Yasiris nodded her head at words that did not deviate from her expectations even by a hair.
It was not an endorsement, but an indication that she knew he would say that.
“How do you think I would ask for anything?”
“I say I will give you everything you want.
Say what you want.”
“Freedom and happiness.”
Yasiris answered as if she had been waiting for this question, tilting her head slightly as she stared at Kazan from afar.
“Both of these are things that if they are taken away from me, it will be because of Your Majesty, and I will not get them from you.
Therefore, I have no reason to return to the empire.”
“...this...”
Kazan stopped talking.
Yasiris's eyes, clearly expressing indifference and piercing the darkness, were not angry or afraid as they had been yesterday, but were devoid of any expectation.
It was a look that did not demand anything from him at all, but rather wished that he would disappear immediately.
Kazan clenched his teeth and then loosened them.
Perhaps because he knew things would be like this, he did not back down easily.
"I will correct myself: I will give you everything I can give.
If you ask for Beren, I will grant you the right to intervene.
If you ask for Osivia, I will give you authority equal to that of an emperor.
If you want the entire world, I will gladly conquer the world."
"…Are you serious?"
“Yes.
If you only come back to me.”
Kazan looked with nervous eyes at Yasiris, who frowned.
For a moment he thought that her heart was touched because he had put Beren, who was his hostage, to the test, but she shook her head and revealed another idea.
“You are not sane.”
"True.
I'm crazy.
But doesn't that mean I'm desperate for you?"
“Now you say this.”
“As I said yesterday, from the beginning I was…”
“I said it was an obsession.
A wrong obsession.”
Yasiris Kazan interrupted before he could utter the word love.
Emotions are always relative, and vary depending on the person.
Whatever Kazan had in his heart, to her, it was an obsession.
“I have one question.”
“…Ask.”
Before Yasiris asked her question, she examined Kazan carefully.
The moonlight dimly illuminated his face, but it was difficult to fully discern his feelings.
But she wasn't going to approach him just to see his expression.
Recognizing his desperation through the distance she had deliberately placed was enough.
“If I refuse to accompany you to the end, what will you do?”
Kazan was silent.
He took time to fully understand and comprehend her question.
That is, if Yasiris tries to escape from him forever.
If she rejected all his temptations and ran away.
He didn't want to think about that assumption, but if it became a reality, there was only one option for Kazan.
“I will…”
“You're going to take me by force, aren't you?”
correct.
That was the only option available to him.
Because he cannot live without Yasaris.
“You claim to love me and you do not respect my will at all.
I hope you realize this contradiction of yours, Your Majesty.”
“Sari, I…”
“I clearly told you not to call me that.”
Kazan's mouth closed again with her cold, sharp tone.
He looked at her with lost eyes like a lost child.
He knew she wouldn't follow him easily, but he didn't expect her reaction to be this severe.
Isaris, as he remembered her as the Empress, was greatly weakened when he mentioned Beren.
Didn't she submit in the end, no matter how much she hated him?
She didn't interrupt him like this over and over again, and she didn't act as if she had nothing to lose.
Why, what has changed?
As he thought, he remembered something.
“You don't seem to care about Beren anymore.
Since you ran away, actually.”
Yasiris didn't answer, but Kazan was sure.
If she still loved the Beren Kingdom, she wouldn't have escaped from him so easily and wouldn't have shown this attitude now.
He knew what madness he might commit.
“Instead, the one who captured your love was Michael, right?”
Kazan realized this fact, so he understood her actions yesterday.
The way she desperately threw herself to protect the child was similar to, yes, the way she had kneeled for Beren earlier.
If he had realized that then, would anything have changed?
“You swore in the name of the Emperor not to touch a hair of Michael.”
Yasiris did not deny it, but responded sharply.
“Even if it was not yesterday’s promise, according to Your Majesty’s words, it is the son born between you and the woman you love.
You don’t think you would harm such a child, do you?”
This was her idea after the commotion yesterday when she was left alone.
If Kazan's words are true, then "that woman" he said he would kill rather than see an heir would not be her.
There was a misunderstanding, but that doesn't matter now.
The important thing is that Kazan won't hurt her and Michael.
A cold breeze blew in the courtyard, and silence descended.
A misty cloud passed by covering the moon, and darkness covered the scene and then dissipated like fog.
The moonlight once again revealed Kazan's face, which looked as if the emotions had been erased from it, a harsh and emotionless expression.
It was not clear what he was thinking, but his confused red eyes reflected a frightening coldness.
“What if I did?”
Yasiris did not understand for a moment, so she opened her mouth in astonishment, but he continued.
“If I take Michael hostage and drag you out by force, what can you do?”
Step-
Kazhan took a step towards Yasiris.
Yasiris backed away nervously, but he didn't stop.
“Anyway, you will see me as both a monster and an enemy.”
“Don't come close.”
Step-
“No matter how much I confess my love, you will reduce it to mere obsession.”
step-
“Whether I keep the promise or do something for you, you will always interpret it poorly.”
“I said don't come closer.”
Yasiris' threatening words did not reach Kazhan.
Rather, he increased the pace of his steps as if he were following her as she retreated.
Step-
“Then, instead of any futile effort, wouldn’t it make more sense for me to break your wings...”
Step-
“And put you in my own cage, Empress?”
Xing-!
What finally stopped Kazhan's steps was the sound of something being pulled sharply.
Yasiris pulled a short dagger from a hidden sheath fastened to her thigh under her skirt.
“If you take another step, I will stab you.”
The moonlight reflected on the dagger's blade.
Kazan tilted his head at the threat of someone who had never raised a weapon against anyone in his life.
“If you hold the dagger like this, you won’t be able to hurt me.”
“That's right.
I can't hurt your majesty.”
“...What are you going to do?”
Kazan suddenly felt a surge of anxiety.
While he was thinking that he must stop her no matter what she did, he took a step forward, but the dagger cut the air.
Pooch-
“This...!”
Kazan's dark red eyes widened dramatically.
A trembling voice reached Kazan, who froze in shock.
“One more step, if you come closer… I said I would stab.”
Blood dripped from the dagger's blade.
She wasn't holding the handle the other way around, so the force was less, but the sharp blade was enough to tear and pierce the delicate skin.
It was enough to make Kazan lose his mind.
“Sari...”
“I said don’t call me that...how many times have I said that.”
It's painful. hot.
Yes, that's what the metal felt like as it penetrated the skin.
Yasiris squeezed her eyes, which were starting to water due to physiological pain, stared at Kazan with a defiant look, then boldly pulled the dagger from her stomach.
Kgh-!
"no!!"
“Next time, uh… it will be my neck, Your Majesty.”
“Okay… I won’t come any closer, so stop the blood… Stop the blood.
Please, Empress.
Put the dagger down and treat yourself first.”
“How can I trust Your Majesty...”
"I swear!
I will swear by the blood of Tinilath.
If I promise not to take you to Ozevia by force, will that be enough?"
Kazan did not wait for Yasiris's response.
He could not accept the death of Yasiris, whom he had repeatedly seen in his nightmares in reality.
He pulled a sword from his waist and cut his left arm without hesitation.
With a sharp sound, blood pooled and flowed into the air.
Tenilath's unique magic, Blood Oath, activated.
“And Amani and Michael also... sponsored them.”
“I, Kazan Tinilath, swear on my life to protect Yasiris Tinilath and Michael Tinilath to the best of my ability, and not to take them to Osivia by force.”
In an instant, Kazan's luminous blood rushed towards him and was absorbed into his body.
After he had completed the oath briefly, he looked at Yasiris with an urgency that he could not hide.
"Is that enough now?
Put down the dagger.
Where can you be treated?"
“…Huh.”
Yasiris laughed sarcastic despite the intense pain.
The sight of Kazan, who could not approach without her permission and was trembling and pale, was very funny.
Why didn't you do this simple thing all this time?
Why didn't you realize?
If I had known that your greatest weakness was me, I would have taken advantage of that long ago.