What Became of the Tyrant After the Pregnant Empress Left - Chapter 58
The Uzephia Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Hertie. With less than two years since the last war had ended, many nobles voiced concerns, but Kazhan’s resolve was unyielding.
“I was attacked the moment I crossed the border, invited by Hertie. If you oppose this war, knowing that your Emperor almost died, are you openly defying me?”
No one could stop him when he had such a clear justification. In fact, even when he had no real reason, he had still conquered several nations without hesitation, so this was nothing new.
The Kingdom of Hertie continued to plead its innocence and begged for mercy, but the war loomed closer. In just a month, the Uzephia army had gathered at the border, fully prepared.
With the moment of attack near, a secret conversation took place in the Emperor’s office, far from the battlefield.
“Have you still not found out who’s behind this?”
“I apologize, Your Majesty. We searched the entire mountain, but we didn’t find a single body that could be identified as an attacker. There’s no clue to trace their origin. Moreover, no country moved a force of at least a hundred knights, which would have been necessary for such an operation, around the time of the incident.”
“No matter how poisoned they were, it’s hard to believe that an entire squad of the Uzephia’s First Knight Order was wiped out. Are you saying such a force just dropped from the sky?”
“They are certainly not an official group. The sword marks on the bodies of the knights don’t match any known type on the continent.”
Kazhan frowned, deep in thought. Uncovering the truth behind the ambush was proving more difficult than anticipated.
Instead of pursuing him down the cliff, the attackers had focused on retrieving their dead and retreating. While they might have assumed he was dead, it seemed their priority was more about concealing their identities than eliminating the target. There was no other explanation for how they managed to disappear so cleanly.
“A large force like that would have left some trace behind. Whether they were ascending or descending the mountain.”
“We did trace their movements to the other side of the mountain range, but all we found were remnants of a large-scale teleportation. The mana patterns were too scattered to track further, indicating a high-level mage might have been involved.”
“Useless.”
“My apologies, Your Majesty.”
Kazhan glared coldly at the captain of the shadow unit, who was prostrate before him. It wasn’t entirely the captain’s fault, but wasn’t it their job to deliver information, even if it seemed ‘impossible to obtain? He had even paired them with the Imperial Third Knight Order, including rangers, yet they had nothing to show for it. Disappointing.’
As much as he wanted to sever that worthless head from the captain’s shoulders right then, doing so would only slow things down further. The captain had other tasks assigned to him that were of greater importance, tasks that couldn’t afford delay.
Yes, there was a mission even more crucial than uncovering the truth behind the ambush. A result Kazhan dreaded to ask about, yet he found the words slipping from his mouth, though they were heavy on his tongue.
“…What about the search for the Empress?”
“The beasts and monsters in that mountain were fully exterminated as of yesterday. We’ve scoured four Griffin nests in the surrounding areas based on reports, but we’ve yet to find any trace of her.”
Kazhan closed his eyes at the expected response. He wasn’t sure if he still wanted to find Ysaris—or if he was terrified of what he might find.
All they would find at this late hour were traces proving that something terrible had happened to her.
Nevertheless, Kazhan still searched desperately for Ysaris. He had to, so he could hold on to the hope that she was still alive. So that he could keep moving.
Even as Kazhan exacted revenge for Ysaris, he still couldn’t accept her death.
* * *
Beep, beep-beep…
In a secluded mountain cabin. The smell of freshly baked bread and the chirping of birds filled the peaceful space.
A white hand gently pushed open the window for the animals huddled together at the crack. A piece of bread fell like snow in front of the bird that flapped its wings and flew back, tilting its head in curiosity.
Chirp, chirp!
“Is it good?”
A woman with silver hair watched with a faint smile as the small creature pecked at the bread. She didn’t dare to stroke it, afraid it might be startled and fly away. She simply watched, then turned to water the plants.
Bang!
“Liz, the Emperor of Uzephia is hunting down wild griffins like crazy. Isn’t he completely out of his mind?”
“Lena?”
Liz turned around in shock at the news brought by the woman with dark blue hair who had burst through the door. Griffins being massacred. She had feared it might happen, but now that it was real, something she had hoped to avoid, her brow furrowed slightly.
“I’m sorry… because of me…”
“There’s no need to apologize to me. It’s not your fault to begin with. And their deaths don’t mean much to me.”
Liz was left speechless by the remark from the only griffin tamer on the continent. Lena, who had already hung her robe over a chair, looked back at her with a mischievous smile.
“Isn’t it a relief? He really thinks you’re dead.”
Ysaris, known as Liz, didn’t deny it. Underneath her dyed silver hair, her blue eyes held a quiet light.
“It’s all thanks to you, Lena. I’m truly grateful.”
