Episode 41: Succeeding the throne (7)
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“Ha…”
Letanasia huffed and glared at Aristine.
“What, you’re going to take my life?”
Now, there was only one thing left for Aristine to take from her.
“Sure, go ahead. It would be better to die than to live this life of a loser.”
However, Aristine only tilted her head and gave her a questioning look.
“Why would I want your mere life?”
Aristine shook her head.
“Letanasia, you’re not worth it.”
Letanasia’s face hardened at those words.
‘Again.’
Back then, earlier and now.
Aristine did not even see her as an enemy.
She was constantly wary of Aristine, yet what really angered and frustrated her was that she was not even worthy of Aristine’s wariness.
“A long time ago, there was an emperor who knew through the Monarch’s Sight that he would be killed by his own brother.”
Aristine spoke in a calm tone.
“Despite knowing that, he sent his knights to the land of demonic beasts and refused to take the divine blessing from his brother.”
Letanasia looked at Aristine and frowned.
Why was she telling an old tale in this situation?
“Because that was the best future among the many futures the emperor saw.”
Aristine spoke, staring at the prison window the size of a palm, as if she was mulling over those faint memories, then she turned her head.
“But I’m different.”
Her violet eyes turned to her hands.
“Rather than choosing the best future among the futures I have already seen, I will create the best future with my own hands.”
Aristine clenched her fists and raised her head.
“Letanasia.”
The moment her eyes locked with Aristine’s, Letanasia unconsciously tried to move back but failed.
The hard prison walls prevented her.
Aristine slowly rose from her seat and approached Letanasia.
Though she was merely walking, Letanasia was completely overwhelmed by Aristine and couldn’t move.
It was as if light was flowing from Aristine.
No, it wasn’t an illusion; it was real.
A golden aura surrounded Aristine, and her silver hair seemed tinged with gold. The complementary colors, contrasting with her purple eyes, revealed the majesty of a chosen one.
“As possessor of the Enlightened Monarch’s Sight and rightful heir to the throne of Silvanus, descended from divine blood,” her fair hand landed on Letanasia’s head.
As if bestowing a blessing.
“I hereby revoke the undeserved divine blessing given to you,”
However, the words that fell from Aristine’s lips were the exact opposite.
Letanasia’s mouth opened, but what came out was not her voice, but a breath full of terror.
‘Revoke divine blessing…?’
That meant Letanasia’s powers would be stripped away.
The proof that she was the direct descendant of the Silvanus royal family and had at least some claim to the throne.
Her teeth chattered, and her hands and feet turned cold.
“Y-Y-You, you can’t…!”
Every time Letanasia shook, her chains rattled.
Aristine withdrew her hand, looking unmoved.
“It’s not up to you. It’s up to me to decide.”
“I’d rather you kill me!”
Letanasia’s veins bulged as she glared at Aristine, her eyes blazing.
This was all she had.
Even though everything was gone, and she was imprisoned, this was the only thing she could hold on to.
Even if she never became emperor, she could still cling to the vain hope that she possessed an ‘ability’ that only members of the direct line of the imperial family could have.
It was everything to her.
“I said it earlier, didn’t I? You’re not worth it.”
“Ah, no, no, no…!”
Letanasia’s trembling hands tried to reach for Aristine.
The knight on standby blocked it, as if it were futile.
But Letanasia didn’t care.
She only cared about one thing.
Could she still use her ability? Could she still read other’s pasts?
However.
Nothing was read.
“Letanasia, my foolish little sister.”
At the sympathetic voice, Letanasia raised her empty eyes.
This person was always like that.
Even when abandoned and imprisoned by her father, she looked down on Letanasia from above.
When Letanasia should have been the one looking down at her from above!
“At first, I had no intention of punishing you beyond stripping you of your status.”
Not for Letanasia’s sake, but because she didn’t feel the need to.
No matter what she did, she could never be Aristine’s equal.
“But you shouldn’t have touched brother Launelian.”
At those words, a spark ignited in Letanasia’s eyes.
“You siblings are always like that! Yes, you were born of Her Majesty the Empress! You think our blood is so different? That’s why you look down on me like this?”
“Look back at what you’ve done.”
Unlike Letanasia, who was agitated, Aristine replied calmly.
“There was definitely a time when we thought of you as our younger sister, too.”
“What…?”
“Don’t blame this on your birth.”
Aristine turned around as if there was nothing more to see.
“This is just the result of your choices and actions.”
With a bang, the thick iron door slammed shut.
Left alone, Letanasia sobbed and scratched her floor.
This was a result of her actions?
Impossible.
She wasn’t the empress’s child, that’s why Launelian and Aristine hated her.
She wasn’t born with the Monarch’s Sight, that’s why she couldn’t become an emperor.
‘It’s not my fault!’
It was all because of her birth.
《Look back at what you’ve done. There was definitely a time when we thought of you as our younger sister, too.》
Suddenly, she remembered reading Aristine’s memory when she was very young.
The flash of Aristine smiling down at her while she slept in the cradle.
“N, No… I didn’t do anything wrong. You disregarded me first…”
At the same time, she remembered a younger version of herself whispering in her father’s ear.
Whispering words that imprisoned Aristine and caused her to be abandoned.
Words that sent Launelian to the far north.
“Aarrgh!”
A grotesque scream echoed through the empty prison.
“Looks like Rineh is fully gone.”
Tarkan mumbled and Launelian nodded his head.
Then Launelian spoke in a serious voice, “You heard it too.”
“Heard what?”
“My lovely sister said ‘you shouldn’t have touched Brother Launelian’.”
Tarkan’s eyes sank at those words.
“Agh, see how much my little sister loves and cherishes me!”
“Cut the nonsense, let’s get inside.”
Launelian gave Tarkan a disgruntled look, but soon nodded.
“You’re right. My sister is great in every aspect but she’s too generous.”
“It’s up to us to handle it.”
*.*.*
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Thank you so much for the updates, Miss Ruby! The translation is stellar as always.
Letanasia’s greed was her downfall. It seems she also had a major inferiority complex that kept her from seeing how things truly were. Some characters can grow, like Palemein and Yenika, and some won’t change no matter how many chances they’re given, like the queen and Letanasia.
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Thanks for the Chapters~ I especially enjoyed that part where Letanasia finally got her just dessert. Ah how i love this chapter ending but i really did want her to suffer some more.
I hope Tarkan and Launelian give her what she deserves
I need a stronger revenge
But I like how Aristine doesn’t even care about taking revenge from her, because she is less than her, such a queen really
Miss Ruby. Thanks ♥️