The Tyrant's Happy Ending - Chapter 8.2

If you asked the empire who its most honored individuals were, the answer was clear: the Sacred Knights, those bound by bl00d and ancient vows to the emperor, descendants of the legendary eight knights who swore eternal loyalty to the throne.

The Sacred Knights bore a single, simple emblem—a silver rose—closest to their hearts. It shone now on Tenes’s chest, over his heart, a mark of his rank as the empire’s most distinguished knight.

But here he stood, the knight all of the empire revered, with empty, dry eyes behind his emperor.

Once, he had dreamed of standing in this very place. And now he was here, though the one sitting before him was not the ruler he had once envisioned.

But such trivial sentiments didn’t matter. This was the duty his family bore.

For generations, the Trigia family had served as Sacred Knights, and Tenes had always understood it as a natural duty, as inevitable as the flow of water. But now, that certainty had been shaken.

The past decade had radically reshaped the empire, and many noble families had fallen, including the Clovis viscounts, the Marquises of Mariage, and even the mighty northern Dukes of Baltimore. These were sudden, catastrophic changes.

Caught in the turbulence, Tenes had been helpless. He was no strategist. Since his father’s passing, his younger brother had managed their family’s affairs as best he could. But still, calamity continued to strike.

By all rights, he should not have inherited the title of Sacred Knight at all. There had even been talk that someone from an eastern family would be appointed instead.

Tenes was still astounded to hold this title. He could only give thanks to the gods above.

So, he would hold this position, no matter his misgivings about serving Harriet as his lord.

As he stared at the floor, he remembered the one he had truly wished to serve, who had vanished without a trace.

Even the image of that ash-streaked, golden hair was beginning to blur in his memory. All he could recall was the brilliant way it had once caught the light.

The door creaked open, and Tenes instinctively reached for his sword, only to lower it as he recognized the figure entering.

“Oh, my,” said Empress Lizi Merion, stepping in without so much as a knock.

“That uniform suits you well, Sir Trigia,” she said, her gaze playful, like a child with a secret.

“Your Majesty, I’m planning a boat outing today. Care to join me?”

Tenes, outwardly impassive, perked up slightly at her words. Even he knew what she meant.

Recently, “boating” had become a euphemism among the upper echelons of the Eastern nobility, those who now held the empire’s reins. Attending these outings was an unspoken way to solidify one’s place in the current power structure.

But few were ever invited to these gatherings, and attendees remained tight-lipped about what actually took place.

“No,” Harriet replied flatly.

“Oh, again?” Lizi pouted, sitting down. “His Highness often asks about you, you know.”

His Highness…?

There were only two people in the empire whom the Empress might call “His Highness”: Ilian or… Yernen.

And given that Ilian was openly moving about the capital, it was obvious whom she meant.

Tenes glanced at Lizi, intrigued, and she caught his look, her smile widening mischievously.

“Well, Your Majesty, since you’re so busy, perhaps you’ll allow Sir Trigia to join me instead? Sir Ainz is away dealing with family matters for a few days.”

“…?”

The request was a breach of etiquette. Tenes’s duty was to guard the emperor alone; if Lizi needed a temporary guard, Tenes was supposed to assign someone suitable.

“Do as you like,” Harriet answered without hesitation.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Shall we, Sir Trigia?”

“…Understood.”

Tenes had no choice. Knowing he was little more than a figurehead, he couldn’t refuse.

“Everyone seems to be here already,” Lizi said, glancing around. As she’d said, a large boat was docked nearby, in addition to the vessel they’d arrived on. It was a magnificent ship, suited to the reputation of these “boating” outings.

But Tenes found himself increasingly confused.

They had arrived at a secluded lake in the northern reaches of the imperial grounds, a vast, unguarded forest.

The lake was chilly this time of year, and the island in the middle held only a worn-out cabin. It was hardly a fitting place for a grand outing.

“Yes.”
But thoughts were just thoughts. All Tenes could do was follow Lizzie silently towards the old cabin.

The door to the cabin we arrived at was open, and there was a constant sound of voices coming from inside.

Lizzie entered the cabin with a happy face, and Tenes followed her, escorting her. And then, the voice of the Marquis de Le Creuset reached Tenes’ ears.

“How about engraving this next one as Namchang Hole?”

“Ugh…!”

“That sounds good!”

A raucous laughter spread throughout the place.

“Haha! Then I guess everyone agrees. Hey Namchang, spread your legs.”

And Tenes saw. Black letters carved across his pale, skinny back.

Son of a whore.

The letters were large enough to be clearly visible even from a distance.

“… … .”

There were other small letters engraved on it, but Tenes was too dizzy to read them.

The gap between her voluptuous buttocks was opened by a strong hand, and someone holding a pen filled with black ink dug in between and wrote between her buttocks.

With each passing hand, the gagged and bound body of the person hanging there would jump up and down, causing a groan of pain to escape from her mouth, while the large weights on her reddened chest would move up and down, painfully stretching her n1pples.

“Ugh!”

Yernen screamed in pain and clenched her buttocks, accompanied by the smell of burning flesh.

“Huh, huff”

The buttocks were so tight that the bones were about to break, and the person holding the pen had no choice but to put it away.
match!

“Isn’t this bastard doing it right?”

The Marquis de Le Creuset struck her buttocks with his large hand so painfully that her flesh trembled.

“Ugh…!”

However, the person who was tied up was unable to resist the violent hand gestures that were continuously being struck, and was just being beaten. Lizzy, who was watching the whole scene, smiled broadly and spoke.

“The audience has come, so shouldn’t you put on a good show, Your Majesty?”

And only then did the head of the person who had been shamefully spanked like a child turn towards the direction where the voice was coming from.

Their eyes met. Shock, bewilderment, deep humiliation, and shame were engraved in the center of their black pupils.

Only then did Tenes learn what kind of life the most noble person in the empire he had served had been living.

The youngest prince of the Golden Jade Palace, who was loved by everyone and was considered more precious than the emperor, was there in a more miserable state than any male prostitute rolling around in the bottom of a brothel.

“Ugh…!”

Marquis Petra grabbed Yernen’s hair and bent her head so hard that it hurt. Milky white liquid flowed down her bent head.

“Your Majesty the Empress is right, Your Highness. Since the audience has come, you must show your best. It won’t be difficult. Just behave as you usually do.”

“Keuheup…!”

The throat moved ceaselessly, and Yernen, who had drunk the milky liquid, twisted his body as if in pain. However, Marquis Petra still looked down at him with dry eyes and waited until Yernen’s body was worn away.

“Okay, now. Open it.”

Marquis Petra spoke without letting go of Yernen’s head.
A tattoo began to form between her spread buttocks again. And from Yernen’s mouth came a groan of excruciating pain, incomparable to anything before.

But everyone laughed as if it was a natural sight, and someone even thrust the video ball between Yernen’s buttocks as if it was funny.

Tenes stepped back as he watched the shocking sight. But someone grabbed his sleeve as he tried to leave the cabin. Tenes looked at the owner of that hand.

“Where are you going, Sir Trigia? You must escort me.”

Lizzie Marion was smiling broadly and tightening her grip on his sleeve.

Tenes roughly slapped the hand away and ran out of the cabin, hoping that everything he had seen was a lie, that this moment was a dream.

* * *

“You didn’t run away today either, and you’re doing well.”

“After all, isn’t the whip the best medicine for a disobedient animal?”

“But… somehow, it seems like your reaction is different than usual.”

“That’s right.”

“Ugh… .”

Yernen bowed his head, clutching the blanket.

They were such terribly hateful people. How many days have I wished they would never come back to this island again?
But not today. Damn it, Yernen had been desperately… hoping for them to come.

It had to be that way. They were the only ones who could solve the pain he was going through right now.

Even though Marquis Petra approached him and roughly took off his clothes, Yernen did not resist, but only bit her lips and turned her head away. That humiliated face was unusually yellow today.

Marquis Petra looked down at Yernen with her eyes deep in thought. Seeing someone who had been ignoring her until just before now act like this, she seemed determined to be strong no matter what happened. And the problem was probably related to a body part.