The Tyrant's Happy Ending - Chapter 15.1

“If you go back to Lyle….”

Yernen bit his lips hard and turned his gaze away from Tennes.

“I’m going to wash up, so get out.”

“Your Majesty!”

“Tennes Trizia.”

With a cold expression, Yernen looked at Tennes and spoke.
“Do I have to say it again for you to understand? Didn’t you hear me tell you to leave?”

“But…!”

Despite being repeatedly ordered to leave, Tennes still showed no intention of leaving the room. Watching this, Yernen, with an annoyed face, entered the bathroom and turned on the water.

“Are you planning to watch me undress?”

“…No, sir.”

Only after enduring plenty of sarcasm did Tennes bow in silence and leave the room.

Yernen, who never even glanced at Tennes as he left, kept his eyes on the water stream until the door closed completely. Once he confirmed Tennes had left, he turned off the water.

“…….”

He had no intention of going back to Lyle. Yet, Tennes seemed determined to take him back to Lyle’s side, regardless of Yernen’s wishes.

If that was the case…there was no choice. From now on, he would have to distance himself from Tennes and act with Justin alone.
Yernen stepped out of the bathroom, opened the window opposite him, and looked down to gauge the height. Although the room he was in was on the second floor, the canopy sloped gently enough that if he landed properly, it was possible to descend safely.
‘Looks doable.’

Having finished his calculations, Yernen lightly stepped onto the windowsill, slid down along the canopy, and leaped. His oversized hood was blown back by the wind, revealing his bright blond hair tinged with gray in the sunlight.

Finally, landing on the ground as planned, Yernen let out a soft curse the moment his feet hit the earth.

“Damn…”

A burning sensation shot up from his injured ankle.

He had anticipated it, but the pain was sharper than expected. However, he couldn’t afford to stop just because it hurt, so he pulled the hood back over his head and started limping away.
He didn’t know how difficult it was for an omega to bear a child without an alpha. He had never experienced it, nor had he seen anyone suffer because of it.

But even if his body ached from that… there was nothing to be done. It was the path he had chosen. Yernen was prepared to endure any pain that came his way.

And even though Tennes opposed it now, Yernen believed that if he pushed hard enough, Tennes would eventually relent and listen to him.

After all, Tennes had always been by Yernen’s side when he genuinely wanted something.

Even if that path was filled with thorns.

Since the inn he had chosen wasn’t far from the square, it didn’t take long to reach it again.

Luckily, the solo performance he dreaded was taking a break, as the actor engaged in casual conversation with onlookers.

Still, Yernen, feeling conscious, pulled his hood down further and sat on a bench in an inconspicuous corner, eyes fixed on the castle entrance.

To reach the inn, Justin would have to pass through this square. By sitting here, he could spot Justin immediately as he left the castle.

Tennes, who knew that once Yernen started showering, he wouldn’t come out for a long time, would likely stay in his room until Yernen summoned him.

Justin wasn’t going to chat with Aaron for long.

So if he timed it right and intercepted Justin midway, it would be perfect for shaking off Tennes.

Leaning back on the bench with arms crossed, Yernen waited for Justin to appear.

How long had he been waiting? The sun, which had been high in the sky, started to tilt slightly when a carriage approached Yernen.

“…?”

Yernen looked around and stared at the carriage with a puzzled expression.

There was nothing around but a useless statue, a wall, and some trees. There were no shops or people the carriage might be here for; Yernen was the only one there. Yet, the carriage stopped, raising suspicion.

Before Yernen could leave, feeling an inexplicable sense of unease, the carriage door opened, and two men stepped out. One had a sneaky look, dressed like a butler, and the other was a tall, muscular man.

The man with the sneaky look directed his gaze at Yernen and gave a courteous hand gesture.

“It is an honor to meet you.”

“…….”

Without saying a word, Yernen looked the man up and down as if trying to assess who he was.

Even as the man remained bowed for a while without receiving any response, he awkwardly lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile and looked up to speak.

“I’ve been ordered to escort you. Please come with us.”

“Ordered? By whom?”

The man smiled subtly and glanced toward the castle. It was clear what that gesture meant.

If he followed them, Aaron Parthasch, the greatest knight of the west, would be waiting at the end.

It seemed plausible. The man was dressed like a butler, had brought an assistant who looked strong enough to handle any physical task, and the carriage itself was extravagantly luxurious.

But Yernen instantly knew it was a lie.

‘Aaron Parthasch sending someone? That’s laughable.’

Justin wouldn’t have mentioned him, and even if he had and Aaron somehow found out Yernen was alive and in the Parthasch territory, he wouldn’t send people.

He would burst out of the castle barefoot, shedding tears and screaming Yernen’s name like a madman in the middle of the square.

And aside from that, the people before him seemed suspicious, especially their manner of speaking.

Yernen, a member of the imperial family, knew only the language of the empire. No one in the empire would dare teach the sacred descendant of the gods a foreign language fit for barbarians.
But for that reason, Yernen’s command of the imperial language was exceptional, and he could detect subtle foreign undertones in the men’s speech.

Piecing together information from recent observations, the conclusion was obvious. These men were related to a foreign power, and the situation was dangerous.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for your patience! The reading will resume now.”

‘Damn it. Of all times….’

Trouble comes in waves, they say, and it couldn’t be truer. The situation was already dire, but now, adding insult to injury, the cursed performance began again, filling the square with deafening noise.

This was the worst.

Yernen was seated in a secluded corner of the square, hidden from view by the large carriage. The only way to alert others in such an emergency would be to shout and draw attention.
But that only method was now drowned out by the cheers and loud voice of the reading.

If it were anyone else, they might try to fight and run, but for Yernen, that was out of the question. He had a fragile body, so weak that even holding a book for long made his arms tremble, while the opponent was a mountain of muscle.

‘This is maddening.’

Yernen frowned slightly. There seemed to be no way out.
But he couldn’t just sit still and be captured.

“You’ve got the wrong person.”

With that, Yernen rose and tried to leave, but the men quickly blocked his path.

The sneaky-looking man still wore a smile as he spoke.

“Caught on, huh?”

Before he finished speaking, Yernen tried to push past them and run, but the larger man moved faster. His huge arm wrapped around Yernen’s waist, squeezing so tightly he could barely breathe.

“Ahh…!”

No matter how much he struggled, the grip wouldn’t budge.

“How dare you…! Mmph…!”

Before he could scream, a thick hand from behind reached out and pressed a damp cloth over his mouth and nose.

“Mm…!”

Yernen didn’t know what the liquid on the cloth was, but he instinctively knew he shouldn’t breathe it in. He held his breath, but the giant, sensing this, tightened his grip even more.

“Ugh…!”

Yernen tried to push the arm away, but the more he moved, the harder it was to breathe.

Soon, darkness enveloped his vision.

When he regained consciousness, the first sensation was the bumping of the road and the gnawing hunger in his stomach.
With effort, Yernen forced his heavy eyelids open. The first thing he saw was a group of about a dozen people with resigned expressions, bound and scattered on the filthy floor.
Judging by the tight bindings on his own hands and feet, he was in the same predicament.

“Ah…”

Yernen twisted, trying to loosen the ropes, but immediately felt a sharp pain in his ankle and groaned.

‘Damn it…’

He knew instinctively. Whatever had happened, things had gone terribly wrong.

Considering his surroundings, he was likely in the slave caravan notorious for plaguing the western region.

“Ha.”

It was absurd. To be captured by slave traders during that brief moment away from Tennes. And in broad daylight, in the square, no less.

Could there be anyone more unlucky than this?

As Yernen mulled over the situation, which was beyond disbelief and into the realm of absurdity, someone spoke to him.

“Are you alright?”

Yernen looked in the direction of the voice. It was a girl with dark brown hair and green eyes, who seemed to be about six years old.

“…?”

But why did she look familiar? For some reason, though this was his first time seeing her, the girl’s face felt oddly recognizable, as if he already knew someone who looked like her.

However, that wasn’t the priority right now. The most important thing at this moment was understanding the situation.

“Where is this place?”

Hearing Yernen’s question, the girl answered in a somber voice.
“This is the slave carriage where people being sold to the Kingdom of Peinan are kept.”

Yernen’s face grew serious upon hearing that. He had clung to the faint hope that this might not be the case, but it was just as he feared.

Just then, the carriage suddenly stopped, chains rattled, and the door opened. The person who entered was the burly man who had held Yernen’s waist tightly before he lost consciousness, not letting him go.

The man, who had been about to set down a basket, met Yernen’s gaze and shouted in surprise in an unfamiliar foreign language, calling out to someone.

Soon after, the sneering-looking man Yernen had seen before he passed out entered the carriage in response to the call.

“You finally woke up. I was worried that I’d used the wrong dose and you wouldn’t wake up at all.”

The man approached Yernen, pulled back his hood with a flick, and roughly gripped his chin, turning his face this way and that as he examined him.

A slight admiration crossed the man’s sneering face.

“I thought you looked impressive even with your eyes closed, but now that you’re awake, it’s incomparable. I’d like to take you to my carriage right now.”

With that, the man grabbed Yernen’s hip. Yernen pushed the man’s hand off his chin and glared at him with a voice full of fury.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The man, unfazed by the glare, only smiled wider.

“The glare makes you even more appealing. What am I doing, you ask? I’m evaluating how much value you, a proud member of the imperial family, will fetch when sold as a slave.”

“…What?”

A chill spread through Yernen’s entire body as if bl00d was draining from his veins.

Seeing Yernen’s face painted with shock, the man smirked cruelly and grabbed a fistful of his fine hair.

“Ugh…!”

“I saw it at the castle gates. This blond hair. Did you really think you could hide with such a striking hair color? It’s ridiculous. I thought maybe a few members of the royal family who survived the purge might still be wandering around… but I didn’t expect it to be true.”

The man tugged Yernen’s hair, pulling his face close enough to his own before continuing.

“This must be your first time in the west, right? Here, if you let your guard down, you’ll be dragged off by people like us. Walking around alone without your escort knight or your husband, whoever he is.”

He chuckled darkly.