Chapter 108

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 108

Chapter Title: The Princess's Return

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"Akares?"

Meanwhile, Medea eyed the mercenary, who had suddenly clammed up like a shellfish.

"……."

She couldn't read what those eyes, hidden behind the white half-mask, were saying.

'As capricious as ever.'

Rather than getting swept up in the mercenary's whims, Medea indifferently turned her gaze out the window.

'The First Prince... Cezare Dwaisler Kazen... I never crossed paths with him in my previous life.'

By the time she had set off on the expedition with Jason, the First Prince was already dead.

'If the First Prince had been alive, I would have failed.'

In her past life, to place Jason on the throne, Medea had waged fierce battles against the emperor's children.

Her efforts in toppling them one by one with schemes and traps had paid off, but luck had been on her side too.

After the First Prince's death, the empire had been greatly shaken.

Perdicas II's obsession with the Sage's Stone had begun only after losing his valiant son.

What if he hadn't died as in her past life, but lived on? How would the continent's balance shift?

Medea, unaware that the man himself sat across from her, close enough for their knees to touch, sank into thought.

'Get a grip. Now's not the time to worry about the First Prince. I need to tighten the noose around Jason first.'

To ensure Jason never even dreamed of the throne, she had to shatter the foundations he relied on, one by one.

'And Baldina is the biggest pillar you trust.'

Medea intended to crush that sturdy hope.

Queen Dowager Palace of Baldina.

"Your Highness, you must eat something first."

"Leave me."

"You've skipped meals for days now. Even Princess Medea will worry."

At Marchioness Pinatelli's words, the Queen Dowager suppressed the emotions welling up inside her.

"I was always so cold to her. I barely showed her any kindness, and now they've taken that child from me in such haste..."

Her wrinkled lips, pressed tight, trembled with sorrow.

"It seems the goddess means to punish this foolish old woman."

She had never treated her well, leaving only regrets in her wake.

If she lost Medea like this, a lifetime of remorse would haunt her.

"Your Highness..."

As Marchioness Pinatelli stood at a loss, the door burst open.

"Your Highness! Queen Dowager! Word from the Mage Tower!"

"You, what is this rudeness?!"

Ignoring Marchioness Pinatelli's scolding, the maid cried out.

"Princess Medea is alive!"

The Queen Dowager shot to her feet.

In the distance, a carriage bearing the Mage Tower's seal came into view.

"Your Highness, please stay calm. That carriage is approaching."

Behind the slender, bespectacled man, a girl walked supported by his arm—she was unmistakably Medea.

Despite Marchioness Pinatelli's pleas, the Queen Dowager could no longer hold back.

Dragging her frail body, she hurried forward as fast as she could.

"Medea!"

"Grandmother."

And she pulled the small figure into a tight embrace.

"What in the world happened to you? How much you've suffered..."

Spotting the bandages wrapped around her granddaughter's slender wrists and ankles, as if telling tales of her ordeal, the Queen Dowager's eyes welled with tears.

It was the first time the ever-stern Queen Dowager, always mindful of decorum, had shed tears in public.

They said true feelings emerged in crises. Unlike the rumors, people could now see how dearly she cherished her granddaughter.

"I'm Terrence. I oversee the West Continent branch for the Mage Tower, and the Tower Lord is my master."

The young bespectacled mage introduced himself lightly.

"While mining magic stones at the base of Baldina's mountains on dispatch from the Mage Tower, we found the injured Princess. Her condition was dire, so we poured all our efforts into treatment, which delayed identifying her and grasping the situation."

"Medea's condition was that serious... how terrible..."

"She survived falling off a cliff—miraculous. I couldn't even count the magic stones we used."

Terrence lied with natural ease.

"Oh, I'll compensate you fully. Even if I have to use my personal funds, the Mage Tower will be repaid."

At that moment, people from the Claudio Ducal House arrived, panting heavily upon hearing the news.

"Where is my niece, Medea?"

The Regent Duke's eyes brimmed with concern.

"Heavens, Princess! What on earth happened?!"

Catherine rushed over frantically, trying to support Medea amid teary exclamations.

Arriving late and making a fuss only hardened people's expressions.

They recalled how, in the recent duel with the Kazen general, the Regent Duke had ruthlessly shoved the princess aside to protect his son.

"What a relief! Haha, it's truly fortunate she's back alive!"

Even now, to their eyes, the Regent Duke's exuberance seemed merely joy at his son escaping blame.

"Relief? The child's in this state, and you laugh?!"

The Queen Dowager, sharing their thoughts, bellowed at the Regent Duke. Catherine hurriedly stepped in to defend her husband.

"It's a misunderstanding, Mother. The wounds seem rather minor for such an injury, so he..."

How could someone who fell off a cliff walk so steadily after just days?

Catherine suspected from the start that this was Medea's own staging.

Then Terrence retorted with clear displeasure.

"Several mages worked on her treatment, so of course. I'll take that as praise for our skills."

The Regent Duke's eyes gleamed, seizing on Terrence's words.

'Perfect! No evidence left, then!'

"Well, Medea's full recovery is joyous indeed, but so regrettable. Then all traces of the culprit on Dea's body are gone, I suppose."

But Terrence didn't let the Regent Duke off easily.

The young mage pushed up his glasses with his third finger, feigning shock.

"So treatment comes second to hunting the culprit...? The Regent Duke is truly remarkable. Even the Mage Tower has never seen such cool-headedness."

"……."

Then Catherine poked her son. A signal to change the mood quickly.

Samon approached her, tears streaming.

"Medea! I'm so glad... it's all my fault, I failed to protect you—"

Opening his arms to hug her as usual.

"Ah—!"

Medea instinctively stepped back, dodging Samon.

Fear mingled with bewilderment at her own reaction on her face.

"……Medea?"

"Sorry, Brother. I don't know why I'm like this..."

"The princess lost her memories of the incident due to the fall's impact. It doesn't show outwardly, so only she suffers."

Terrence's addition made Catherine's face, already rebuked moments ago, flush red.

The Queen Dowager glared at the second son's family and took Medea's hand.

"Medea, do you truly remember nothing? Not even the smallest thing?"

"No memories. I woke up at the cliff base after being chased by wolves, just cold and terrified..."

Medea shook her head with feigned confusion.

She said that without the wolf that fell with her, she surely would have died.

"I have no idea who targeted me. But Brother Samon was with me until my last memory—he'd never harm me. It must be someone else. Absolutely not Samon."

Even as she spoke, the princess's body recoiled from Samon, stepping back.

Samon was going mad.

'If you act like that here, it makes me look even more suspicious!'

Her pitiful, trembling form like a frightened cub made him want to grab Medea and scream if she meant to push him off the cliff too.

"I'm sorry to worry you."

Terrence inwardly swallowed his shock at the princess capping it off with self-reproach, red eyes brimming with tears.

'Squashing Cezare's shoulder was no fluke after all.'

It was hard to believe this was the same impassive girl from the carriage. A chill ran down his spine.

The princess's defense only fueled suspicions. Hadn't she always been close to the Claudio Ducal House?

She simply couldn't bear to believe it.

That her cousin brother, who had cherished her like a little sister since childhood, had tried to kill her.

"Rest easy. This grandmother will find the villain who tried to harm you."

The Queen Dowager, thinking likewise, promised Medea while glaring at Claudio.

"You lot, leave the palace now. No need to stay with Medea returned."

She turned coldly toward the Claudio Ducal House.

"Samon Claudio, for the crime of abandoning royalty and fleeing as a subject, I sentence you to twenty lashes."

Twenty lashes! The crowd gasped in shock.