Chapter 105

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 105

Chapter Title: Alive in the Abyss

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"Get up, Princess. Marching is ultimately a battle of the mind. Do you understand?"

Thud. Medea, who had crashed to the ground, finally opened her eyes as the thick cloud of dust began to settle.

"Haa..."

She swallowed a sigh that could have been relief at still being alive or lament at her imperfect landing, and pushed herself up.

The moment the wolf lunged at her, Medea had jammed a poison-coated needle into the beast's throat.

And then they had tumbled off the cliff together.

Fortunately, the wolf had served as a cushion, softening the impact along with the dense trees growing near the cliffside.

By now, the hunting grounds must be in chaos. They've surely noticed I'm gone.

Medea looked up.

The sheer cliff of the impossibly deep valley where she had fallen loomed above.

To numb the creeping pain radiating through her body from the fall, she chewed and swallowed several painkillers she had hidden away.

The bitter taste, like mugwort, sharpened her dazed mind.

I don't have much time. I need to move before the search party arrives.

A hollow wind whistled eerily through the steep valley, unable to escape.

Dense trees crowded both sides.

In truth, Baldina was a rugged mountain nation famed for its vast, untamed forests and remote wilderness.

Its pristine lands held countless places untouched by human hands or monstrous traces.

The royal hunting grounds were the only place where hunting was permitted because it was simply impossible to manage the entire vast, thickly wooded range with limited resources.

So, it's the perfect spot to hide out for a few days.

Medea had anticipated that her uncle's family would come after her.

Not only had she thwarted their ambitious schemes entirely, but she had become a hero to the people. The Regent Duke couldn't just let that slide.

"Don't worry, Dea. Just trust your big brother here. I'll keep you safe, no matter what."

"Safe, my foot."

Wasn't it more like a sure way to get killed amid a pack of wolves? Medea snorted.

"Claudio. Since it's a gift you prepared for me, I'll graciously accept it."

Her uncle's family had no choice but to search desperately for her if they wanted to avoid suspicion of murdering the princess.

Praying fervently that their niece, whom they had tried to eliminate with their own hands, was still alive.

Medea intended to stay hidden in these mountains until their blood ran cold with fear.

The longer her safety remained uncertain, the deeper the Queen Dowager's and Baldina's suspicions and fury toward her uncle's family would grow.

Erasing the traces of her fall, Medea dragged her heavy body forward and took a step.

Soon, her figure vanished into the underbrush.

The valley fell silent once more, as if nothing had happened.

Rose Manor, District 2.

After obtaining the Queen Dowager's official pass, Facade could now enter and exit the palace more frequently.

The silent shadows roamed the palace in search of their leader's antidote.

"But we still haven't found the Dawn's Fall. It's slow going because we're moving so stealthily to avoid detection."

Garo drooped his eyebrows. He clawed at his cheeks in anxiety as he spoke.

"If the Regent Duke starts a rebellion and turns the palace upside down, it might actually make things easier...? But saying that makes me sound like a total scumbag, right?"

"..."

"Hey, why aren't you two answering? It was a joke!"

Ignoring Garo's pointless quip, Terence glanced at his friend.

He still exuded a relaxed demeanor and languid air, but Terence noticed the vitality slowly fading from him.

It was because his lord's seizures had become more frequent.

There's really not much time left. If we don't find the Dawn's Fall, Cezare will have no more chances.

A thread of anxiety bloomed in everyone's hearts.

But no one voiced it.

They knew that the moment they gave words to their fear, an inexpressible despair would crush them.

They focused solely on finding the Dawn's Fall, their one and only cure.

And so, another precious day slipped away.

At that moment, Alpha burst in with a letter, his steps uncharacteristically urgent.

"A message from Zeta. Princess Medea has gone missing."

In the dim night, Cezare stood beneath the massive tree where Samon had been found.

He turned toward the spot where the princess's horse had collapsed.

The dark red bloodstains still vivid on the ground hinted at the frantic chaos of the moment.

"My lord. The royal investigation team found a dead horse and wolves near the cliff. It seems the princess was chased and fell off..."

A sneer crossed the sculpted face beneath the mask.

"Her cape was found torn to shreds, so if she was injured and plunged into that abyss... The word is, there's no hope."

"No way."

A low murmur echoed, as if responding to Alpha in his memory.

This easily? Medea, of all people?

Cezare didn't believe it.

Medea, who had meticulously laid trap after trap targeting the Regent Duke—would she abandon herself so simply?

Knowing full well that if she died, Baldina would fall perilously into the Regent Duke's hands?

Yet his sharp reason sometimes whispered that human lives could flicker out all too fleetingly.

Even the sturdiest bastion, unyielding against any storm, could make a choice in a split second that didn't suit it at all.

"Cezare, you're not my son. You're the bastard seed of my husband and that former empress. I've hated you since the moment he dumped you in my arms."

"Then live, and watch me die with your own eyes, Your Majesty. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Just as his proud, unflappable stepmother had once let go of life in a single moment.

"Cezare, I can't hold on any longer."

"No."

The princess was different. She wasn't like his stepmother, who had withered away day by day like a lifeless doll under indifferent eyes.

Cezare murmured lowly.

"She's not like Mother. She's the same as me."

He had seen the unquenchable flame in the princess's eyes. She wouldn't give up until the blue inferno fully consumed its target.

Cezare was certain. Because he was the same.

So—

In that instant, something faintly glimmered beneath the massive tree. Cezare bent down.

"...A steel needle."

More precisely, it was hidden in the cat brooch he had given Medea.

When he commissioned the accessory, he had instructed the artisan to mark even the needle with an identifiable sign of ownership.

A faint, bumpy trace at the needle's tip.

She's alive.

Upon discovering it, Cezare unwittingly let out a sigh. He didn't realize it carried a hint of relief.

Samon fell right into the princess's trap.

Cezare set off.

Beneath the black valley illuminated by moonlight.

Cezare paused mid-step, grimacing at the sharp pain stabbing his heart.

Dark red veins crawled from his fingertips up his forearm.

"...Damn it."

A raw curse slipped through his elegant lips.

Just as the darkness had spread from his fingertips, a hideous black discoloration had long since marred the left side of his chest, where his heart lay.

But he couldn't stop. Cezare spat out a glob of blood and pressed on.

The trail led deeper into the forest.

Could a princess raised in a greenhouse venture this far? Could she survive days in this wild, beast-infested woods?

Was this trace he was following truly hers?

His conviction that she was alive began to waver.

How much farther did he go? Cezare halted. The trail ended.

He looked up. In the deep mountains, a small cave perfect for sheltering from beasts and rain came into view.

Fallen leaves piled up before the entrance. Cezare stepped inside.

There were signs of a campfire. But only ashes remained, no embers, so he couldn't be sure.

As a question mark of doubt formed—

Whoosh. Cezare narrowly dodged the crossbow bolt grazing his nape and whirled toward the darkness.

"Show yourself."

His voice was the same as always. Still ruddy cheeks. Round face. Petite build.

The green-eyed girl he had been searching for stood before him.

Aimng a crossbow at him.

A rabbit, freshly hunted, lay sprawled beside her.

The princess, recognizing his white half-mask, froze.

"Akkare? How did you—"

In that instant, it felt like his reason snapped.

Facing the princess alive and staring at him, all rationality floating in his mind vanished in a flash.

"Medea."

He strode forward.

And crushed her into his embrace, as if to pulverize her.