TOPWL 268
“Did you call me here to tell me to kill them and bring back their heads?”
“Yes. I must see those wretches all dead to close my eyes in peace.”
Yudit suddenly realized the emperor had lost his mind. Yudit watched with cold eyes as the emperor vented his fear and rage in such a haphazard way.
“They are criminals. However, I will be punished too if I kill them without a trial.”
“You foolish child. I am dying soon. Do you know what that means? It means you become the emperor. Yes, you.”
The emperor stared at Yudit from top to bottom with a displeased look. Even though the emperor looked down from his position, Yudit still felt as if he received the emperor’s gaze from a much lower place.
“You are the emperor, so who would punish you? The emperor who opened a new era….”
“However.”
“Bring me their heads right now!”
The emperor could not control his anger and threw whatever he could grab at Yudit. Yudit caught the cushion and placed it back in its spot. The wheezing Emperor coughed a moment later. The emperor’s face turned bright red from the effort.
“Ah, if only it was Azil, if only Azil was here, he would have done everything before his father even asked.”
The emperor clutched his chest in agony. Yudit knew the hidden meaning of those words.
“Ah, Azil. Father is coming soon.”
“Are you missing him now that the end is here, even though you did not love him much?”
The emperor abruptly turned his head to ask what Yudit meant. His eyes already gleamed like a madman’s.
“What is that supposed to mean? I truly cherished Azil.”
“Yes. You cherished him. I know you cherished him as a puppet.”
“A puppet, you say? How dare you!”
“Azil never once refused or denied your words. He knew he would end up in my position the moment he refused. But is it truly love to love someone just for your own sake?”
“You, you are going to be the emperor soon!”
“Yes. I suppose I become thoughtless because I am glad to become the emperor.”
“You wretch!”
“Power and authority are wonderful things. I can even say things like this in the emperor’s presence. But tell me, Your Majesty, what have you done with this power?”
“Are you insane!?”
“You did nothing even with this absolute power for thirty-eight years. No, you were more diligent than anyone else in ruining the empress’s life and the lives of people connected to you, so it is not that you did nothing.”
The emperor gasped as if he would stop breathing from Yudit’s words.
“What else did you do? You did not organize the laws, you did not look after the empire’s people, and you ruined small countries for fun to set an example. Ah, you held hunting contests. Did you not try to kill me through Reginald or Hiore to pass the throne to Azil? But things did not go as expected, and I survived to inherit the throne, so what will you do now?”
“You, you!”
“You will remain as the unprecedented tyrant who made the princes invade other countries for hunting contests. You will be recorded as the emperor who made people who lived relying on religious power in a land full of rocks and stones invade for your own amusement. I will make sure you are recorded that way.”
“You! Even after doing this!”
“What will you do? Will you bring Azil back to make him emperor, or will you reinstate the two who made you like this to make them emperor? You only have me now, Your Majesty.”
“Leave. Leave!”
The emperor writhed in agony like a slug sprinkled with salt. Yudit looked down at the struggling emperor and finally stood up.
“I will leave since you told me to, but I will come back tomorrow if you are still alive. It is better to see a living child’s head that can speak than to see a dead child’s head.”
Yudit turned around after concluding the conversation. The emperor threw something again, but it fell without reaching Yudit this time. The latter opened the door and made eye contact with an unexpected person.
“Khalid.”
“Have a cup of tea if you are not busy, Your Highness.”
Yudit hesitated for a moment and nodded. Then, he held Khalid’s hand.
“It has been a long time.”
Khalid looked around, as if it was a new experience. The place Yudit brought Khalid to was none other than Yudit’s room. It was clean, perhaps because someone tidied it up, even though he had not used it for a while.
Two cups of warm tea were placed in front of them a moment later. Khalid started speaking as Yudit stared at the light pink tea.
“They say it is a good tea for replenishing energy. It is made of grass called Janes, which herbivorous animals eat after giving birth. It might be more necessary for someone who has been screaming.”
“Did you hear?”
“Only a little bit of your voice.”
“Then you heard everything. I was the only one shouting.”
Yudit lowered his head at Khalid’s smile. He felt ashamed of himself for shouting at the dying emperor and that Khalid caught him doing it.
“Why are you so embarrassed? You did well.”
“Are you taking my side because you are my lover?”
“No, I really mean you did well.”
Khalid shrugged his shoulders.
“You would have regretted it if you did not let it out. You cannot even get angry at a dead person.”
“Is that from experience?”
“Yes. I have experienced it quite a bit. I dare say you should go back and say more if you still have things left to vent.”
“If I do that and he end up dying early due to a heart attack from anger…”
“That would be a shame for you. Usually, there would be more things left to say.”
Yudit burst into laughter.
“I did not know I had this much pent up against the emperor.”
“Is that so?”
“Although he tried to kill me through Reginald or Hiore, he did not try to do anything to me directly.”
“Your evaluation is generous. Although, I think you did pretty good on lashing out for someone so generous.”
Yudit glared at Khalid.
“I do not regret what I said. I was just surprised because I realized I had so much pent up anger. It felt like I burst because he acted selfishly until the end, even though he had the presence of mind to send people away before telling me to bring their heads.”
“Do you know why I was there?”
“?”
“To handle it if you happened to kill the emperor.”
“What?”
“He is the one who tried to kill you for another child. I thought you might not want to let him go easily.”
“I did not think that far.”
“That just proves you are kind.”
Yudit stared at Khalid, then leaned his shoulder against him. Khalid smiled and laid down, making it so Yudit could be comfortable. Yudit tapped his thigh while estimating the date and opened his mouth.
“Tomorrow is the trial already.”
The trial for the empress, Hiore, and Reginald was already approaching tomorrow. Khalid nodded and sighed.
“I want to let you rest comfortably for a while since you even gave birth, but there is much work to do.”
“It is much better because you help me, Khalid.”
“Are you feeling any pain or stiffness anywhere?”
“My breasts were a bit lumpy and painful, but…”
Yudit could not finish his sentence, his face turned bright red. Yudit produced quite a bit of milk for a male Omega. It was definitely less than a beta woman or an omega woman, so he kept a wet nurse, but he struggled at night when his breasts swelled sometimes.
“I guess you feel better because I helped you resolve it?”
“Yes. Fortunately.”
Yudit glared at Khalid. He looked out the window and stood up as something suddenly came to mind.
“Ah, the time has already passed.”
“Do you have another schedule?”
“I am thinking about meeting him tomorrow, but I thought it would be better to meet before the trial if possible.”
“Who is it?”
“Prince Hiore. He consistently requested a visit to me.”
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