of Crowns
"When empires clash, even truth becomes a bargaining chip."
Samon smiled at the Fourth Princess, who stood trembling with fury.
"Kill him! Beat that bastard to death!"
Her knights hesitated. They could scarcely believe what they'd just heard.
Whose child? The Princess is carrying whose child?
"Kill him! Kill him now!"
When the commotion threatened to spiral out of control, the maid and a senior knight stepped forward to restrain her.
"Your Highness, this is the palace of Valdina. The Duke is a prisoner awaiting execution. If you continue to abuse your authority here, you'll give this country grounds for complaint."
"Ahhhhhhh!"
The Fourth Princess screamed, clutching her head.
"Those vermin—those wretched insects!"
The moment she left the prison, the Fourth Princess's composure shattered. She kicked the stone wall and unleashed a torrent of hysteria, all pretense of dignity abandoned.
She raised her arm and sniffed it, her nose wrinkling in disgust. The foul stench of the prison seemed to cling to her skin.
She scrubbed frantically at herself with a handkerchief, as though she could wipe away the contamination.
A trace of anxiety flickered in her eyes.
Though she'd denied Samon's claim with every fiber of her being, unease gnawed at her.
The maid watched her mistress with growing concern.
"That's ridiculous!"
The Princess spoke aloud, as if trying to convince herself.
Impossible. That damned bastard is cornered and grasping at whatever lies he can conjure.
"Fetch the physician. Now."
"Yes, Your Highness."
But the doctor, summoned in such haste, did not offer the reassurance she craved. Instead, his words struck like a thunderbolt.
"You are with child..."
"That cannot be true. Examine me again. Carefully!"
The Fourth Princess denied it immediately.
Pregnancy was confirmed through examination of her urine. But no matter how many times the test was repeated, the physician's answer remained the same.
"I... forgive my presumption, Your Highness, but you are pregnant. You must have noticed changes in your body. Missed courses, heightened sensitivity to smell or taste..."
No. No, no, no—
But deep down, the Princess already knew the doctor's words were sound.
It had been several months since her last monthly flow. She'd attributed it to stress—she'd always been irregular.
And meals... if a dish carried even the faintest unpleasant odor, nausea would overwhelm her. She'd skipped countless dinners.
The symptoms never lasted long, so she'd dismissed them as passing whims.
But... truly? I was pregnant all along?
Lost in thought, the Princess did not notice the physician secretly clenching his fist and squeezing his eyes shut.
"No. This will not stand!"
The Fourth Princess's heart plummeted. Her vision swam.
"Send word to my grandfather and mother immediately. We must find a way to deal with this."
Samon Claudio—that bastard—could never be my husband.
He was a fool. A disgraced nobody who couldn't even compare to the men she'd been betrothed to in the past.
"And you—go to the prison. Kill all of the Claudios tonight."
The Princess turned and gave the order to her knights.
He dared use underhanded tricks and plant his worthless seed in me. He must pay with his life.
But the Princess's malice did not reach Samon.
"Your Highness the Fourth Princess, a letter has arrived from His Majesty the Emperor."
The Emperor's letter had arrived first.
The King's council chamber in Valdina.
The letter delivered by Emperor Katzen's envoy had also reached Valdina's leadership.
The envoy had been ushered out of the administrative palace in a frigid atmosphere, practically driven from the halls.
"This is outrageous! Release Claudio?!"
D'Angel drove his dagger into the golden scroll in a fit of indignation.
"Why must they interfere in the affairs of another sovereign nation?"
"It is said that the Fourth Princess carries Samon's child. Since she is of Katzen royal blood and the fact has become known to the Holy See, the Emperor has decided to marry the two and take the Regent's family to Katzen."
The scribe recited the contents of the torn scroll.
Outrage rippled through the room.
Now that the traitors had been eliminated, all that remained was the execution of the Regent and his kin—the final act of justice.
But to release them now? It was like having victory snatched away at the last moment.
"You don't seem surprised, Dea."
Peleus studied his sister.
In a room where everyone else struggled to hide their agitation, the Princess alone remained calm.
"Ever since I heard that Samon had been visiting the Fourth Princess's chambers, I suspected something like this might happen..."
Medea's voice was measured, composed.
"This is hardly what the Fourth Princess wanted. Samon simply found a lifeline and clung to it to avoid execution."
"..."
Does this mean he was willing to grovel before Katzen as long as it saved his life?
As a man? As the head of a family? Does he possess not even a shred of honor?
Deep disgust for the Claudio clan settled over the assembled council.
D'Angel, whose temper burned brightest, was the first to raise his voice.
"It doesn't matter. Your Majesty, why should we bend to Katzen's will? Execute him immediately!"
D'Angel's eyes blazed as though he were ready to storm the Katzen Empire single-handedly.
"Once their heads have rolled, what can they do? We must press forward without hesitation—just as they did to us."
"Chief, this is not something we can decide hastily."
Sissair shook his head in disagreement.
"Have you forgotten that our opponent is an empire? Though Valdina won the Ten Years' War and reclaimed the plains, we suffered tremendous losses both at home and abroad. And we've only just survived a rebellion."
"..."
"The kingdom is unstable—within and without. In this situation, if Katzen were to invade using this incident as pretext... are you prepared to begin another war? Do you think the people would understand? If we fail, not only would the rebellion go unsuppressed—Valdina's very survival would be in question."
Sissair removed his monocle and pressed a hand to his weary face. Thick exhaustion radiated from his frame, making his youthful features appear wan.
"Thanks to Her Highness's efforts, we have managed to prevent the treasury from collapsing and the royal family from falling. But this is only the beginning. Do you have any idea how many crises still lie ahead?"
These were the words of the Prime Minister—the man responsible for Valdina's governance. No one could refute his assessment.
While the Agema cut down countless enemies on the battlefield, Sissair wrestled with numbers that dwarfed them many times over.
Numbers had no honor. No conviction. They spoke only cold, sober reality.
And the numbers Valdina possessed at this moment were not generous.
"The plains will provide us with a foundation to stand shoulder to shoulder with Katzen—but not immediately. With our current national strength, we cannot stand against the Empire."
"..."
"Now is the time to step back and focus on strengthening our foundation. Not to wage another war."
His words articulated the harsh reality of their situation.
Silence settled over the room for a long moment. No one could deny what he'd said.
"So you're saying we should let ourselves be manipulated by the Empire like puppets?"
D'Angel's voice exploded with anger.
"Even setting aside war with the Empire... Katzen knows their demands are unreasonable."
Sissair gestured to the lower portion of the golden scroll.
"Which is why they've proposed handing over the mines in the Anphron region, which borders Valdina. In the past, this was property the Empire would never have relinquished."
The Anphron region was renowned for its gold mines. The veins had run unbroken for decades.
Katzen had never once ceded its property to another nation.
This could be seen as an extraordinarily generous offer—or as a sign of how deeply the Emperor valued and protected the Fourth Princess.
"..."
"If it's Anphron... we may have no choice but to consider it seriously. The gold buried there would be invaluable in rebuilding the country."
Sissair insisted on releasing the Regent's family in exchange for the practical benefits the gold mine would bring.
"Absolutely not! In the end, isn't this allowing interference in our internal affairs? No matter what they offer, Valdina must reject it unconditionally!"
D'Angel, who insisted on defying Katzen regardless of the consequences, stood firm.
The once-quiet chamber soon filled with heated argument.
In the midst of the tense standoff, with neither side yielding an inch, Peleus turned his gaze to his sister.
"Medea, what do you think?"
His voice was calm, yet affectionate.
Every eye in the room turned toward the Princess.
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