The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go Chapter 106

But unlike his voice, his red eyes, for some reason, carried a hint of sorrow.

 

“Then you knew that no matter what you chose, you would eventually die.”

 

At those words, Persephine’s eyes widened in surprise. She then bit her lip and nodded.

 

“Huh? What do you mean…”

 

A moment later, I realized the meaning of his words.

 

Even if Persephine succeeded in stabbing Cedric and obtained 

 

Caliberne, the king of Ackeleta would have to go through another process to become the sword’s master.

 

“Don’t tell me…”

 

That’s right.

 

According to the rules, for the king of Ackeleta to take Caliberne from Persephine, who had stolen it, he would also have to kill her.

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

Persephine answered in a faint voice, “My brother had planned to kill me from the very beginning.”

 

“Such…”

 

I couldn’t bring myself to continue.

 

But unlike me, Persephine calmly told her story.

 

“As I mentioned earlier, my brother is very power-hungry. I must have been the only one threatening his throne.”

 

Hearing this, Cedric frowned.

 

“That’s outrageous. To kill his own sister just to obtain a sword, it’s as if he sees his own flesh and blood as a tool.”

 

Treating family, who should be cherished, as mere tools.

 

Both Cedric and I had experienced that. We were treated that way not by our siblings, but by our parents—specifically, our mother.

 

“Princess, do you remember when exactly your body started to ache?”

 

“Huh? Um… I think it was about 15 years ago.”

 

‘15 years ago…’

 

At that word, Cedric and I exchanged glances.

 

“Princess, you were not sick.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“After waking up, didn’t the pain you felt before disappear?”

 

Then Persephine’s eyes widened. As if she had realized something.

 

“Now that you mention it…”

 

She then absentmindedly touched her neck.

 

“There wasn’t even any blood.”

 

She muttered softly, looking at me with a confused expression.

 

“The pain you experienced was not due to illness, but because of a curse. Your body was under an enormous number of curses.”

 

“What…?”

 

“The pain you felt was not because the magic that alleviated your suffering had weakened. It was because the curses were strengthened.”

 

“I’ve now removed all those curses. You won’t feel any more pain.”

 

Persephine’s face twisted. Her long eyelashes trembled, and her purple eyes, which had only shimmered like amethysts filled with water, now burned with anger.

 

“All the pain I endured was because of him.”

 

She then brushed her hair back with a frustrated expression.

 

“I think I need to meet Felix. Is he still in a state where outsiders can’t see him?”

 

The inevitable had finally come.

 

Since we couldn’t immediately inform Persephine of Felix’s condition after she woke up, we explained that he had collapsed in shock upon hearing that Persephine had drunk poison. He had since been isolated due to refusing to eat or drink.

 

But we couldn’t keep hiding the truth from Persephine like this.

 

“Princess, I hope you won’t be too shocked by what I’m about to tell you.”

 

Cedric was the first to speak.

 

We both explained what had happened to Felix as concisely and accurately as possible.

 

Upon hearing that he had been brainwashed and attacked Cedric, Persephine’s expression crumbled.

 

And when she heard that he was now imprisoned, she finally shed tears.

 

“Jayden Ackeleta, that wretched man… He promised not to touch Felix. I can’t believe he intended to kill him too.”

 

She muttered through gritted teeth, tears streaming down her face.

 

“I never imagined they would plant dark magic in Felix too…”

 

“Plant dark magic?”

 

“Yes. Such a powerful brainwashing can’t be done with ordinary magic. You have to directly implant dark magic created through black magic into the target.”

 

Persephine also knew about Ackeleta’s dark magic.

 

And the fact that they were conducting experiments using this dark magic.

 

“But the process of implanting that magic is extremely complicated. Without special equipment in Ackeleta, it’s almost impossible to implant the magic. That’s why I thought even if I committed suicide, they wouldn’t be able to brainwash and control Felix…”

 

At her words, Cedric bit his lip and replied, “So they’ve advanced their methods of manipulating dark magic.”

 

The moment I heard his words, a sense of unease bloomed in my chest.

 

“Things that were previously impossible are now being achieved through dark magic. If this continues…”

 

“Everyone.”

 

Persephine spoke in a trembling voice.

 

“My brother’s goal is to bring down the Empire. Beyond that, he aims to swallow the entire continent.”

 

“Is that why he’s after Caliberne?”

 

“Yes. And originally, he planned to send me to the Empire, and if he succeeded in taking Caliberne, he would have used a court event as an excuse to bring me back. On the way, he would have killed me himself and made it look like I was assassinated by Imperial soldiers.”

 

“And then use the princess’s death as a pretext to justify an invasion of the Empire?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

Persephine nodded with a troubled expression.

 

“I don’t know the details, but he’s likely already trying to form alliances with other nations. Even if the king of Ackeleta wields the Sword of Victory, Ackeleta’s military alone wouldn’t be enough to defeat the Empire.”

 

“That makes sense.”

 

“Your Majesty, it would be wise to take preemptive measures to prevent him from forming those alliances.”

 

“I was already planning to do so.”

 

Cedric nodded as he spoke, “But there’s one thing I’d like to ask.”

 

Persephine fixed her purple eyes on Cedric.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Seeing as you seem to know a lot about Caliberne… does that mean it’s true that Caliberne appeared in the Deamant Empire?”

 

“Did the oracle tell you that?”

 

“Probably. That’s likely the only way my brother could have obtained information about Caliberne.”

 

Indeed, since I, the true owner of Caliberne, hadn’t even drawn the sword until now, there would have been no way for Ackeleta to know of its appearance unless through something like an oracle.

 

“You must be careful, Your Majesty. My brother’s obsession with Caliberne is beyond imagination. He’ll do anything.”

 

“I know.”

 

Cedric nodded in response.

 

“Though it’s a shame he’s barking up the wrong tree.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

“Never mind, don’t worry about it.”

 

Then Cedric turned to Persephine.

 

“For now, we need your help to stop all of this. Can you assist us?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Persephine spoke with a determined gaze.

 

“It was only after coming here that I realized I’m not just a powerless and useless person. If it weren’t for Your Majesty and the Captain, I would have lived my entire life unaware of that fact, helplessly waiting for a miserable death.”

 

The light in her purple eyes, once like starlight, had now become a blazing flame ready to burn everything.

 

“I’ll do anything for you.”

 

“Good.”

 

Cedric smiled. Then he pulled out a communication gem from his pocket.

 

“This is…”

 

“Princess.”

 

I called out to Persephine, who was staring intently at the communication gem, and spoke in a calm voice.

 

“First, we plan to leak false information to them.”

 

“…Ah.”

 

“So, will you help us?”

 

Persephine nodded without hesitation.

 

And so, deep into the night, the counterattack against those who sought to devour the Empire began.

 

💫

 

As everyone watched, Persephine spoke into the glowing communication gem.

 

“Yes. Felix Flithia has succeeded in stabbing the Emperor.”

 

[…Is that really true?]

 

The voice coming from the communication gem trembled uncharacteristically.

 

“I saw it with my own eyes. The Emperor, with a sword plunged into his chest, collapsed and bleeding.”

 

With every word Persephine spoke, it wasn’t her voice that came out, but that of a maid who had already died.

 

This was possible thanks to a voice-changing device previously developed by the Magic Research Division.

 

“The fall of the Empire is imminent. The palace is keeping it quiet, but the Emperor’s life is hanging by a thread.”

 

[…Finally.]

 

“So seize the opportunity quickly.”

 

Jayden Ackeleta seemed to accept the explanation that the Emperor had been attacked and that palace security had been temporarily tightened, causing some delay in communication.

 

Since the news of the maid’s death hadn’t reached him, he naturally assumed the person communicating through the gem was the maid.

 

Persephine had spent a long time by the maid’s side and knew her manner of speech well, so she could imitate her without difficulty.

 

Perhaps that’s why the king of Ackeleta didn’t suspect her identity in the slightest.

 

[Understood. I’ll finalize the plan soon and let you know the details. You’ll be responsible for breaking down the palace’s defenses.]

 

Exchanging glances with Cedric, I thought to myself.

 

‘It’s a success.’

 

They had already fallen into the trap we set.