sight of Medeia lying there that he failed to notice the shadow cast beneath the curtains.
The court physician roughly turned his head and carelessly set down his medical bag.
Even upon reflection, his resentment at being forcibly dragged here while leaving Claudio behind seemed unabated.
“Do you know how foul-tempered the Princess is? She gave me hell for leaving her to come to the Princess.”
The shadow moved.
And finally pushed aside the curtains to reveal itself.
“Whether it’s currying favor or whatever, all this over one worthless—”
The court physician’s mouth, which had been spewing complaints, froze in place. Soon his eyes widened in shock.
“Th-the Queen Mother, Your Majesty, why…”
Why here? Why there? Why now?
None of the questions arising in his mind could find answers.
‘Oh no.’
Before that, he recalled what he had been saying. His face turned deathly pale in an instant.
“Y-Your Majesty… Please kill me.”
The court physician threw down his medical bag and everything else, quickly kneeling before the Queen Mother.
“You want to die, so I should kill you.”
But the Queen Mother’s expression was cold as ice.
“What are you doing? Take him away. Since he seems so tired of his work as court physician, I’ll grant his wish.”
“Y-Your Majesty! Please forgive me! I wasn’t in my right mind!”
The court physician bowed his head and begged desperately.
The Queen Mother glanced at him coldly.
“Throw that wretch out. Not only will he be dismissed from his physician position for disloyalty to the royal family, but the moment he leaves the Royal Palace, ensure that he and his clan can never enter the capital again for the rest of their lives. Never again shall he swagger about calling himself a court physician.”
“Anything but that! Please just execute me instead. Queen Mother, please, have mercy!”
“What are you doing?”
Knights entered and seized the court physician’s arms.
“Queen Mother, Your Majesty!”
“Silence. If you dare raise your voice again, I’ll have your mouth permanently sealed.”
The Queen Mother warned coldly.
Lady Pinatelli stuffed a white handkerchief into the court physician’s mouth.
“Kween Muffer! Mmph! Pwease forgib me!”
The Queen Mother turned away without even glancing at the court physician being dragged out.
“Pinatelli, has Lord Hertoss not arrived yet?”
Hertoss was the Queen Mother’s personal physician, a man of such excellent medical skills that he had even received a noble title.
“Yes, Your Majesty. He said he would pack immediately and depart, so he should arrive soon.”
The Queen Mother cherished Hertoss so much that she wouldn’t allow anyone else to treat her.
Even the people of House Claudio dared not summon Hertoss.
Having her cherished personal physician treat the Princess was tantamount to expressing that the Queen Mother cared for her as a granddaughter.
Soon, Hertoss, who knew well the Queen Mother’s impatient nature, arrived at the Princess’s Palace as if flying by carriage.
He skillfully examined the Princess’s pulse.
His careful touch showed not the slightest trace of disrespect toward the royal family’s despised Princess.
“How is she?”
To the Queen Mother’s anxious question, Hertoss shook his head.
“It’s not good. Her mind and body are as worn down as Your Majesty’s. Not just her body, but I don’t know how she endured five days in such excessive tension and panic. These symptoms are usually only seen in soldiers returning from long periods on the battlefield. How could such a young Princess…”
“…”
“Your Majesty. Though it may be presumptuous, at this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising if the goddess called for Her Highness the Princess at any time.”
“Nonsense! You must restore this child to her original state.”
Faded blue eyes gazed at the Queen Mother.
“To her original state? Which time do you mean?”
Before the Princess was punished?
Or before the funeral when the Queen Mother had raged at her young granddaughter?
Or perhaps,
When the late King and Queen were still alive?
“…”
The Queen Mother fell silent.
Because she knew none of it was possible.
“Grandmother!”
She remembered young Medeia from long ago, smiling brightly in her son’s arms.
The child could have remained unchanged. She could have protected that child.
But she hadn’t.
“I… am…”
The Queen Mother staggered out.
* * *
The Queen Mother gave orders for Hertoss to personally care for the Princess until she fully recovered, then departed.
“…”
Lost in thought, the Queen Mother remained silent throughout.
On the way back, something suddenly caught her attention.
“What place is that?”
“Ah.”
Lady Pinatelli looked toward where the Queen Mother’s gaze was directed and answered.
“It’s the Cottage House where Lady Claudio and the Count’s daughter are staying.”
After the death of her eldest son, the Queen Mother was so heartbroken that she kept her remaining second son close by, trying to forget the grief of losing a child.
Along with him, even his wife and children received the Queen Mother’s abundant affection, and the people of House Claudio came and went through the Royal Palace as if it were their own home.
The Queen Mother even provided separate palace quarters for the Claudio mother and daughter, saying the journey back and forth was too far.
That was the Cottage House.
There was no precedent in Valdina’s history for collateral relatives, rather than direct royalty, to stay in the palace.
However, thanks to the chaotic domestic and foreign situations and the Queen Mother’s influence, it had been overlooked.
“Ha.”
The Queen Mother let out a hollow laugh.
The friendly and modest name “Cottage House” was a designation indicating it was temporary housing, not a palace.
But in reality, judging by the glittering light streaming through the windows, didn’t it look splendid even from a distance?
She turned her body to look toward the Princess’s Palace.
The Princess’s Palace, emitting dim and subdued light, was shrouded in darkness and barely visible.
Unlike the Cottage House where even music could be heard occasionally, it gave off a thoroughly desolate feeling.
“It seems I’ve been holed up for too long.”
The old woman’s belated lament settled beneath the darkness.
* * *
Quizin was dead.
He had died in prison while being punished for insulting royalty, and before the blood on his corpse had even cooled, a harsh wind blew through the palace.
“Find them all. Not a single one must be missed!”
Under the Queen Mother’s protection, Sisear summoned and rooted out all those involved.
A massive investigation was launched.
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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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