Catherine had made up her mind before coming here.
With Joaquin dead and Samon injured, what more can she do in this country?
With even the last of her hopes dashed, there was nothing left in her heart.
Wealth and power now seemed meaningless.
The unchanging love of a lover who realized once again that an empty heart without motivation or confidence was filled.
For all those years, this man had only her.
"Really? What about the kids?"
Raju asked with a surprised look on his face.
Because he knew that Catherine was terrible to her children.
"If you want, I'll take them. But if not... it doesn't matter. You're the most important thing to me now."
Made her wait for over a decade.
It was now time for Catherine herself to reach out to the man who had blood on his hands for her.
"Sorry. I'm so late."
"It's not too late, darling. I'm just grateful that you chose me."
Raju looked moved, but also hesitant.
"Birna... Doesn't she resent me? That I killed her father..."
"Her father it's you. Don't worry, Birna. She seems a little surprised, but that's because she's still young."
Catherine tried to erase the image of her daughter having a fit, considering Raju her enemy.
"And this is the time to tell Birna. When she finds out that you are her biological father, she will understand. You and I."
"Don't say anything yet."
Raju shook his head.
"At least, when I get out of this prison and to Katzen, I want to reveal it then. I've been waiting for that moment for so long, and I don't want the first moment I reveal who I am to my daughter to be this pathetic."
Catherine nodded.
Because she fully understood Raju's mind, who must have imagined and dreamed of that scene countless times over the past dozen years.
"Yes, let's go to the Empire together. You and Birna, the three of us will now become a real family."
The two people clasped hands.
In one corner of her anxious and nervous heart, a faint root of hope took root.
***
Valdina Palace.
"Your Highness, we are ready."
She was dressed in a black dress.
She moved her feet, her black veil wrapped around her arms.
In front of the Princess's palace, a carriage with the Valdina royal family emblem was waiting for her.
As Neril was about to escort Medea, a long shadow appeared before her.
"Hello, Your Highness the Princess."
Sissair took off his glasses and put them in his pocket as he stood before Medea.
"Your Highness, I will escort you to the carriage."
Neril took a step back at those short but firm words.
Now that Peleus is in the central trade route, he is pressuring Katzen.
Sissair would occasionally visit the Princess's palace to discuss official matters with Medea.
"Sir Sissair."
Medea placed her hand on the one held out in front of her.
The sight of the somewhat pale but handsome young prime minister and the beautiful Princess walking side by side was like a painting.
"Your Highness, are you sure you want to go to Joaquin's funeral?"
As soon as Medea took a step, Sissair opened his mouth.
"He has already been removed from the royal family. He is a commoner, nothing more or less. No matter what people say outside, if Your Highness comes, it will only serve to elevate his status, His Majesty would not want that either."
He showed no sign of hiding his displeasure, which was unusual for a cold-blooded prime minister.
"Joaquin Claudio's name has long since been sullied by the mud, so there is no reason for His Majesty to be concerned."
Sissair always thought that the sharp and piercing Princess still had moments when she was soft on her feelings.
He lowered his gaze.
The Princess's shoes, slightly visible under the hem of her black dress, caught his eye.
If she wishes for the Princess's reputation to be untainted, like a shiny shoe, is she wishing for an unrealistic deal?
In fact, he wasn't very satisfied with Joaquin's ending.
He was the one who put Valdina in danger for decades. He died too easily.
He desperately wanted a more painful and miserable death.
On the other hand, not only was Joaquin beaten to death by a commoner he despised, but the fact that it happened was talked about all over the world.
It was certainly a shameful death, one that left the deceased unable to rest in peace.
Joaquin, that is, the man who was steeped in vanity and classism to the core.
"It's the last one, so what's the problem if I'm a little more lenient?"
At that moment, Medea's indifferent voice flowed out.
"Besides, I also want to see him a little bit."
What? When Sissair was about to ask, they had already arrived in front of the carriage.
"I still don't understand why Your Highness readily accepted Roberto Raju's request to be repatriated to the Empire."
Despite the cynical tone of his voice, the hand that opened the carriage door and extended its hand to escort Medea was that of a flawless gentleman.
He would have preferred to just execute him here. Raju is a cunning man. He must have set a condition that the Emperor cannot give up on him.
Even though Raju himself must have known that he was already out of favor with the Emperor as a subject of the previous Emperor and a subordinate of Jason, the fact that he sent a request for his repatriation meant that he had some basis in trust.
"You know, Sir. If we execute Raju now, it would be like erasing the crimes Jared committed here."
The Katzen Empire finally has something to say to BlValdina.
After Peleus detained the ambassadors and seized the central trade routes, the two countries were in a stalemate.
Katzen has not yet taken any significant action, even though he is being pressured to apologize or pay compensation.
"Are you saying that it is okay for Raju to be repatriated like this? If he is released safely, he will become a thorn in Valdina's side again."
"Well, it's too early to worry. We don't know. Whether the Emperor of Katzen will really be Raju's lifeline as he thinks."
Medea looked at the birds flying across the clear sky.
"Or, on the contrary, will it become a noose around his neck?"
"..."
The seagull paused.
He read the hidden clues in Medea's words.
"Sissair, wouldn't it be better to cut off the enemy's arm rather than acquire a new weapon?"
The Princess's hints were always in the form of questions like this.
"Your Highness, would you mind going to the funeral today..."
Is this part of Your Highness's plan? When Cesar tried to ask, Medea simply smiled quietly instead of answering.
"Oh, and tell Peleus. He needs to deliver a little message to Katzen."
Before the carriage door closed, Medea gave her final command.
"There's a small town near the trade route where the Emperor of Katzen spent his childhood. If so, that would be a good place to go."
If Peleus leads his army and steps into the Land of Memories, which is like the emperor's sanctuary, Perdiccas II will automatically come to realize.
'What I'm saying is that to deal with Valdina, they shouldn't completely eliminate the First Prince .''
This was Medea's gift to Cesare.
Now that she's opened the floodgates, it's up to him to figure out how to get out of it.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Sissair nodded.
Clink, clank.
The carriage started off again.
***
The gloomy gray sky seemed to have swallowed up all color, and the old chapel was shrouded in gloomy shadows.
Joaquin's funeral was held in a small chapel on the outskirts of District B. The smell of old bricks and musty dust filled the air.
Servants carried Joaquin's coffin down a narrow passageway.
His coffin was chosen at the strong insistence of Birna, overtaking his mother and brother.
Perhaps to honor the glory of having once been royalty and the powerful man who ruled Valdina, the coffin was rimmed in gold and covered in silk with elaborate gold embroidery.
However, the overly ornate coffin, which did not match the old and shabby chapel, looked rather awkward and unsophisticated.
Dull. Chin.
The eyes of the servants carrying the coffin contained no emotion of them than a sense of duty.
The interior of the chapel was desolate.
Excluding the deceased's family members, Catherine, Samon, Birna, and the priest who officiated the ceremony, there were only a handful of attendees.
"Tsk. Tsk. This is the most bleak funeral I've ever been to in my life."
The old noblewoman clicked her tongue.
They were noble ladies who had been indebted to the Queen Mother or shared friendship with her rather than being friends with Joaquin.
They attended the funeral as a courtesy to the late Queen Dowager.
"Since it's held in such a remote place, no one will come. I really don't understand why Madame Claudio, who is not a person who cares about manners, chose a place like this."
"I mean, look at that expression. It doesn't look like she's sad at all."
The old ladies glanced at the Claudio family over their debts.
Catherine looked exhausted, but there were no traces of tears or sobbing.
Rather, it seemed as if her mind was completely focused on something else, as she kept missing what the servants were saying.
"Of course, why would she be so sad about her husband who committed adultery and left her behind? I understand how she feels."
"Even so, his wife is like that, but his son is so cold..."
His son, Samon, also had an expressionless face.
His occasionally distorted expression seemed to indicate more shame at having to reveal his disability to people than sorrow over his father's death.
The one leg that was torn off in the explosion was initially difficult to distinguish because of the stiff shape of the trousers.
However, if you have a keen eye, you can see that his posture as he leans against the servant is slightly askew.
"At least his daughter looks human."
Only his daughter, Birna, holding her father's coffin with reddened eyes and swallowing back tears, seemed to have some color in this gray chapel.
Joaquin's body inside the coffin was so gruesome that even the presence of several skilled undertakers was useless.
Rather, the white powder that was supposed to hide the bruises and swelling was caught between the wrinkles that were distorted in pain, making it look even more horrifying.
The ladies held back their screams and looked away, carelessly throwing white lilies into his coffin.
And when they returned to their seats, they rubbed their eyes at the sight they encountered.
"That, that is...!"
Through the chapel window, the carriage of the Valdina royal family was visible.
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