The Tyrant Wants To Live Honestly

He managed to open his darkening eyes and smiled at Dorothea.

 

His eyes were blurry and he couldn’t see clearly, but he could recognize that it was his daughter.

 

He thought that Dorothea might not be with him on his deathbed.

 

‘I wasn’t going to be disappointed if she didn’t come to see me.’

 

But the moment he sees Dorothea’s face, he feels relieved, it means he expected even a little.

 

Carnan winked at Dorothea to come a little closer.

 

It wasn’t a big gesture, but Dorothea could understand what he meant.

 

She moved closer to him.

 

His skinny body was swollen, his eyes had lost their luster as if they were already dead, and his white skin that had gleamed with redness was dark.

 

His rough breath smelled of death.

 

Dorothea saw Carnan lying in the bed, and her heart throbbed.

 

‘I hated him to death, so why am I doing this?’

 

‘Is it compassion for a human being helplessly waiting for death? Or is it because I once earnestly begged for His love?

 

‘Was it because I felt like he was like an impenetrable wall, collapsing?’

 

It was difficult to express what exactly.

 

Dorothea shut her mouth in an unacceptable sadness.

 

Carnan sees Dorothea’s eyes, nose, and mouth into one after another.

 

Carnan realized he had never looked so closely at his daughter.

 

“You grew up beautiful and wise.”

 

He said, with the face of his daughter, who resembled Alice, engraved in his eyes.

 

He should have looked at her more when he could see clearly.

 

Carnan regretted it.

 

Only now, after the sickness had blurred his vision and dulled his mind, that he could see her blurry outline.

 

‘I want to look at her more closely and remember her.’

 

‘I didn’t even have time to remember it.’

 

“Because of you, I can see my shortcomings before….”

 

He let out a sigh of relief through the rough breath of phlegm.

 

At that, Dorothea bit her trembling lips.

 

‘your shortcomings?’

 

She struggled all her life to fill her father’s will.

 

She was trying to get attention, hoping that he would smile at least once.

 

She wanted to be recognized by Carnan Millanaire.

 

The empty hole he left behind can’t be filled for the rest of her life.

 

The cowardly attitude was so unfair that Dorothea lowered her head.

 

Carnan then reached out and grabbed Dorothea’s hand.

 

His hand, which had been strong and large, had now lost its strength and was trembling.

 

His grip on her felt weaker than a baby’s.

 

“I’m sorry, Dorothea…”

 

A bitter smile appeared on the corner of Carnan’s lips as he spoke faintly.

 

His senses were dulled before death, but strangely, his memories became clear.

 

And as the memories became clearer, the regrets also deepened.

 

Laying in a bed and waiting for death alone, he felt lonely.

 

Though he had met so many people and had his own people by his side, he was terribly lonely in the face of death.

 

A feeling of loneliness as if the whole world turned its back on him even though he was the emperor.

 

It was then that he realized how terrible he had done to Dorothea.

 

He neglected his young daughter for a very long time.

 

He seemed to know now how deep the loneliness and alienation his daughter must have felt.

 

He was a really bad father.

 

He misunderstood that he had done his duty as a father just by passing on the blood of Milanaire to his children.

 

He realized he had never gone on a picnic with the children.

 

He never kindly asked what their day was like or listened to what their worries were.

 

He called Dorothea like an object, calling him when he needed her and leaving her alone when he didn’t.

 

‘How would I look at Alice’s face when I go to the afterlife? What should I say to her?’

 

‘How much would she resent me if she knew how coldly I had treated her last gift?’

 

“I’m really sorry….”

 

Dorothea gritted her teeth in Carnan’s regret.

 

‘Are you sorry now? selfish to the end…’

 

How could she resent him if he held her hand and said he was sorry?

 

Dorothea never intended to forgive him for the rest of her life.

 

She returned and made new relationships with many people, but not with Carnan.

 

‘But you’re sorry just before you die…’

 

‘I can’t believe you’re running away without giving me time to get angry, shout, resent and forgive.’

 

Eventually, tears ran down her cheeks and fell on the back of Carnan’s hand.

 

Carnan swallowed bitter saliva and shut his mouth.

 

He was so helpless that he could not wrap his Arms around his daughter’s trembling shoulders.

 

Once called the Emperor, he was now nothing more than a dying, weak human.

 

‘I’m just a human being who can only repeat that I’m sorry in front of my daughter’s resentment.’

 

After losing all his authority and honor, all that was left was Dorothea’s tears, proof of his stingy life.

 

Poor Carnan Milanaire. he pretended to be great, and only before his death did he realize that.

 

“You are…..good daughter and good princess.”

 

With all his might, Carnan spit out the last words.

 

And his hand that was holding Dorothea lost its strength and fell heavily.

 

“your majesty!”

 

Raymond grabbed Carnan and called.

 

Carnan’s eyes were closed, unable to see the world anymore.

 

Dorothea kept her mouth shut.

 

The dark spirits summoned by Theon soon retreated and disappeared as if there was nothing more they could do.

 

The doctor checked Carnan’s condition and shook his head.

 

Soon, the rough and hoarse sound of Carnan’s breathing disappeared into silence.

 

* * *

 

Black flags were hung on the streets of the Imperial Palace and Lampas.

 

There was no princess who led the army to the emperor’s funeral.

 

However, the princess stood at the closest side to the emperor’s coffin.

 

Raymond cried for quite some time.

 

He did so despite Robert’s insistence that the crown prince keep his body.

 

Perhaps Raymond truly loved Carnan.

 

But it wasn’t Dorothea.

 

She didn’t shed a single tear during the funeral.

 

only kept silent.

 

Dorothea still hated and resented Carnan.

 

But it wasn’t like it used to be.

 

* * *

 

The day the black flag was lowered announcing the emperor’s funeral.

 

The date of the release of Carnan Milanaire’s will and the accession of the new emperor.

 

“I, Crown Prince Raymond Milanaire, renounce all rights and duties, including the right to heir to the Crown, in accordance with the will of His Majesty the emperor, and recognize Princess Dorothea Milanaire as the rightful heir to the throne.”

 

Crown Prince Raymond Milanaire declared.

 

Ubera’s greetings gathered in the huge hall were buzzing.

 

But no one was against it.

 

It was Carnan’s will, and Raymond Milanaire, obeyed it.

 

“From now on, I will serve Dorothea Milanaire, the only and right Emperor of Ubera, and I swear to her allegiance.”

 

His confident and undistorted voice echoed through the hall.

 

Raymond had the most imperial dignity like a prince, more than any other appearance he had ever shown.

 

Raymond looked at Dorothea standing in front of him.

 

And knelt before her.

 

“The water of life of all things in the empire, the original contractor, and the implementer of the spirit. The mother of Ubera and the light that casts away all darkness. To His Majesty Dorothea Milanaire, the infinite light.”

 

Raymond’s two hands raised to the height of his forehead.

 

Above his hand lay the emperor’s crown and scepter.

 

Dorothea paused for a moment and looked around the crowd.

 

Everyone was looking at her with a solemn expression.

 

Some seemed not to accept her accession yet.

 

The moment her eyes became a little frightened, Ethan standing in the middle caught her attention.

 

Ethan did nothing.

 

He just stood there, looking at her. But, shining alone in the crowd, his existence gave her strength.

 

Dorothea mustered up the courage to pick up the scepter in Raymond’s hand.

 

At the same time, the emperor’s crown was placed on her head.

 

“To His Majesty the New Emperor, endless light!”

 

The spirit of light illuminated the hall with praise that filled the great hall.

 

The people who had already made a puzzled expression were nodding their heads and applauding.

 

Dorothea clenched her fists, trying to hide her trembling eyes in the dazzling sight.

 

The second emperor was crowned.

 

But this time, there was no sense of despair when the crown was worn on her head for the first time.

 

Instead, it whispered to her the weight of the responsibility of being Emperor.

 

There was no darkness. This huge hall was full of light.

 

Not even a scream of death could be heard from afar.

 

However, applause and cheers congratulated the new emperor.

 

There was no glare of resentment from Theon.

 

There was only Ethan looking at her with loving eyes.

 

So Dorothea thought.

 

In this lifetime, she want to be called a saint, not a tyrant.

 

* * *