64 - The Crown I Will Take From You
Chapter 64
"Intruder!" Check the prisoners!”
“Security has been breached!”
The sound of footsteps belatedly rushing over echoed.
“Tch.”
Then, the rope strangling him loosened. The assassin kicked off the wall and disappeared into the darkness.
“Kuh-erk!”
The Minister, barely freed, gasped for breath.
His eyes, having returned from the brink of death, were bloodshot.
Relieved to be alive, he pounded his fists on the floor repeatedly, overcome with resentment.
His eyes, burning red, looked as if they were shedding tears of blood.
“Claudioooo!”
In the dark prison, a curse filled with malice echoed.
\ \ *
The next day.
Etienne, not even glancing at the dirty, coarse bread covered in dust, gnashed his teeth.
He gave all the gold he had to the guards who came to distribute lunch, barely managing to call the Princess’s Maid.
“Your Highness says she will not meet you. She told me to tell you that being fooled once is enough.”
“Just once, tell her to see me just one more time. I know Claudio’s most hideous secret, I will absolutely not disappoint her. Huh? Just once! Hurry!”
And that evening, the Princess came to see the Minister.
“Your Highness!”
Etienne was almost out of his mind.
With a gaunt appearance unlike anything he had ever had in his life, he greeted Medeia as if she were a savior.
His bloodshot eyes showed that he had not slept a wink all night.
“Minister, you look terrible.”
The Princess glanced down at him and said a word.
He was speechless. This prison was hell. He was not given any conveniences.
It was a harsh life for an old man like him.
‘You bastards!’
The Minister cursed inwardly and nodded repeatedly.
“So, you were babbling strange things about my uncle.”
The Princess went straight to the point, as if she had no intention of staying long.
“Yes, Your Highness. You must know the hideous truth that Duke Claudio is hiding. That is why I, Etienne, have taken the liberty of seeing you again.”
“Hideous truth? About my uncle?”
“Yes, Your Highness. The Duke’s power has been so strong that no one has dared to speak out.”
“……”
“But I am a loyal subject who eats Baldina’s bread, and only for Baldina! I have decided to reveal the truth!”
Shouting as if spitting blood, the Minister prostrated himself and subtly raised his head to gauge the Princess’s reaction.
“Your Highness, please protect me. If you keep the Duke from killing me, if you just protect my life, I will tell you the truth about Duke Claudio, whom you believe in.”
The Princess still had a blank face. Etienne became anxious.
“If more time passes, it may be useless.”
“……Alright. I accept.”
The Princess’s consent fell.
“Th, then please send out guards first……”
“You are the one who lost trust. If you can’t trust me, I’ll just leave.”
The Princess coldly tried to turn away.
Etienne suddenly came to his senses. If the Princess left, he would really be dead!
“No! S, since I have done such a thing, it is only natural that Your Highness cannot trust me. Of, of course.”
He nodded repeatedly. He was trying to rationalize Medeia’s attitude.
“Show your hand first.”
“But-”
He couldn’t reveal it before getting confirmation. Medeia’s eyes turned cold as Etienne hesitated.
“You seem to be mistaken, I make the decisions, Etienne. Not you.”
Gulp. Etienne swallowed.
There was no more escape.
The Princess was the last lifeline left to him.
Tonight was already dangerous, he didn’t have the luxury to weigh and measure things.
“……After I took charge of the Royal Court, many people came to me.”
He finally opened his mouth.
“Some wanted positions, some wanted wealth. I too……. I confess, I forgot the gravity of my position and filled my own selfish desires.”
“…….”
“They were all the Duke’s people, and they transferred the Royal Palace’s profits to the Duke’s family. It’s not just one or two people. Duke Claudio’s power extends throughout the Royal Palace.”
Medeia didn’t even seem surprised, she just snorted.
“Is that all? How new. It’s not like I’ve been surrounded by my uncle’s people for a day or two.”
“No! Please listen a little more. The important thing I have to tell Your Highness starts now.”
He became anxious because the Princess looked like she would get up and leave at any moment.
He forgot his initial caution.
“The greed of the Duke, and those who follow him, did not stop at using Your Highness to accumulate power and wealth. Those ruthless people dismissed the courage of the young King as childishness, and in the end, they harbored a heart that should not be harbored.”
“A heart that should not be harbored? Speak precisely.”
The Princess did not allow Etienne to add even a little embellishment.
Etienne looked around uneasily.
It felt like Duke Claudio’s assassin would jump out of the darkness at any moment and strangle him again.
Gulp. Etienne swallowed and answered.
“Treason, I mean.”
Treason.
At that moment, the temperature of the prison seemed to drop a degree, becoming colder.
“They have resolved to overthrow Baldina, start a rebellion, and depose the King. And, I have the Sealed letter in which they plotted the rebellion.”
The Sealed letter of treason.
Silence flowed. The Princess was silent.
Because the gravity of the matter was so great, Etienne bit his lip and endured the silence.
“How can I……”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“How can I believe that? Etienne, this time you’re plotting with my uncle to trap me. Even the bugs crawling around here know that you are my uncle’s closest friend and ally.”
The Princess coldly snapped.
“You must be in that Sealed letter too. Now you’re pretending you’re not, and you want me to believe that you’re voluntarily reporting this?”
“No! You’re mistaken! He’s not my friend! The Duke is trying to get rid of me!”
Etienne, forgetting how unsightly he was, knelt down, clinging to the Princess as if she were a naive child whom he had ignored.
As if pressuring the Princess at the banquet a while ago was a past life, he was surprisingly servile.
“It’s to eliminate me before the existence of the Sealed letter is revealed. How can I call someone who abandons me as soon as I’m in danger a friend? I finally realized here. We must never leave Claudio, who harbors ungrateful treason, alone.”
The Minister did not stop defending himself even in this situation.
But he would never know.
The Duke had no intention of eliminating him, and was struggling to save him from outside the prison.
Medeia raised the corner of her lips.
“I can’t believe everything you say for now. Wait, I need to check if that’s true, so it will take some time.”
“Th, then what about me……!”
Etienne’s face turned pale.
“Please save me, Your Highness. You may meet me as a corpse next time.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll replace all the guards. If I have them guarded by those who can use swords, no assassin will be able to easily infiltrate.”
Medeia answered calmly, as if that was not something to worry about.
She did not forget to express her concern to Etienne in a slightly kinder tone.
“How worried were you? You look terrible. I told my Saya to take good care of you so you wouldn’t be uncomfortable, but it seems it was insufficient.”
Etienne’s jowls, which had not fallen off even though he had become gaunt, trembled.
The Minister almost burst into tears, grabbing the Princess, who was young enough to be his granddaughter, because her words felt so warm.
“My life is in your hands, Your Highness. Please, save me.”
“So I have to check as soon as possible. Tell me.”
Medeia moved closer. Green light flickered in her eyes.
“That Sealed letter, where exactly is it?”
