The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go – Chapter 105

Author: Nikss

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Late at night.

The faintly flickering candlelight illuminated the deepest, quietest part of the palace.

“Princess.”

Cedric called out to Persephine in a low voice.

“We’ve roughly figured out what’s been going on.”

“…Yes, I thought you would.”

“All means of communication with Ackeleta have been destroyed. The spells on your body have also been removed.”

Cedric spoke in a calm, steady voice, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“There’s no chance Ackeleta can overhear our conversation now. So, be honest with us.”

At his words, Persephine’s pale hands twitched.

“What we know is that you came to the Empire with the intention of killing me from the start, that you’ve been secretly communicating with the King of Ackeleta, and that you were under some form of coercion from him.”

Cedric held up the shattered communication gem that had belonged to Persephine as he spoke.

“And that you tried to kill me but ultimately couldn’t go through with it.”

Cedric’s unwavering crimson eyes fixed on her.

In contrast, Persephone hung her head low, as if ashamed.

“…That’s right.”

“Princess.”

When I called out to her, her violet eyes, filled with guilt, turned to me.

“The exact order you received from Jayden Akeleta was to poison His Majesty, render him immobile, and then stab him with a sword, correct?”

Persephone nodded quietly. Her expression suggested she didn’t know where I was going with this.

“But you didn’t bring a sword with you from the beginning.”

No blades, including a sword, were found on her when she collapsed.

This meant it wasn’t a sudden change of heart that led her to drink the poison herself instead of giving it to Cedric.

From the very beginning, she had no intention of following her brother’s order to kill Cedric.

“You never planned to harm His Majesty in the first place, did you?”

At those words, Persephone opened her mouth as if to say something, but then let out a sigh and lowered her head.

“How could I have done that?”

She spoke in a soft voice.

“I was saved by you.”

“What…?”

Cedric, caught off guard by her unexpected response, looked at her in surprise. Persephine smiled for the first time that day.

“I mean it sincerely.”

Both Cedric and I were at a loss for words.

“You must be wondering what happened. I’ll tell you everything without holding back.”

Persephine tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear and looked directly at me as she spoke.

“Do you happen to know about Caliberne?”

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Persephine recounted her story in a calm, composed voice, devoid of any fluctuation.

According to her, the current king of Ackeleta had shown an intense obsession with power from a young age.

Perhaps because of this, he had developed a deep interest in the Sword of Victory, Caliberne, rumored to ensure triumph in every battle.

While searching for the whereabouts of Caliberne, he had received an oracle indicating that the sword had appeared in the Deamant Empire. Combining this with other evidence, he had deduced that Cedric was its owner.

However, taking the sword from Cedric, who wielded a blade that guaranteed absolute victory, was nearly impossible.

Thus, he decided to use his younger sister, Persephine, as a pawn.

“I heard that Ackeleta initially refused to send me as a tribute. Despite expressing their refusal, they insisted on sending me as a tribute because of my brother’s plan.”

Persephine spoke as if it were nothing, her tone serene.

“At first, I didn’t want to come to the Empire. Of course, after arriving here, I often thought that I would have regretted not coming…”

Persephine’s face flushed slightly as she continued, “Anyway, I had no choice but to obey my brother’s orders. He said that if I didn’t comply, he would undo the healing magic cast on me.”

“Healing magic?”

I furrowed my brow and asked.

The only things found on Persephine’s unconscious body were countless curses.

‘If my memory serves me right, there was no healing magic at all.’

Caliberne chimed in.

[You’re right. I was there listening too, and there was no such thing. Only a bunch of curses were found.]

So my memory wasn’t wrong after all.

Then what exactly was this healing magic Persephine was talking about?

[If there had been healing magic, the head of the magic research department would have mentioned it first. Something’s off.]

Cedric seemed to share my thoughts, tilting his head as he waited for Persephine’s response.

“To be precise, it’s not a magic that can cure my illness, but one that alleviates the pain.”

“Ah…”

“My brother has the caster of this magic under his control. And whenever I disobeyed his orders, he would have the mage weaken the magic.”

Persephine clenched the bedsheet tightly as she spoke.

“My illness has no cure and originally causes excruciating pain. Even with the pain-relieving magic, it still hurts. But when the magic is weakened, the pain becomes unbearable.”

It seemed this was why Persephine, who had barely appeared in the original story, had no choice but to reluctantly obey her brother’s orders.

‘Considering those curses…’

Rukia had said it was a miracle that Persephine had remained sane despite the curses placed on her.

One might even prefer death over enduring the pain of those curses all at once.

“But when I hesitated to kill Your Majesty, he eventually brought Felix into this as well.”

“He threatened to kill Felix if you didn’t kill me?”

“Yes.”

Persephine closed her eyes and let out a sigh, looking pained.

“To be honest, I… hold Sir Flithia in very special regard. My brother must have noticed that.”

“…I see.”

Before Persephine drank the poison, she had shown many uncharacteristic behaviors.

When I saw her heading to the meeting place to see Cedric, I too had felt something was off.

Perhaps all of that was due to the pressure from the king of Ackeleta, who had threatened to kill Felix if she didn’t quickly stab Cedric with the sword.

“The poison my brother gave me was enchanted with magic. If a significant amount of it entered a human body, Ackeleta would immediately know through the magic.”

Persephine interlaced her fingers as she explained, “When he gave the final warning, he told me that if I didn’t use the poison to kill Your Majesty within three days, he would use my maid to kill Felix.”

I looked at her and asked, “That maid—was she really a maid, or was she sent to keep an eye on you?”

“Yes. Originally, she wasn’t a maid but a curse mage. My brother thought it would be good to have a reliable contact disguised as a maid, in case I lied.”

That made sense. No ordinary maid could handle dark magic so skillfully.

Then Persephine bowed her head deeply and covered her face with her hands.

“I dare to confess this. In truth, I also thought about following their orders, assassinating Your Majesty, and freeing myself from this torment.”

Cedric silently looked down at Persephine.

But his gaze held no blame or anger toward her.

“I wanted to save the person I love, and I wanted to be free from this pain.”

“…”

“I know it’s shameless, but I want to apologize for even having such thoughts, even if only for a moment, Your Majesty.”

She then tried to rise from the bed, as if to kneel and beg for forgiveness.

Startled, I steadied her trembling body, and Cedric waved his hand, shaking his head.

“No, Princess. It’s better not to move too much.”

“But…”

“His Majesty is right, Princess. Beyond this… I don’t think His Majesty would want that either.”

“And more than that, there’s something I want to ask.”

At Cedric’s words, Persephine stopped trying to get up. She looked at him with her violet eyes, listening intently to what he would say next.