Chapter 248
“Do you think I’m being selfish?”
“Hah. If you’re selfish, then what does that make the rest of humanity?” Lena shook her head with a wry smile. “Anyway, I don’t care, but you know there’s a price to pay if you want to live in my village, right?”
“……”
Ysaris quietly bit the inside of her cheek.
She knew. Last time, she’d paid with her blood for sanctuary in Lena’s village.
A place untouched by the Empire, where a woman with a child could live safely—such a refuge wasn’t given freely.
“One last question.”
Lena’s golden eyes sharpened.
“Are you really prepared to give up everything—your title, your status—and live as a commoner in my village, paying in blood? Not just you, but Mikael too?”
For a moment, Ysaris’ resolve wavered. Then she drew a deep breath, straightened her back, and met Lena’s gaze head-on.
“Can we negotiate? I’d like to… adjust the terms.”
* * *
The Empress was gone. The Crown Prince with her.
The Imperial Consort was long dead. The Grand Chancellor, once a pillar of the Empire, had also fallen.
Amid the swirling chaos at the heart of the realm, Duke Blake stood in the Emperor’s study, his face lined with concern.
“Your Majesty, you must rest. You’ll collapse at this rate.”
“You underestimate the Tennilath bloodline. Return to your duties, Duke.”
“You haven’t slept in ten days. Even a man of your stature needs—”
“Temisian Blake.”
The Emperor’s voice, devoid of inflection, cut through the air like a blade. He didn’t even look up from the document he was signing.
“I recall issuing a decree against unsolicited visitors.”
No anger. No threat. Just cold, empty authority.
“Spare me your appeals and do your job. You have enough of your own work to manage.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll take my leave.”
Bowing stiffly, Temisian exited the study—his worry undiminished.
His concern wasn’t for the Empire. No nation as ancient as Uzephia would crumble over one man’s absence, even if that man was the Grand Chancellor.
The Emperor’s handling of Duke Bariteon’s execution had been shrewd. Charged not with treason but with disrespect to the imperial family, the punishment avoided mass purges. Instead, the surviving members of the Duke’s house were summoned one by one, bound by blood oaths. The aftermath had been… unnervingly smooth.
No, the real problem wasn’t the Empire.
It was Kazhan.
The tyrant Emperor’s bizarre behavior had the nobility on edge.
Not because he was acting out. There were no rages, no executions of those who mentioned the Empress, no neglect of duty in his grief.
The opposite.
He worked. Relentlessly.
Ten days without sleep or rest. No ordinary man could endure that.
“How long can he keep this up…?”
The Tennilath bloodline’s power—replenished by the ancestral blood stored in the imperial vaults—was the only reason Kazhan hadn’t collapsed. The side effects of such abuse? Irrelevant.
“…Sigh.”
Temisian couldn’t suppress his unease.
Logically, he shouldn’t care. The Emperor could use his abilities however he wished. As long as the work was done, it wasn’t the Duke’s place to question it.
And yet—
“At this rate, he’ll drop dead in one go. This is practically suicidal beha—eep!”
“Hush! Are you trying to get us executed?!”
Temisian froze. The hushed voices of maids echoed his own fears.
“But think about it! With Her Majesty gone, why is he so… calm? Last time, he razed half the palace! He’s either planning to abandon the Empire or—gasp—end his own—”
“Guarding one’s tongue is a virtue in the imperial palace.”
The Duke’s voice, usually languid, was icy. The maids paled.
“Y-Your Grace!”
“You do know the penalty for failing that virtue, don’t you?”
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.