The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 41
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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 41
Saya. If anyone comes looking for me, tell them you don’t know. If I stay, you’ll be in danger too. This country is rotten. I’ll get revenge for father and come back. Wait for me.
The next day, government troops scoured the streets looking for the culprit who had struck the guard captain.
Only then did Saya realize why her brother had fled in such a panic.
Saya buried her face in her hands.
“Look, Theo. You abandoned me without hesitation and left, but I’m still here worrying about you, unable to even take care of myself.”
Is this really right?
But her tears dried quickly. Though she had been left alone, she had to survive.
Saya chewed and swallowed the dry bread slowly.
“I promised to bring the herbs before sunset.”
She finished her meager meal and got moving. After quickly preparing herself, she was about to open the door when—
“Hello.”
Saya came face to face with a girl standing in front of her door.
The girl with moon-like silver hair and green eyes looked like a precious young lady who didn’t belong in this neighborhood at all.
“What’s your name?”
The young lady who had been staring at Saya suddenly asked.
“S-Saya.”
The girl smiled brightly.
“I’m sorry for coming here without notice, but if you’re not busy, could you spare me a moment?”
* * *
Medeia entered the house where only embers remained.
Though the sun hadn’t set yet, the inside of the house was filled with darkness.
The young homeowner looked exactly like the boy she remembered.
‘Was Theo a girl?’
“Your family… is there no one?”
“My parents passed away long ago, and I had one brother… He’s dead.”
Though it was a question from a strange foreigner, Saya found herself answering involuntarily to those clear green eyes.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence between the girl’s responses.
“Your father was a retired soldier, wasn’t he?”
Saya’s pupils shook. Her heart pounded at the girl’s voice, which seemed to already know about her.
Had she come to arrest her because of the crime her brother committed?
Saya prostrated herself on the floor. The girl was quick to change tactics.
“My father is Pierson and I have a twin brother named Theo. My brother hit the guard captain three years ago and ran away, so I lied.”
Medeia raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t know where your brother went?”
Saya shook her head.
“He sometimes sends letters just to let me know he’s alive. He says he’s still being pursued so he can’t come back yet.”
After three years, both the manhunt and punishment would have weakened long ago. But still not entering the royal capital meant…
‘He’s already joined the rebel forces. If that meticulous Theo risks danger to send letters, he must care for this child considerably.’
Lost in thought, Medeia’s index finger tapped her knee.
“I didn’t come here to ask about that. I heard you’ve been suffering hardships alone, so I thought I might help you.”
Neryl looked at Medeia. Thinking she intended to take Saya in, she urgently interrupted despite knowing it was rude.
“Your Highness, I will handle that matter later. We cannot place a foreigner of uncertain status near Your Highness right now—”
While speaking, Neryl realized she had revealed the Princess’s identity and hesitated.
But Saya’s eyes had already widened as she stared at Medeia.
‘If she’s the Princess…!’
Stories of the princess living in that magnificent palace far away were famous even in the slums where she lived.
Saya bowed her head even lower to the floor.
“Please take me with you. I don’t want to stay here.”
The young girl thought:
This young lady before her—no, Princess—was the first and last lifeline given to her.
“You can order me to do anything. I’ll do anything, so please don’t leave me in this place.”
If she was the Princess, she could surely make her brother’s mistake with the government troops disappear.
She was happy that she had found a way to survive even while bearing her brother’s sins.
“Though my sibling committed a crime, my father died on the battlefield fighting for Valdina. Princess, wouldn’t that be enough?”
The young girl’s voice was somehow desperate.
But at the same time, it was clear and articulate.
Saya was similar to yet different from Theo in her memories.
In those seemingly fragile yet steadfast eyes, there was a determination that seemed unbreakable.
The way Saya appealed to the Princess while simultaneously watching Neryl’s reaction showed how desperately she had been struggling to survive here.
Finally, mentioning that her father had been a Valdina soldier to gain sympathy.
“Even if you don’t follow me, I can arrange a way for you to live.”
A hefty pouch of gold coins was extended toward Saya.
“I don’t keep just anyone by my side.”
Saya was quick-witted.
The beautiful Princess. And that knight who absolutely obeyed her.
Then there was only one gap she could squeeze through.
“Your Highness wouldn’t need someone lowly like me, but I’ve never failed at any task, and I learn new things quickly. I can do anything. Even things Your Highness would find uncomfortable to ask of that knight or others.”
Medeia looked down at the child thoughtfully.
“There’s the Princess! Capture the Princess!”
“Look everyone! Here’s the Princess who was caught trying to flee to save her own skin!”
‘Theo, thinking of my past life, I should kill you in advance.’
But you showed me the kindness of letting me go at the end. So in return, I’ll take care of your sister.
The grudges between past and present lives end here, but I’ll bestow one more favor upon you.
‘I’ll spare your life too.’
Instead, when you cross the city walls with the rebels, this child will be the final thread that stops you.
Medeia warned in advance.
“You might regret having me as your master.”
Because I’ll use you as your brother’s leash.
“Would that still be alright?”
Saya looked into those clear green eyes. At least there wasn’t a trace of falsehood in them.
She nodded vigorously.
“Then come with me.”
The white hand that took hold of the child and lifted her up was cold.
* * *
At that moment, in the slums of the same street.
Chezare entered.
As Facade mercenaries who completely clashed with the old, narrow streets appeared one after another, tension filled the air.
Even those with menacing eyes who tried to pick fights backed away at the murderous aura emanating from them.
“Is this the place? Where that priestess is supposed to be?”
Garo answered Chezare’s question.
“Yeah, boss. My informant saw an old woman speaking continental ancient language in the slums near the outer walls. She apparently had items with markings that looked like Shadean tribal symbols.”
“Chezare, don’t get your hopes up too much.”
Terrence, who had come along out of concern for his friend, shook his head.
Chezare looked around the empty street thoughtfully.
It wasn’t a large neighborhood—they could find her within the day.
They quickened their pace.
As they passed through a particularly dark and shadowy alley:
“Are you looking for me?”
An old woman in a robe grinned without lifting her head.
“You’re late. With so little time left, this old woman thought she’d have to depart for the afterlife first.”
Garo furrowed his brow.
The old woman’s words sounded as if she had known they were looking for her all along.
Had she been deliberately evading pursuit and fleeing, making her traces so difficult to find until now?
Then why was she revealing herself now?
Just then, the old woman spoke to Garo.
“Those who are meant to meet will meet. On the thread of fate, my time and your time have intersected, creating this point of contact.”
Chezare walked unsteadily and stood before the old woman. A deep shadow fell over her.
“Are you the priestess of Shadeian?”
The wind blew, pulling back the robe that had been covering the old woman’s forehead.
“Black star, pitifully, something wicked has coiled around your fate.”
Terrence hesitated upon seeing her unfocused, hazy jade-colored eyes.
“You can’t see…”
However, the priestess lifted her head precisely to gaze at Chezare, as if she could see him clearly.
“The primordial darkness is malicious and tenacious, clinging on until one’s last breath and rarely letting go. You’ve been bitten by something wicked.”
Chezare’s golden eyes flashed. Then he knelt down to meet her gaze and asked.
“Do you know a way to remove this curse?”
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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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