The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 87

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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 87

All their arms were embroidered with rose patterns entwined around crosses.

However, they gave off an atmosphere closer to knights than mercenaries.

“The one at the front is their leader?”

Jason hesitated when he learned their identity from the murmuring sounds of the Valdinians.

The straw-haired man walking at the very front wore evening attire of more colorful hues than ever before.

On his head, he wore a red hat adorned with peacock feathers.

He overflowed with a fresh and cheerful energy that one might see at a midsummer seaside.

If one didn’t know their identity, they would never have guessed these were the continent’s notoriously infamous arms dealers.

“Why is Facade here?”

The Kazen people were equally flustered by their appearance.

Some members of this delegation had participated in the conquest war.

In that war, Facade had supplied weapons to Kazen’s side while also serving as mercenaries. So they knew well.

They knew that those now entering the banquet hall pretending to be ordinary were truly living messengers of death.

Facade rarely revealed themselves, operating only in the shadows, so why had they suddenly appeared at this Valdina Palace?

‘Surely they haven’t joined hands with Valdina? What are they scheming?’

It was when 4th Princess Angelique frowned.

“Garo of Facade pays respects to Valdina’s eternal light.”

Garo walked majestically through the crowd, parting the people. He removed his hat and greeted the Queen Mother.

“Facade also wishes to participate in today’s glorious event to promote cooperation between the two nations and establish a foundation for continental peace, so we humbly ask that Your Majesty graciously grant us permission.”

Though his voice was cheerful, compared to the Kazen delegation who had barely bothered to greet the Queen Mother earlier, his attitude was considerably more courteous.

Even the Queen Mother, who had been in seclusion for so long, had heard of Facade’s name.

A figure who received treatment equivalent to a nation wherever he went on the continent had approached first, and in front of the Kazen delegation no less, giving her face, so the Queen Mother’s expression softened slightly.

“We are grateful that you grace this occasion. When it comes to peace, neither borders nor origins matter.”

Garo turned around.

His mischievous eyes met those of the 4th Princess. The Princess raised her chin as if demanding recognition.

Today at the banquet, she had dressed extraordinarily lavishly, wrapping herself in symbols of Kazen.

On her head sat a tiara decorated with fifteen sapphires, and on her shoulder ribbon hung a medal bearing the portrait of her father, the Kazen Emperor.

Her intention to overwhelm others by borrowing the Empire’s prestige was clearly visible.

Garo smiled slyly and was about to withdraw.

Just as she was about to be completely ignored, the angry Princess snapped.

“It seems a mere merchant who sells weapons cannot judge the importance of great affairs. To seek permission from a small nation first, ignoring a great power.”

She was already displeased that Facade’s leader had greeted Valdina’s Queen Mother before her.

“When a guest visits, one should seek permission from the host. Do you mean another guest acting as host should come first?”

However, Garo continued smiling brightly as he asked in return.

“Kazen truly has peculiar customs. Though when I was in the Empire, Kazen’s ministers did seek me out first.”

At his words that mocked the Princess while subtly showing off his trading company’s status in Kazen, the Princess bit her lips.

For the first time, the Valdinians felt quite fond of Facade’s leader.

“How dare-“

Then, the Princess’s maid grabbed her.

“Your Highness, please restrain yourself. That white half-masked mercenary standing guard behind the leader is said to be truly dangerous. They say he cuts down anyone regardless of status if they cross him.”

The maid, who knew well the notorious reputation of the white-masked mercenary Akaress, hoped her master would quietly let this pass.

If that mercenary drew his sword, only she who would have to stand before the Princess would lose her innocent life.

“They say in the continental war, that one was Facade’s one-man army.”

“…”

The Princess chewed her lips. Even at her terrified maid’s words, the 4th Princess was still red-faced from the humiliation Garo had dealt her.

She turned to stare at the Valdinians.

Rather than the arms dealer who was powerful throughout the continent and difficult to provoke carelessly, it was easier to vent her anger on the seemingly manageable Valdinians.

“Stop putting on airs, everyone. Without the aid our Kazen charitably provides, this peace wouldn’t even exist, would it?”

Her eyes swept over the assembled Valdinians with contempt.

“If only the late king hadn’t been a warmonger, the people could have eaten their fill and wouldn’t have had to worry about surviving cold winters. Because of the king’s hollow ambitions, only innocent people are dying, which is truly pitiful.”

Her reproach was like pouring cold water on the Valdinians’ faces.

“4th Princess!”

When she insulted her dead son, the Queen Mother could no longer endure it.

“It is said that an emperor should not judge rashly and should not simply pursue immediate gains.”

Even at the fierce outburst, the 4th Princess only shrugged her shoulders insolently.

“I only spoke out of pity for the situation where people lose their moral compass due to their leader’s foolish judgment, so please do not be angry, Valdina’s Queen Mother. It’s not like I said anything untrue, is it?”

“You, you…!”

The Queen Mother, overcome with rage, staggered. Pinatelli quickly supported her.

“Kazen is truly arrogant!”

“Me, who as a princess of a great empire is tolerating your disrespect right now? Hahaha, if my late father heard this, he would feel wronged.”

As if to provoke further, the Princess laughed mockingly.

The Valdinians glared at the Princess as if they wanted to kill her. However, they could say nothing.

‘To have to watch such a spectacle with open eyes and let it pass, being a powerless nation is a sin, a sin!’

The 4th Princess became even more excited seeing the Valdinians gritting their teeth while suppressing their anger.

‘Just as Mobi said. They can’t touch a hair on my head.’

She felt the intoxicating sensation of having the power to shake a nation at will. If this was possible as merely a delegation member, what if she sat on the imperial throne…

“The 4th Princess’s standards are strange.”

Then, a calm voice shattered the 4th Princess’s pleasant imagination.

“According to your words, does that mean your father Perdickas II’s seizure of the throne from Duke Castulo, the late emperor’s legitimate son, was not pursuing immediate gains?”

And it flew sharply to pierce the Princess’s weak spot.

After the previous emperor’s death, the story of Uncle Perdickas II who stole his nephew’s position through force and justification was known to everyone on the continent.

And his shameless behavior of never thinking to return the throne afterward.

A secret that everyone knew but dared not point out had now come from the mouth of Valdina’s Princess.

“Wh-what did you just say…”

The 4th Princess gaped in shock as if she had been slapped.

Parting the crowd, Medeia stepped forward.

Her face, still bearing traces of youth, faced the delegation.

Her brilliant green eyes swept from the 4th Princess to Jason. Then she tilted her head.

“I cannot rashly judge with my foolish mind what difference there is between an emperor who troubles his people with war and an emperor who abandons even blood ties in his blindness for power. So I hope the wise 4th Princess will enlighten me.”

Once again, the calm voice quoted the 4th Princess’s earlier words and slapped her cheek.

The Queen Mother, who had been about to storm down from her seat to confront the 4th Princess below the platform, sat back down.

Thanks to Medeia stepping forward, she could fortunately maintain her dignity.

Her granddaughter’s pointed criticism that trampled on the Kazen Emperor’s face had cooled her rising anger.

The Valdinians also didn’t hide their satisfaction.

“Really, where do they get off talking about emperors? They should properly handle their own household affairs first.”

“Who truly has forgotten propriety?”

Giggling whispers spread.

The 4th Princess, who had become a laughingstock in an instant, was trembling.

The delegation was also shocked but couldn’t find words to respond.

Though furious, as retainers they knew their lord Perdickas II well.

Their lord would prefer that the matter of forcibly taking over his nephew’s throne not be mentioned at all, rather than receiving an apology from that Valdina Princess. So they had no choice but to endure even if their insides boiled.

Just like the Valdinians who had to endure the Kazen people earlier.

“How dare you insult my father!”

However, the 4th Princess, who had grown up peacefully under the emperor’s favor and the empress’s shadow, was still too immature to understand her father’s true intentions.

She clenched her fists.

This was the first time she, who had been pampered, had been publicly humiliated.

With her face red with deep shame, the Princess raged.

“Princess of Valdina, your arrogance pierces the heavens. How dare a mere backwater small nation mock the great Kazen Empire? As the proud daughter of my father, I will not let you-“

Then, something was thrown toward the Princess.

It was a pair of white gloves.

“….”

Medeia, the owner of the gloves, stared directly at the 4th Princess.

In the Continental nobility’s society, the meaning of throwing one’s belongings, especially gloves, at someone was clear.

A challenge to a duel.

And since it was an honor duel, there was an explicit rule that the outcome must be fully accepted even if the opponent was injured or killed.

However, the fact that the challenger was the Princess of Valdina and the opponent was the Princess of Kazen was what shocked everyone present.

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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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