85 - The Crown I Will Take From You
85
However, Medeia retorted coldly.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t want to hear that the Princess of Baldina received Facade’s patronage.”
“The Kazen are different from the Baldinians, Princess. Acting aloof will only make them look down on you.”
The Kazen indulged in entertainment and luxury based on their fertile national power.
Paradoxically, they would not miss the opportunity to find fault with even the slightest deviation from etiquette or being behind the times.
“Don’t worry. I know more about them than you do.”
I’ve experienced it enough in my past life.
“They are more worldly and readily succumb to power. It might be easier than the Baldinians, who never break, even in death.”
In the past life, when Iason usurped the throne, the Kazen accepted the changed emperor without resistance.
Of course, it was after all the potential rivals who could have raised a rebellion were dead and gone.
“…Why?”
Medeia paused.
Because she found eyes staring at her intently.
“I believe the Princess has never left Baldina in her life, yet she knows the empire quite well.”
It was an expected question. Medeia shrugged her shoulders and said.
“Achares, that’s why people invented writing and news. You must have been too busy running a trading company and hiding your identity to know.”
In a generous voice, as if teaching a new Maid.
“……”
“I’ll send you books if you want.”
Cesare, who noticed a faint playfulness in her expressionless lips, ended up chuckling.
If Gallo knew, he would have been hopping mad, asking why he didn’t throw a dagger at the Princess.
“Alright. Then I have something to tell you as well.”
Cesare’s body momentarily paused as he tried to approach Medeia.
A bedroom with only the two of them in the dead of night.
To him, she was just a young Princess, but he didn’t know if she thought the same.
Nothing was more important to a girl of this age than purity and chastity. He seemed to have been too casual.
However, Medeia, who was a wife and mother of two children in her previous life, did not feel any sense of incongruity.
The excitement or tension that might arise between a man and a woman had long withered and aged in her heart.
“……”
Cesare woke from his thoughts at the sight of the green eyes looking up at him as if asking what was wrong.
The Princess’s clear face was calm, while he alone was acting like a childish boy.
Regaining his composure, he placed an ornament on Medeia’s white hand.
It was a cat-shaped brooch. Emeralds were embedded where the eyes should be.
“If you press this.”
A thick finger pressed the tail, and with a click, the cat’s mouth opened, and a sharp needle gleamed.
It was an elaborately designed weapon.
“It fires. It’s coated with a potent paralytic poison. Even a slight graze will leave you unable to get up for three days.”
“It would be good for stabbing rude people like you.”
Even as she said that, Medeia couldn’t take her eyes off the brooch.
“Are you going to refuse this time too?”
“……”
Medeia did not answer.
As if he expected that, a light laugh was heard beneath the half-mask.
“I knew you’d like it.”
“I never said I liked it-”
Medeia flared up, feeling as if her thoughts had been exposed.
“Then I’ll see you again, Princess.”
However, Cesare disappeared as quickly as he had come.
Medeia stood up and gripped the window frame. A cold night breeze rushed in.
“What a selfish person.”
Coming like the wind and scattering like a typhoon, she would be swept away if she didn’t keep a firm grip on her mind.
The sigh-like murmur fell upon the glittering emerald eyes of the cat.
\ \ \
The Administrative Palace of Baldina.
“Minister Ciseo? At this hour already… No, have you not left the palace yet?”
In the early dawn, the aide discovered Ciseo and widened his eyes.
On the map spread out on the table, notes from his contacts scattered across the battlefield remained in disarray.
“Did you have a good visit to the Royal Palace yesterday? Oh, what is this?”
“Ten days ago, the Rasai Tribe’s supply convoy heading to the battlefield was burned.”
The attendant tilted his head, discovering a letter and a piece of burnt flag.
“Surely, Princess Medeia didn’t do this?”
“Tell Peleus not to miss the opportunity.”
“Send this to His Majesty’s camp. It’s urgent, so as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, Minister.”
The attendant hurried out.
Ciseo suddenly realized.
The Princess did not use the Baldina Palace, but an external force to strike the Rasai’s supply route.
‘Mercenaries… Did she hire them?’
“If it didn’t reach my ears, they’re no ordinary people.”
There had been no news until two weeks ago.
If they were so precise and secretive as to target only the objectives accurately and withdraw within such a short time against the fierce Rasai Tribe…
“Could it be… Facade?”
A breath of disbelief escaped.
\ \ \
A group of Royal Maids emerged from the Kazen delegation’s lodging.
“Oh my, I’ve only heard about it, but the Fourth Princess is really something. She doesn’t like this, she doesn’t like that. How on earth do her subordinates manage to cater to her whims?”
“Tell me about it. Just now, she chased the Count away to get imperial decorations, saying the lodging was shabby.”
The Maids clicked their tongues.
“Tsk tsk, how is he supposed to find those things at this late hour? Poor thing. Even an imperial count has no choice before royalty.”
On the street of Baldina Royal Castle, lined with darkened shops, Kensington, who was busy with the Fourth Princess’s errand, stopped in his tracks.
Because a familiar silver figure appeared before him.
“What brings the Princess of Baldina out at this late hour?”
“Count Kensington, let’s take a walk for a moment.”
While obediently following the Princess, a deep wariness arose in Kensington’s eyes.
Having been exposed as a Red Fox Troop and coming this far, he was wondering how to approach her.
But the Princess of Baldina had come to find her first.
“I was half-doubtful whether Umberto could convey it properly. I thought it would be enough if the word got through somehow. But I didn’t expect you to come find me in person.”
“…The matter is what it is.”
“Are you worried that all the spies you’ve planted in Baldina will be exposed? Don’t worry. I didn’t seek you out to discuss that.”
“Then what is it?”
Unlike the benevolent appearance she showed while leading the delegation, Medeia’s sharp eyes, devoid of any smile, captured Kensington.
The original Kensington was a bit arrogant, a bit cautious, and even sensitive.
“I came to warn you.”
“I am sorry, but I do not understand what advice the Princess of a small country could possibly give to a Kazen subject like myself.”
Kensington subtly provoked the Princess. He intended to observe her reaction.
“What if I expose your true nature to the imperial family right now?”
It was also a veiled threat.
As the head of the spies who traveled across the continent, his tone was calm, but it was imbued with an undeniable coldness.
“True nature… Like you, who seems like an ordinary diplomat but is actually the one moving the intelligence network across the continent?”
Kensington paused at the question delivered with a bright smile.
“Count, threats are only made when you have nothing to lose. But even so, I don’t know if anyone would believe you.”
Medeia raised the corners of her lips.
“Frankly speaking, no one knows what happened between you and me except for the two of us, right?”
To reveal the Princess’s true nature, he would have to confess that he secretly attached a Spy to the Minister of the Baldina Palace.
Both of them knew that Kensington would not take that risk.
“The wise Count, you have sent countless spies to the continent and preemptively attacked with the information you obtained through them.”
The Princess’s eyes were sincere.
“I even know that the current emperor was able to ascend to the throne safely thanks to your loyalty hidden in the shadows.”
“……”
“But now, it’s dangerous. The Red Fox Troop, which was your strength, will now strangle you.”
The Princess stopped walking and turned her body. Kensington met her clear green eyes.
“Because the Kazen emperor will betray you.”
The air froze. Kensington warned.
“Princess, you should be careful before uttering such rumors.”
“I personally respect the Count. Especially your loyalty and sacrifice that has been passed down through generations.”
A trace of respect was revealed on her small, white face.
“But did the Kazen emperor give you the reward you deserved? Can a lord-vassal relationship be maintained with unilateral loyalty? Kensington, you need to find a better master.”
Kensington’s eyes blazed with anger. The tips of his toes facing the Princess tensed.
“The Princess of Baldina is not the first foreigner to try to win me over. But then, and now, my answer is the same. Kensington is only loyal to His Majesty.”
As if she expected a firm answer, Medeia nodded slightly.
“I respect your conviction. However, I wanted to warn you. You are too precious to be sacrificed to the greed of the ungrateful.”
Even after the Princess left, Kensington could not leave his spot. For a moment, he was so angry that it was difficult to manage his expression.
Perhaps the biggest reason was that he could not deny the words of the girl in front of him.
The words that his lord, Perdicas, who had ascended to the throne, would betray him before long.