I Don't Want To Do a Romantic Comedy With a Villain! - Chapter 161

Episode 161

The inside of the palace seemed as busy as expected. 

To avoid unnecessary suspicion on the way, they hid their guns and managed to evade the eyes of the palace guards.

Although the guards tried to lead Vehen and Min-joo to where the nobles were gathered, Vehen politely refused. 

“I must assist His Highness, please lead us to where His Highness is.”

Knowing Vehen’s close relationship with Ceteran, they were guided without much hassle. They were led to Ceteran’s study.

“Your Highness, Duke DeVirté has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

With the courteous help of the guards, Vehen and Min-joo were allowed inside. Of course, Min-joo, without proper identification, had to rely on Vehen’s testimony.

As they entered the study, Ceteran, surrounded by many guards, seemed anxious. Not trembling out of fear, but appearing to ponder over the right course of action.

“Your Highness, have you assessed the situation?”

“Yes. They call it a revolution. They aim to strip power from me.”

Ceteran seemed conflicted. Whether to easily relinquish power or to keep it by dismissing the people gathered outside the palace.

No one could make such a choice easily. How could one easily let go of the power to wield and manipulate a country as they wished?

Min-joo had imagined countless times how to persuade Ceteran, but now that the time had come, words failed to come out. Each word had to be carefully chosen. A single mistake could ruin everything.

Glancing at Vehen, Min-joo took a deep breath.

“Your Highness. No, now you will be Your Majesty. I have something to say.”

Passing by Vehen, Min-joo stood in front of Ceteran. The knights eyed them, gauging whether they should intervene.

“Have you ever considered what an emperor truly is?”

“She is suspected to be a revolutionary. Shall I bring her out?”

A guard whispered to Ceteran. The tone was loud enough for Vehen and Min-joo to hear.

Ceteran furrowed his brow, raising an eyebrow.

“Since we have known each other for a while, let’s hear her out.”

In that moment, he seemed quite… fitting for the throne. There was a fierce charisma in his demeanor.

Min-joo glanced down, then looked up at Ceteran. His crimson eyes stared at her ominously, as if ready to devour her.

“Through my time here, I’ve come to realize something. With so many people in the empire and so much land, is it possible for one person to manage everything?”

Seeing the guards who seemed ready to drag Min-joo out at any moment, tension hung in the air. She felt scared and anxious. It seemed they would blame her no matter what she said. The atmosphere was tense.

So Min-joo turned her head and looked at each guard one by one.

‘They won’t hurt me. It’s okay, I’m fine.’

She gathered her thoughts and steeled her resolve. Although they seemed ready to ring the bell and wield the sword against Min-joo at any moment, she desperately tried not to care.

She had come here prepared to die. It was with a vow to see it through to the end that she had made it this far. She didn’t want to give up.

“Tyrants will ruin the empire, and saints will revive it. But there are few nobles, and we cannot know if the next ruler will be a saint or a tyrant. I hope to divide power so that the country does not falter. Those gathered here are risking their lives hoping for the same.”

Ceteran’s brow furrowed deeply. It didn’t seem like he didn’t understand Min-joo’s words.

“You know it too, Your Majesty. How many wars your autocracy has caused, and what your attitude towards protests was. If power had been divided, perhaps many people wouldn’t have been harmed by your decisions. Better responses could have been made.”

She knows Ceteran regrets what happened. He was swept away by Marquess Trimidri’s rash decision, and there was no one to stop her.

Perhaps it’s because of his power and position that people keep their mouths shut and shy away.

There was no one to tell him that his choice was wrong, that he shouldn’t be swayed, that he should stand his ground, and that this decision was unacceptable.

Everyone saw through it, except for those who wanted to lean on that power and enrich themselves.

‘He’s the one who’s at the top of the heap.’

Everyone kept quiet and turned away. They didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.

Min-joo’s words were understood. Deeply felt.

Nelsie raised taxes on the people in front of Ceteran.

Ceteran couldn’t do anything. The nobles licked her feet and repeatedly said what was right to please Nelsie.

“Please make the right choice for the country. For Your Majesty’s sake too.”

“Step back.”

As Min-joo took a step forward, a guard nudged her slightly. She staggered under the brutish force.

“You don’t need to listen anymore, Your Highness. She seems like the instigator. Shall we arrest her?”

“Wait.”

The guard whispered to Ceteran. He was deeply lost in thought.

He might have thought it could lead to a fairly good outcome. It might have been something Ceteran secretly wished for.

Ceteran wasn’t fit for the imperial throne. Even if he was just, his cunning political abilities were lacking.

He must have felt his own limitations.

“Your Highness, it’s not about abdicating the throne. It’s about sharing power to lighten the burden.”

Vehen spoke up standing next to Min-joo. Min-joo’s proposal might have been dismissed as a joke, but Vehen’s words carried weight as an imperial noble.

The guards remained silent and watched cautiously.

Ceteran said nothing and turned his head to look out the window. The fierce battle takes place in front of the palace.

Outside the window, screams, gunshots, and cries echoed.

It was a harsh winter.

* * *

As a soldier, enduring winter campaigns was already tiresome enough, but being urgently deployed to this situation was reaching the point of requiring defection. 

Moreover, quelling protests and powerless civilians, something they had already grown tired of, stirred up reluctance.

“How about just pushing them all away?” 

The sergeant asked while loading his gun. With a brighter complexion than others, he seemed to almost enjoy the situation. Occasionally, some enlisted for the thrill of violence, chasing after honor and money.

“Actions are being taken on the other side as well, but it’s unclear if it involves fatalities.” 

Another sergeant guarding the side interjected. He suggested using blunt force to suppress them.

“This is what His Highness Ceteran also desires. Quickly clean up and return, isn’t it?” 

“His Highness has ordered us to avoid violence as much as possible. This is disobedience of orders.”

The two sergeants growled, unable to reconcile their differences.

Neriant stood between them, silently observing the unfolding scene. People falling to gunfire. Those trying desperately to break down iron doors. The scene of violence. People, exhausted from the struggle, find each other repulsive.

In a moment, a fierce woman’s voice pierced the air sharply.

“We just want to live! What have we done wrong!”

Neriant turned her gaze towards the origin of the voice as if enchanted. She was a woman buried among the crowd, barely visible. Her face, exposed by the soldiers, looked disheveled, and her hair was torn and tangled.

No one felt threatened by the woman swinging her club with desperation. She was like a cornered animal facing relentless and futile violence.

“If being an emperor means killing people and feasting on their flesh and bones, then we don’t need one!”

There was no trace of fear in her desperate cry.

Despite knowing they wouldn’t survive, she fought for what she believed was right. Her actions were like a moth darting into a flame, a meaningless sacrifice.

To honor their sacrifice, Ceteran had to surrender.

Neriant looked at the woman holding the gun to her own head and realized what she had to do.

Bang! With a gunshot, the woman fell. Neriant closed her eyes tightly as she witnessed the gruesome end. She knew she wouldn’t sleep peacefully from now on, haunted by this living hell.

Feeling guilty for those they couldn’t save and apologizing to those they couldn’t protect, that’s what lay ahead.

“Cease fire! Anyone found shooting will be the first to be killed!” 

Neriant shouted, firing into the air. Singing about wanting to fire a gun and firing it were two different sensations. It felt refreshing to break the taboo, to break the chains.

“We won’t retaliate! Fall back!”

At Neriant’s outcry, the sergeant and the soldiers guarding the side looked at Neriant in astonishment.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re court-martialed. Going to prison for disobeying orders is fine. Let the others survive. Let those who gathered here to live continue their lives.”

“Sergeant, why are you doing this?”

“The damn soldiers need to be put in their place. Why not?!”

The sergeant showed a puzzled expression, trying to persuade Neriant. But Neriant ignored him and shouted roughly.

With that stern attitude, the soldiers hesitated but relayed Neriant’s orders.

Gradually, the soldiers started to retreat. As the soldiers, mixed in with the people, stepped aside messily, those who had fallen to the ground from being shot, those who were injured, were being helped by others to escape. Those who were not injured shielded the wounded with their bodies.

It was a harrowing and miserable scene as if plucked from the flames of hell.

“…Hey, you.”

“Yes, yes?”

Neriant threw her words effortlessly to one person among the many surrounding her, all trying to protect her.

The person who responded to Neriant’s voice was someone she had discussed the idea that soldiers are the dogs of the country.

“You said soldiers are the dogs of the country, right?”

“…Ah, yes. That’s correct.”

Neriant smirked at the tense demeanor of the soldier.

“I’m tired of being a dog now. I’m going to fight back. Are you holding your leash tight?”

Neriant’s touch on the soldier’s shoulder was light and devoid of any excess. After patting the soldier’s shoulder, Neriant unhesitatingly stepped aside to make way where the people had gathered.

The sudden and unexpected action made the startled people step back cautiously.

Neriant lay down on the ground as if she didn’t care at all, lowering the gun she had been holding.

It was the birth of an undeniably madman in the history of the empire.