Chapter 73

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 73

Chapter Title: The Crown I'll Take from You

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As the Regent Duke, he would try to seize power once more, even if it meant leaning on the might of the Kazen Empire.

But would the imperial delegation really bend to his will so easily?

"Uncle will move even more rashly to reclaim the control he's lost. That's to our advantage."

Medea tapped quietly on the table. Neatly arranged on its surface were red fox badges.

"After reading the letter Umberto sent, will Countess Kensington really come all the way to Baldina?"

"She will."

Medea answered calmly.

"She won't just sit idly by when the spy network she's devoted her life to has been breached. She'll want to see and confirm it with her own eyes."

Whether to eliminate the princess or exploit her.

Yet Countess Kensington had no idea.

From the moment she set foot in Baldina, she had already fallen into Medea's trap.

"Your Highness, how will you use this money?"

Saya's eyes sparkled as she tapped the minister's secret funds.

"I'll funnel it to Peleus."

Etienne's death had thrown the Regent Duke's faction into disarray—this was the perfect moment.

The Regent Duke himself would be frantic, scrambling to hold his crumbling power together.

The only question was whom to use... and how to deliver it effectively.

Knock knock.

At that moment, a maid knocked on the bedroom door.

Saya stepped out and returned, struggling under the weight of a flower basket nearly as big as she was.

"Your Highness, a gift arrived. It's from Facade."

"Facade?"

The maids who followed placed gift boxes down one by one. The room filled with the fresh scent of flowers.

"What is all this?"

Neril was the first to inspect the gifts warily.

"Why would Facade send something like this to Your Highness?"

"......"

Medea's expression turned blank, as if she had a pretty good idea.

"Your Highness, look at this—a dagger came with it too."

The dagger, wrapped in velvet, was small and light. It gleamed with a soft silvery luster.

Embedded in the center of its hilt was a ruby as vivid as blood.

Neril picked up the silver dagger, her face full of disbelief.

"Your Highness, it's mithril."

"...No way Facade is challenging Your Highness to a duel, right?"

"Saya, don't be ridiculous."

"But why send something so menacing to our lovely Your Highness..."

Neril and Saya exchanged glances.

Medea's expression remained unchanged.

"Don't lump me in with halfwits like the Regent Duke, Princess."

Medea knew exactly who had sent it.

She recalled the boomerang that had grazed his shoulder that day.

This was his way of mocking her—a taunt that such a pathetic weapon stood no chance.

"And this is holy water from the temple."

Neril held up a vial sloshing with blue liquid.

"Did he send it knowing about Your Highness's wound?"

Medea glanced down at the faint pink scar lingering on her hand.

Holy water doubled as a potent healing agent, one that could erase even scars.

He truly remembered every detail of that day without missing a beat.

"Send everything back except the holy water."

"The flowers and all the gifts too?"

"Yes. And tell him I want to meet him in secret."

A faint smile curved her lips.

A flicker of heat rose in her green eyes, but no one noticed.

The holy city of Persepolis in the Kazen Empire.

"What? Who? Baldina's princess?"

Countess Kensington repeated in shock.

Strands of her orange hair whipped about wildly, mirroring her turmoil.

"She even knows about Osoph? Impossible. This can't be."

Kensington had been exceedingly cautious in building the Red Fox Unit's network across the continent.

She had chosen individuals with no ties whatsoever to Kazen—and among Baldinans, only orphans or foreigners without connections, scrubbing their identities multiple times before inserting them into Baldina.

Umberto was one such capable subordinate, handpicked after much deliberation.

"I agree, but... regardless, the princess instructed me to deliver this to you."

The letter Umberto handed over bore neatly penned words.

Countess Kensington. Your eyes that survey the continent are vaster than the heavens, and your loyalty to your nation runs deeper than the seas—I can only stand in awe. Yet the will of man and the grace of the gods never align forever. I urge you to recognize this and withdraw with prudence.

M. de Baldina.

The letter appeared to exalt her, but in truth, it mocked Kensington's dominance over the continent and the empire's hubris by invoking the divine.

"Nonsense. How did she find out? There weren't any traces in Baldina that could have exposed our agents."

Her face flushed with humiliation as she crumpled the letter.

"The princess just let you go? Knowing full well you're a Kazen spy?"

"I... found it odd too. I braced for death, but perhaps her true aim was bringing down the minister all along."

Umberto recounted in detail—from the note that had approached him to how Minister Etienne had tumbled into the princess's trap.

The more she heard, the more incredulous she became.

Wasn't Baldina's princess supposed to be an arrogant, foolish half-blood riddled with inferiority?

Her public reputation clashed starkly with Umberto's report.

"What kind of person conceals such profound cunning at her age?"

Kensington faltered mid-sentence.

Kazen Empire itself harbored someone whose brilliance defied their years.

Considering First Prince Cezare—who had unified the tribes at sixteen and triumphed in the continental wars—it wasn't impossible.

"I never imagined Baldina hid a genius on par with His Highness Cezare."

Kensington stroked her gaunt face.

"I must go to Baldina."

"You personally, Leader? It's too dangerous. Draft a reply, and I'll return to Baldina in your stead."

"Absurd!"

Kensington cried out, composure shattered.

"How could I sit here twiddling my thumbs when my life's work—our empire's entire web—might be laid bare?"

Countess Kensington couldn't rest easy.

On the contrary, the letter's lack of demands only deepened her unease.

It would likely persist until she met the princess face-to-face and gauged her true nature.

At noon, as sunlight spilled lazily across the grounds, Medea made an early visit to the Queen Dowager Palace at her summons.

On her way back to her own palace, she encountered Catherine approaching from the opposite direction.

"Aunt."

A subtle royal grace emanated from Medea.

Her light green dress, delicately embroidered with silver thread, complemented her white, translucent skin perfectly.

Was this what they meant by "position makes the person"? Catherine's gut twisted as she watched Medea.

The girl receiving the Queen Dowager's devoted care and full princess privileges no longer bore any trace of her former anxious, insecure half-blood demeanor.

"Princess Your Highness, I trust you've been well?"

Catherine masked her displeasure, lifted her chin, and offered a soft smile in greeting.

"What brings you to the palace, Aunt? Ah, to see Grandmother, of course."

Medea nodded as if it all made sense.

Her eyebrows drooped in feigned pity for good measure.

Ever since the Queen Dowager caught wind of the Regent Duke's couple pressuring Medea over Etienne's affair, her anger hadn't subsided.

Thus, Catherine had been traipsing across the palace grounds until her feet blistered, begging for forgiveness.

"Oh my, Aunt. You don't look well at all. Grandmother needs to soften soon."

'It's all your fault!'

Catherine barely restrained the urge to grab that innocent face and scream.

"By the way, how is Birna faring? I was so worried when she left for the convent so suddenly."

"...She's doing splendidly, adapting well. She's matured there—even offers daily prayers for Your Highness the Princess and our Baldina."

"Really? How wonderful."

Medea clapped her hands with innocent delight.

"Convent life must suit Birna perfectly. I was aching at the thought of her struggling—nearly ready to plead with Grandmother despite her wrath. But if she's thriving, I needn't worry."

Catherine clenched her dress. Wrinkles creased sharply into the soft silk.