House Claudio
"Pride is a tower built on sand— and every wave claims what was never truly yours."
Conversations with the Princess always proceeded like this.
The moment you relaxed your guard—even slightly—her words would strike with the precision of a blade pressed beneath your chin.
"..."
"Kensington, you are the only person I've invested this much effort into recruiting."
"I am deeply honored by Your Highness's particular attention to a mere prisoner. However, my answer remains unchanged."
This was Kensington's response after considerable deliberation.
"I cannot deny that I am captivated by Your Highness's intelligence and resolve. Were I not a Katzenian, I would pledge my loyalty to you without hesitation."
He was curious—desperately so—about how far the Princess could see, and how high her ambitions reached. He wanted to witness it firsthand, standing at her side.
If he were still the young, fiery Louisa, there would have been no hesitation.
But now he was a middle-aged man who bore the weight of a family name—Kensington—rather than simply a personal identity.
At this stage of life, it was wiser to suppress the unfamiliar stirring in his chest rather than follow it.
"In all my years, through countless attempts at persuasion, I have never encountered anyone quite like Your Highness."
In gratitude for the sincerity she had shown him, Kensington prostrated himself before the Princess.
As of today, the only individuals Kensington had ever bowed to were his liege, Emperor Perdiccas II—and the Princess of Valdina.
"I am old-fashioned, Your Highness. I cannot bear to become a traitor who renounces his oath of loyalty to His Majesty."
The Princess's expression remained unchanged, as though she had anticipated his refusal. She simply posed a quiet question.
"Will that loyalty still hold if you die by the Emperor's own hand?"
"That will not happen. Our Majesty would sooner sever his own hand than discard a sharpened blade."
As Kensington spoke with confidence, Medea silently placed something in his palm—a small cloth pouch containing several smooth, gleaming stones.
"The mountain goats of the Asiliph range consume poisonous plants from birth. Their stomach stones are prized as universal antidotes."
Kensington was familiar with the Asiliph bezoar. The Asiliph Mountains were also renowned across the continent as the primary source of pitcher plant poison.
Pitcher plant toxin was a favored tool of the Katzen royal family when eliminating enemies.
"Nothing in this world lasts forever. I learned that far too late."
The Princess—only seventeen years old—spoke with the weariness of an elder reflecting on a life nearing its end.
"..."
"I give this to you out of genuine concern. Please accept it. If nothing comes to pass, simply keep it as a keepsake."
Kensington, who had been about to return the pouch, released a quiet sigh at her words.
"Yes. I, too, will never forget Your Highness—or this kingdom."
The farewell—so unlike him—carried a bitter aftertaste.
King Peleus had won the ten-year war and finally seized control of the plains.
It would be nearly impossible for Valdina and Katzen to return to their former amicable relations.
The Emperor would grow even more wary of Valdina, and Kensington, as his subject, would be obligated to follow his master's will.
The next time he saw this Princess after leaving Valdina, she might very well be his enemy.
"I will regret it as well. Do not forget—Valdina's doors will always remain open to you."
Kensington couldn't identify the source of the sharp ache in his chest.
'Stop here. You must not probe any deeper. You must never forget that your master is the Emperor of Katzen.'
He forced the fleeting thoughts back into the depths of his consciousness.
In the end, Joaquin Claudio's audacious rebellion concluded in catastrophic failure—without achieving a single benefit.
The vassals aligned with the Regent, along with House Claudio itself, were bound like common criminals and thrown into prison one after another.
Those same vassals who had taken nobles hostage and pressured Medea to abdicate now found themselves utterly abandoned.
It was time for those who had recklessly undermined the crown and the kingdom to pay their dues.
Voices throughout the capital clamored that this was the moment to purge every subversive element from Valdina.
"Enter! Search everything! Don't let even a rat slip past unchecked!"
The Agemas stormed House Claudio's estate.
Thanks to the vassals eagerly exposing the Regent's crimes with their own mouths, the treason investigation proceeded with remarkable efficiency.
Thus ended the reign of Valdina's most powerful man—the one who was once said to command such influence that even birds fell from the sky at his word.
The title of Duke Regent was cast into the mud, and House Claudio's estates were seized by the Crown.
It didn't take long for the Agemas to locate the hidden vaults where he had stashed his ill-gotten wealth.
The individual most invested in uncovering the Regent's assets was Prime Minister Sissair.
"The Regent Prince has amassed more personal wealth than the entire royal treasury of Valdina. Truly... *remarkable*."
A glint flashed behind his monocle. He meticulously cataloged every coin that had passed through Duke Claudio's hands.
Claudio's honor and fortune were stripped away completely. His status followed suit.
"As of this day, Joaquin Claudio and all his descendants are removed from the royal bloodline."
He was now, unequivocally, a commoner—*Joaquin Claudio*.
He had been a rigid classist, his pride rooted in looking down upon everyone from his royal perch.
That pride was now shattered beyond recognition—not even dust remained.
A damp prison. A lightless cell.
It was the very prison Minister Etienne had once feared with every fiber of his being.
The dark, fetid, filthy conditions were enough to drive mad those who had lived their entire lives surrounded by luxury.
Joaquin still could not accept his downfall.
One eye was already beyond recovery.
No physician came to tend him in this place, and too much time had passed—the shrapnel had burrowed deep.
He sat in the shadows, consumed by a single question.
'Where did it begin? What went wrong?'
The thoughts looped endlessly.
Where had his once-perfect trajectory been derailed?
And finally, he found his answer.
'It started the moment Medea awoke from her fall...'
The head maid, Cuisine, who had clashed with Medea—collapsed.
The Queen Mother, his own mother—turned her back on him.
With Minister Etienne's death, Joaquin lost control of the palace.
The Katzen delegation fell for Medea's provocations, and the hunting competition became a disaster due to her disappearance.
And when impatience drove him to accelerate his rebellion...
At every critical juncture where his plans unraveled, there stood the Princess—his own niece.
"I should have just *killed* that girl!"
Just as Etienne had once done, a desperate scream echoed through the dark cell.
Unable to accept his ruin, Joaquin's hair turned stark white within a handful of nights.
Deep wrinkles carved themselves into his face, his features twisted and hardened into something grotesque.
It was impossible to recognize the distinguished, middle-aged man he had once been—as though time itself had devoured him.
*Crack. Crack.*
He gnawed his fingernails to the quick, muttering Medea's name with bloodshot, manic eyes.
Samon glanced sidelong at his father, who seemed halfway to madness.
It was pitiable—yet understandable—to witness his inability to accept their fall.
Samon, too, had not given up.
No—he *couldn't* give up.
"Ahhhh! Aahhhh!"
The cell across from Claudio's narrow, cramped cage was even louder—even more chaotic.
Because Catherine and Birna were imprisoned there.
This prison was especially cruel to the mother and daughter who had been surrounded by beauty and luxury their entire lives.
"It's *filthy*! I'm going to die! Let me out! Why should *I* be here? Why not that wretched Medea?! I'll kill her! I'll tear her to *pieces*!"
Birna screamed until her throat was raw, uncaring that her shrieks tore open the wounds on her back.
Catherine clutched her daughter, sobbing uncontrollably.
On the day the rebellion was crushed, Duke Claudio and the young Duke had been immediately transferred to prison.
However, Birna—who had been abandoned outside the city walls—was discovered only after considerable time had passed.
And even that discovery was not for her salvation, but for her arrest as the Regent's daughter.
"Ahh! Birna! My daughter... my baby!"
Catherine wept as she looked upon the vicious wound carved across Birna's back.
How much care had been lavished to cultivate her daughter's flawless, porcelain skin—without a single blemish!
Every time Catherine saw the long, crimson scar marring her daughter's flesh, it felt as though a knife had been driven into her own heart.
"Criminal or not, you must summon a physician! You lowborn *beasts* have no manners!"
The guard spat at the shrill screams emanating from behind the bars.
"Listen here, Duchess. Propriety is reserved for *people*—not animals."
Though the rebellion had been successfully suppressed, it had not come without cost.
"My friend was among the soldiers you slaughtered on the walls while threatening Her Highness the Princess."
Catherine bit her lip, shoulders trembling beneath the guard's venomous glare.
'How did we fall to being treated like this...?'
Her once-beautiful eyes brimmed with unexpressed fury and a subtle, creeping sense of helplessness.
The past few days had been more than enough to experience the reality of House Claudio's ruin firsthand.
But, as the saying goes, there is hope in any situation.
"Duchess...! Birna! Are you both unharmed?"
Even though House Claudio had been cast into the gutter overnight, there were still those who sought to rescue them.
The one who secretly visited the prison was Count Raju.
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