Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Translation: godsn
Duke Claudio's residence.
The Regent's carriage, which had departed for the royal palace at dawn, did not return until the sun was nearly set.
"Father, you're back? Please give me the Petition for Rescue. I'll head straight to the chancellor's office."
Samon didn't doubt for a second that Medeia would stamp the document to save the minister.
"Father...?"
Seeing his father hesitate, Samon's face twisted with disbelief as he asked, "Don't tell me that bitch refused?"
"No, that's not it..."
"Then what?"
Unable to contain himself, Samon snatched the scroll from his father's hands and unfurled it.
Rustle—!
Where the King's seal should have been stamped was blank space.
"She demanded a bribe."
The Regent's voice rang in Samon's stunned ears.
"A bribe? That imbecile?"
"Yes. That very imbecile. She demanded thirty chests filled to the brim with gold ingots."
"Thirty chests?"
Samon repeated incredulously.
"Is Medeia out of her mind?"
"She must have gotten greedy after seeing Cuisine. Probably forgot her place after tasting the luxurious life for the first time."
"......"
Samon rested his chin on his hand.
Medeia had always been foolish. Sentimental, and therefore stupid.
But never greedy. Money had never been her priority.
'What changed? This isn't like Medeia. Why suddenly? Why now...?'
As Samon sank deep into thought, Claudio patted his son's shoulder.
"Regardless, this isn't bad news for us. If she can be moved by money, then all we need is money."
Etienne's crimes were dangerously entangled with military law.
Fearing their own misdeeds might be exposed if they intervened too openly, none of the Regent's faction dared act recklessly to save him.
No one with half a brain would blindly rush to rescue a minister like the foolish princess might.
So they had no choice but to meet Medeia's demands somehow.
"The problem is how to prepare thirty chests..."
Filling thirty chests with gold ingots was a burden even the Regent couldn't shoulder alone.
"Excluding the slush funds for the Rebel Army and Osof, our house can scrape together enough for about five chests at most."
"That's all?"
The Regent frowned. It was far less than he'd expected.
"Yes. We already delayed sending military funds to the Rebel Army. On top of that, repaying the banquet expenses has left us with little liquidity."
Damn it. The Regent bit his lip.
When you thought about it, both the Rebel Army and the banquet were Medeia's doing.
The thought of handing money back to the very person who'd severed their once-limitless cash flow made his teeth grind.
"Father, we shouldn't bear the entire burden of saving the minister. The minister and his subordinates need to contribute too."
Samon did the math.
"Anyway, if we scrape together every last bit from all possible sources, it's not entirely impossible."
"Understood. I'll relay this to our minister."
Claudio rose to contact the minister, who must be desperately awaiting news of his rescue by now.
The Princess's Palace.
"But Your Highness. If Duke Claudio actually brings thirty chests filled with gold coins, will you really release the minister?"
After Duke Claudio left, Saya asked. She simply couldn't understand.
Why should Her Highness save that swine Etienne?
Even someone as politically naive as her could foresee the massive backlash.
The same people now cursing Etienne would surely lump the princess together with him.
She prayed her kind master wouldn't fall for the duke's ulterior motives—pushing the dirty work of cleaning up that scum onto his own young niece.
"Of course not."
"Then why did you say that?"
Medeia smirked.
"Because our dear uncle needs to be frantically busy trying to scrape together thirty chests to save his minister for the foreseeable future."
That's why she'd demanded a bribe beyond what the Regent could easily provide.
In his desperate scramble to gather the funds, he'd naturally have less time and energy to carefully tend to his minister in prison.
"Now that the minister has nowhere left to run."
"Out of sight, out of mind."
But would the minister, left alone in his cell, even appreciate the Regent's frantic efforts to save him?
Given his inherently suspicious nature, wouldn't he instead assume that in his absence, the Regent was scheming something else entirely?
"Neril, tell Siseo to pay a visit to the prison."
It was time to plant the seeds of doubt.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Medeia was determined to test just how far the unshakable trust between the minister and the Regent—stronger in this life than ever before—could hold.
"Your Highness, Umberto is waiting. I shall bring him in when you are ready."
Medeia gave a slight nod.
"Ughh..."
Umberto groaned as consciousness returned.
His vision was entirely blurred.
'Where am I?'
When he tried to move, he found himself tightly bound, unable to budge an inch.
'What happened? Who captured me?'
He strained to recall.
Amid the chaos of the royal knights storming Count Etienne's residence, he had managed to slip away unnoticed.
'I was just about to head to the faction's rendezvous point. And then—'
Thud. The dull pain at the back of his skull was his last memory.
'To think I let my guard down. Damn it, I got careless watching that pig get dragged away—too satisfying.'
Biting his lip, Umberto realized he'd been ambushed.
As a spy, he'd always known this day might come. But he hadn't expected it to be now, of all times.
Thud. Thud. Footsteps echoed.
Then, the tightly shut door creaked open. Umberto straightened his back.
'Two people. One has heavy footsteps—a knight? The other... the rustling of fabric. A woman?'
Screech. One of them dragged a chair and sat down. Neither spoke first.
'Damn it, I can only guess from the sounds.'
The sack over his head was tightly woven, leaving his vision obscured.
Through the coarse fabric, he could barely make out the faint silhouette of someone seated.
"Ugh!"
Suddenly, the sack was yanked off.
Blinding light stabbed at his eyes, and Umberto grimaced reflexively.
Only after his vision gradually adjusted did he finally see the person before him clearly.
A silver-haired girl in a black dress stared back at him.
Pale, almost translucent skin. Vivid green eyes. A haughty jawline. Somehow, she looked familiar.
He had seen her—very recently.
Where? Before he could even recall, his eyes widened like lanterns.
"Th-the Princess...?"
"Long time no see, Umberto."
The Princess set down her fan with a soft click and greeted him as casually as if speaking to an old acquaintance.
"Y-you know me?"
Long time no see? Since when have I ever met Princess Valdina?
The Leader had deemed none of Valdina's royals worth targeting and had assigned him to Minister Etienne instead.
"The Queen Dowager has been in seclusion for too long—hard to plant a spy, and even if we did, she's been sidelined. Little gain there."
"Regent Claudio has already allied with Kazen's higher-ups. Without knowing his true motives, approaching him risks exposing our entire organization."
"And as for Princess Valdina... She's not even worth the effort."
A dim-witted princess with no presence, incapable of influencing politics—she wasn't even worth considering.
"The Leader's judgment has never been wrong before."
Yet now, as if mocking that very judgment, the so-called foolish Princess of Valdina was greeting him—casually, warmly, like an old friend.
"You... know me?"