Chapter 12

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 12

Chapter Title: The Crown I'll Take from You

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"If it's my master you're talking about, I believe he's currently residing in a small estate outside the royal castle."

After the previous king passed away, Marquis Giliphos had retired. He had steered clear of politics entirely since then, devoting himself solely to mentoring the next generation.

He was also a renowned hero who had saved the kingdom. There were still many in Baldina who respected his upright character.

Tap. Tap.

The light sound of her index finger drumming on the table echoed rhythmically.

"I need to see him. Without anyone knowing."

At some point, Medea asked quietly.

"Can you make it happen?"

"I'll make the arrangements."

Neril nodded firmly.

Through the window, Baldina's national flag hanging on the distant castle walls appeared faintly in the haze.

"Pull down the flag! Topple the corrupt Baldina royal family!"

This time around, the rebels waving that flag beneath it would never cross those walls alive.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Your Highness."

The new maid tiptoed in, carefully lifting the hem of her dress—as if to show she was minding every little action so as not to upset Medea.

"Your Highness, Duchess Catherine Claudio has arrived."

Medea looked up.

Claudio.

This familiar, longed-for name.

Even when the head maid was whipped or when the Princess Palace was isolated in retaliation, there had been no word from her. What could bring her here so early in the morning?

Word must have spread that the head maid had removed all surveillance on Medea.

"Let her in."

She was curious what the duchess intended to say. Medea's eyes sparkled.

"Your Highness!"

Her aunt, Duchess Catherine Claudio, entered with vibrant makeup.

She was a striking beauty.

Once the flower of high society from a noble marquis house, she had broken countless men's hearts.

Her elegant dress hugged her impossibly slim waist—hard to believe she had grown children—and its full skirts rippled gracefully.

"I had planned to come the moment Your Highness awoke, but I collapsed from exhaustion myself... When I opened my eyes, it was already today. Please forgive me for being so tardy in visiting you."

She hadn't collapsed—she'd been watching the situation unfold.

"It couldn't be helped, Mother. Surely your generous sister understands such circumstances?"

Following behind came a pretty girl with cascading pink hair.

"Birna."

"Yes, sister. I came too. I missed you so much I begged Mother to come to the palace. You'll understand, won't you?"

Her cheeks glowed the same sunny hue as her hair, utterly lovable.

It was a harbinger of the girl who would one day be called Baldina's flower and dominate high society.

Medea gazed at her beautiful aunt and cousin sister.

"Ahaha! Acting all high and mighty as a princess, look at you now. Baldina's fallen, your brother torn to shreds by magic beasts. All because of a stupid bitch like you!"

Before her stood the sworn enemies etched into her bones—the ones who had betrayed her, doomed her homeland, and even driven her own children to death.

Deep nail marks dug into her calmly clasped hands.

"Duchess."

But Medea showed no sign of it outwardly. She had no intention of ruining her plans over a momentary surge of anger.

She would bind them slowly, until the moment they suffered the most agony and torment.

Catherine faltered briefly before letting her eyebrows droop.

As if she couldn't fathom the reason for Medea's impassive demeanor.

"Don't call me so formally."

A slender hand reached out to clasp Medea's. With the other, Catherine pulled her into an embrace and patted her back.

The duchess exuded a sweet, comforting scent.

There had been a time when Medea wondered if a mother's embrace felt like this.

But now she knew the foul stench hidden behind this gentleness.

"Does your head not ache, Your Highness? Falls can seem fine on the surface, but the aftereffects run deep—many come to harm if they're not careful. You mustn't take it lightly."

Catherine's eyes brimmed with concern.

"I've brought a physician to examine you. They say he's a divine healer from the Kazen Empire who can make even the lame walk in an instant."

Kazen's divine healer?

Medea swallowed a laugh.

No wonder she came rushing here so urgently but hadn't breathed a word about the head maid.

'So that's it.'

"Mother searched high and low out of worry for Medea sister. The imperial was so arrogant, refusing to come to Baldina—we must've spent several chests of gold."

"Birna, enough idle chatter. If your careless tongue worries Her Highness, you'll be in for it."

As Birna whined petulantly, Catherine scolded her sternly.

"Mother, you're too much. Who even knows whose real daughter you are. Right, sister?"

Medea offered only a faint smile, saying nothing. Birna clamped her mouth shut, abashed.

Birna's petulance, her aunt's comforting pats—

'I once thought this was affection.'

She had truly believed they cherished her as family, like their own daughter.

But now, after enduring every hardship life could throw at her, Medea saw the pretense lurking behind the Claudio family's sweet words.

They had dangled talk of "real family" to exploit her starvation for affection.

The Kazen Empire, bordering Baldina, boasted fertile soil and bountiful granaries.

Cold, mountainous Baldina often requested aid from Kazen.

The empire used it as an excuse to demand tribute at will, earning widespread resentment.

'Last time, they demanded three hundred of Baldina's young knights as tribute.'

That was part of why King Peleus and the previous king had defied opposition to start the war.

To seize the western plains and carve out an escape from Kazen's meddling.

'And now, a Baldina princess treated by an imperial physician? From hostile Kazen, no less?'

At a time when prolonged war was fueling resentment toward King Peleus.

Once the princess's foolish behavior leaked out, the people would inevitably turn their eyes to the king.

Medea's idiocy would become her blood brother's fatal weakness.

"Being imperial, we can't just let him in freely—he's waiting outside the palace gates. If Your Highness is amenable, I'll have him brought now. You all—"

It seemed like she was awaiting Medea's permission, but Catherine had already turned toward the maid.

"No, Aunt."

Medea raised a hand to halt the maid and cut Catherine off.

"Thanks to Neril shielding me, I'm perfectly fine. We've already checked the records of past palace physicians too. If he's skilled enough to heal the lame, wouldn't it be better for him to see Grandmother first?"

"The Queen Dowager...?"

Feigning obliviousness to her aunt's hesitation, she continued innocently.

"I've heard from the maids that Grandmother's knees have been aching lately, and her gout is acting up. Even renowned physicians who've visited show no improvement."

The Queen Dowager was Baldina through and through.

Exploited by the empire since her era, she despised Kazen with a passion.

A woman who wouldn't even turn toward the empire's direction—she would fly into a rage if she learned the divine healer was Kazen-born.

And the duchess who brought him would find herself in dire straits.

"Your Highness truly has a heart of gold. The Queen Dowager already has excellent physicians, so no need to worry."

"No matter how skilled, they can't compare to one called a divine healer. I've only been fretting, so I'm so grateful you've brought such a renowned physician."

Medea blinked, playing the pure granddaughter fretting innocently over her grandmother.

"I'd love to take you there myself, but Grandmother gets upset seeing me. Please take him in my stead."

With that, Medea shoved the divine healer into her aunt's hands.

"Besides, it'd be so presumptuous for a mere girl like me to jump the line when a divine healer has come all this way. The fools would say I'm riding my brother's back to lord over Baldina."

That was precisely the reputation they craved for her.

"So, while I appreciate your kindness, Aunt, it's too generous a gift for me right now. Of course, you'll understand?"

Medea blinked innocently.