The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 64

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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 64

“Intruder! Check the prisoners!”

“Security has been breached!”

The sound of hurried footsteps could be heard rushing over belatedly.

“Tch.”

The rope that had been choking his neck loosened and slipped away. The assassin kicked off the wall and leaped up, disappearing into the darkness.

“Cough—!”

The Minister, finally freed, gasped for rough breaths.

His eyes were bloodshot as he returned from halfway across death’s threshold.

His relief at being alive was brief, as overwhelming frustration washed over him and he pounded his fists on the floor repeatedly.

His eyes, burning bright red, looked as if they were shedding tears of blood.

“Claudioooo!”

In the dark prison, his evil-filled scream echoed like a reverberation.

* * *

The next day.

Etien didn’t even glance at the rough bread covered in dust and dirt, grinding his teeth instead.

He gave all the gold he had to the guards who came to distribute lunch, barely managing to call for the Princess’s maid.

“His Highness says he won’t meet with you. He said to tell you that being deceived once is enough.”

“Just once, just once more, tell him I want to meet. Tell him I know a very ugly secret about Claudio, that I absolutely won’t disappoint him. Please? Just once! Hurry!”

And that evening, the Princess came to see the Minister.

“Your Highness!”

Etien was barely in his right mind.

With a gaunt appearance he had never had once in his entire life, he greeted Medeia as if meeting a savior.

His heavily bloodshot eyes showed that he hadn’t slept a wink all night.

“Minister, you look terrible.”

The Princess glanced down at him and made a remark.

He was at a loss for words. This prison was hell. They showed him no consideration whatsoever.

For an elderly man like him, it was a harsh life.

‘These bastards with no parents!’

The Minister cursed inwardly while nodding his head repeatedly.

“So, you were babbling strange things about Uncle.”

The Princess got straight to the point as if she had no intention of staying long.

“Yes, Your Highness. You must also know the ugly truth that Prince Claudio is hiding. That’s why this Etien dared to request to see Your Highness again, despite the impropriety.”

“An ugly truth? About Uncle?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Until now, the Prince’s power has been so strong that no one dared to speak up.”

“….”

“But I am a loyal subject who eats Valdina’s grain, and for Valdina alone! I have decided to reveal the truth!”

The Minister cried out as if coughing up blood and prostrated himself, then slyly raised his head to gauge the Princess’s reaction.

“Your Highness, please protect me. So that the Prince cannot kill me, if you just preserve my life, I will tell Your Highness the truth about Prince Claudio whom you trust.”

The Princess still had an expressionless face. Etien grew anxious.

“If more time passes, it might be too late.”

“…Fine. I accept.”

The Princess’s consent was given.

“Then, if you could provide protection first….”

“You’re the one who lost trust. If you can’t believe me, I’ll just leave.”

The Princess coldly turned to leave.

Etien suddenly came to his senses. If the Princess leaves, I’m really a dead man!

“No! I, I did something wrong, so it’s natural that Your Highness doesn’t trust me. Of, of course.”

He nodded his head repeatedly. It was clear he was trying to rationalize Medeia’s attitude.

“Show your hand first.”

“But—”

He couldn’t reveal anything before getting a definite answer. As Etien hesitated, Medeia’s eyes grew cold.

“You seem to be mistaken, but I make the decisions, Etien. Not you.”

Gulp. Etien swallowed.

There was nowhere left to run.

The Princess was the last lifeline left to him.

Even tonight was dangerous, so he had no leisure to consider this and that.

“…After I took charge of the Palace Ministry, many people came to me.”

He finally opened his mouth.

“Some wanted positions, some wanted wealth. I too…. I confess, I forgot the gravity of my position and pursued personal gain.”

“….”

“They were all the Prince’s people, and I transferred the palace’s interests to the Prince’s family. It wasn’t just one or two people. Prince Claudio’s influence extends throughout the entire royal palace.”

Far from being surprised, Medeia snorted.

“Is that all? How unsurprising. It’s not been just a day or two that I’ve been surrounded by Uncle’s people.”

“No! Please listen a little more. The important words I have for Your Highness start now.”

His heart grew urgent because of the Princess who seemed ready to get up and leave at any moment.

He forgot his initial caution.

“The Prince’s greed, and that of those who follow him, didn’t stop at just using Your Highness to accumulate power and wealth. Those lawless ones dismissed our young King’s bravery as recklessness, and eventually harbored feelings they should never have harbored.”

“What do you mean by feelings they shouldn’t have harbored? Speak precisely.”

The Princess wouldn’t tolerate Etien adding even the slightest embellishment.

Etien looked around anxiously with an uneasy expression.

It felt as if Prince Claudio’s assassin would jump out of that darkness at any moment to strangle his neck again.

Gulp. Etien swallowed and answered.

“Treason.”

Treason.

At that moment, it became as cold as if the prison’s temperature had dropped another level.

“They resolved to overturn Valdina and stage a rebellion to dethrone His Majesty the King. And I have the signed document plotting that rebellion.”

The signed document of traitors.

Silence flowed. The Princess said nothing.

Due to the gravity of the matter, Etien bit his lips and endured the silence.

“How can I….”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“How can I believe that? Etien, this time you’re conspiring with Uncle to trap me. Even the bugs crawling here know that you’re Uncle’s closest friend and ally.”

The Princess shot back coldly.

“Your name would be on that signed document too. Now you’re pretending otherwise, voluntarily reporting this, and you want me to believe you?”

“No! You’re mistaken! He is not my friend! The Prince is trying to eliminate me!”

Etien forgot about looking unseemly and knelt down, almost clinging to the immature Princess he had dismissed.

As if his recent pressure on the Princess at the banquet was from a previous life, he was remarkably servile.

“It’s to eliminate me before the existence of the signed document is revealed. How can I call someone who immediately abandons me as soon as I’m in danger a friend? I finally realized here. That we absolutely must not leave Claudio, who harbors such ungrateful treasonous thoughts, alone.”

The Minister didn’t stop defending himself even in this situation.

But he would never know in his dreams.

That the Prince had no intention of eliminating him and was struggling hard outside the prison to rescue him.

Medeia raised the corner of her mouth.

“I can’t believe everything you say right away. Wait, I also need to verify if that’s true, so it will take some time.”

“Then, then what about me…!”

Etien’s face turned ashen.

“Please save me, Your Highness. Next time you might meet me as a corpse.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll replace all the guards. If I have them guarded by those who can use swords, no assassin will be able to infiltrate easily.”

Medeia answered calmly as if that wasn’t something to worry about.

She didn’t forget to offer Etien reassurance with a slightly more gentle tone.

“How much you must have worried? Your complexion is terrible. I told Saya to take good care of you so you wouldn’t be uncomfortable, but it seems she was inadequate.”

Even though he had grown thinner, Etien’s jowls that never seemed to disappear trembled violently.

Her words felt so warm that the Minister nearly broke down and wept while clinging to the Princess, who was young enough to be his granddaughter.

“My life is in Your Highness’s hands. Please, spare this body.”

“Then we must confirm it as quickly as possible. Tell me.”

Medeia leaned closer. Her green eyes flashed.

“That promissory note—where exactly is it?”

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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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