The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 35

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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 35

The jumbled lines written on the parchment were actually coded messages.

Don’t try to find me anymore, spy of Kensington.

The one who will be exposed isn’t me

but you.

And it was written in Kazen language too.

While it was surprising that they knew their encryption techniques, what shocked him even more was something else.

– Spy of Kensington.

‘They, they know my identity!’

Calling me the red fox wasn’t a coincidence after all.

‘How on earth did they find out? Where was I exposed?’

The last note written in code shattered Umberto’s will to identify his opponent.

‘No matter what, I must prevent my identity from being revealed. The fact that they’re still contacting me means they want something from me too.’

What do they want?

He wrote a reply in code and hung it on the window frame.

And when half a day had passed, the note he had written disappeared and a small pouch was hanging there.

Have your master keep this.

When he opened the box, a fresh fragrance faintly tickled his nose.

“…Scented candles?”

Umberto hesitated.

The captivating scent that lingered at his nose somehow gave off an ominous feeling.

‘Etien’s hobby is collecting scented candles. That filthy bastard only lights candles when he’s doing his nighttime activities.’

However, recently, Etien had been forced into a celibate lifestyle and was using scented candles to soothe his anger and desires.

‘Are they trying to use me to eliminate Etien?’

He shook his head and wrote a note.

Impossible. Too dangerous.

However, the reply that came back was cold.

It would be easier than having the comrades in Osopp lose their heads, wouldn’t it?

“Osopp…! How do they even know that!”

Umberto’s fingertips trembled.

The spies sent by the leader were scattered all across the continent. They were even among the nomadic tribes currently at war with Valdina.

Osopp was the capital of the Lasai Tribe, known to be the most brutal and cruel among them.

They knew everything about foreign enemies and the intimate affairs of domestic officials. Rather than admiration, fear arose at how far their intelligence network reached.

‘It’s better to hand over one lustful pig than to have all the comrades in Osopp exposed.’

Recently, orders to return to the homeland had come down. It also meant that the higher-ups no longer found value in Etien.

He agreed with the feeling of being leashed.

The next day, in Etien’s bedroom.

When one or two intense rays of sunlight pierced through the curtains and stung his eyes, Etien, buried in his bed, frowned as much as he could.

“I’m sorry, master. It’s almost time for you to enter the palace.”

“Shut up. Who are you to tell me what to do, you bug-like thing…”

Etien continuously spewed unspeakable curses at his attendant. His head was throbbing, perhaps from the liquor he had drunk late into the night.

Then, a fragrant scent brushed his nose.

“…Hmm?”

Etien half-opened his eyes at the sophisticated and comfortable fragrance.

In his blurry vision, he saw an attendant moving around near the candlestick.

“Is that a new scented candle?”

“Ah, no. It was included in the gift that Baron Gillion sent last time when he was asking for a position.”

Umberto smoothly delivered his prepared answer.

‘If I said it was newly acquired, he’d come looking for me first if something went wrong, wouldn’t he? I can’t let that happen.’

If something really happened to Etien because of that scented candle, selling out Baron Gillion would buy him enough time to escape.

“…This bug that deserves to be trampled to death…!”

Suddenly, an ashtray flew over and hit Umberto’s chest before falling.

Etien bared his yellowed teeth and spat.

“Didn’t I tell you to bring good things, precious things quickly? Don’t save them, light them generously!”

The irritation he had been soothing with the sweet scent seemed to be rising again.

“You stupid pig, know that you’re living in luxury thanks to me. When else would someone like you get to smell such fragrance if not by my side.”

His white belly, jiggling with anger as if introducing himself, made the observer feel even more disgusted.

Umberto gripped the snake-carved scented candle tightly.

“Yes, of course. All my glory is thanks to you, master. With every breath and step I take, I pray while thinking of your magnificent presence and sculptural smile.”

The smooth, cold texture of the scented candle somehow felt pleasant. There was no more hesitation in the hand that lit it.

“At least you have good taste…”

The captivating fragrance filled the room.

Etien satisfactorily buried his face in the pillow again. His jiggling flesh disappeared between the white sheets.

Umberto, who had returned to his room, roughly scribbled a note and stuck it in the window frame.

Mission commenced

* * *

Early in the morning, a small ox cart that had finished delivering groceries left Count Etienne’s Estate.

A boy wearing a straw hat sat in front of the cart, driving the ox. Clatter clatter clatter, the cart wheels made sparse noise.

It was when the ox was entering District 3 of the city where the vegetable shop was located.

“Tom. Did the delivery go well?”

At the question from a stranger who had climbed onto the cart, the boy lifted his straw hat. His freckled face grinned.

“What are you saying. Have you ever seen this indomitable Tom do anything carelessly?”

He handed over a piece of parchment.

“But that guy who’s an attendant, what did he used to do? The way he moves and how he covers his tracks, no matter how I look at it, he seems like one of ours.”

“That’s not for you to know.”

“After using me like this, you still don’t trust me? I’m hurt by Princess.”

Tom pouted his lips.

“It’s not Princess who doesn’t trust you, it’s me.”

“Hmph. Master told me to become Princess’s hands and feet. So if you think about it, I’m also Princess’s subordinate. Neryl, are you afraid I’ll take your position?”

“Princess told me to give this to you. I’m leaving.”

Neryl didn’t care and threw a pouch to Tom before jumping down from the cart.

The pouch was full of gold coins. Tom smiled bitterly. No one pays their subordinates. This was a line drawn by Princess.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have sent someone else back then.”

I wonder if I made a bad impression.

An unusually deep regret remained.

Perhaps it was because he had personally witnessed the daily changing complexion of the people in the soldier’s village that Princess had built.

* * *

Princess’s Palace.

“Princess. Etien’s attendant has made his move.”

Neryl handed over Umberto’s note.

Seeing the phrase ‘Mission commenced’, Medeia nodded.

“You’ve worked hard. Neryl, your concealment skills were a great help this time too.”

At Medeia’s praise, Neryl showed a faint smile.

It was a shy smile that contrasted with his outstanding skills that even renowned spies couldn’t detect.

“Not at all. But Princess, how did you know he was an Imperial spy?”

“Well, that is…”

The first time Medeia saw Umberto was when she was being punished by the Queen Mother in the chapel.

“You must not approach.”

“Come now. It’ll just take a moment!”

“Minister! What kind of rudeness is this?”

A chaotic situation where the Queen Mother’s maids clashed with the minister’s attendants.

One of the minister’s attendants struggling with a maid caught her eye.

As she wondered about his somewhat familiar face, the man’s chest was torn open during the violent scuffle.

Seeing the small fox-shaped badge that rolled out and fell right in front of Medeia, she was certain.

‘Why is Count Kensington’s spy here in Valdina?’

It was the symbol of the ‘Red Fox’ spy network that Count Kensington commanded, known only to a very few imperials.

Count Luiza Kensington was a meritorious retainer of the Kazen Empire.

She had helped the current Emperor Perdickas II of Kazen since he was merely a prince.

When the previous Emperor Alcetas II died suddenly from illness, his younger brother Perdickas II ascended the throne instead of his young son.

Kensington devoted her loyalty by even spending her own fortune to establish an independent intelligence network throughout the empire.

Perdickas II was able to eliminate his formidable brothers and claim the throne thanks to Count Kensington.

Through the spies the count had hidden everywhere, he could learn of and prepare for secret plans like assassinations and rebellions in advance.

However, perhaps her loyalty was excessive, as Perdickas II, having achieved his goal, sought to kill her and seize her spies.

In the end, Kensington starved to death while being pursued by the emperor’s shadows.

The ‘Red Fox’ spy network was also disbanded and disappeared without a trace.

Medeia recognized the spy’s face at a glance thanks to Jason.

“Medeia, I need to absorb the dead Count Kensington’s spies. Before my uncle takes them all. What should I do? Help me.”

“Don’t worry, darling.”

Using her former position as Princess of Valdina, she searched for scattered connections and sent people to find the spies.

She exploited their anger toward the current emperor to make them join the expedition.

Eventually, they became Jason’s hidden hands and feet, the most powerful force in eliminating his competitors for the throne.

It was all Medeia’s achievement.

‘How foolish I was.’

But her fate was not much different from Count Kensington’s.

‘Jason. In this life, you won’t receive their help.’

She would eliminate any possibility of the count or her Red Fox spy network becoming Jason’s hands and feet.

First, she would move attendant Umberto to eliminate Minister Etienne.

And through this connection, her ultimate goal was to eventually bring down Count Kensington as well.

Medeia’s lips curved into a smirk.

‘Since I made the emperor, I should be the one to destroy him myself.’

Neryl looked puzzled at her uncharacteristic sneer.

“No, let’s prepare to leave first.”

The trap to hunt Etienne was set. Now it was time to meet the hunter who would catch him.

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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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