The Tyrant's Happy Ending - Chapter 10.2

Had the words come from any other priestly mouth, Justin would have dismissed them as hollow. But from the son of the goddess’s chosen, there was a strange legitimacy. The pale moonlight framed the emperor’s golden hair, lending him an air so noble it was almost easy to believe in his divinity. Watching this, Justin felt a tightness in his chest, a feeling that sat somewhere between awe and discomfort.

Must be nice, he thought bitterly. Whoever that poor soul was.
He wouldn’t voice it, but jealousy prickled at him.

The fire burned long and strong, and when nothing but embers and ashes remained, the emperor uttered a final prayer and turned away. The vagrant remained, frozen on the ground, but Justin didn’t spare him another glance as he moved to follow the emperor.

It was surprising, really. The emperor, whom Justin knew as someone who abhorred anything less than spotless, who berated him for untidiness, and bathed multiple times a day, had let a filthy vagrant cling to him and weep.

But more than that…

The emperor’s expression, briefly visible in the flickering light, was something Justin felt he shouldn’t have seen. It was raw, open—so unlike his usual sharp, aloof demeanor.

A sudden growl broke the silence.

“…Ha!” Justin laughed awkwardly.

Pensive thoughts aside, his stomach didn’t lie. After using magic on the stone earlier and running about without dinner, hunger gnawed at him.

“Then let’s find something to eat nearby,” the emperor declared, catching Justin off guard.

“Pardon? You, Your Majesty?”

“Did I say something strange?”

“No… not exactly,” Justin answered, eyes narrowing in disbelief. The emperor, dining at a place like this? Surely, it would be beneath him. Yet, against all reason, Justin found himself wanting to lead him to one of the local eateries.

If he insists on this commoner’s experience, then so be it, Justin thought, a mischievous glint in his eye. It was a small, rebellious test—an impulse to see how the emperor would react.

“Very well! Let’s go!” he said, a determined smile pulling his lips taut as he led the way.

By the time they reached a humble food stall in the heart of the slums, Justin’s face had set into an expression that bordered on irritation. The familiar alleyway was one he had often frequented as a child, a place filled with memories of rough nights and thin gruel.

“Four, please,” Justin said, seating himself unceremoniously on the packed dirt next to a low, battered table.

Silence fell, the kind that carried more weight than words. Eyes turned toward him, wide with shock. But Justin just smirked and broke the tension.

“What? Is this your first time in a place like this? Don’t tell me you were hoping for chairs.”

The emperor said nothing, his face a study in serene acceptance.
After confirming that there were indeed no chairs in the shabby space, Tenes, with a stoic grace, removed his cloak from under his robe, folded it neatly, and placed it on the ground.

Such dedication, Justin thought wryly, knowing full well for whom the cloak was prepared. Predictably, the emperor seated himself on it as if it were only natural.

As soon as they all settled, the food was served. To call it food was generous; it was merely a watery soup with chopped potatoes floating in it and a single loaf of black bread.

“This is… the standard,” the emperor finally spoke, his voice tinged with quiet shock.

“It’s decent enough,” Justin replied in an indifferent tone, dunking his bread into the soup.

“This is the norm here in the capital, especially nowadays with the drought. Having bread on the table at all is a rare treat—maybe once every few days,” he explained.

“Is that so? And how often would they eat this?” the emperor asked.

Justin scoffed, unable to hold back a chuckle.

“Eat? If they’re lucky, once a day.”

“I see.”

And that was that. Without further comment, the emperor followed Justin’s lead, soaking the bread in the soup and taking a slow bite. He did so without a flicker of distaste, despite how bland it surely was.

Eren, ever the fastidious one, took a single spoonful before setting his utensil aside, but the emperor’s steady eating continued unabated. Justin had expected him to wince, gag even, at the taste.

But here he is, Justin noted, feeling something shift inside him as he watched the emperor methodically finish his meal. The sight was somehow unsettling.

“Your Majesty,” Tenes spoke up suddenly, breaking the silence.
“Yes?” The emperor looked up, brows raised as he regarded Tenes.

“Are you not going to do more for that man?” Tenes’s tone was earnest, drawing a prickle of curiosity from Justin as he listened intently.

The emperor’s response was startlingly flat. “Why would I?”
“Pardon?” Justin interjected, surprised enough to earn the focus of the room.

“I mean…” Justin fumbled for words. “Your Majesty, was that man not someone you knew?”

“We were only briefly acquainted. I don’t truly know him.”
“Then why… why offer prayers for him?” Justin blurted out, eyes narrowing in confusion.

The emperor fixed Justin with a steady, unreadable gaze before continuing as if Justin’s interruption hadn’t happened.

“Performing the rites for his wife and child was simply the right thing to do. What path he chooses from now on is his to determine.”

Eren, who seemed privy to something unsaid, nodded in solemn understanding.

“I may bear the bl00d of the divine, but I am not a god. I cannot personally tend to every life. Even if I tried, only a handful would be within my reach. This empire holds countless souls, each with their own stories,” the emperor said, his tone almost weary.

“…”

“My role isn’t to micromanage lives; it’s to set change in motion. How people live within that change is up to them. By strict principle, I shouldn’t have come here tonight.

But,” the emperor’s voice softened as he added, “no adult passes by a child weeping on the side of the road without pause.”

Justin still couldn’t decipher the connection between the emperor and the vagrant, but he understood the essence of what was being said.

“This is an exception,” the emperor declared. “It will not happen again. I will not step beyond the palace gates like this in the future.”

Every word the emperor spoke carried a deeper weight, one that Justin understood more keenly now. The emperor’s days were numbered—just two years left, and within the confines of the imperial palace, he would meet his end.

Damn it.

Justin had already started to grasp this truth during the month he had spent by the emperor’s side. Despite his initial impressions, he came to realize that the emperor had not lived a life of luxury and indulgence. He, too, was a victim of the former emperor’s tyranny, and, surprisingly, his concern for the people was more genuine than Justin wanted to admit.

Justin just didn’t want to accept it.

A muffled, stifled sob echoed beside him. Justin glanced over to see one of the knights unsuccessfully holding back his emotion.

The emperor, visibly uncomfortable, cast him a glance before murmuring, “Let’s head back.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Justin responded, adding a casual slap on the knight’s back before getting up.

He knew it now, though he didn’t want to admit it: he was in the same boat as that overly sensitive fool. In short, this rude, stubborn boy-emperor had gotten under his skin.

Well, it’s not so bad, Justin thought, almost amused. The heavy burden he’d carried for the past month felt lighter.

He had always despised the nobility, with the imperial family included at the top of that list. He believed most of them to be irredeemably selfish and corrupt. Justin had sworn never to serve anyone with a title, vowing to live freely, like the spirits he summoned, bound to no master. He had even promised his master as much.

But maybe vows were made to be broken.

As he ventured into the wider world and met people who didn’t fit neatly into his assumptions, the fortress of his past beliefs began to crumble. It was only natural that he, too, would be reshaped by it.

Justin still disliked most nobles. The same went for the royal family. But now, he knew there were exceptions—people like Tenes, Yuris, and even that insufferable Eren. And the emperor, as it turned out, was one of those rare ones who cared.

So maybe it was time to break his vow.

Tomorrow would be the coronation. It marked the beginning of a chaotic era where Justin would be tasked with defending the empire’s bloodstained path, and it would bring unprecedented upheaval. Yet, somehow, he felt ready.

Being a pawn of a tyrant… maybe it’s worth a shot.