Chapter 17

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 17

Chapter Title: The Crown I'll Steal from You

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"I’d like you to build a residential district for the retired soldiers within the capital. They need a new home where they can live with their families."

"Pardon?"

Marquis Giliphos asked again, doubting his own ears.

"Why are you so surprised? Didn’t you stop my carriage just to remind me of their existence?"

Medea spoke with a faint smile. And then she remembered.

In the future, among the rebels rising up in the capital, there had been retired soldiers.

They pinned the blame on Peleus for suppressing them, branding him a king gone mad with slaughter, harming even his own people and comrades.

Medea planned to keep these men within the capital, pitting them against the rebels and stripping away their cause.

"......I figured you wouldn’t know, with people who despise them surrounding Your Highness."

"You can’t ignore everything just by plugging your ears and eyes. The royals have no spare resources right now, the nobles turn away claiming no benefit, and the Regent Duke is even stoking their resentment. You’re the only one left I can entrust this to, Marquis."

Giliphos’s eyelids twitched.

"You know it offers no honor or profit, yet how do you intend to proceed?"

"As you said, I am a princess of Baldina. I’m merely doing what a princess should."

Giliphos was surprised that the princess truly grasped Baldina’s current internal state.

"I hope you’re not rejecting me because it’s too late, Marquis."

"......"

In truth, the retired soldiers’ livelihood was a problem even Giliphos hadn’t been able to address properly.

Most were poor commoners.

Finding a way for them to survive brought no glory, only endless expense.

Their anger grew as the royals ignored them, and a retired Giliphos couldn’t step forward to champion them.

All he could manage was one-off aid to cover their basic food, clothing, and shelter.

But now the princess was volunteering to build them a residence?

"If funds run short, let me know through Neril. I’ll help as much as I can."

"Does Your Highness have any jewels left?"

Giliphos indirectly alluded to the rumors about the princess, pointing out her dire straits.

"That’s not for the marquis to worry about. You should focus on how to manage the retired soldiers without causing unrest."

The princess’s point cut sharp.

"......For something like this, the prime minister would be more useful."

Sise Emil Leges.

The young Prime Minister Sise of Baldina was a genius at administration.

When the old prime minister suddenly passed, there had been great concern over whether Sise, inheriting the post, was too young.

But as he ruthlessly organized the chaotic state affairs, those worries quickly faded.

There was even a joke that Baldina remained intact after ten years of war—despite the princess wreaking havoc inside and enemies outside—solely thanks to Sise.

"But Sir Sise doesn’t care for the soldiers as much as you do, Marquis."

Medea pointed out calmly.

"A man who prioritizes efficiency would first question whether retired soldiers, having served their purpose, are worth housing in the capital."

"Even if I step in, Sise won’t allow it. He’d refuse even more if it’s by Your Highness’s order. What will you do if the prime minister doesn’t approve?"

Giliphos asked again.

"As always, Sir Sise and I will find a compromise."

Medea placed the golden royal seal on the table.

Giliphos couldn’t hold back a laugh.

Talking of compromise while holding the king’s seal that even the prime minister must obey.

"Heh. So the rumors about Your Highness raising his blood pressure weren’t false."

But his light chuckle vanished into his beard in an instant.

"Your Highness, do you trust me? What if I take all your remaining wealth and run?"

Giliphos was curious.

Where did this young princess’s boldness come from?

"You have no family to reclaim your assets, no subordinates. Ah, Neril might be different. But that girl with numbers..."

"No. I trust no one."

Not even Giliphos’s provocation could shake Medea’s composure.

"But I do trust the marquis’s sincerity toward the people."

She tapped the stack of papers. Thud. Thud. The rough sound resonated deeper than ever.

"As long as their lives depend on this, you’ll carry out my request more faithfully than anyone."

"......"

"Have I misjudged you?"

The marquis was momentarily speechless.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

The clock’s second hand sounded unusually loud. Medea waited quietly.

At last, the marquis shook his head.

"......You see me clearly."

His gravelly voice, dragging along the floor, rested as if it had hidden in darkness for ages.

"You’ve placed upon me the most cumbersome and burdensome yoke of the people. How could I flee?"

His wrinkled yet still firm, large hand pulled the stack of documents Medea had offered toward him.

"No additional funds will be needed. With Your Highness stepping forward, how could a marquis of the realm stand idle?"

Medea nodded in response instead of words.

‘Good. It worked.’

He valued honor above life. Once he accepted the task, he would see it through no matter the obstacles.

His tenacity had overwhelmed even the Regent Duke and Sise.

"Ah, and one more thing."

Before leaving after finishing her business, Medea added,

"There’s one favor I’d like to ask of you."

Her eyes changed slightly, signaling a different matter from before.

"Among the families of the retired soldiers, please look into whether there’s anyone named Theo."

A flicker of doubt crossed Giliphos’s face upon hearing Medea’s words. But he quickly masked it and asked,

"Is this person important to Your Highness?"

Medea nodded.

"Very important."

Vivid memories of her past life flooded her mind.

Theo was the second-in-command of the rebels soon to storm the capital—and the true brain directing them.

‘His father was a retired soldier.’

"You killed him! My father, my brother—all because of you Baldinan royals!"

She could almost hear the blood-choked scream.

Yet in the final moment, Theo hadn’t pursued the fleeing Medea.

"Princess. I’m not letting you go out of forgiveness for Baldina. It’s just... not right."

His ash-brown eyes shaking wildly, his voice cracking with complex emotions—it all remained vivid.

Upon learning Medea had escaped, the rebel leader flew into a rage and stabbed Theo through the heart.

Around then, Peleus returned from the front lines, crushed the rebels, and rescued Medea.

Without Theo, the rebels crumbled, unable to hold together.

They were a ragtag bunch funded by her uncle’s money, but it proved how central Theo had been in keeping them united.

"Yes, you must find him."

Medea answered steadily.

He was the most vital person to her—for stopping the impending rebel uprising, and for what came after.

Her eyes gleamed sharply.

"Your Highness!"

Neril greeted Medea as she emerged from her private meeting with Marquis Giliphos.

When the marquis didn’t follow, Neril looked worried.

"Didn’t it go well?"