Chapter 98

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 98

Chapter Title: The Pluckable Flower

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“Thank you, Uncle Raju.”

Samon maintained a fairly close relationship with Count Raju, who was also the godfather to his younger sister.

“But now that you've already joined hands with Grand Duke Castulo, is there really any need to reach out to the Fourth Princess as well? If His Highness the Grand Duke finds out about this, he's sure to be displeased.”

“If I become the Fourth Princess's consort, the Crown Prince will naturally take notice of me. Wouldn't that make me an even greater asset to His Highness the Grand Duke?”

He nodded proudly.

Even if he ended up being treated like a mere stud horse, the backing of the Fourth Princess—and by extension, the Crown Prince—was more than worth it.

“How much hardship you've endured in this distant foreign land. And yet, everyone's just scrambling to shift the blame away from themselves now that things have gone south.”

Samon drew closer to the princess and offered her gentle words of comfort.

“It must be truly difficult to have no one around who truly understands you.”

But just as when they'd first met, the princess didn't even spare him a glance.

Instead, she waved her hand dismissively, as if shooing away an annoying pest.

“I know you admire my cousin. But the King is far too noble to ever bow his head before Kazen.”

Despite the princess's consistent indifference, Samon's voice remained soft and gentle.

“Why just gaze upon a glass flower that will never break? Wouldn't a fresh bloom right in front of you—one you can touch anytime—be far more enticing?”

As if he'd forgotten the humiliating insults she'd heaped on him before, he looked just as polished and handsome as he had the day they'd first met.

The princess's eyes flicked toward Samon.

Ever since arriving in Baldina, nothing had gone her way, but with this handsome man hovering before her, her heart stirred just a little.

The princess narrowed her eyes seductively. The night was deep, and a rich musky scent wafted from Samon.

Intoxicated by drink, even the features she'd once seen as worlds apart from Peleus now seemed somewhat similar.

“So you're saying you're the flower I can actually pluck?”

As the Fourth Princess scoffed, Samon flashed a seductive smile.

“If that's what Your Highness desires.”

Irritation surged within her, anger boiling up to the top of her head. The alcohol's haze made her think it didn't matter anyway.

“Medea...”

This damned princess of Baldina.

The thought of the princess's face ignited a fresh wave of fury. And it only grew worse when she remembered that the king was her brother.

If neither the king nor his sister could be brought to their knees, then what was wrong with a substitute?

Slap.

“Don't get cocky.”

Despite her words, she grabbed Samon by the collar and yanked him toward her.

Click. The lights went out.

In the deepened night, darkness enveloped their desires.

In the spot where Jared had stormed off like a typhoon, Jason rubbed his temples as he recalled their recent conversation.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke, please lodge a formal protest with Baldina on my behalf. That princess's proxy inflicted a grievous wound on me—surely she bears responsibility for it.”

“Calm yourself, General. I've summoned my finest physician, so your injury will soon be treated—”

He tried to soothe Jared.

But to the reason-lost Jared, it came across as nothing more than a facade to escape the situation.

“It seems Your Highness wants to have both this man and Baldina in your grasp, but the world isn't that lenient.”

“You seem overly agitated, so let's discuss this again once your treatment is done and your condition has stabilized a bit. I promise I'll find a way to satisfy you—”

Jason's prudence carved an irreparable emotional chasm between the two men.

“Forget it. I've found the king in the mountains—I have no need for a mere fox digging holes everywhere.”

“General, General!”

Even if his right hand was now unusable, the fact that Jared was a ten-star general ennobled by the emperor himself remained unchanged.

He might not be able to fight on the front lines personally anymore, but his position and influence were too valuable a prize to let slip away.

“Damn it all—why must things turn out like this?!”

His once gentle and kindly face twisted into something ferocious, like a beast.

Crash! Unable to contain his rage, he shoved the table aside.

Among the items scattered across the floor was a crumpled letter at one corner.

“...The delegation is to be handed over to Her Highness Princess Angelique, and Grand Duke Castulo is to return to the empire by His Majesty's decree.”

It was a natural suspicion from Perdiccas II's perspective.

At that banquet, his fourth daughter had lost both face and advantage, but Jason had lost nothing in return. If anything, he'd gained a reputation for righteousness and integrity.

Moreover, hadn't it been Jason himself, as judge, who had branded her defeat?

Considering only the outcomes without context, that's how it appeared.

“Damn it!”

He felt like he was going mad. No matter how he explained the full story, the emperor wouldn't drop his suspicions.

Jason ground his teeth.

The Fourth Princess had started the wager, and Jared had lost the duel.

Yet in reality, Jason had suffered the greatest losses.

He'd lost Jared, been branded a traitor by the Kazen delegation, and now even drawn the emperor's wariness.

“If only the princess had lost, there wouldn't have been any issues...”

Resentment toward Medea, the root of it all, began to bubble up.

But then he recalled her silver hair scattering in the wind, the blood trickling down her pale arm, and those deer-like, pitiable green eyes.

Jason bit his lip.

Incredibly, a pang tugged at a corner of his heart. Ha, was he really in a position to feel pity for her?

Jason scoffed inwardly but issued an order to his subordinate nonetheless.

“Send medicine to the Princess Palace.”

Having lost prestige with the Kazen delegation, he needed to solidify his foothold in Baldina at least.

Kazen delegation lodging, Kensington's quarters.

Jason wasn't the only one hit with a unilateral imperial decree.

“His Majesty can't possibly do this to me!”

Kensington slammed the table furiously.

Umberto picked up the scroll bearing the emperor's decree that she'd tossed aside and unrolled it. He gasped in shock.

“Disband the Red Fox Unit and surrender it to the imperial family? What in the world is this?”

He could scarcely believe his eyes even after reading the words.

“Isn't His Majesty going too far? This is the intelligence network you've devoted your life to building. Without us, His Majesty might never have ascended the throne safely, and the empire might not have flourished to become the continent's hegemon.”

“...”

“Yet not only does he withhold rewards, he insults you like this and tries to steal away your achievements.”

Umberto didn't dare say it aloud, but he thought the emperor was acting like a common bandit.

“You're not planning to accept this quietly, are you? Leader, you must protest to His Majesty.”

“Do you not know that defying an order means death?”

Kensington sighed as she spoke.

Her lord, Perdiccas II, had grown even more obsessed with the throne since ascending it.

He'd welcomed the continental intelligence brought by her Red Fox Unit, yet constantly fretted that she might betray him and sell Kazen's secrets.

Just as he'd celebrated and promoted his first prince's great achievements while always suspecting and guarding against him.

Now that the first prince was gone, it seemed her turn had come.

“The Red Fox Unit will become a noose around my neck.”

'Too risky to hold or release—truly a leash.'

Kensington let out a hollow laugh.

The warning sent by Baldina's princess felt eerily prophetic of this very moment.

Early morning in the Fourth Princess's bedroom.

Harsh light poured down on the naked man and woman wrapped in sheets.

The man's body bore red welts here and there. His cheek was slightly flushed, and his upper body was marked with pinch bruises scattered about.

“If you had any sense, you'd have slipped out on your own by now—what are you still doing here?”

Samon swallowed his rising fury at the Fourth Princess's continued cold tone.

He had succeeded in seducing her last night, but what followed had exceeded his wildest imagination.

'I heard she was willful and cruel, but...'

He hadn't expected it even in bed.

Last night, she'd dominated him in bed without letting him utter a single word, grabbing him by the hair and toying with him.

She'd even called him Peleus and slapped him until he responded as such.

To treat him, the Young Duke Claudio, as nothing more than a disposable substitute—seething shame and anger toward the Fourth Princess roiled within him.

Yet he betrayed not a flicker of his burning rage, instead gazing at her tenderly like a lover.

“Your Highness, did you rest comfortably last night? I hope I wasn't lacking and didn't cause pain to your precious body.”

“Hmph, seeing your Baldinan face first thing in the morning has already ruined my mood.”

The Fourth Princess dismissed him with pitiful contempt.

At that moment, cheers erupted from far away.

“Long live Her Highness Princess Medea! Long live!”

A maid came rushing in, breathless.

“What? What on earth is going on?”