What Became of the Tyrant After the Pregnant Empress Left - Chapter 63
<But since Her Majesty the Empress isn’t here right now…>
<Your voice sounds excited.>
<Huh?>
<You seem pleased that the Empress isn’t around?>
<That’s, that’s… Aah!!>
“Madman.”
Runellia muttered a low curse. The sensation of the sharp blade barely grazing her skin was horrifying, painful, and utterly terrifying.
<Don’t show yourself to me. If you don’t want to die.>
As she locked eyes with those eerie red eyes that let in no light, Runellia felt fear.
A sense of crisis that she might actually die.
For the first time in her life, she felt such fear, nodded frantically, and ran away, never returning to the emperor’s palace alone. Even just standing by his side at official events was hard enough.
“It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this…”
No matter how much Runellia dwelled on the past, reality didn’t change. Imagining the glory that would never come and sinking into disillusionment was all she could do.
* * *
The emperor’s palace had a cold atmosphere. In the innermost part of the luxurious building, Kazhan’s bedroom remained dark.
Despite the maids cleaning it daily, the room lacked warmth because its owner rarely visited. The footsteps that had gradually decreased in frequency ceased entirely a few months ago.
As expected, Kazhan spent the night not in his own room, but in Ysaris’s bedroom. Lying on her bed, he stared blankly at the ceiling.
There was nothing particularly special there. He simply took comfort in seeing what Ysaris would have seen as she lay down.
After lying still for a long time, Kazhan suddenly spoke, without subject or object.
“I should have decorated it.”
Since she liked the night sky, maybe he could paint the background black and stud it with small jewels like the moon and stars—she might have liked that.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to create a Milky Way on one side. Depicting a scene of shooting stars falling could be nice too.
“If you make a wish on them, I could pretend not to notice and grant them all. How does that sound?”
Kazhan turned his head to his left. On the arm he had stretched out, where there should have been nothing but emptiness, Ysaris was lying there, bursting into a small laugh.
Just like when they were lovers.
‘You’ll grant me anything?’
“Yes, anything.”
‘You shouldn’t make such promises so easily.’
“If it’s something you want, how could I not grant it?”
‘Then…’
Ysaris, who had been lying on Kazhan’s arm, raised her upper body. Still smiling, she gently stroked his forehead before slowly lowering her hand.
Over his eyes. His cheeks. His jaw.
Finally, her hand reached his neck, and her fingers tensed, nails digging in.
‘Die.’
“Ysaa.”
‘Die, just die!’
Kazhan lowered his gaze to confirm Ysaris’s actions, then raised it again. Rather than struggling, he gazed at her quietly, as if she weren’t choking him.
Ysaris appeared several years younger than her actual age. Then, gradually, her face shifted to reflect the passage of time.
From the days when being together made her endlessly happy, to the final moments when she despised him.
Watching her traverse time, Kazhan responded calmly.
“It’s not time yet.”
‘Die. Die, just die already!’
“We agreed to wait until later.”
‘You said you’d grant my wish!!’
“…”
Kazhan fell silent. His eyes shut tightly in pain, and he took a deep breath.
Countless thoughts surfaced and then sank. The breath he had been consciously holding slowly and deliberately exhaled.
When Kazhan opened his eyes again, Ysaris had disappeared without a trace, as if she had never been there.
It was only a hallucination from the start, so it was to be expected.
“If only you had stayed a little longer.”
Maybe I would have granted your wish.
Kazhan absentmindedly touched his unharmed neck. His body was present, but his mind was elsewhere.
“Next time…”
‘Should I match your actions? You tried so hard to choke me; if I’m fine, it wouldn’t be fair to you.’
His unfocused red eyes stared into the void. His hand twitched, as if contemplating choking himself.
But soon, Kazhan let out a sigh and rested his hand on the bed.
It wasn’t because he feared death. On the contrary, Kazhan had meticulously planned his own end. It wasn’t even because he belatedly realized that the Ysaris from a moment ago was a hallucination. He had known all along that she wasn’t real.
Despite what others might think, he wasn’t so mad that he couldn’t distinguish between reality and illusion. He was simply tempted by the idea of granting Ysaris’s wish, even if it wasn’t her true self.
“…But there’s still something I have to do, so wait.”
Kazhan murmured, as if speaking to Ysaris, his eyes closed. There was a task he absolutely had to complete, so he couldn’t die just yet.
Revenge.
He dreamed of avenging Ysaris. Although he was momentarily stalled at the next step, he had already eliminated every target he could kill.
The beasts living in the mountains where she was lost, the griffins of the entire continent, the Kingdom of Hertie that played a role in her demise… So much blood had been spilled. His infamy grew as he indiscriminately slaughtered anything even remotely connected to Ysaris’s disappearance.
But Kazhan didn’t stop. There still wasn’t enough blood. He had to somehow find the mastermind behind the attack, whose trail had gone cold, and tear them apart.
If he couldn’t find them, he was even prepared to methodically destroy the world.
If humanity were to go extinct, wouldn’t the mastermind die as well?
