The Tyrant's Happy Ending - Chapter 15.4

“I did just as we planned—I stirred up the sand when the horse was drinking water. That’s it. You know my power isn’t that strong. If I had powerful abilities, I wouldn’t have been captured in the first place.”

Nell blew at the hair that had fallen across her face and continued.

“As planned, the horse panicked, and the traders focused on calming it. But then it kicked the campfire, and out of nowhere, a sudden gust of wind came!”

She frowned as if she couldn’t make sense of it.

“Look at the weather. The sky is clear, and the air is calm. When I looked out through the carriage crack earlier, there wasn’t a breath of wind. But then, suddenly, there was a whirlwind. It was ridiculous. Because of that gust, the tent caught fire, and it blew into the forest, sparking a wildfire.”
Alex banged on the carriage wall. It was the signal that they were approaching the downhill path.

At that, Nell stopped what she was doing, tied herself to the carriage with a rope, and grabbed Yernen’s hand with one hand and Rudy’s with the other.

“It’s as if fate is on our side. Otherwise, this doesn’t make sense! Anyway, this is good for us. But what matters is now! Hold on tight…!”

The carriage plunged down the steep slope, speeding up as if it would fly off the path, and Yernen felt like he would be thrown out at any moment.

“Ugh…!”

Each second felt like an hour.

All Yernen could do was hold his stomach, praying that the child inside him would be unharmed, and brace himself.

Through his wavering vision, he caught sight of the slave traders in the distance, now growing from tiny specks to dots and then to finger-sized figures.

Even though both groups were on horseback, there was no way the horse pulling a carriage could match the speed of the ones carrying only a rider. It felt as if they were demons from hell, faces red with rage, screaming as they gave chase.

“Damn it.”

He had anticipated that they would follow, but seeing them chase felt different. It sent shivers down his spine, and sweat broke out on his palms.

All they needed to do was reach the bottom, widen the distance a bit more.

Ahead lay a deep, narrow canyon dividing the western and northern parts of the empire, crossed by a single bridge. It didn’t take long to cross the bridge, and below it was a village, albeit a small one, with soldiers and officials stationed there.

During his time as emperor, Yernen had ordered some border villages to be equipped with posts to alert them of Peinan kingdom’s invasions, and that village was one of them.
He didn’t remember all the villages, but this one he had kept in mind, thinking it might be useful for dealing with Mason.
Although nearly three years had passed since the emperor changed, Yernen believed there was a good chance that the post was still active.

Lyle had followed many of the systems established during Yernen’s reign when Yernen temporarily governed the empire while Lyle was away conquering the eastern territories. The post would likely still be maintained, and crossing that bridge would exponentially increase their chances of escape.

All they had to do was descend and climb the hill leading to the old forest entrance—it wasn’t far.

Just then, Alex’s signal—banging on the wall—came again. They were nearly there.

“Everyone, get ready.”

Yernen said with a resolute face. From here, the path was unsuitable for carriages. They had to run on foot to reach the bridge.

Neigh!

With a horse’s cry, the swiftly racing carriage came to a halt.
Yernen gazed at Rudy with a mix of sorrow and resolve, his voice soft but unwavering.

“This is the only way, Rudy. You need to survive. You have to return to the Empire. It’s what Denver needs, and it’s what I need, too.”

Rudy’s eyes shimmered with fear and confusion. His small fingers clung desperately to Yernen’s tunic, his voice quivering. “But without you… I can’t do it alone. I’m scared!”

Closing his eyes briefly, Yernen took a deep breath before gently taking Rudy’s trembling hands in his. “I know, Rudy. I know how scared you are. But you’re stronger than you think. You have the bl00d of the Ronnefeldt line running through you. You can do this.”

Tears rolled down Rudy’s cheeks as he shook his head, unwilling to accept Yernen’s words. “Please… let’s go together. Don’t leave me here alone.”

The sight of Rudy’s tear-streaked face tore at Yernen’s heart, but he knew there was no other choice. If they both tried to escape together, they would be caught. For Rudy to have a chance, he had to act as a decoy.

“You have to make it out of here, Rudy,” Yernen said firmly, a hint of urgency slipping into his voice. “While I distract them, you need to run as fast as you can. You must live and find your way to Denver. It’s the only way.”

Rudy’s small body shook with quiet sobs, but he met Yernen’s eyes, searching for reassurance. After a moment, he nodded, though his expression was one of defeat mixed with determination. “Okay… but promise me, angel, promise you’ll come back.”

Yernen managed a faint smile, one that didn’t reach the sadness in his eyes. “I promise, Rudy.”

The sharp slap echoed through the trees, snapping through the tension in the air like a whip. Yernen’s face flared with pain, a stinging reminder of his vulnerability. His vision blurred for a moment, the force of the blow sending him reeling, but he gritted his teeth, refusing to let out anything more than a muffled gasp.

The slave master’s eyes were wild, a deep crimson shade of fury and satisfaction. His breath came in ragged gasps, nostrils flaring as he looked down on Yernen like prey that had dared to fight back.

“You filthy little wretch,” he spat, venom dripping from his words. His boot came down hard on Yernen’s shoulder, pinning him to the ground as though he were nothing more than an insect.

“You think you can just slip through our fingers, do you? I’ll make sure you remember who you’re dealing with.”

Yernen’s body trembled—not from fear, but from the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins. Every muscle screamed in protest, every nerve on fire, yet his eyes remained defiant, locked on the man above him. Even now, even when the odds were so stacked against him, Yernen would not bow.

His silence seemed to only fuel the man’s rage further. With a snarl, the slave master yanked Yernen up by the hair, wrenching his head back so that their eyes met. There, in Yernen’s steely gaze, he must have seen something that unnerved him—a glint of resolve that even chains and fists could not crush.

“I should throw you to the dogs,” the slave master growled, but there was a wavering note beneath the bravado, one that only Yernen noticed. It was the slight crack of uncertainty, a sign that, perhaps, he had pushed too far this time.

Yernen’s lips twitched, the ghost of a smile barely forming despite the bl00d trickling from his split lip. “Do it, then,” he whispered, his voice raw but unwavering. “Because if you don’t, you’ll regret not ending this here.”

For a heartbeat, the world stood still. The slave master’s eyes widened, his hand twitching involuntarily as he weighed Yernen’s challenge. And in that instant, Yernen knew that even in captivity, even with every disadvantage, he had won a small victory.

Even if only for a moment, he had seized control of his fate.

The pain brought out learned fear, so Yernen’s body trembled like an aspen tree. But even in that midst, the venomous aura in his eyes glaring at the upper pillar did not subside at all.
The upper class, unable to bear the rebellious gaze, raised his hand to slap Yernen’s cheek again, but then clenched it tightly, trembling.

“Damn it! Fvck! If he hadn’t been within arm’s reach, you would have died by my hand! To compensate for all the damage I’ve done, I would have sold you to the worst brothel and treated you like a dog!”

“Ahh…!”

The chieftain, who grabbed Yernen’s hair and tilted his neck back as if to break it, continued speaking while his whole body trembled with anger.

“Damn, I told you something good would happen…! It turned out to be bad luck! Damn it!”

When the chieftain showed signs of touching Yernen again, the big man who had been watching him with anxious eyes clung to the chieftain’s arm, speaking in a foreign language as if trying to stop him.

“Haa, haa.”

However, despite the hands trying to stop him, the anger did not subside, and the chieftain looked at Yernen with eyes as if he was going to eat him, and let out heavy breaths for a long time.

“This little bastard… tie him up, put a dog collar on him, and tie him to the floor of the carriage. Don’t let him run away again!”

After hearing the words of the superior, the large man answered briefly and roughly accepted Yernen, then dragged him somewhere.

* * *

“Town…!”

“Fvck, can’t you get your posture right?!”

Puck!

A harsh kick rained down on Yernen’s buttocks.

“You know what, you little sh1t.”

The commander who said that still had an angry expression on his face and placed his foot on Yernen’s body.

“Huh…!”

But despite the humiliating treatment, Yernen did not struggle, because he no longer had the strength to move his body.

Yernen, who was dragged away by the big guy, was thrown into the cold river with all of the clothes he was wearing stripped off, and his body was washed by vicious hands.

Then the man put a black leather gag on Yernen, who was trembling with her blue lips, and dressed her in a see-through red lace dress, such as a male prostitute might wear. He dragged her into a carriage, bound her hands and feet, blindfolded her, and put a black leather dog collar around her neck, tying the end of it into a groove in the carriage floor.

Later, when Yernen was tied up on the cold carriage floor and shivering from the cold, the chief of staff roughly opened the door, came in, and stepped on Yernen’s chest.

Under the pretext of keeping them by your side and watching them so they don’t run away.

Because of that, Yernen had to endure several hours of being forced to lie on the floor in an uncomfortable position, being sworn at by the man’s feet. Then, at some point during that time, he seemed to have passed out as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

“Wahahaha!”

Yernen opened his eyes to the faint sound of frivolous laughter.

“Haa, haa.”

And the first sensation that Yernen felt when he opened his eyes was heat.

Spring had not yet come. It was strange that I had not developed a fever, having fallen asleep on a dark night at the end of winter, after being soaked in cold water and tied to the cold carriage floor.

‘…it hurts.’