What Became of the Tyrant After the Pregnant Empress Left - Chapter 166

All of it is genuine. Ysaris felt suffocated by the unadulterated emotions of a man who harbored not an ounce of deceit. In the clear reflection of his vivid red eyes, my image appeared as if it were imprisoned.

She had never truly experienced a proper confession. Ever since she reached the age for romance, she had been entangled with Kazhan.

During the time he had been away from Pyrein, every time someone courted her, memories of Cain—whom she had mistaken for dead—would flood back and plunge her into melancholy. Even those memories had evaporated along with everything else, leaving Ysaris virtually oblivious in matters of the heart.

Yet, there was one thing even she knew.

“This… This isn’t normal.”

How can a person become so utterly fixated on another? Can such a feeling even be simply defined as love?

His description of it being an overwhelmingly concentrated emotion was spot on. Kazhan craved her with a ferocity that bordered on obsession.

“I know—I’m a madman. A man driven insane by loving you too much.”

Kazhan’s love hadn’t always taken this form. It had, at some point, degenerated from being merely a bit deeper, more tender, and slightly more obsessive than others.

It had been steadily and unmistakably broken ever since he left Ysaris. In his desperate longing for a future with her, that dramatic reunion had shattered him completely—leaving him twisted and frozen in his ruin.

“But isn’t it fortunate that you can still think and act like a normal person?”

“…….”

Kazhan silently studied the stern expression on Ysaris’s face, then slightly bent his waist. Lowering himself once again to meet her gaze, he whispered softly.

“You need not trust me. Perhaps it is better for you that way. But, Ysaris, there is one thing I wish you to know: regardless of whether you choose to trust me or not, the truth that I live solely for you can never be altered.”

Though such words could be interpreted differently depending on one’s perspective, Kazhan had indeed meant it. As selfish and capricious as his methods might be, his ultimate goal was to build a happy family with Ysaris.

It might not be entirely a happy prospect for her, though.

“…I have never doubted your love.”

At last, Ysaris spoke, letting out a small sigh.

Yes—at least she had never doubted Kazhan’s love. It was simply too apparent in the way he bestowed his emotions upon me.

“Regardless of whatever misdeeds you may have committed, I understand that you did them out of love for me. Even if I can’t fully empathize with you.”

In short, it was the difference between reason and emotion. Ysaris continually suffered from this recurring dilemma, overlaying her blank slate of memories with the image of Kazhan. At times, she emotionally condemned him; at others, she rationally countered his actions—each time harboring a measure of conflicting thoughts or feelings.

Though not every moment was like this, living amid such contradictions was exhausting. Ysaris closed and reopened her eyes against the weariness before continuing.

“But I do not trust you. And from now on, I probably never will. Love is a feeling built on trust—and perhaps the day will never come when I can return your confession in kind. Even if, by some chance, I come to harbor feelings for you, they will never match the love you claim to have for me.”

She was too upright a person to engage in a love as pathological as Kazhan’s. Ysaris possessed a nature that allowed her to let go, even if it pained her heart, for the sake of the one she loved.

And that was something Kazhan already knew.

“It seems I have led you to misunderstand me.”

“Misunderstood?”

Kazhan gazed steadily into her questioning blue eyes. Though his face, reflected in the lake, showed no expression, a fleeting emptiness, like resignation, passed over it.

“I did not confess to you in order to receive love in return. I merely wished for you to know my true feelings, to trust me, and to remain by my side.”

That was enough for him to live. Simply watching Ysaris settle peacefully by my side made the world seem far more bearable, so it was alright to shoulder all this overflowing emotion alone.

“I am content even with the remnants of emotion you occasionally let slip, Ysaris. Isn’t that why I have restrained my desires and endured all this time? It would, of course, be wonderful if you loved me back, but even if you don’t, that is perfectly acceptable. All I ask is that you do not reject my love.”

Her red eyes slowly closed and reopened, in time with the low, measured tones that dispersed into the air.

“Just as things have been up to now.”