Crown of Thorns
chapter-74-30041322

Team : Cuties, WilsonWilson, Stephanie

The new emperor’s crowning ceremony took place peacefully and naturally.

It was all thanks to Heleina, the princess, and Neriano, the sorcerer, who both waited until all the preparations were completed. The people welcomed the new Emperor, who killed the tyrant and discarded the nobles who had pushed them into misery.

Since the Emperor could not rule the vast territory alone, new nobles took residence in the empty territory. The nobles who had either been pushed out of the capital or left it of their own accord and those whom Yohan had sought to meet, were appointed as the new feudal lords. Even so, the number of nobles were still lacking, so the remaining positions were filled by those who made great contributions in either war or the subjugation of monsters. Most of them were knights who followed Yohan.

The new nobles, as well as the existing ones, supported the new Emperor. They didn’t doubt that the present Emperor was capable because they knew the secret of the current Emperor’s birth; a fact that, for some reason, I didn’t know. It wasn’t until he became Emperor that Yohan revealed himself to be one of the countless illegitimate children of the former Emperor who decided to rule out of his resentment for his mother’s unfair murder.

I’ve always been chasing and watching Evan, Yohan, and many others, and yet they all shared truths and made plans without my knowledge. They had already made plans for a new Emperor and to create a new world. They were only looking for an opportunity.

Even Princess Heleina, whose encounter with Yohan I had never witnessed, looked at him with warm eyes, relied on him, and followed him. He arranged all this so that he could become Emperor, and even though Yohan was already qualified, he declared his marriage to her, strengthening his position. As a princess, she was supposed to be Empress, and even during their wedding preparation period, the bloodshed hadn’t ceased while dealing with the rebels and old nobles’ remnants.

All the witches who had covered the world with Darkness were captured and imprisoned in the Heavenly Palace. But I was an exception. I had to follow Evan as he led me and watched the situation. Even though I saw Margarita’s body, which had been dead for a long time and was being eaten away by maggots, Evan dragged me around and made me face the cruel reality I had wanted to ignore.

Instead of looking at Evan and rejoicing at the warrior’s appearance, people rejoiced at the resurrection of the Imperial Palace Sorcerer, who had long since disappeared. The existence of the Imperial Palace Sorcerer, who brightly lit the world while guarding the Son of Heaven, was bound to be great hope in itself. Everyone looked forward to him, bringing the glorious era back again next to the new Emperor.

With a new Emperor, an Empress guarding by his side, and people full of hope, everything had changed so that the same past does not repeat itself again. All of this was what the witch wanted, so I should be happy too, but I was not.

It was Yohan, not Evan, who wore the crown, with Heleina staying by his side. And I, who had to crown Evan and face my death simultaneously, am still here, alive like this, unable to die for all eternity.

Evan, who was so fragile, sweet, warm, and who shuddered at the horrors of the world, was only speaking in a quiet whisper, with a cool, dry, twisted gaze that had stuck to him out of nowhere.

“I told you not to stimulate me anymore. There is a limit to my putting up with it. No, I’ve already reached my limit countless times, so I don’t know what will happen anymore.”

Still, in that unbelievable reality, I mumbled for him to kill me, and he did not hesitate to threaten me.

“For now, I have to put up with it until all the loose ends are tied, but if you keep doing this, I can’t help it. Do you want me to have you in front of everyone’s eyes and announce that I became a warrior in order to have the witch? Do you want me to declare that? If that happens, people will be surprised. Exclaiming that the warrior is saying that he loves the witch! Do you really want that?”

Shocked out of my wits, I kept my mouth shut and then slowly shook my head no. He hugged me from behind as I frantically shook my head. As soon as I conceded, he hugged me tighter and flashed a satisfied smile.

“Good girl. Yes, that’s how it should be. I thought I was going to die, holding back all my feelings and desires and pretending to be innocent for fear that you might leave, that you might run away. So don’t stimulate me any further, got it?”

At the same time, Evan leaned his face on my head, patting the area around my belly, and continued hugging me. He was incredibly different from the Evan I’ve known so far.

So many things had changed to the point that it seemed to me that the Evan I knew had never existed.

“As soon as this is organized, he will probably provide a place for us to live. A place no one knows, where no one can come. Because that was the only condition that I put out.”

“…Conditions?”

“Yes, condition. You really don’t have the slightest idea how much effort I have put into this.”

Evan whispered quietly, holding his lips closely over my head.

“Now, I will never leave? you again. Never. You can’t go anywhere, Nyx.”

The warrior trapped the witch in a tower. So no one could see her.

–––

T/N : end of volume 3.