Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: The Empress's Misunderstanding
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"S-Spare me... please..."
Justina trembled violently as she collapsed to the floor.
The dignity of the proud Daroa Empress was nowhere to be found.
'That's not human!'
The words of the soldier she had dismissed earlier echoed in her mind.
The man who had wiped out Tower Master Arman and the ancient calamity, Jormungand.
She had suspected it, but it was unmistakably the Emperor Darcor, the tyrant of the empire she remembered from before.
And now that tyrant was looking down at her.
Right now, she had no choice but to beg desperately for her life.
"I-I'll do anything... please, just spare my life..."
Darcor looked down at her without a word.
His gaze fixed intently on Justina's nape,
and he swallowed hard.
'Th-That look in his eyes...'
Justina gulped.
The tyrant's pupils gleamed with sticky desire.
'Whoa... is that diamond size for real?'
Darcor unwittingly smacked his lips.
His eyes weren't on Justina herself, but on the necklace hanging around her neck.
'That thing's gotta be worth a fortune. Price on request, for sure. Chloe would lose her mind if she saw it.'
His gaze slowly drifted downward.
The brooch on Justina's chest,
the rings on every finger,
the bracelet on her wrist.
Every accessory adorning her body was clearly worth an entire castle at a glance.
'I can already appraise it. As expected from an empress—the scale is no joke.'
Darcor cheered inwardly.
Finally, a chance to break even.
Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to fill the national treasury, emptied dry by war preparations?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ But to Justina, his gaze meant something entirely different.
'He smacked his lips? While looking at me?'
Her heart pounded as if it would burst.
She felt his sticky gaze raking her from head to toe and sank into despairing thoughts.
'What does he plan to do to me...'
Terror and humiliation coursed through her body.
Wasn't she the greatest beauty of the Daroa Empire?
A tyrant's conquest of a defeated queen was, historically speaking, almost a given.
"Hic..."
Justina's pupils began to shake wildly.
'I want to live...'
Pride be damned—she had to survive first.
And for a defeated empress to do that...
Wasn't it all too clearly laid out?
"Anything?"
Darcor asked as he casually lounged on the bed at an angle.
His voice was thick and sticky, his eyes deep and lingering.
"You'll really do anything?"
"Y-Yes... I'll do whatever you command... so please..."
Justina bowed her head, her voice shrinking as she replied.
The corners of Darcor's mouth curled up in a sly, satisfied smirk.
At that moment, a memory flashed through her mind like a montage.
The time she had smiled, imagining what she'd do if she captured the tyrant Darcor.
'I'd put a dog collar around the tyrant's neck... and make him bark.'
Back then, it had been so thrilling and fun.
But now, with their positions completely reversed...
'No way... is that what he wants from me...'
Justina's face flushed beet red, as if it would explode.
Tears of shame welled up.
'No way... he wants me to put on a dog collar...'
She stole a glance up at Darcor.
He was still staring intently down at her.
His eyes seemed to say:
'What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get the dog collar. Bark already.'
Justina bit her lip hard.
There was no other way to survive.
Only one choice.
Pride? An empress's dignity?
None of that mattered now.
Wasn't wagging her tail better than losing her head?
She steeled herself with grim resolve.
'Yeah... as long as I live, an opportunity will come.'
For now, she'd be the tyrant's little dog, crawling on the floor if she had to.
She'd survive and bide her time for revenge.
"I-I'll do it... whatever you want..."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Good. No time to waste, then—let's get this over with quick."
Darcor waved his hand dismissively.
An impatient gesture, as if he couldn't hold back any longer.
"Hurry up and take it out."
"...H-Huh?"
Justina's body stiffened.
She was prepared, but right now? This instant?
Not even a moment to steel herself?
She looked up at Darcor with wide, incredulous eyes.
"H-Here? Right now?"
"Obviously. I came all this way for that one thing, didn't I?"
"B-But still... give me time to prepare mentally..."
"Should I do it myself, then? Wouldn't it be better if you did it with your own hands?"
"B-But..."
Justina hesitated, but Darcor's expression was firm.
'As the rumors say, a mad tyrant...
No shred of mercy.'
Darcor sighed as he saw her slumped shoulders.
"Sigh... fine. I'll give you time to get your head straight."
"Hic... y-you beast..."
"But start right away once you're ready. I hate waiting."
Justina hesitated for a long while,
then let out a deep sigh, as if she'd made up her mind.
Her pale hand grasped the strap of her dress's shoulder.
Slipping down.
One strap slid off, revealing her smooth shoulder.
Her skin, bathed in moonlight, was dazzlingly beautiful.
Justina turned her head away in shame,
closed her eyes tightly, and tried to lower the other strap.
She had to please Darcor somehow to survive.
That was when it happened.
"Hm?"
Darcor's brow furrowed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Justina."
Darcor's low, cold voice.
Justina's hand froze in midair.
She looked at him in panic.
'Ah, no way... he wants the dog collar first?'
As she gazed at him with pitiful eyes,
Darcor opened his mouth with an exasperated expression.
"What are you doing? Hot or something?"
"...Huh?"
"Our empress is more open-minded than I thought. Stripping in front of a stranger like that.
Daroa Empire culture is hotter than I expected."
Darcor clicked his tongue and pulled a crumpled parchment from his pocket.
He tossed it carelessly toward her.
"I'm no prude, but for now, cover up and get the imperial seal first."
"...."
An awkward silence filled the bedroom.
Justina's gaze fell on the parchment spread before her.
Bold letters were clearly written across it.
[Wartime Reparations and Surrender Treaty]
"Ah..."
A sigh escaped Justina's lips.
Only now did she start to grasp the situation.
He hadn't wanted her body.
He'd just wanted the imperial seal.
Realization dawned, and Justina's face burned bright red.
Mortification.
She wished she could die from the sheer embarrassment.
She'd been drumming up her own drama,
harboring twisted thoughts, and trying to undress.
In front of Tyrant Darcor, no less.
"U-Uwaa..."
Justina hurriedly pulled up the fallen strap.
Her hands shook so badly she fumbled and missed several times.
She wanted to crawl into a hole in the floor right then and there.
"Our empress didn't get any weird ideas, did she?"
"W-What ideas... I-I just had wine on my dress... yeah, something spilled, so I was brushing it off..."
Darcor looked at her pitifully and asked.
Justina babbled incoherent excuses that made no sense.
'Please, just shut up...'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Alright, I get it. Just stamp the imperial seal here already."
Darcor pointed to the bottom of the parchment.
Justina, still unable to compose her flushed face,
picked up the treaty with trembling hands.
But as she skimmed the contents, her eyes widened in disbelief.
"Wh-What is this?"
The clauses were absurd.
[Mental Damages Compensation]: Reimbursement for the mental stress and sleep deprivation suffered by Emperor Darcor during the expedition.
[Projected Future Losses]: Estimated potential damages to the empire had the Daroa Empire succeeded in its invasion.
[Religious Tax]: Costs for Saintess Chloe's special memorial service to honor the souls of Daroa Empire's fallen warriors, plus express tickets to heaven and absolution fees.
The total amounted to an astronomical sum equivalent to thirty years of the Daroa Empire's budget.
"Th-This is impossible!"
Justina couldn't hold back and screamed.
"We couldn't gather this much even if we emptied the treasury! How are we supposed to come up with this?"
"Yeah... that's the problem, isn't it?"
Darcor shook his head regretfully over and over.
He rose from the bed and slowly approached Justina.
"I gave you a chance... so this means our empress is refusing, right?"
"N-No, it's not that... there's really no way..."
"So you're saying to cut open your belly? You invaded first and now play dumb?"
"Th-That's not what I mean... if there was a way, I'd try..."
"Ah, so if there was a way, you'd make it work?"
Darcor lifted Justina's chin.
Up close, his red eyes gleamed menacingly.
The fear she had momentarily forgotten surged back.
"It's not like there's no way at all. What do you do when you're out of money?"
Justina swallowed dryly.
The humiliation from earlier crept back up.
Now it crystallized into certainty.
No money?
In the end, only one option.
'S-Sure enough, that was his goal from the start... he was just toying with me...'
She squeezed her eyes shut.
There was no escape.
To repay such an enormous sum,
there was only one path.
There had never been choices to begin with.
Just follow Tyrant Darcor's plan.
Justina muttered in resignation.
"I-I'll do it... with my body..."
"That's right, now we're talking. You'll have to make up for it with your body."
A chilling, utterly satisfied smile spread across Darcor's lips as he heard her words.
"Brace yourself, because at first..."