The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away - Chapter 132.2
“So that is why you accepted them.”
Kailos answered quietly. He had just confirmed that the Empress had indeed been involved in the Emperor’s collapse to some extent.
The air around them grew heavy. What flickered in the Empress’s eyes was not simple regret. It was the deep resentment of a woman whose years of suppression, bitterness, and sorrow had been woven into her very bones.
“You must think you’ve won.”
The Empress let out a bitter laugh. Her lips were pale and trembling, but within her words was an unbroken defiance.
“But it’s not over yet. My father still stands strong. The Emperor has already fallen, which means you’re the only one left.”
Kailos looked at her in silence. Her voice, soaked with resentment, seemed to swallow the air in the room, yet his gaze did not waver. From deep within his eyes, a cold light began to rise.
“In the end, it all comes back to the throne, doesn’t it? Do you truly desire that seat so much?”
At his low voice, the Empress’s eyebrows twitched.
Kailos leaned forward slowly. His gaze cut straight toward her heart like a blade.
“Because of the path you chose, Cassian’s life was put in danger.”
For a brief moment, the Empress’s pupils trembled, but soon the fire in her eyes flared again.
“I had no choice if I wanted to bring you down. Nothing was ever possible because of you!”
Her cry was closer to a wail. Her pale fingers pressed hard against the armrest of her chair.
“Do you truly believe that?”
Kailos shook his head firmly.
“You have acted foolishly. Those you allied with have fed upon your resentment and grown from it. And then, they turned their sights on Cassian.”
The Empress’s breathing grew rough, but she did not turn away.
“I did nothing wrong.”
“Do you really believe that?”
Kailos’s voice cut through the air, cold and sharp.
“You cast that child into the most dangerous place in the world. It was your own bitterness and regret that trapped him there. In the end, the one who saved him was not you…”
He paused.
“But someone else. Perhaps a certain aide he met not too long ago.”
Kailos’s words, which sounded almost teasing but carried the weight of truth, pierced the Empress’s heart. Her lips froze shut. Her gaze did not break, but a faint tremor passed through the depths of her eyes.
Her hand trembled in the air as if grasping at something invisible, then fell limp onto her lap. Resentment, grief, and the faint trace of defeat crossed her face all at once.
At that moment—
“…Mother.”
A trembling voice called out to her. He must have been unable to resist and had overheard their conversation.
“Cassian… my son.”
The Empress’s eyes, which had been held firm through sheer will, began to shake visibly.
“I am glad you are safe.”
Cassian approached and took her hand. The child who once feared his mother—the mother who had always demanded he behave as a perfect prince—now showed nothing but genuine relief.
“Did you not hear everything I’ve done?”
The Empress could not understand him. Even when Cassian had been in danger, she had blamed everything on Kailos. Though she knew that she herself had been the one to join hands with the Shadow Corps, she could never bring herself to admit it.
Cassian did not know the reason behind his mother’s alliance with them.
“I am all right,” he said softly.
He did not seem sorrowful at all.
“Even if it were you, Mother, who became the Emperor, I would not mind. I only wish for your safety.”
His eyes trembled as though on the verge of tears, yet they shone brightly and unwaveringly.
The Empress’s shoulders began to shake. She tried to avert her eyes, but Cassian’s gaze held her fast.
There was no ambition for the throne, no greed for succession in those eyes. There was only the child who still called her “Mother.”
“Cassian…”
The Empress whispered his name, her lips trembling. A single tear traced down her cheek. In that moment, the resentment and greed that had crushed her for decades began to lose their strength.
It was as if the frost that had long sealed her heart was finally melting. A broken breath escaped her lips.
With trembling hands, the Empress reached out and pulled her child into her arms.
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