What Became of the Tyrant After the Pregnant Empress Left - Chapter 170

Looking at him directly like this, she noticed things she hadn’t caught before. Slightly bloodshot eyes, darkened under-eye circles, one eyebrow faintly furrowed as if he had a headache.

Wasn’t he pushing himself too hard with work?

Ysaris kept this natural concern to herself. Not just because it was him, but because she didn’t want Kazhan to misinterpret what would be a normal feeling anyone might have for something else.

And Kazhan had faithfully honored her last request. Rather than approaching Ysaris using this public occasion as an excuse, he simply watched her, not crossing the line she had drawn.

“……”

And so silence fell between the two. A strange moment formed where they quietly gazed at each other as if in a world separate from the bustling noise all around them.

In this odd sensation where time seemed to flow differently, Ysaris’s fingers twitched. Though Kazhan hadn’t said a single word, she found it hard to stay still, feeling an inexplicable tingling.

It wasn’t because she felt anything special for him. It was because his affection for her transmitted so clearly.

His face, which had been frozen as rigid as ice, gradually softened the longer he looked at Ysaris. The tension in his muscles melted away and his gaze grew gentle. Warmth slowly began to circle the previously cold atmosphere.

Though he didn’t smile, Kazhan looked utterly languid as he leaned against the ornate chair’s backrest, watching Ysaris. As if he was content just having her nearby. Or as if simply watching her was enough to satisfy him.

It was an emotion impossible not to notice, even when deliberately left unexpressed.
Yes, this was, after all, love.

The kind that shows through despite oneself.

* * *

Behind where the Emperor and Empress had left for their next schedule. Moving late and alone, Runellia ground her teeth from where she lagged behind.

“Unforgivable……”

Her rage was now directed at both Kazhan and Ysaris. She couldn’t despise them more – the Emperor who had broken his promise to her and the Empress who had stolen her place.

Though nothing had been hers from the start, Runellia believed the two of them had ruined her life. Of course her stomach turned seeing them radiating such a rosy atmosphere.

‘You’ll regret this, both of you.’

Runellia traced the scar on her neck while muttering words of curse under her breath. It was the wound Kazhan had left when Ysaris disappeared. She remembered his words when he had swung his sword at her just for appearing excited about the Empress’s disappearance, telling her to never show herself before him again.

Filled with vengeful thoughts, Runellia made a surprisingly accurate deduction from this. As Kazhan was the only Tennilath left in this world, he had to secure an heir whether he wanted to or not. While the Emperor might ignore other nobles’ requests, he couldn’t dismiss Duke Barilio’s words, and if he killed her, he might have to take a new noble lady as his wife.

Obsessed with the Empress as he was, he probably wouldn’t accept a new Imperial consort.
Instead, he would make another contract like he had with her. Rather than repeat that whole process, he must have decided to keep her head attached.

It had all become pointless now that the Empress had returned with the Prince. If she had returned alone it would have been better, but as things stood, Runellia felt the crisis that she could be cast aside at any moment, not having borne a Tennilath.

Runellia had always grasped at whatever lifeline she could and tried her best to achieve her goals. Though she had failed, she had even made one last desperate attempt to share the Emperor’s bed.

But now, abandoned even by Duke Barilio who had been her only hope, what she could choose with nothing left but poison was……”

“Hm.”

Her deep blue-green eyes turned to the baby toddling ahead, tightly holding the Empress’s hand.

In the end, after everything, the problem came down to the Prince who carried Tennilath blood.

The existence most precious and necessary to both the Empress and Emperor.

Runellia twisted her lips, recalling the black robe. According to the suspicious helper, the Emperor would soon try to kill her. With her family, House Logiten, actually facing collapse, she had nothing left to lose.

“Just wait and see.”

Runellia’s eyes glinted coldly.

If her position was precarious either way, it would be best to take revenge first and then flee.