105 - The Crown I Will Take From You
Chapter 105
"Stand up, Princess." Marching is ultimately a battle of mental strength. Do you understand?”
Thud. Medeia, who had fallen to the ground, opened her eyes only when the thick dust that had risen slowly settled.
“Haa……”
She swallowed a sigh, unsure whether it was a sigh of relief for being alive or a lament for failing to land safely, and raised her body.
The moment the wolf pounced on her, Medeia shoved a Dagger coated in poison into the beast’s neck.
And she was pushed off the cliff along with it.
Fortunately, the trees that grew densely near the cliff acted as a buffer, cushioning the impact along with the wolf that fell with her.
‘By now, the hunting grounds must be turned upside down. They must have noticed I’m gone.’
Medeia raised her head.
She could see the precipice of the incredibly high valley she had fallen into.
To forget the pain that was creeping all over her body from the impact of the fall, Medeia chewed and swallowed several painkillers she had hidden.
The taste, as bitter as gall, awakened her dazed mind.
‘I don’t have much time. I have to move before the trackers come.’
The empty wind couldn’t escape the steep valley and only made eerie wailing sounds.
She could see trees densely packed on both sides.
In fact, Baldina was a barren mountain country known for its lush forests and remote areas.
As it was a pristine land, there were countless places untouched by human hands or the traces of Demon Beast.
The reason why they only hunted in the royal hunting grounds was that it was realistically impossible to manage this entire vast and dense mountain with limited resources.
‘So, it’s the perfect place to hide for a few days.’
Medeia had expected her uncle’s family to target her.
She had not only thwarted all of their ambitious plans but had also become a national hero, so there was no way the Regent Duke would let it go.
“Don’t worry, Dea. Just trust this brother. I will definitely keep you safe.”
“Safe, my foot.”
Wasn’t that a promise to kill her for sure among the wolves? Medeia scoffed.
“Claudio. I will gladly accept the gift you have prepared for me.”
Her uncle’s family would have no choice but to desperately search for her to avoid suspicion of killing the Princess.
The niece they had tried to eliminate with their own hands was now someone they desperately hoped was alive.
Medeia intended to stay in this mountain until they were parched with anxiety.
The longer the time her safety was uncertain, the deeper the Queen Dowager's and Baldina people's suspicion and anger towards her uncle's family would become.
Medeia erased the traces of her fall and moved her heavy body.
Soon, her figure disappeared into the bushes.
The valley became as silent as death again, as if nothing had happened.
\ \ \
Rose Mansion in District 2.
After obtaining the Queen Dowager's official pass, Facade was able to enter and leave the palace more frequently.
The silent shadows scoured the palace in search of their leader’s antidote.
“But, we haven’t found the Morning Dewdrop yet. We’re moving secretly to avoid surveillance, so the speed is slow.”
Gallo drooped his eyebrows. He tore at his cheeks in anxiety as he spoke.
“Wouldn’t it be easier if the Regent Duke caused a rebellion or something and the palace was turned upside down……? But if I say this, am I too much of a scumbag?”
“……”
“Hey, why aren’t you two answering? It’s a joke!”
Ignoring Gallo, who was throwing out useless jokes, Terrence glanced at his friend.
He still exuded a relaxed face and a languid atmosphere, but he noticed the gradually fading vitality.
It was because the curse’s seizures had become more frequent.
‘There really isn’t much time left. If we don’t find the Morning Dewdrop, Cesare won’t have another chance.’
A streak of anxiety arose in everyone’s hearts.
However, no one voiced it.
They knew that the moment they revealed the anxiety, an indescribable despair would weigh them down.
They only focused on finding the Morning Dewdrop, that one and only cure.
And so, another day of the little time left was passing.
At that moment, Alpha came in with a letter. It was an uncharacteristic urgent pace.
“It’s a message from Zeta. Princess Medeia has disappeared.”
\ \ \
On a dark night, Cesare stood under the large tree where Samon had been found.
He turned to the spot where the Princess’s dead horse had fallen.
The still vivid crimson bloodstains allowed him to guess the desperate situation at the time.
“My lord. The royal investigation team found the dead horse and wolves near the cliff. It seems the Princess was chased and fell off the cliff…….”
A sneer lingered on the sculpted face hidden beneath the mask.
“The Princess’s cape was found torn to shreds, so if she fell down the thousand-foot cliff with injuries……. The prevailing opinion is that there is no hope.”
“That can’t be.”
A low murmur echoed, as if answering Alpha in his memory.
This easily? Medeia, of all people?
Cesare didn’t believe it.
Medeia, who had meticulously laid traps one by one to target the Regent Duke, would give up on herself this easily?
Knowing the precarious state of Baldina, which would fall into the hands of the Regent Duke if he died?
However, his clear reason told him that people’s lives could sometimes fade away very meaninglessly.
Even a person as solid and strong as a bulwark that doesn’t shake no matter what storms rage, can make a choice in a fleeting moment that doesn’t suit them at all.
“Cesare, you are not my son. You are the illegitimate seed of my husband and the late Empress. From the moment he threw you into my arms, there hasn’t been a moment I haven’t hated you.”
“Then, you must stay alive and watch me die with your own eyes, Your Majesty the Empress. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
Just like his aloof and unyielding stepmother had let go of her life in a single moment.
“Cesare, I can’t hold on any longer.”
“No.”
The Princess was different. She wasn’t the stepmother who had withered away like a doll, day by day, with indifferent eyes.
Cesare murmured lowly.
“She is different from my mother. She is the same kind of person as me.”
He had seen the undying flame in the Princess’s eyes. She would not give up until the blue fire completely swallowed its target.
Cesare was certain. Because he was the same.
So-
At that moment, something faintly sparkled under the large tree. Cesare bent down.
“……A Crossbow bolt.”
To be exact, it was hidden in the cat brooch he had given to Medeia.
When he ordered this accessory, he had the artisan leave a mark on the Crossbow bolt so that it could recognize its owner.
A faintly remaining bumpy mark when touching the end of the Crossbow bolt.
‘She’s alive.’
When he discovered it, Cesare unknowingly sighed. Without realizing that a faint relief was mixed in.
‘Samon fell into the Princess’s trap.’
Cesare moved his steps.
\ \ \
Under the black valley illuminated by the moonlight.
Cesare, who was about to take a step, paused with a grimace at the sharp pain in his heart.
Crimson blood vessels were traveling along his fingertips, up to his forearm.
“……Damn it.”
A vivid curse leaked out from between his elegant lips.
Just as it had spread from his fingertips in a dark blue color, a hideous black discoloration had long appeared on the left side of Cesare’s chest where his heart was.
But he couldn’t stop. Cesare spat out a lump of blood and moved his steps again.
The traces led deeper and deeper into the forest.
Could a Princess raised in a greenhouse go this deep? Could she survive for days in this forest, avoiding the wild and the beasts?
Could the trail he was chasing really be the Princess’s?
The conviction that he had been certain she was alive was gradually fading.
How much further had he walked? Cesare stopped. The traces had stopped.
He raised his head. A small cave in the deep mountains, enough to avoid beasts and rain, came into view.
There were piles of fallen leaves in front of the cave. Cesare stepped inside.
Traces of a bonfire remained. But it was only full of ashes, and there were no embers left, so he couldn’t be sure.
Just as a question mark of doubt arose,
Whoosh, Cesare, who barely dodged a Crossbow grazing his neck, turned around in the darkness.
“Reveal yourself.”
The same voice as usual. Still flushed cheeks. A round face. A small frame.
The green-eyed girl he had been searching for was standing in front of him.
Aiming a Crossbow at him.
Next to her was a rabbit lying sprawled out, as if she had been hunting.
The Princess, who recognized the white half-mask Cesare was wearing, paused.
“Achares? How did you get here-”
In that moment, it felt like his reason snapped.
The moment he faced the Princess who was alive and staring at him, it felt like all the reason and rationality floating in his head had been completely erased.
“Medeia.”
He strode forward.
And he hugged Medeia in his arms, as if to crush her.