NOVEL NEXT Chapter 98: The Tyrant Likes Me Too Much
The night in the empire was far from over.
The Crystal Palace, where the Second Princess Serena resided…
The moment Serena saw the bed, she collapsed onto it without a second thought.
“Shall I prepare some clothes for you to change into?”
“No, I just want to rest for now. I don’t even have the energy to bathe.”
Rosa gently wiped Serena’s back with a damp cloth.
“Everyone has left the empire, Princess Serena.”
“So they’ve gone off to capture that ancient dragon or whatever, right?”
Rosa, Serena’s closest maid, wasn’t just a servant. Her true identity was that of a spy.
She secretly gathered the empire’s classified information and delivered it to Serena.
It was a perilous task that could cost her life, but Rosa had a compelling motivation.
“To seize control of the empire, now is the perfect opportunity.”
Her ultimate goal was to crown Serena Barba as the emperor.
“The Crown Prince, the Third Princess, and even Ascal have all vacated their positions. All that’s left is the puppet emperor. Once we secure the emperor, the rest will fall into place.”
Serena closed her eyes and thought.
Yes, there was a plan.
The most straightforward path: assassinate the Crown Prince, the most secure heir to the throne.
Then, she would kidnap the emperor before Yulia could and use persuasion or magic to make him support her.
Dozens of detailed contingencies had already been prepared.
It was a plan long in the making.
‘Why did I want to become emperor again?’
Her initial motivation had been simple.
She no longer wanted to lose anything.
If she became emperor, no one could take anything away from her.
And most of all, she wanted to prove that she was superior to Yulia.
But then,
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‘Ascal.’
After meeting him, everything changed.
The first person to truly see her for who she was.
Not as the Second Princess Serena but as Seri Lavione, the girl who loved acting.
Her first love.
She wanted him.
She wanted him so badly.
At some point, her desire for Ascal surpassed her ambition for the empire.
‘It was obsession.’
Yes.
To Serena, possessing the man she loved had become more important than the love itself.
If Ascal had come to her easily?
Her feelings would have cooled quickly.
Because that’s the kind of person she was.
It was Ascal’s constant rejection that made her obsession grow even stronger.
‘But, do you know this, Ascal?’
Serena absentmindedly touched the ear where no earring hung.
The empty piercing felt strange.
‘I can be hurt too.’
No one had asked her.
The Crown Prince, Yulia, and even that Sushia had left for the Windwall Plains, yet no one had said a word to her.
She didn’t need to be taken along.
Just one sentence—“Stay in the empire”—would have been enough.
“Hic...”
She had truly done her best.
She had cast aside her pride like an old rag.
She had clung to him until the very end.
“I’ve already prepared the death squad. Please, give the order, Princess Serena.”
They had been stationed in the royal palace for a long time.
At Serena’s command, they would gladly lay down their lives.
All to crown her as emperor.
‘If I become emperor, what kind of expression will you make?’
Serena knew herself well.
She was selfish and stubborn.
She would never be a wise or merciful ruler.
‘I will be a tyrant, Ascal. I’ll wield and oppress the empire as I please, committing unspeakable atrocities.’
Serena stood.
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This was who she was.
Terrible and broken.
She had been destined to end up like this.
“There’s one last place I want to visit.”
“…Time is running out, Princess Serena.”
“Just a little while, just a little.”
Serena opened the window.
The wind was cold.
And then, she jumped out the window.
“Wait, Princess Serena? Princess Serena!”
*****
It’s magic.
Instead of crashing to the ground in a tragic fall, Serena soared through the sky.
It was nighttime.
No one in the empire would notice their princess flying through the air.
‘It’s unbearably cold.’
Her destination was the same as before: the Moonlight Troupe.
Even from a distance, the ruined theater was unmistakable.
‘…Did a meteor strike here?’
The surrounding area had been scorched and destroyed.
Only the theater, by some stroke of luck, remained intact.
Serena entered the theater through its gaping, shattered roof.
Darkness enveloped her.
But she had no desire to light a flame.
Serena stood still, staring blankly at the sky.
The moon hung above.
Moonlight spilled through the broken roof.
‘Now it really feels like the Moonlight Troupe.’
She chuckled at the irony, letting the moonlight cascade into her open palm.
For a while, she stayed like that, unmoving.
‘What am I waiting for?’
She already knew.
Of course, Ascal wouldn’t come here.
He had gone, like the hero he was, to slay the ancient dragon. He wouldn’t fail—not Ascal.
This strange situation reminded her of an old play she had performed in.
Without realizing it, Serena recited a line.
“Liar. You said you’d come to see me, but you broke your promise.”
The moonlight, like a spotlight, illuminated her as she acted.
Was it Isolde and Jaron, or perhaps her own ad-lib back then?
She couldn’t quite remember.
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But the next line…
“Liar! I hate you so much… hhic, hhic.”
Drip, drop.
Tears splashed onto the floor.
She knew.
Ascal had never, not even once, truly wanted her.
It was all one-sided obsession.
Even so, she had come here to say goodbye.
Love needed closure.
“It’s time to leave. They’re all waiting for me.”
Unlike this place, the imperial palace was filled with people who awaited her. People who had devoted themselves solely to her.
She couldn’t betray them now.
Even if it led to her destruction.
The moonlight shifted slowly, as if urging her to move on.
“Goodbye, Ascal.”
Finally.
Serena followed the trail of moonlight with her eyes.
And then, she saw it.
A pair of black shoes emerged from the bending light.
A flowing black cloak swayed comically in the moonlight.
“…Who’s there?”
She didn’t want to hope, knowing she would be betrayed again.
Her face hardened with suspicion as she scrutinized the man clad entirely in black.
“Reveal yourself, or I’ll attack.”
Serena raised her staff.
It ignited with flames, ready to strike at any moment.
“You’ve improved your acting.”
A deep, resonant voice.
A voice she had longed to hear, but she refused to lower her guard.
“Impossible. You can’t be here. Are you a demon?”
She had heard of demons that could perfectly imitate humans—doppelgängers.
“I’m sorry. I made you wait too long.”
Step, step.
The man approached.
Serena took a step back.
Through the flickering light, the face of a man she knew so well emerged.
A face she had desperately wanted to see.
“Don’t come closer. This is your last warning.”
Her trembling hands gripped the staff tightly.
Ascal was supposed to be heading to the Windwall Plains.
So, this man couldn’t possibly be Ascal.
It must be a demon or a wizard with ill intent.
She had to strike.
She had to, but…
“I... can’t do it.”
Even as the man approached her, Serena found herself unable to act.
The man extended his hand.
Serena closed her eyes.
“I told you I’d return the earring, didn’t I? The Snowflower Festival isn’t over yet, so this is still valid.”
When she opened her eyes, she saw an amethyst earring resting on her palm.
Serena’s expression became unreadable.
And then…
“Put it on for me. That’s part of the tradition, isn’t it?”
She brushed her hair aside, revealing her bare ear.
The man silently fastened the earring.
“Ow! Be gentler, would you?”
“My apologies.”
“You’ll get better with practice, I’m sure.”
She had it back.
Now, the amethyst earrings were a pair once again.
Serena finally looked directly at the man’s face.
“Ascal, why are you here? You’re busy, aren’t you?”
“You were the one who made the promise first, Serena.”
“…I like it when you talk to me informally. Yeah, keep doing that.”
Ascal.
Now that she looked at him, he was a mess.
He must have run here in a hurry; his breathing was ragged, and despite the cold weather, sweat dripped down his face.
Serena took out a handkerchief and wiped his face.
“So... you really came all this way, just to return the earring. Thank you.”
Behind him, she noticed a golden Pegasus.
“You need to go, don’t you? Get going. I’ve received the earring, and that’s enough.”
Serena smiled.
Her tear-streaked face might look a bit unkempt, but it didn’t matter.
This was enough.
‘Thank you, Ascal. For humoring my selfishness.’
She was, as always, a fickle woman.
The empire no longer mattered.
She had decided to disappear and travel freely, perhaps even following in her mother’s footsteps to become a witch.
“The tradition doesn’t end here, does it?”
“What?”
What did she just hear?
Serena froze momentarily.
“The Snowflower Festival tradition,” Ascal said calmly, “doesn’t it include the man confessing to the woman after returning the jewelry she gave him?”
“Well, yes, but…”
That tradition was typically reserved for couples who were already half in love with each other.
It wasn’t something to be done with a man who already had someone else in his heart.
The reason Serena had given Ascal the earring in the first place…
It was nothing more than a desperate final plea.
Getting it back had been enough for her.
“Ascal, you don’t love me, do you?”
She never wanted to say those words aloud.
Serena clutched her chest tightly.
Even speaking them hurt.
“There’s no reason for you to confess to me, is there?”
“Do you not want me to?”
Was she dreaming?
Serena clasped her hands together, her face a mixture of bewilderment and hope.
“Are you going to say it?”
“I love you, Serena . Will you accept my confession?”
Strangely, tears began to stream down her face.
Whoever said that the body always obeys the mind?
What nonsense.
Look at this.
Her lips moved on their own.
“Yes, Ascal. I love you too. Truly, I do.”
The empire’s night came to an end.
The Snowflower Festival was over.
The two were united and left together for the Windwall Plains.
And with that, the empire’s second tyrant vanished entirely.
– – – The End of The Chapter – – –
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