The Tyrant's Happy Ending - Chapter 8.9

Tenes could not believe all this reality and was utterly angry that Yernen was living such a miserable life.

“I want to kill Harriet, who made you like this.”

Tenes could barely control his emotions as he felt an intense anger for the first time, and continued to speak.

“…why?”

However, looking at such a Tenes, Yernen could only quietly ask in a voice that was hushed and breathy.

“Isn’t that obvious? I want you, you.”

“That can’t be….”

But what Tenes got back was an incomprehensible answer.

“…yes?”

Tenes looked at Yernen with a questioning face, who seemed truly confused.

“You want to kill Harriet?”

“Yes.”

“If I told you to put a knife into Harriet’s heart… would you do it?”

Tenes waited until Yernen finished his sentence in a slow tone and nodded resolutely.

“That is a matter of course, Your Majesty. I have long sworn to serve only You as my lord.”

“… … .”

Even though Yernen received Tenes’s sincere confession, his pale face only showed seriousness.

“You are a… knight of the new bl00d.”

“That’s right. His Majesty cut his own hand and mixed his bl00d with ink to write the contract.”

Tenes answered sincerely, although he did not know why, in order to resolve Yernen’s doubts. However, his words only served to confuse Yernen even more.

Yernen tried his best to accept this absurd situation with his dizzy head.

“A pledgee can never harbor any intention of murder against the master of the contract.”

“Yes…?”

“If you truly swore the bl00d oath, then you would never think of killing the Emperor.”

“Then….”

“If you cut your own hand, shed bl00d, and mixed it with ink to make a contract… then the contract is bound to come true. In this case… there’s only one possibility.”

Tenes clenched his hands in disbelief. He now knew what Yernen was trying to say.

“To Harriet… she doesn’t have royal bl00d in her veins.”

“What is that…?”

Tenes was about to say something but then closed his mouth. In fact, deep down, he also thought it was strange.

The royal family has the bl00d of a god. And according to the texts, the god promised peace to the empire as long as her descendants reside in the highest places of this land. That is why the empire has never suffered from drought or famine in its long history.

Except for the last few years.

There was no drought in the other kingdoms bordering on the empire. Only the empire was hit by a drought. It was as if the heavens were playing a trick on it. That was why rumors were secretly spreading among the people that ‘God was angry.’
But there were only suspicions, and no one could figure out the exact cause of the drought. Not even the Pope, the only one who could hear the voice of God.

But what if all this happened because the right people weren’t in place?

When I thought about it that way, everything fell into place, as if I had filled in the blanks of a puzzle.

Looking back, there were more than a few strange things. In the first place, in the imperial family where hands were precious, there was never a single recorded case of four imperial family members being born in one generation. In one generation, only one, or at most two imperial family members were born.

Even Harriet and Illian did not resemble the Emperor at all.
I just thought that since the marriages of high-ranking nobles were always entangled, the two princes would have inherited the bl00d of a family that had strong ties to the deceased empress’s maternal side.

“If Your Majesty had not inherited the bl00d of His Majesty the Emperor, then His Highness Illian would have been the same.”

“… Of course. They look exactly like twins.”

“Majesty.”

Tenes looked at Yernen with a stern expression and said.

“Become emperor.”

“what…?”

That was nonsense.

“What the heck, that’s ridiculous.”

It was absolutely ridiculous. Yernen had never thought of becoming emperor since he was born. Not even before he came to this island, and even less so afterward.

“Your Majesty has no intention of letting Your Highness live. If Your Highness wants to survive… there is no other way.”

“… … .”

“You will not be able to leave this island unless you kill His Majesty and take his place.”

But Yernen knew it too. Harriet had no intention of letting Yernen live. If she got the child she wanted, she would probably take Yernen’s life on the spot.

If we’re lucky, the child might survive until he’s a certain age. But until then, he’ll be stuck on this island, suffering just as much, if not more, than he’s been through so far.

“I am….”

Yernen said in a hesitant voice.

“I never thought I would become an emperor. I never learned how to become an emperor.”

It was not a matter of taking the life of a brother who had grown up together. Yernen and his brothers had already come a long way to do so.

If I recall my past life filled with shame and humiliation, I can stab my heart with a knife several times. But if I do that, what happens after that?

After that, Yernen had to take responsibility for… this empire and its countless citizens.

But Yernen could not do that. He had been confined to this narrow island, in this old hut, for too long. And, crucially, by staying on this island, Yernen had acquired a fatal flaw that would never allow him to become emperor.

“I am….”

Yernen’s eyes became complicated. But Yernen said no more. He couldn’t bring himself to tell that fact because of his pride.
Tenes looked into Yernen’s eyes, which were trembling with anxiety.

“I will help you, Your Majesty. I am sure you will do well.”
Yernen turned away from the affectionate gaze that was being given to him.

“Your Majesty, don’t you already have a heart that loves the people?”

“… … .”

“Didn’t you teach me that heart?”

“… … .”

But Yernen still did not answer Tenes’ words. That was all a story of the past.

The proud and dignified royal family of that time has long since died. All that remains here now are male prostitutes who live off of men’s semen.

But even as he watched Yernen turn away from him, Tenes did not give up and said.

“Then, at least for my sake, or rather for the Duke of Beltimore, could you not become the Emperor?”

When Lyle’s story came up, Yernen’s shoulders, which had not responded at all until then, flinched slightly. Tenes placed the locket pendant in Yernen’s hand.

“This is….”

Yernen looked in disbelief as the object he thought he would never get back was once again in his hands.

“Your Majesty has no intention of letting you live, and neither will the Duke of Beltimore. You said you would reinstate your title, but I do not believe it. Too much bl00d has been shed in the Empire over the years for me to believe your Majesty’s words. Therefore, for the sake of the Duke of Beltimore and my maternal family, the Marquis of Mariage, please become Emperor.”

“… … .”

Yernen’s eyes were filled with mixed emotions. He had no confidence in becoming an emperor. Yernen had not learned how to govern a country or how to make the people comfortable.

But in order for Yernen himself to survive and give Lyle back everything he had lost, he had to become Emperor.

“… What are you going to do?”

Yernen clutched the rocket pendant tightly.

“As you can see, there’s nothing I can do. I have no money, no fame, nothing left. I don’t even have the ability to escape this place. If I could get out of here on my own and get everything back, I would have killed Harriet a long time ago.”

“If there was a way, what would you do?”

Yernen looked up at Tenes quietly.

“If the method involves beheading your brother yourself, would you do it?”

As he spoke, Tenes untied a dagger from his waist and placed it in Yernen’s hand. He could feel the weight of the heavy iron.