Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Translation: godsn
"Medeia! How could you truly do this?"
At this moment, the only lifeline that could save Etienne was Medeia.
If persuasion didn't work, they had to pressure her—by any means necessary—to make Medeia act today.
"Fine, let's say that's what you think. But your uncle is pleading with you so earnestly."
The Duke stomped his foot in anger as he spoke.
"Until now, I've cherished you more than my own daughter! Everyone opposed me, saying you were a cursed child, that the misfortune that drove my brother to his death would infect me too—but I never abandoned you!"
The Duke knew better than anyone the deep-seated fear of abandonment rooted in the very core of his niece's consciousness.
They had interfered in Medeia's life and isolated her. All for moments exactly like this.
Even if her mind didn't comprehend it, they intended to make her yield to their demands out of fear of being forsaken.
"Your aunt cared for you even over her own children. Was the affection we've shown you truly nothing? Is that why you're dismissing your uncle's words like this? How deeply disappointing."
He exchanged glances with Catherine. Taking the cue, Catherine pretended to restrain her husband by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Uncle, please calm down. You know that's not what I meant."
Medeia's voice remained composed, but her large emerald eyes wavered. The trembling fingertips clutching her dress betrayed her flustered state.
Seeing that his intimidation had fully taken hold, the Duke deliberately escalated his threats.
"No, I don't understand. All I know is that Medeia—no, our 'Her Royal Highness the Princess'—is a cold-hearted woman who knows nothing of familial bonds."
"Uncle..."
"Familial bonds? What a joke!"
Just as Medeia's voice faltered, something came flying straight at the Duke.
Crash—!
A teacup that narrowly missed him shattered into pieces.
Startled, the Duke dropped the scroll in his hands.
"Medeia, how dare you—!"
When the shocked Duke looked up, he froze in place.
"H-how did Mother come to be here...?"
From behind the large drapes emerged the Queen Dowager. The slight inward recess of the curtains had created a blind spot, hiding her from the Regent and his wife.
"I heard your deceit and blackmail loud and clear!"
The Queen Dowager's fury was so palpable it seemed to radiate a chilling aura.
"Using the King's Royal Seal in such a manner! And to blackmail your own niece just to save a despicable wretch like Etienne? So you've been treating Medeia as nothing more than a plaything all this time. You wicked creatures—even God won't forgive you!"
"Mother, n-no, it's not like that, you misunderstand. Please calm down. Let us explain—"
"Misunderstand? Are you saying what I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears is a misunderstanding?!"
Since when had the Queen Dowager been there?
Only now did they realize.
The impeccably tidy parlor without a speck of dust, the maids standing at strict attention, Medeia's flushed face—all of it had been because they had an august guest: the Queen Dowager.
"Get out! You're the treacherous ministers ruining Valdina! I can't bear to look at you! Go and die somewhere!"
"Mother, please calm down!"
"Silence! This time, why don't you call me an old woman who knows nothing of a parent's love! What are you all standing around for? Drive these wretches out of the palace!"
The Queen Dowager was in a towering rage.
Duke Claudio and his wife were dragged out like sacks by the Royal Knights without even a chance to explain themselves.
"No matter how unfathomable the human heart may be, I never thought I wouldn't recognize the blackened depths of my own child's! How could such abominations be mixed with Valdina's bloodline!"
The Queen Dowager's furious roar erupted.
"Medeia, has your uncle always treated you like this?"
Medeia silently bowed her head. Sometimes, silence speaks louder than a hundred words.
The Queen Dowager's expression grew even more devastated.
'I thought this child had meddled in state affairs out of youthful recklessness... But perhaps all the actions taken under Medeia's Royal Seal until now weren't truly her will.'
It had all been Joaquin's schemes, using his niece Medeia.
'Using his own niece as a shield?'
Who truly knows nothing of familial love? Isn't it my one remaining son!
"Grandmother, please calm down. If you strain your health, Sir Hertos will surely resent me."
Medeia handed her grandmother, who was still panting with rage, a warm cup of tea.
"Grandmother, what if we moved the Minister to a more isolated location?"
When the Queen Dowager's fury seemed to have subsided slightly, Medeia made the suggestion in a calm voice.
It must not be me who separates the Minister and my uncle.
Medeia still had much to do. She couldn't possibly reveal her full hand just to bring down a mere Minister.
The Duke Claudio household must not realize her true nature—at least not until Pelleus returned.
The Queen Dowager raised her eyebrows.
"Why do you suggest that?"
"Sir Siseo hinted that the Minister has been sending covert messages to Uncle even from prison. And quite a few people have been visiting him as well."
"Ha! And we're to believe the words of a man already handed over to military justice? Does he think he's in prison for a leisurely convalescence?"
The Queen Dowager's expression twisted in disgust.
"Grandmother, please try to understand Uncle. As the Minister's longtime friend, it must have been difficult for him to turn a blind eye to his plight."
The art of feigning concern while subtly highlighting someone's pitifulness was not exclusive to the Duke Claudio household.
As Medeia calmly pointed out the flaw while displaying sympathy for her uncle, the Queen Dowager's gaze softened.
"Count Etienne had many followers as the Minister of Palace Affairs. Even someone as astute as Uncle was swayed by sentiment—how much more so the Minister's own people?"
The Queen Dowager nodded at the reasonable observation.
"Very well. This old woman will handle it."
The Queen Dowager's decision was swiftly carried out.
"What—where are you taking me?!"
Dragged out, Etienne was isolated in the special prison reserved for the most dangerous criminals.
And among its cells, the deepest and most secluded solitary confinement.
If his previous cell had been unbearable, the new one was so wretched it made the old one seem like paradise in comparison.
All the guards were replaced, and no visitors were permitted on the grounds that he was a condemned man. The covert messages he had been exchanging were intercepted and confiscated.
Being beaten out of boredom became routine, and with the guards' vulgar torment added on top, Etienne felt like he was losing his mind.
Days passed with no visitors, no contact.
Duke Claudio, barred from even entering the palace due to the Queen Dowager's wrath, remained unaware that Etienne had been secretly relocated.
The shadows under his command attempted multiple infiltrations into the royal prison, but Siseo tightened surveillance further.
With no knowledge of the outside world, the Minister had no choice but to grow increasingly frantic as all communication was abruptly severed.
The bell tolled midnight.
It was the hour when the prison gatekeepers changed shifts.
Etienne opened his eyes.
Truly... was Siseo right after all?
If this silence persisted until the execution day, he would be dragged to the gallows without any chance to act.
If Claudio intends to eliminate me, there could be no more convenient method than this.
But Etienne quickly shook his head.
Impossible. He held a weakness that could paralyze the Regent—and his entire faction.
And the Regent knows it too.
Unless the man had gone senile in his old age and lost his mind, he wouldn't dare make such an overt move against him.
Just as Etienne, oscillating between emotion and reason in the frigid night, began to drift into a light slumber—
"Kghhk—!"
His breath choked off.
His groping hands touched rough, unyielding rope coiled around his neck. Someone was trying to strangle him.
"Kghk! Gh—! S-save... khhk—!"
He couldn't even manage a proper scream.
Straining to tear the rope away, his neck was already littered with red nail marks.
As the Minister craned his head back, his eyes met those of an assassin clad in a black mask.
The noose tightened further.
"W-who... khhk— s-sent... y-you—! S-spare... ghk—! I-I'll... p-pay... khhk—! A-anything...!"
The Minister desperately tried to bargain. He flung out every gold ingot he had hidden inside his undergarments.
Clink, clatter. Even in the darkness, the yellow gold gleamed as it rolled across the prison floor—but the assassin didn't so much as twitch.
This is no mere assassin.
This one had a purpose.
Even in the throes of death, the Minister's gaze sharpened. His objective was most likely—
"Die. That's the only way to keep your mouth shut."
"Kghhk—!"
Silencing him through death!
There was only one person who would want his mouth shut now.
Regent! So it was you after all!