Chapter 127
Chapter 127
Translation: godsn
Iason turned his body absentmindedly.
With her pink hair fluttering, Virna Claudio was running toward him.
"Your Grace! It's Virna! Virna, daughter of Duke Claudio! Please, help me!"
But for Iason, saving Ost—the last remaining member of his guard—was far more important than the daughter of the Regent.
Without hesitation, he spurred his horse onward.
"Hyah!"
"Your Grace! Your... Grace! No! Noooooo!"
Virna ran desperately, but catching up to the horse was impossible.
She couldn't accept that the benevolent and kind Grand Duke Castulo had seen her—and still turned away.
"He... he didn't see me, that can't be. His Grace wouldn't ignore me... He wouldn't... Aaah!"
She clawed at her hair, hysterical.
Around her, the battlefield remained a brutal melee, and in the midst of it, a blind sword came flying toward the abandoned Virna.
"Aaah!"
A terrible pain shot through her back.
Amidst the blinding white agony, Virna collapsed unconscious once more.
Even from the distant castle walls, Medeia could spot Iason.
She saw him clutching his dead guard, howling in grief.
And then, without even a moment to contain his rage, the cowardly sight of him turning his back on Virna and fleeing.
Medeia watched the scene with an impassive face.
'Iason, I told you I would utterly destroy the stepping stones you tried to use Valdina for.'
She would yield nothing to him. Everything he held, Medeia would seize and shatter.
In this staged rebellion, her targets were not just Uncle Claudio and his family.
'One, two, three... Four in total. Tom missed one. Was it Ost who escaped?'
Annihilating Iason's hidden forces was only part of it—her final goal was to eliminate even the Imperial Shadow Guards who protected him.
Medeia was well aware of the recluses tasked with safeguarding the bloodline of Alkethas II.
No, "well aware" was an understatement.
'There are grudges between you and me as well.'
They had also been the guards protecting her son, Rian.
By the principle of primogeniture, the bloodline passed wholly to Rian, Iason's firstborn son.
They were the ones who first discovered General Jared placing Rian atop a basket of vipers to torment him—and the ones who reported it to Medeia.
After that, Nord and Ost took over Rian's protection in earnest.
"My son is still too young. He's not fighting Magic Beasts—he doesn't need guards as exceptional as you."
Iason had objected, but he couldn't break their stubborn insistence on prioritizing the preservation of the imperial bloodline.
'And so, trusting them, I sent Rian into the Imperial Palace.'
But what returned was the cold, lifeless body of her son.
While investigating Rian's death, Medeia learned that the Shadow Guards had stood by and watched as Empress Rachel fed him poison.
Breaking their ironclad rule of non-interference in politics, the recluses had joined hands with Rachel and betrayed Medeia and her child.
"Madam, we no longer wish to live as mere shadows of the imperial family. Her Majesty the Empress has promised us power and freedom—the right to stand proudly in the light.
But what can you, a woman who has lost Valdina and is no longer even of royal blood, possibly offer us? "
Iason, too, had been part of their scheme.
From the moment the expedition ended, he had already been plotting to remove Medeia and her children.
Far from uncovering the truth behind his son's death, Iason had covered it up to shield the Empress from blame.
It made her tremble with rage, brought tears of blood to her eyes—but she had been powerless to retaliate.
Because the recluses, now Rachel's puppets, had targeted Lea next.
'You will die in this foreign land, nameless and dishonored. And I will strip away the shackles of the shadow you so desperately wanted to escape.'
Medeia watched intently as the struck men fell from their horses, tumbling across the dust-choked ground, only to be trampled beneath the frantic hooves of their fleeing comrades.
She stepped forward. Then, shouting down from the castle walls, she declared:
"Surrender! Lay down your arms, and I will spare your lives!"
The rebel soldiers looked up. Their eyes were a mix of disbelief and bewilderment.
"Is it true? You'll really spare us? Isn't rebellion punishable by beheading?"
"Theo said it was a fake rebellion! We were deceived by our leader from the start!"
At that moment, the soldiers atop the walls echoed her words in unison.
"You won't get a second chance! Lay down your arms and surrender!"
The captain of the guard understood the princess's intent.
After all, each one of them is still a citizen of Valdina.
Fear may momentarily silence them, but it will inevitably erupt again.
Rather than executing them all and creating another spark of rebellion, it would be wiser to deal only with the ringleaders who incited the revolt and demonstrate the royal family's magnanimity—so that this lesson would be deeply engraved not only in their minds but in the memories of all the people.
Thud. Thud.
The people dropped their weapons and bowed their heads.
"We didn't know! We truly didn't know!"
Just moments ago, they had brandished their blades with murderous intent, yet now they prostrated themselves before the castle walls.
They didn't want to die like dogs. If there was a way to live, they would beg for their lives by any means.
"Damn it...! If this is how it ends...!"
The ones left standing in disarray were the mercenaries, now stranded with no allegiance. Their leader was dead, and Theo had betrayed them.
Not only had they lost the promised gold, but even their survival was uncertain.
Before them stood the towering royal castle, and behind them, Marquess Gilifos's soldiers blocked their retreat.
What hope did they have left?
One by one, they too dropped their weapons. Thud. Thud.
As the rebels abandoned any further resistance, the thick dust and clamor gradually settled.
The vast field was now filled only with those bowing in submission.
It was the moment when the Regent's dream—a revolution masquerading as a civil war—collapsed into nothingness.
Amidst this, Theo stepped forward from among them.
Everyone held their breath as they watched him take step after step toward the castle gates.
In one hand, he carried the severed head of their leader.
"Princess of Valdina, behold!"
The boy knelt before Medeia at the foot of the castle walls.
Then, removing his helmet, he pulled out a letter from his breast and raised it high.
"This is a letter from Regent Claudio to the leader of the rebels! Not only did he incite treason, but he also ordered the abduction of Your Highness!"
"Gasp—!"
When the young rebel removed his helmet, Saya nearly screamed.
The rebel who had beheaded their leader was none other than Theo—her own brother. She hastily covered her mouth.
Fortunately, everyone was too fixated on Theo to notice her reaction.
"The leader, backed by the Regent's support, hired mercenaries and deceived the people to swell the rebel ranks! Their plan was to plunge the country into chaos with this rebellion so the Regent could seize the throne—and the price was the lives of our people!"
The boy's impassioned cry, burning with fury, seemed to pierce through their hearts.
In every word, the rage of the people—used as mere pawns—seethed.
And so, it rang with terrible sincerity.
"I, too, am not free from the sin of rebellion, but I could no longer stand by and watch this land be toyed with by that detestable hypocrite!"
Theo glared at the Regent, tears of fury streaming from his reddened eyes.
"Princess of Valdina! Even if you strike me down, I beg you—expose every last one of the Regent's crimes against this kingdom!"
The handsome face, marred by shadows and still speckled with blood, reminded them of the brutal trials the boy must have endured.
"W-What is this? Did I hear wrong?"
The crowd gasped at the young rebel's revelation.
"You mean the Regent—who has been fervently posing as the savior of the royal palace—was actually the one orchestrating all of this?"
Dozens of eyes turned toward the Regent, demanding answers.
The Regent faltered, his foot instinctively stepping back before he caught himself, gripping the castle wall tightly.
"You insolent wretch! What nonsense are you spewing now?! A lowly rebel dares to overturn the royal castle with mere words?!"
Thick veins bulged on his neck and the backs of his hands.
Pale-faced, he vehemently denied it.
"Lies! All slander! Fake evidence concocted to drag me down! A scheme! Surely, none of you believe this drivel?! I, Joaquin Claudio, swear upon the goddess—I have never seen nor met that bastard in my life!"
His voice was desperate, almost wretched.
Just as the people wavered at his impassioned, grief-stricken tone—
"Uncle, will you call this a lie as well?"
Medeia, who had been silently observing, turned toward the Regent.
Then, she extended her arm toward him.
With a swift motion—rustle—a scroll unfurled. In that instant, everyone inhaled sharply.
"......!"
The Regent's heart plummeted as he recognized the document.
"It's the signature document plotting the rebellion. At the very top—Joaquin Claudio, my dear uncle, and Samon."
Medeia stepped forward, displaying the document for all to see.
So that every single person guarding the royal castle could witness it.