How to Live as a Tyrant’s Spoiled Brat Chapter 206

(206)

The sky was blue and the day was sunny.

The garden lawn was spacious, and the flower beds were filled with colorful flowers.

“Hohohoho.”

“It’s really nice to see.”

“They look exactly like each other.”

As I heard the ladies' laughter from afar, I unconsciously turned to look in that direction.

"ah."

My eye level was much lower than usual, and only then did I realize that I was dreaming.

“Brother. Weren’t you listening to what I said?”

Then Jaylilith grabbed my hand and spoke in a slightly distorted voice.

"uh?"

Jaylilith had not yet become a Sword Master, so she still had a youthful look on her face.

The brilliant platinum blonde hair was not the elegantly curly long hair it is now, but was cut short like a knife, and those yellow eyes did not have the languidness of an absolute strongman, but rather a curiosity about the world.

“Oh, no.”

I reflexively denied it, and she asked again in a doubtful voice.

“Then tell me what I just said.”

To be honest, I haven't heard of it.

But I knew what she was talking about this time.

Even though it's been over 40 years, it's still fresh in my memory.

“What’s with that look? I won’t let you see me pretending to be pitiful!”

“I heard you right? You said that you wanted to become a powerful wizard someday, change the world for the better, and be loved by people. … … I’ll help you too.”

A moment of confusion crossed the young Jaylilith's face.

“I really listened to you. … … Sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

“Ah, anyway, oppa, you should learn swordsmanship quickly. How long are you going to keep getting beaten up? You promised. To become stronger.”

“Okay. Okay. I promised. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

I smiled and nodded.

And then he said in an even more excited voice.

“The roses are in full bloom at the Red Moon Palace today. Let’s go.”

“Okay. Let’s go!”

Jaylilith took the lead and walked forward.

My face hardened for a moment, then I followed him.

I knew it was a dream, but to be honest, I didn't really want to wake up.

Anyway, the time in the dream world did not pass even a moment in reality.

No one could disturb the bliss of the dream world except the damn bird that cried every dawn.

And around the villa, all the birds crying in the morning were chased away by Rudy with a smoke grenade.

No one could stop me from going to the rose garden with Jaylilith and enjoying a few hours of bliss.

Yeah, there shouldn't have been anyone there.

“Brother.”

Jaylilith, who had been running out smiling, stopped walking.

From far away, people who would never have come this way approached.

“Again, again!”

“You still haven’t given up?”

The noble ladies stood up, fanning themselves, and hid their children behind the hems of their wide dresses.

Jaylilith held my hand tightly.

I also held her hand tightly.

The palace bureaucrats wearing suits and glasses and the magicians of the Imperial Magic Workshop wearing robes and cone-shaped hats looked at us with puzzled eyes.

Their shadows covered us.

The once bright sun was obscured.

“Your Highness the Duke of Jaylilith. Your Highness the Duke of Valencianus.”

And as always, they handed down a cruel sentence.

“Only one of you can come.”

I tried to wake up right away.

This wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare.

But like all nightmares, it stuck to me, not letting go.

no.

I didn't want to see what would happen next.

A feeling of terrible helplessness and self-loathing enveloped me.

Even though I thought I had to step forward, my feet wouldn't move.

The selfish instincts of a child from 40 years ago were transmitted to my mind.

Jaylilith's hand, which held mine tightly, felt like a hand that was pulling me along rather than a hand that was holding me.

Jaylilith looked at me.

I couldn't bear to look him in the eye.

“It’s okay, brother. I’ll protect you.”

I heard her footsteps taking a step forward.

“Come save me someday.”

Her golden eyes were not filled with the haughty languor of an emperor, but with the anxiety that anyone her age might have.

I tried to use strength in my hands, but I couldn't.

Because at that time, I was the first to let go.

The emotions I had at that time slowly came back to me.

It was a relief that I wasn't taken away.

I wanted to blow my head off.

My vision slowly darkened.

* * *

What I felt immediately was a terrible, excruciating pain.

The aftereffects of intense self-loathing shook my head, and I couldn't even scream.

My eyelids were so heavy that I couldn't open them.

Then Jaylilith's voice was heard.

Unlike in my dream, the voice was arrogant and languid.

“… … You came back this shabby again. Yeah. That’s why. When I think about it, you’ve never spared your body or mind for me.”

But the content was so soft that it was hard to believe it was coming from the tyrant of the empire, Jaylilith.

“It makes me feel strange to see you in such a miserable state. I was born from my mother’s death, and I was made complete through my father’s death, and I slaughtered my half-siblings like animals. Blood relatives were nothing more than a matter of concern for the worldly rule of my people, so why should you be different?”

Even that languid voice began to tremble little by little.

“It is impossible for such feelings to have developed just because we came from the same boat. This must have been because you changed the burden with your utmost devotion. You are still young, to have changed in such a short time.”

A small, cold hand reached out and touched my neck.

“Yes. You are making me young. You are making me weak.”

Judging from the feel of the joint ring worn from the index finger to the ring finger, it was definitely Jaylilith's hand.

There was a moment of strength in that hand.

He was strangled, but he didn't fight back.

The guilt and self-loathing from the dream still seethed at me, and I could hardly raise my eyelids because of the excruciating pain that coursed through my entire body.

For a moment, Jaylilith took her hands off my neck.

Something hot fell on my cheek.

The words came to mind vaguely, but the image of her and the image I had seen over the past 40 years just didn't come to mind.

It was more believable that she had opened her eyes to cannibalism and was drooling at the sight of me.

As I realized that I was unconsciously escaping from my guilt and self-loathing through these ridiculous thoughts, and as I was sinking into even deeper self-loathing, something hot flowed into my mouth.

A ring-clad hand lifted the back of my neck to help the liquid drain away, and a warm feeling enveloped my body.

Knock knock, knock knock, far away.

Blood magic?

The excruciating pain that made it impossible to even open my eyelids gradually subsided, along with the sensation of my bones realigning and my muscles tightening.

“Oh. And remember.”

The darkness that came this time was a sweet darkness.

“If you tell anyone what I said today, I will order you to commit suicide. I can always tell whether you are awake or not.”

I tried to figure out what that meant, but the sweet darkness quickly enveloped me, and I fell down.

* * *

“Your Majesty, what on earth do you mean? Uh, uh, uh?”

I looked around to see where I was.

The ceiling, decorated with geometric red mosaics and gold ornaments, caught my eye.

Fortunately, that day, Lord Tentia was defeated by the knights, and it seems I was not sacrificed to appease the angry people.

Honestly, I thought that maybe it was all just a vision of the last thing I saw before I was burned at the stake.

I turned my head slightly and saw a room with no ornate gold curtains or decorations.

It was the emperor's office.

“Are you awake?”

A voice was heard from Jeongsu-ri.

I slowly pushed the silk quilt away and raised my body.

“… … .”

Instead of rags, I was wearing stiff trousers made of black cloth, my torso with prominent abs was free of any scars, and the scales had all fallen off my hands.

There was a white shirt hanging on the bedside table, so I picked it up, put it on, and ran my hand through my hair as a habit.

“Stop dawdling and come here quickly. It’s already late at night, and I have no reason to show myself to the other nobles wearing only a shirt.”

It was already dark outside the window.

The sky was full of moon and stars.

I put on the slippers next to the bed and headed towards Jaylilis' office desk.

She was wearing her usual gorgeous dress, a knuckle ring, and her golden eyes were wide open and she looked at me with an arrogant and languid air.

“… … .”

It was really late at night, and there was no sign of life around.

Somehow, I still felt like I was dreaming.

She spoke in a strangely reproachful tone.

“You almost died.”

I immediately bowed my head.

“I'm sorry.”

“I had to squeeze out all my control to prevent the explosion, and I had to use my dragon power until my horns grew back in just a few days. It was a huge burden to return my mutated body to its original state. On top of that, there were several magic bullets embedded in my body, so I kept bleeding.”

“I apologize again. Can I ask you one thing?”

“Permitted.”

“What happened to Lord Tentia?”

Jaylilith made a face that seemed to be a mix of 'You should be asking that' and 'You almost died, so why are you curious about that?'

“The Black Iron Knights arrived on time. There were no casualties, and the church does not want to go against my will in this situation, so there will be no excommunication.”

I breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Jaylilith smiled leisurely and waved, and I sat down across from her.

“… … .”

“… … .”

There was a moment of silence, which was broken by Jaylilith.

“It seems like you have nothing to say, so I will speak first.”

“Please do so.”

“I can only be grateful.”

I felt like something was resting on my heart.

It was a moment when the office was covered in soft darkness and the bright moon shining brightly outside the window, emerging from the clouds.

My Emperor looked at me with his otherworldly golden eyes and smiled a smile that seemed out of this world.

“You have brought me everything I ever wanted. A nobility in the court of Lord Marcus of the Iron House. I don’t know how I ever thought of such a thing.”

"ah."

“… … But I couldn’t protect you. You came back all tattered and all I could do was heal you. You were given the power to do anything you could imagine, but you had to do nothing to get what you truly wanted. Fate is a cruel thing.”

“Please don’t say that. I-”.

“Yes. I know that too. It is the Emperor’s job not to feel burdened by your willing loyalty, but to use it and reward it.”

Jaylilith nodded.

“Honey, Jim had no choice but to come up with a very shallow and petty plan.”

She pointed to the armor standing on one side.

"ah."

It was a full-body plate armor with a black background and yellow gold patterns.

From the helmet to the breastplate and the sabaton, the protective gear worn over the boots, there was no part that was not beautiful and sturdy.

As the current Imperial Knight ceremonial armor is a result of countless craftsmen's trial and error to optimize its form, the design itself was the same for both Jaylilith's and Sir Tentia's.

But there was something about the armor being made just for me that struck a chord with me.

I, who was once wary of learning swordsmanship, have now been granted the best weapons in the empire.

“As you are also a wizard, you did not inscribe any offensive spells or magic circuits. However, I personally inspected and reinforced the parts for defense and reinforcement, so be sure to wear it when you go to battle.”

If I think about it carefully, the fact that I got injured this time had nothing to do with the presence or absence of armor.

Since he was dragged to the Great Lord while half-unconscious in the first place, even if he had that armor, it would have been taken off.

But as Jaylilith said, she gave it knowingly too.

It would be proper to bow your head here.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I will wear this armor and fight for Your Majesty.”

“Okay. I’ll send the armor to the villa tomorrow.”

She handed me a stack of papers sitting on one side of the desk.

When I gave her a questioning look, she glared at me as if asking what I was looking at.

“That armor was supposed to be given to you last time, but it was only recently delivered. Are you trying to make me into an ungrateful emperor? I… … have the duty and right to repay the blood you shed.”

“No. Then this?”

“It is the right to Marcus’s estate.”