Chapter 129
Chapter 129
Translation: godsn
She alternately pointed at the abdication document in her hand and the city walls where Virna was stationed, then clicked her tongue as if sighing.
"Ah. Truly, your family knows neither blood nor tears when it comes to power. If you can be this cruel even to your own daughter, now I finally understand."
"You wretched girl!"
"Samon."
Before Samon could rise to Medeia's provocation, the Regent warned his son with a glance, then turned to address Medeia.
"Medeia, the Queen Dowager's life hangs on that single seal of yours. After devouring your own parents, do you truly wish to go down in history as a cursed monster who even killed her own grandmother?!"
"Uncle, everyone is watching. Do you feel no fear of the heavens while coveting what was never yours?"
Her clear emerald eyes swept over Claudio. Her voice rang out clearly, as if ensuring all could hear.
'Never mine...?'
Those words ignited the fuse of the Regent's fury. His face flushed dark red, veins bulging prominently on his forehead.
As if all reason had been burned away, his rage blazed uncontrollably.
"It is mine!"
Forgetting his own warning to Samon about not falling for Medeia's provocations, the Regent bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"That throne was mine from the very beginning! It was your arrogant father and brother who stole what was rightfully mine!"
With the hand not holding his sword, he pointed to the sky, then struck his own chest.
"Heaven knows and earth bears witness! That I, Joaquin de Valdina, am the true master destined to rule this land! Do you think Valdina has fallen to this state by chance?! It's because I was not king! This is the goddess's punishment!"
What he spat out now was the conviction that had consumed the Regent for decades.
He truly believed his rightful fate had been stolen by his elder brother and nephew.
"Uncle, awaken from your delusions. The Late Emperor, the people, even the goddess—all have eyes and ears..."
But Medeia shattered his ironclad belief with her calm voice.
"Who would choose such a wretched ruler who would plunge the nation into chaos merely to sit upon a throne?"
The same resolute tone that had overwhelmed the rebel army moments ago now crushed the Regent's pride.
"Uncle, you are no kingly material. Your rule would only endanger Valdina."
"Ha! Did you think I'd keep dancing to your poisonous tongue?! If I say it's mine, then it is! Let's see if they still won't choose me when faced with steel and blood!"
The contrast was stark—the Regent raving madly while the Princess maintained icy composure.
Amid the stunned officials, Siseo spat out:
"Regent, you've truly lost your mind."
"Silence! My coronation shall begin with tearing that treacherous mouth of yours first!"
The moment Siseo spoke, the Regent ordered a knight to strike his face.
"Oh, did you misspeak? Did you mean to say funeral rites instead?"
Yet he remained unbowed.
Even as the Duke Claudio's knights beat him mercilessly as if venting their own frustrations.
"Medeia, now!"
"Even if I die, I will never personally drag down His Majesty the King. I refuse."
Yet despite the murderous atmosphere and the suffocating pressure weighing upon her, the Princess remained unyielding.
"You stubborn bitch!"
At that moment, blood splattered at the Regent's feet. An unthinkable scene unfolded.
"Mother!"
"Her Majesty the Queen Dowager!"
The Queen Dowager had drawn the dagger from the Regent's belt and plunged it into her own chest.
"Joaquin, you... will never become this nation's king! I won't... allow it...!"
Even as she collapsed, her wide, glaring eyes never left her son.
'Since I nurtured your ambition to this extent, it's only right this mother should end it.'
If she died here, Joaquin would go down in history as the most infamous usurper—one who murdered his own mother to steal his niece's throne.
The people would never accept him as king, and no matter how he clung to power, his reign would soon collapse.
'...Medeia, forgive me. This foolish grandmother...'
Her wrinkled eyes blurred as they took in Medeia's face one last time.
Her granddaughter was staring at her intently. Was it a hint of concern or resentment that filled those emerald eyes?
"Your Majesty, the Queen Dowager!"
Madame Pinatelli shook off the knights and rushed to the Queen Dowager's side. She pressed her sleeve with all her might against the bleeding wound near the heart.
"Summon the Royal Physician! Quickly! Regent, she's your mother, for heaven's sake...!"
The Regent's face had turned ashen, nearly black with fury.
How could his own mother stand in his way until the very end?
Hahaha. The Regent's mouth twisted into a grotesque grin as a sadistic laugh echoed through the hall. His eyes, bereft of reason, gleamed with madness.
'Fine. Whether I'm remembered as a tyrant or not—it doesn't matter. As long as I become king!'
With eyes turned icy, he clenched his fists.
Then he suddenly roared at Medeia.
"This is your last chance, Medeia! Stamp the Royal Seal now!"
Yet Medeia remained motionless.
Her steady gaze seemed to be waiting for something.
"Hahaha! Are you waiting for your brother, by any chance? Do you think Pelleus will come charging in to save you? Wake up! What difference would that wretch make even if he came? Valdina's entire army is rotting away as mere handfuls of dirt on the plains!"
It was then. A soft, mocking laugh escaped.
"Uncle, wasn't it during your time as Crown Prince that Valdina struggled against Kazen's invasion precisely because you fell into their trap and led our soldiers out?"
Medeia no longer concealed her blatant scorn.
"Though you survived with nothing but a scar on your shoulder, I heard not a single one of the five hundred soldiers who followed the Crown Prince returned alive. Truly, your inability to read the battlefield remains unchanged to this day."
"You're truly begging for death now."
"Then kill me and take the Royal Seal by force, Uncle. Surely, a cold-blooded murderer who eliminated his niece is preferable to a filth who threatened his own parents, no?"
Medeia spread her arms and bared her chest. Her emerald eyes locked onto both the Regent and the Queen Dowager.
Those cold green eyes of his niece.
They bore an uncanny resemblance to his elder brother's gaze that had always looked down on him with pity.
From the depths of his chest, hatred and inferiority surged.
Thus, the enraged Regent failed to notice.
That flicker—the momentary glint in Medeia's eyes as she smirked, her gaze darting past him toward the distant castle walls.
"Very well, Medeia. Don't blame me. You chose this."
Gritting his teeth, he raised his sword—only for Samon to desperately grab his father's arm.
"F-Father! Please, calm yourself! Think rationally and reconsider—"
Were they truly about to kill Medeia now? This wasn't part of the original plan!
And above all, hundreds of eyes were watching them at this very moment!
"Let go, Samon. Your father will give you everything. The throne, this kingdom—all of it."
But the Regent shook off even his son's hand. There was no one left to stop him now, consumed as he was by madness.
"What have I left to fear?!"
The Regent raised his arm high. Just as the gleaming sword descended toward Medeia—
Crack—! Shatter—!
"Aaaagh!"
A metallic shriek tore through the air, followed by the Regent's scream.
A spear had flown in, striking his sword aside with such force that shards of the blade splintered into his eye.
Clutching his bleeding eye, he howled in agony.
"Gaaah! Who—! Who dares...!?"
His remaining eye swiveled toward the spear's origin.
"Claudio, don't you dare lay a finger on my sister."
A voice, cool as steel, rang out.
Though not loud, it carried clearly to every ear in the gathered crowd.
A gust of wind—like a breath of sanity—swept across Valdina's battlements.
And where the wind passed, atop the watchtower overlooking the walls, stood a young man.
Silver hair and a blue cape fluttered behind him.
Emblazoned upon his armor shone the crest of Valdina's royal family.