Little Tyrant Doesn’t Want to Meet with a Bad End

“You shameless knave. How dare you appear before me once more!”

“…”

In a gloomy castle, a black-haired man knelt on one knee, breathing rapidly.

Before him was a black-haired, fair-skinned beauty who exuded mesmerizing charm, but her tone was glacially cold. Her golden eyes were dripping with contempt.

There seemed to have been a battle between the man and the woman, with the former in a worse state than the latter. His body was covered in injuries, and he looked to be on the verge of collapsing. The magic sword he held in his right hand, which was likely a formidable magic sword judging by its design and mana pulsation, was covered in cracks.

In contrast, the woman before him showed not a hint of fatigue at all, and there were no injuries on her body either. She was dressed in an ordinary long skirt, and there was not a weapon to be seen in her hands.

A fully armored and armed man had fought against a barehanded woman dressed in a long skirt, but the former still fell in defeat. This illustrated the crushing difference in their strengths.

Even so, the man refused to give up. He gathered all his strength to get back to his feet.

“You still wish to continue? Say, are there worms in your head? What do you think you can do?” the woman coldly sneered.

“…Please help me. I need you,” the man pleaded.

“Hah. Do you not understand human speech?” the woman mocked.

Unwilling to yield, the man raised his sword and got into a defensive stance as he replied, “I understand human speech; that’s why I think there’s room for us to communicate. That’s also the reason I am here.”

“Communicate? Are you talking about your uninvited visit and all the nonsense you spouted about resolving our grudges and joining hands together? You’re only testing the limits of my patience.”

“It’s not my intent to anger you. My words come from the bottom of my heart. The circumstances outside have only continued to worsen. I wish to change it all, and I need your strength for that.”

“Shut up.”

“Tell me what you need; I’ll do everything I can to fulfill your needs. You have lost touch with your clansmen, right? With my help, it won’t be difficult for you to gather them together!”

“Shut up.”

“Let’s return to how it was in the past. There’s still hope if we join hands. You and your clansmen can reclaim the position that once belonged to you…”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?!”

“!”

The man was suddenly sent flying backward as if he had been struck by an invisible palm, causing him to crash into the wall behind him like a cannonball.

Boom!

The entire castle rattled from the impact.

Amidst the cloud of dust, the woman slowly walked forward to stare down at the man lying amidst a pile of rubble. A frown formed on her forehead.

Despite the abrupt attack, the man had, at some point, switched to a holy white armor inscribed with divine runes to cushion the impact. This armor was clearly an ancient relic originating from the First Epoch. Under the protection of the armor, the man retained his consciousness despite having suffered some injuries.

Cough! Cough cough!

The man coughed out blood.

With an impassive expression, the woman stomped down on the man’s chest, only to be hindered by the holy white armor’s light barrier. She paid it no heed and quietly stared at him before abruptly saying, “I had a cousin.”

“Hm?”

“She was from a side family. She had a different hair color and a pair of beautiful eyes. She was extremely talented, though she would only be considered average in our clan.”

“…” The man didn’t know how to respond to these inexplicable words.

The woman paid him no heed and continued her story.

“She was a lot older than me. When I was younger, I liked to follow her around because of her rare brown hair, and she’d take care of me as my parents were often away. We were very close.

“She wasn’t good at fighting, as the ancient god she contracted with didn’t specialize in combat, so she was often left out of major operations. However, she had good luck with her romance and found a good man. I can still remember how happy she was during her wedding ceremony. She excitedly held my hand and pranced around, singing melodious tunes.”

A faint smile formed on the woman’s lips as she went down the alleyway of memories. The man fell into a daze staring at her gentle visage. However, her smile was fleeting, and her face soon turned frosty once more.

“But she died. She was a casualty of the very first incident arising from your clan’s betrayal.”

“!” 𝓫𝓮𝒹𝓷ℴ𝓿ℯ𝓵.𝓬ℴ𝓶

The man jolted in shock, but the woman had no plans of stopping there.

“She had just given birth and was in a frail condition, but to protect the other clansmen, she entrusted her child to a servant and marched into battle. By the time I met her once more, she was already a corpse with her heart ripped from her body… Do you get it?”

“…”

“Reclaim our position? Is that what you think I want? If you wish to make it up to us, why don’t you return Sister Veronica, Sister Tracy, Uncle Vant, Rulton, Kasha, and all of my clansmen who have died because of you? Why don’t you return them then?!”

With the utterance of each name, the woman’s mana grew explosively, straining the man’s light barrier until it started to crack. Yet, the man made no attempt to fight back, only apologizing with a pale face.

“…I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need cheap apologies,” the woman said as she retracted the foot she placed on his chest. “You and your clansmen are trash, the scum of humankind. You deserve the fate that has befallen you. Did you think that I didn’t want to kill you? No, I just don’t want to stir things up and attract their attention… and you’re too weak. Killing you won’t change a thing.

“Scram and never appear before me again.”

The woman turned around and walked off into the castle’s shadows, but what she heard after her declaration was not a sigh of resignation but a roar of provocation.

“I get it now. You’ll only acknowledge and help me if I defeat you.”

“…Are you joking with me right now?” The woman gritted her teeth as she spoke with a tone dripping with cold killing intent.

The man shook his head and said, “No, I’m serious.”

“…Hah! Very well, you can give it a try. Next time, I’ll make sure you suffer pain worse than death.”

Leaving such words behind, the infuriated woman turned around and left.

The man, who had held himself together up to this point, collapsed to the ground and quietly stared at the castle’s stone ceiling. His body was aching nonstop, and his mana was depleted. His consciousness turned blurry as his brain slowed to a halt. It felt like his surroundings were turning unreal.

Just then, a perplexing voice echoed in his ears, “Your Highness… Your Highness…”

What’s that voice? How annoying…

Before the man could make sense of what was happening, he suddenly felt someone pinching his nose. The sudden deprivation of oxygen prompted him to open his eyes.

“Your Highness, get up!”

“Ah?”

Paul Ackermann’s eyes shot open. He was met with a familiar ceiling. He sat up from his bed and stared at his surroundings with widened eyes.

“How could this be? It was just a dream?”

“What are you spouting? Your Highness, did you bump your head?” Paul’s maid, Liz, let out a helpless sigh before speaking with a softer, more cautious voice. “Wake up, Your Highness. I have news from Her Highness Lilian.”