What Became of the Tyrant After the Pregnant Empress Left - Chapter 138

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Thud.

That day, for the first time, Kazhan died in his nightmare. It was the lie he wanted to escape from as quickly as possible.

However, once Ysaris began appearing in his dreams, she never stopped tormenting him. No matter how hard he tried to stay awake, exhausted by his busy days, he would eventually collapse into sleep, only to wake up in a panic each time she was with another man in his dreams.

Despite sending shadow operatives to Pyrein for periodic reports on Ysaris, his unease never faded. Kazhan, like a madman, rampaged, devouring neighboring countries to solidify his power.

He gained a terrifying reputation, but it was the least of his concerns. He hurriedly prepared for his journey to Pyrein without even resolving his internal issues. Just before he was about to depart, something happened.

The person he had stationed to keep an eye on Ysaris confessed to passing false information and then committed suicide, shouting the glory of Uzephia.

…By the time Kazhan arrived in Pyrein in a frenzy, Ysaris and Bariteon’s engagement ceremony was already underway.

Just like the nightmares he had seen.

“I’ve seen you in my dreams more often than you could ever imagine. I wish I could have dreamed of happiness, but I regret that it wasn’t the case.”

Kazhan, still with his face buried in Ysaris’s shoulder, recalled the events that followed. The nightmare from their wedding night, in which he almost killed her, was particularly recurrent, but it wasn’t the only one.

Their relationship was beyond repair. The fractures that arose from it manifested in his nightmares, choking him.

On the day Kazhan had handed Ysaris a dagger, she had hesitated to stab him, considering the aftermath for her country. But in the nightmare, she could take his life freely.

Kazhan didn’t resist and let her stab him. As he watched her repeatedly drive the blade down, covered in his blood, he… felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

‘As much as I’ve been broken, you must be broken too. Yes, we’re supposed to be together, forever.’

Ysaris let out a derisive breath, ignoring him in the real world, but in the nightmare, she shared death with him. The venom that mixed with their saliva tasted unnervingly sweet, too potent for even Kazhan to endure.

“My worst nightmare is you leaving me and dying alone. Ysaa. I still dream of it sometimes.”

After Ysaris, who had once been full of hatred and anger, began to lose her strength, her solitary death haunted Kazhan’s dreams. When he thought she had died in the aftermath of the attack, the boundary between reality and dream blurred.

Every moment Kazhan spent as Tennilath was a nightmare. Ysaris, who should have been his salvation, only contributed to his torment.

And now, finally…

“Sometimes, I wonder. Maybe this reality is the happy dream I’ve always wanted.”

Perhaps this is just the last fantasy granted before death. Or maybe it’s a false world after already having died.

Neither possibility felt real. It was too perfect, too blissful to believe it was truly his.

The warm, fragrant sensation of Ysaris holding him, gently caressing his back, filled his senses.

No matter what, Kazhan didn’t want to lose this, even if it meant turning the world upside down. He would hold on to it desperately, forever yearning for it.

Truly, the one who had belonged to the other all along was not her, but him.