Chapter 102. If you're hiding something from me
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Hashad waited for news from his aide, his legs shaking with impatience.
He hadn't been eating or sleeping as well as he used to, and he was more sensitive than usual.
He chewed his fingernails so hard that blood pooled around them.
Upon his escape from the palace, Hashad was able to drain his secret funds and ally himself with powerful men of the local immigrant community.
But they were not all that trustworthy, each with their own interests at heart.
If Kayan's army came, they would use him as a pawn to take what they wanted.
They were squeezing his breath from all sides.
It wasn't until his aide sent word that they had secured an escape route to the continent of Rizvisa that he could relax.
Some of Hashad's most trusted servants were still unaware that their lord had abandoned them and was plotting a way to sneak away.
Hashad would thoroughly use everyone in sight to further his own ends, only to abandon them.
Even his longest-serving aide had a last-minute plan to use his clothes and sacrifice himself in his place.
That's how Hashad had always survived.
That's why he killed his father, the man who loved him so dearly, with his own hands.
‘Maybe it's my last chance.’
The news from below was that Kayan himself would soon be leading an army to this place.
The news wasn't all bad for Hashad.
His way out was blocked, and he wouldn't be surprised to see his severed head on the street in the next few days, but he had a plan.
That was, of course, if he made it out alive and met Kayan.
'They say a man's feelings for a woman can change overnight, but it’s different if it’s his child.’
Ihedia's spell should be loose now that she hadn’t used hypnotic incense in a while.
By now, Kayan should have realized something was amiss.
It should be easy enough to tell that she was not just blabbering on for the sake of survival.
If the ruse worked and Kayan was wrong, the forces gathered around him would soon scatter like grains of sand.
It was a risky move, but there was no other way out now.
Worst case scenario, he could take his own sword to his own throat and end his final vengeance cleanly, leaving no regrets.
Hashad's eyes turned cloudy as he looked forward to facing Kayan.
***
Kayan had traveled to the West Palace to see Ihedia shortly before his departure for Edenta.
This expedition would not be long, but time away from her was always hard.
How it came to be.
It was ridiculous that he had risen to such a position of power over all the kingdoms of the world, and yet he was still so submissive to one woman.
In his last conversation with her, his heart was heavy with her plea for Hashad's life.
Ihedia's plea weighed heavily on his mind as he realized that he would have to kill him on the spot if circumstances did not allow for escape.
‘I wonder if she's hiding something.’
Ihedia hadn't told him exactly why she wanted Hashad alive, which was frustrating.
He was tempted to leave without saying goodbye, knowing that if he saw her face to face again, the conversation would take another uncomfortable turn, but for some reason, Kayan didn't want to do that.
Perhaps it was the nightmare he'd had for so long, but he had a premonition that if he didn't see Ihedia now, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
He opened the door to find Ihedia holding her child.
Today was the day she would see her daughter.
Adeline and Ihedia both looked toward Kayan at the same time.
The mother-daughter duo looked even more striking together.
How did she have a daughter just like her?
"Master Kayan."
Adeline didn't cry at the sight of Kayan as she had then.
Kayan's gaze lingered on Adeline for a moment, then shifted to Ihedia.
"I thought I should show my face before I go."
"Then today..................."
Ihedia's face turned dark.
Not necessarily worried about Hashad.
Perhaps she still had a weakness for him.
But what could she do when the bastard was far away, barely surviving, and she was safe in the palace?
No matter how much he thought about it, there was no weakness in Ihedia.
"I need to know why you asked me to do this."
"...."
"Simply because he’s the child's father doesn't cut it. You know that having Hashad alive is bad for you and bad for the child in many ways."
"...."
Ihedia, if there's something you're hiding from me, please be honest with me."
Ihedia, as usual, had no answer.
She was always like this whenever he asked her about Hashad.
Before, he would have been angry at her attitude, but now he was questioning everything.
What could she be hiding?
Instead of opening her mouth, she pushed Adeline toward him.
Adeline rolled over and naturally tried to fall into Kayan's arms.
Kayan frowned slightly, but the urgency in Ihedia's eyes forced him to take her in.
As soon as she was in his arms, the child smiled gleefully.
At the same time, Kayan's entire body stiffened.
It was the first time he had ever held such a small child in his arms, and the child happened to look exactly like the woman who was trying to manipulate him.
As much as he hated to admit it, Kayan felt he couldn't possibly cast this child out of the palace.
Even if she was of traitorous blood.
Ihedia spoke up, looking at Adeline with affection in her eyes.
"Adeline is very shy, but she makes an exception for Master Kayan."
"..."
"I'm asking you one last time, please don't kill him, for the sake of this child."
Once again, Ihedia's eyes held a desperation Kayan couldn't resist.
***
The battle at Edenta was to be the last fight Kayan would ever have to fight.
When the Emperor appeared with a great army, the immigrant people of Edenta hastily prepared themselves for defense.
Kayan had intentionally brought a massive army to set an example for all to follow.
The sheer size of his army frightened the enemy into submission.
The leaders of the immigrant tribes were also terribly perplexed by the emperor's actions.
The country was in a state of turmoil after the change of dynasty.
Any disturbance at this time would put a great burden on the emperor himself.
They expected that if they waited patiently and offered to negotiate, the emperor would accept their terms, but the vengeful emperor pushed them to the brink.
Arrows rained down on the immigrants' positions, and each cannon blast shook the ground like an earthquake.
From the moment he ascended to the throne, Kayan went to great lengths to strengthen his military.
His arsenal was greatly increased, with weapons of increased range and destructive power.
He may try to negotiate first to avoid bloodshed, but if he, the Emperor, extended his hand first, the ambition-fueled Immigrant tribesmen would be even more willing.
The immigrant tribes were a nuisance, hard to police because of their distance from the center, and they made unreasonable demands on the center whenever there was war.
Hashad had never had a firm enough grip on the imperial power to deal with them skillfully, and Rakil had always been too preoccupied with expanding Anut's borders to see a compromise with them.
But Kayan was always ready to destroy all the immigrants in Anut.
He was waiting for this to happen, so he was glad that they gave him the excuse first.
They'd already crossed the line by harboring a traitor.
The cunning Immigrants would have been more than happy to frame someone else in the group, hand over Hashad, and change their demeanor as if it had never happened.
But such shallow tricks wouldn’t work on Kayan.
He would not show mercy until the Immigrants were on their knees and willing to be enslaved.
And this time, he would hunt down Hashad, who would be waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of the chaos to escape.
Kayan's eyes gleamed with determination to see complete victory.
The Immigrants were scattered by a storm of attacks.
Kayan himself broke through their defenses and pursued Hashad to his hiding place.
"Ugh!"
Those who dared to stop him saw with their own eyes as their heads fell to the ground and separated from their bodies.
The castle was already surrounded, and Hashad could not escape.
Even as Kayan scoured the castle, he could not decide what to do with Hashad.
The intense pleading in Ihedia's eyes was like a fingerprint on his heart.
Kayan felt deeply frustrated that he was torn.
By now, his face was stained with the blood of his enemies.
The fact that Hashad hadn't been captured yet meant that he had either already escaped or had some other means of remaining undetected.
Then Kayan's eyes caught sight of a man running in a hurry.
He was dressed as an ally.
He almost passed him by, but the weapon he was carrying was different.
Sensing something was amiss, Kayan hurried after him.
***
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