The Tyrant’s Beloved Doll - Chapter 70

[“That’s why I had you. And that’s why I kept you alive.”]

Raytan’s eyes blazed as he met the Emperor’s bewildered gaze.

“I’m not your son.”

The Emperor’s face contorted with shock, his memories dredging up Lize’s voice from long ago.

[“This is my child. My son.”]

Had she ever once, even in passing, referred to Raytan as our child? As his son?

“You… you two… all of this… for something so trivial…”

The Emperor’s voice trembled with bitter regret.

“All of this…”

Raytan’s red eyes flared with anger.

“Trivial?” he hissed. “Is that what you think this is, Carta? My mother never forgot. Neither did her mother, nor her grandmother before her. All of them remembered how you and your people oppressed us.”

[“Our beginning was in Denhelder. Never forget that.”]

“This isn’t the first time.”

[“A long time ago, a woman betrayed the gods. She bore a daughter, a child threatened by the Emperor, forced to flee with the umbilical cord still attached. That’s where our roots began.”]

Raytan’s voice turned cold as he recited the history that had been passed down through generations.

“The woman who betrayed the gods gave birth to a daughter. And just like with me, you persecuted her and her descendants for centuries.”

[“From one place to another, always on the run, never allowed to settle, always leading wretched lives because of them.”]

“You hunted them down, one after the other. You found them and killed them, over and over.”

[“But look at me. I’ve come back here again. And now, they won’t even allow me that.”]

“And in the end, you brought the last of their bloodline back yourself. To Denhelder.”

[“This too, must be the will of the gods.”]

The Emperor’s face paled as Raytan’s voice rang out, cold and unwavering.

“You… you…”

The Emperor’s expression was one of disbelief. He looked like someone who had heard something he never should have.

“You… Lize…?”

It was a lie. It had to be a lie. He had been told they all died long ago. The descendants of that woman were supposed to be…

“This is all your doing.”

“……”

“And yours.”

The Emperor’s face was now completely drained of color. He was gasping, his complexion pale as a sheet. Everything he had feared his entire life had come crashing down on him all at once.

Raytan glared at the Emperor before speaking again.

“Even in death, watch carefully, Carta. Watch everything that will happen from now on.”

Raytan drew the sword he had stabbed into the bed.

And then… he aimed it at the Emperor’s throat.

“God…”

The Emperor’s parched lips moved faintly.

“God will not forgive you… Raytan…”

As the Emperor cursed with a dying voice, a fury flashed in Raytan’s crimson eyes.

“Then beg now. Scream for him. If God comes to save you…”

“……”

“I’ll kill you in front of him, just to show you.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the sharp blade flashed through the air.

With a thud, something round rolled across the floor. It stopped at the feet of Setz, who had been hiding behind the bed curtains.

It was the Emperor’s head.

Setz collapsed to the floor, covering her mouth in horror.

Hot blood soaked his entire body.

Raytan looked down at the Emperor’s corpse with an expressionless face. Blood was still gushing from the severed neck, and the body lay limp, motionless.

It was nothing more than a piece of meat now.

Neither the Emperor nor anything else.

Raytan sneered.

And at that very moment…

[…I did warn you time and again.]

A strange voice made Raytan turn around.

A man he didn’t recognize stood there.

He wore armor and held a sword. A long scar ran across his cheek, as if cut deeply by a blade.

And… he had blonde hair and blue eyes.

[I told you, moderation in all things.]

There was an unmistakable sneer on the man’s face.

“Ugh…”

Another headache struck. Raytan staggered, clutching his sword. Meanwhile, the man took slow, deliberate steps toward him.

[If you had heeded my words, I wouldn’t have had to go this far either…]

“You… are…”

Who are you? Who the hell are you? Raytan glared at the man, gasping for breath.

The man, now right in front of him, still wore that mocking smile as he unsheathed his sword.

“Hrrr… Hahhh…!”

Raytan clenched his teeth and swung his sword at the man. But it was useless.

The bloodstained blade did not slice the man’s neck but instead shattered a vase behind him.

The sound of breaking and shattering echoed repeatedly. Raytan swung wildly, like a madman, but the man remained untouched, without even a scratch.

[In the Denhelder Empire, there is no need for any god but me.]

The man’s voice was icy as he raised his sword high.

[Die, Raytan.]

The sharp sword slashed toward Raytan’s neck.

“Ahh…!”

Raytan collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. But that was it. There was no pain.

When he lifted his head, there was nothing in front of him.

“Haa… haa…”

It felt as though his head would split open, and nausea surged within him. Raytan clenched his lips tightly and squeezed his eyes shut.

Why did this keep happening?

And… a god?

Raytan?

Suddenly, Raytan flinched.

It was because of a faint sound coming from beyond the curtain.

“……”

Raytan slowly stood up. Then, he pulled the curtain aside.

There was no one there.

Instead… only the door to a hidden passage, once meticulously concealed, stood ajar.

And a familiar ribbon.

Raytan bent down and picked up the ribbon.

He knew exactly who the owner of the ribbon was.

[Hide, Lilien. Back there… behind, where I had prepared…]

Setz now understood why the Emperor had specifically told her to hide behind the bed.

There was a secret passage behind the curtain. The passage, starting from the Emperor’s bedroom, led all the way to the back gate of the main palace.

“Huff, huff…”

Setz could hardly breathe. She felt like she would collapse if she ran any farther. Gasping for air, she came to a stop after escaping the passage.

Her hair was a mess, having come loose from its ribbon, and her appearance was already in shambles. But she had no time to worry about such things.

“What… in the world…?”

Everything was confusing. It all was.

As far as Setz remembered, the coup hadn’t happened at this time before her return. It was supposed to be several days later.

Moreover…

[Shall I tell you a secret, Carta?]

The words Raytan had spoken echoed in his mind.

Setz realized that his suspicions were correct. Everything had been predetermined from the beginning. The coup itself, and even Lize’s death. But still…

[I’m not your son.]

Raytan’s voice, along with the image of a bird-shaped mark, flashed through his mind. Only now did Setz understand why Raytan always wore a bandage on his uninjured shoulder.

He had known all along. Raytan had known, too.

[My mother never forgot. Neither did her mother, nor the one before her. None of them forgot how you oppressed us.]

What did that even mean? Raytan spoke of an unending oppression.

[The woman who betrayed the gods. The child she bore… You did the same thing to her. You chased her again and again, finding and killing her descendants, over and over…]

“I… I’ve never heard of… anything like this…”

[In the end, you brought the last of her bloodline here with your own hands. To Denhelder.]

The last of the bloodline he spoke of must have been Lize.

The only survivor of a long history of persecution.

Something suddenly came to mind.

[Iyont was a nice empire to live in, but I didn’t stay there by choice. I kept running, kept fleeing, until I ended up there.]

It was something Lize had said long ago, after spending a night with the Emperor.

[But now, here I am in Denhelder. It was hard at first, but not anymore. Now, I think everything was meant to be. That I was meant to come here. So…]

It’s not so bad.

“You were planning your revenge… all along, for a very long time…”

[Curse those blue eyes, curse that blonde hair. It’s not just you, Setz. I’ll kill every last one of them with blonde hair and blue eyes.]

Was that why my brother said those words? Right after he severed my neck?

The scattered pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place.

Even the strange words Lize had left behind at the very end.

[Your Highness, shall I tell you… a secret?]

“Shall I tell you a secret, Carta? Lize told Setz the same thing Raytan had said.”

And the secret Lize shared was…

[People think it was His Majesty who named Raytan, but that’s not true. I asked him to give that name. Do you know why?]

“Haa, haa…”

[Because that child is a monster. A monster I created.]

Setz’s hands trembled uncontrollably.

“Aaah—!”

Setz flinched at the sound of a scream coming from far away.

“I… I need to get a grip…”

Setz muttered to herself, her voice shaking.

“First… I need to find Kaen… I have to.”

The first person who came to mind wasn’t her mother, Yerna, but Kaen.

Setz didn’t want to lose someone precious to her again, like she did with Luna.

“Then… I’ll take Kaen and…”

Take her and… Setz’s voice trailed off.

Could they escape?

From this place?

Before her return, they had been caught while trying to flee. She had seen it clearly back then—the palace filled with soldiers.

“No… Now’s not the time to just stand here like an idiot.”

Setz forced herself to snap out of it.

She had to do what he could right now.

Swallowing hard, Setz clenched her fists and started walking toward her own palace.

***