What Became of the Tyrant After the Pregnant Empress Left - Chapter 277

Perhaps because of that, Ysaris didn’t particularly feel as though she was in the presence of a corpse. That was why she had been able to stay in Kazhan’s room all this time, having entrusted Mikael—whom Tebi had brought at her request—along with Casillia to the care of the Duke of Blake.

“……But why is there no change?”

Kazhan didn’t even emit the distinctive odor of a corpse. Faced with this inexplicable phenomenon that invited nothing but questions, the same query she had repeated over the past few days slipped out again.

“He really is dead, right?”

“Hmm.”

Temisian stroked his short beard, his expression unreadable as he glanced at the Empress, who was staring at the Emperor.

“I, too, don’t understand what’s happening… but as I’ve said before, he is certainly not alive. His heart isn’t beating, after all.”

It wasn’t as if his pulse was simply too faint to detect. The senses of a Sword Master—of all people—weren’t so dull as to miss even that much.

“Just in case, I secretly brought in a physician, and they confirmed his death. There’s no chance of him waking. It would be more accurate to say the power in Tennilath’s blood is preserving the body intact…”

Temisian trailed off uneasily. He had seen the other royals, whose necks he had severed at Kazhan’s command, turn into ordinary corpses, so even this much left him uncertain.

Had the awakening of his abilities led to a different outcome? There were no records of Tennilath ability users entering such a state upon death.

Lost in deep thought, Temisian stole a glance at Ysaris before deliberately shrugging his shoulders lightly. Though he had acted somewhat emotionally right after the Emperor’s death, he wasn’t the type to keep his edge sharpened in front of a woman who seemed to be suffering enough. As if to ease her worries, he continued nonchalantly.

“Whatever the reason, it’s for the best. This way, we can delay announcing His Majesty’s passing even longer.”

The reason they were deceiving the people like this was all due to Kazhan’s arrangements.

[If I meet a secret death after the Empress returns, buy as much time as possible. Hide the truth and teach her the Emperor’s duties. Until the Crown Prince comes of age, she’ll have to oversee state affairs in his stead.

It doesn’t matter if people grow suspicious. Though the Empress lacks the power of the Blood Oath, if we leverage the nobles’ weaknesses we’ve gathered over the years, she’ll be able to secure her position to some extent.

Announcing my death only after she’s prepared that way will be far less dangerous—for her, and for the Crown Prince.

If you push the second bookshelf from the left, relative to the window in the study, you’ll find documents that should prove useful to her…]

The lengthy instructions were entirely preparations for Ysaris. It was obvious his actions had been focused on how to protect her.

Beyond the implication that he might have considered dying by impulsive suicide or at Ysaris’s hand, Kazhan had still been looking only at her.

“Normally, we’d have to announce His Majesty’s demise and prepare funeral rites within days, but since we can pass it off as him being asleep, we can buy a few more weeks. Given how little he usually slept, we can claim he’s making up for lost rest all at once. Or that he’s taken an extended leave.”

“……And after that?”

“Since it’s already been announced that Her Majesty the Empress has remained in this chamber with him, the only option is to say he died of grief.”

“What?”

At the unexpected term, Ysaris stared back in bewilderment. Temisian scratched the back of his head.

“Believe me, I’d rather not either… but we’ve already placed the body here to buy time and shown it to a few maids. If we’re to announce his death later without harming Her Majesty’s position, this is the only way. Given His Majesty’s recent reputation, the backlash would be severe if we revealed he died in the Crown Princess’s stead. Above all, we can’t risk spreading the truth and publicizing the conditions of a forced awakening…”

If they announced the facts as they were, there was a high chance the information would be distorted—spreading rumors that consuming a royal’s heart could heal even mortal wounds. Even if, in reality, it merely served to awaken a Tennilath who met the conditions, the result was perfectly tailored to stir people’s greed.