Glory in Sunlight
"While the city celebrates its victory, darker plots take root in the prison's depths."
One of the guards proved so obstinately incorruptible that Raju had to bribe him with nearly the price of a house in gold just to secure a brief visitation.
Nevertheless, he considered himself extraordinarily fortunate.
He had remained in the palace as a liaison between the Regent and Jason.
When the rebellion spiraled into disaster, he concealed himself faster than anyone else.
As a Valdinian residing in Katzen, quietly slipping away to preserve himself was neither new nor particularly difficult.
Thus, while Jason and his entire retinue were expelled from Valdina, Raju alone managed to remain.
"My lady, please—accept this. Clean water and a blanket."
Even in the bowels of the prison, he was the first to attend to his suffering lover.
"Oh, God... how can someone so beautiful end up like this...?"
Her face was haggard, her hair disheveled, her dress filthy.
It shattered Raju's heart to see the exquisite Catherine caged like a wounded bird in this squalid cell.
"Birna, apply this salve. Your godfather brought it. If you don't cover that wound with a clean bandage, it will fester."
When he saw the vicious scars marring Birna's back, he wished desperately that he could have borne those wounds in her stead.
Raju turned and glanced toward the Regent beyond the bars on the opposite side, grinding his teeth inwardly.
'You imbecile. This is *your* fault. You attempted rebellion and squandered every ounce of strength—real and imagined—only to fail spectacularly?'
'And then you dragged Jason down with you. You *dared* to betray His Highness the Grand Duke just to save your own worthless skin?! It's not as though this is your first idiotic blunder, but to act so rashly in the face of crisis...'
It was unbearable to witness the pathetic downfall of the Regent—a nobleman who had never once touched rock bottom—now fallen so utterly.
If *Raju* had possessed Claudio's status and power, the outcome would have been entirely different.
Long-standing envy of the Regent, compounded by the catastrophic consequences he'd wrought, fueled a murderous animosity within Raju.
So intense was his hatred that he would have gladly killed the Regent here and now—if only he could.
'Damn the Valdina royal family! Damn you, Joaquin! And damn that wretched niece of yours!'
But the primary target of his rising fury was not the Regent.
It was Princess Medea.
'That vile woman sacrificed *our* Birna to save her own life?'
Kidnapped by rebels.
Forced to bear the shame of fleeing to preserve herself before the eyes of the entire world.
It should have been *Medea* who suffered the blade's cruel kiss.
Count Raju trembled with rage. His selfish tendency to deflect all blame onto others mirrored Birna's perfectly.
Had he thought calmly, he might have realized that none of this would have transpired if they hadn't targeted Medea in the first place.
But if Raju had been a rational, reasonable man, he would never have waded into this quagmire to begin with.
'Birna, my daughter—this father will avenge your suffering. The Princess will never meet a peaceful end. That is... if we can escape from here and return to the empire.'
But for now, rather than indulging in vengeful fantasies, saving House Claudio's lives took precedence.
Whether the Regent lived or died mattered little to him.
But Catherine was his one true love, and Birna was his own flesh and blood.
Raju could not allow them to rot in this filthy prison and face execution.
He had to extract the mother and daughter at any cost.
"...Samon."
Raju turned and approached the young Duke, handing him a small basket.
Inside were clean water, bread to stave off hunger, medicine, and painkillers.
"Thank you, Uncle Raju."
Samon approached the bars. His eyes, gleaming in the darkness, resembled a cat's.
"At least you've retained your sanity."
Raju sighed.
Neither the Regent, Catherine, nor Birna were in sound mental condition.
No matter what Raju said, they seemed incapable of registering his words—lost in their own madness.
Occasionally, they would erupt with curses directed at the King and Princess, as though venting pressure from a boiling kettle.
As though he'd been waiting for Raju's remark, Samon spoke.
"We cannot fall like this. Uncle, summon the Fourth Princess. *She* can secure our family's release."
Raju swallowed a sigh of relief.
Despite his failed rebellion and imprisonment, it seemed the young Duke could still assess the situation. Raju hadn't invested in a completely lost cause after all.
"Yes, we've identified the right leverage—but the Fourth Princess won't be swayed easily. She's not the type to bend to petty threats."
"...Even if we threaten to expose her relationship with me and her... eccentricities?"
"How many men do you think have vanished after making such foolish threats? The Fourth Princess doesn't even blink."
Samon couldn't deny the validity of Raju's assessment.
He bit his lip.
'Is there truly no way out? Must I simply await execution?'
"Unless we uncover a weakness far more devastating than bedroom scandals."
"What do you mean...?"
Samon looked up sharply at Raju's loaded remark.
"This uncle has already set the trap. I bribed one of the Fourth Princess's maids and had her administer a conception drug to the Princess some time ago."
It had been during the chaos when the delegation fled the palace in shock at the rebellion's outbreak.
Samon sat stunned for a moment before grasping the implications.
Pregnancy. Yes—that was certainly a crisis the Fourth Princess could not ignore.
"But even so, if a physician examines her, the deception will be exposed."
Moreover, the physician accompanying the delegation was renowned as a master—practically divine. He would recognize a false pregnancy induced by drugs.
"Don't worry. He will tell the Princess exactly what we want him to say. The grandson of that 'divine' physician is in my custody."
Raju's oily eyes glittered with malice.
He had kidnapped the physician's grandson and was using him as leverage.
When the life of his grandson—his sole remaining blood relative after losing both son and daughter—was placed on the scales, the physician had no choice but to comply with Raju's demands.
"I have already dispatched a message to the imperial court. The Fourth Princess is pregnant with your child. The Emperor will respond shortly."
Emperor Perdiccas II would have surely heard of Valdina's upheaval by now.
He cherished the Fourth Princess above all others, and with the Empress Consort and the Crown Prince backing her, he could not allow his first grandchild to be branded illegitimate.
"Uncle, I thank you. I will never forget the kindness you have shown my family."
Samon prostrated himself in gratitude.
While everyone else had turned their backs, Raju had been the first—and only—to come to Claudio and risk his life to find an escape route.
Even Samon, with his cold and selfish nature, couldn't help but feel moved.
"We are already family. No need for such formality."
Raju waved dismissively.
His eyes flickered toward Catherine and Birna, slumped against the cell wall.
"Uncle, please inform the Holy See of this matter as well. I hope the Pope will bless the child when it is born."
Raju understood Samon's intention immediately.
The plan was to add another layer of insurance—preventing the Katzen Imperial Family from covering up or dismissing the Princess's pregnancy.
"Indeed, you are exceptionally clever. Leave it to me."
Raju offered the compliment with satisfaction.
The eyes of the two men gleamed darkly in the shadows—black and oily, like the backs of cockroaches.
On the sun-drenched streets of Valdina, an unprecedented crowd gathered.
They had come to welcome their King's triumphant return.
"Long live Valdina! Long live His Majesty the King!"
Peleus, astride a magnificent white stallion, led the procession, followed by two hundred Agemas in perfect formation.
In the brilliant sunlight, Peleus's armor gleamed like molten silver alongside his shining hair.
The light pouring down behind him seemed less natural radiance and more a divine halo.
"When did His Majesty become so devastatingly handsome?"
The crowd sighed in collective admiration, unable to tear their eyes away—even from the fearsome sword strapped to his back.
"He slaughtered our enemies on the plains and crossed a distance that should have taken months—just to stop the rebellion and protect us!"
"His Majesty is nothing like that wretched vermin who changed allegiances as easily as flipping his hand! If you see one action, you know ten. Even as King, that coward tried to save only himself during our kingdom's darkest hour!"
"Tch, I can still hear the Regent's delusional ravings. He should count himself lucky he's kept his head this long. How *dare* he look down on His Majesty!"
"Exactly! Who would dare usurp His Majesty's throne? There is only one King of Valdina—His Majesty Peleus!"
Just as Medea had orchestrated, the people showered the King with praise while heaping scorn upon the Regent.
A kingdom reborn in triumph
Boom! Boom!
Fireworks exploded across the sky above every street, while a magnificent military band played triumphant marches reminiscent of a grand festival.
It had been far too long since Valdina had bustled with such genuine, unbridled joy.
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