Spoiler Two Empires: A Tale of One Slave // 두 개의 제국, 제국의 노예

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Novel Links:
Ridibooks: Chapters - eBook

Webtoon:
Korean: Ridibooks
English: Tappytoon

Synpois:
Murdered in cold blood, Emperor Levenoad of Strahss is reincarnated as a slave named Ray in the enemy empire of El Fascher! To make matters worse, he's caught the eye of the emperor, Jiskar, and gets dragged off to the palace as his concubine. In order to escape, Ray must spread his legs for Jiskar in order to win his favor, all while carefully avoiding the jealous, power-hungry empress and crown prince who will do anything to tear him down. More importantly, he must figure out who killed him in his past life... and why. Unfortunately, none of this will prove to be easy with guards at his side 24/7 and his feet in shackles. Will Ray be able to find freedom while uncovering the truth about his past? Or is he doomed to be forever chained in the palace of the enemy empire?

Associated Names:
Two Empires, The Slave of the Empire

Novel Synpois:​

The Crown Prince of Strass, Levnoad, signs a truce with the Crown Prince Giscard of El Pasher. Later, he was poisoned on his way home, and reincarnated as a s*ave in the countryside of his enemy country El Pasher. Although he had memories and experiences from his previous life, Ray lived contentedly as a slave. Then, one day, Ray is sacrificed as a slave to El Giscard Pasher, who he regarded still young…

“Did you expect me to be your subordinate? And a greenhorn kid you considered beneath you at that?”

Despite his disgust and embarrassment, Ray surprised everyone with his unslave-like behavior. Emperor Giscard, who was watching him closely, became suspicious of Ray’s identity and kept him in the palace. After a few days of spending the night in the emperor’s chamber, Ray was still ashamed to sleep with the Emperor. This was because he was a slave obliged to obey his master, but at the same time he was also Levnoad, the Crown Prince of Strass.

“It should be a great honor for you to have the emperor’s favor. How can you think I humiliated you? Who are you?”

Ray had nothing to say to Giscard, who was trying to turn a blind eye to the truth before him.

He just needed to reveal everything without hiding anything. He had to convince himself. Perhaps this is a gamble.​

 

Spoiler Table of Contents (Completed Series)​

• Part 1: 90 Chapters
  
• Part 2: 88 Chapters

 

Hi everyone.

After reading the Tappytoon release, I got really curious with the story and searched for the novel immediately. I finished the whole novel and let me tell you, this shit got me emotional. Anyways, im working on part 2 summaries and just know this is going to be really long btw. This series is mostly happy ending depending on the reader. 10/10 experience.

[Disclaimer] I read this novel MTLed with Papago which was…quite the task. So a good chunk of this involved context clues and coming to my own conclusions so I don’t claim 100% accuracy. It wasn’t too bad, but the most annoying thing was how poorly the pronouns were translated so figuring out who is saying what was a journey to say the least.

Spoiler: Trigger Warning: Ray's Age

One thing I will say that has been bugging my mind is the fact that Ray’s age is never explicitly revealed. Tappytoon did put the trigger warnings that implied that Ray’s physical body is underage. Based on what I gathered in the novel, I’m assuming Ray at the worst, 17 years old and at best, 18. But the weird thing that I learned from Ridibooks was that originally, Ray was written to even be younger which is WTF??? I mean I get Levnoad mentally is around mid-20s before he got reincarnated, but it’s still odd considering how obsessed Jiskar is with him…so do what you will will with that information.

I'm breaking down Part 1 into “arcs”:

Spoiler: Confinement Arc

Confinement Arc: This is where the webtoon is currently at and the webtoon has been pretty accurate with following the novel. Story starts with the scene of Levnoad and Jiskar shaking hands for the armistice agreement between Strass and El Pasher. Levnoad is revealed to be around 25-26 here as Jiskar was apparently only 15-16 and he was 8 years older than Jiskar. As we know, the two shake hands to officiate the truce and Levnoad ends up getting poisoned during his trip back home. It was highly suspected that Edrich (Levnoad nicknamed him Eddy), the youngest prince of Strass was the culprit as he handed him the tea. Background info is that Strass’s emperor has 12 princes and Levnoad killed them all to secure the throne except for Eddy. Eddy’s mother, a concubine, was killed off by one of the brothers in the throne conflict so he was already the weakest link and Levnoad spared him as he didn’t see any real threat in him and pitied him. The emperor saw Levnoad as the most suited to succeed the throne and helped him a bit, but the emperor also tested Levnoad but poisoning him once too (based on my interpretation).

After dying, Levnoad wakes up reincarnated as Ray and it’s revealed that Ray looks exactly as Levnoad did except he’s shorter. His parents were both slaves who served under Count Vincenzo (I won’t even bother correcting names btw). Count Vincenzo was a mostly fair and just Count. Most do the slaves who worked under him were satisfied and lived relatively peaceful lives. Ray was genuinely happy during his time as a slave.

One day, all the best looking female slaves were gathered with the exception of Ray being the only male. The count reveals that there was a very important guest (Jiskar) and one of the slaves will be “lucky” enough to serve him. Ray ends up catching Jiskar’s attention because he mumbled his full name when Jiskar identity wasn’t even revealed yet. Ray has a sense of what’s about to happen and being that he was quite literally royalty before, he give Jiskar a hard time and refuses to yield. But since Ray’s current body is young and out of shape, Jiskar overpowers him and takes him by force the first night. I will note that Jiskar was actually a lot less…brutish than what the webtoon portrayed. Doesn’t change the fact that it was still force/non-con, but he did tell Ray he didn’t want to hurt him and he did prep Ray with oil, etc.

Jiskar is enticed by Ray’s boldness and behavior so he decides to bring him back to the castle. They share a carriage and Ray continues giving him a hard time. Ray’s thought process is to play the long game in not revealing his identity as being Levnoad’s reincarnation, but he also doesn’t hide the fact he knows a lot more than he should for being a slave (knowing how to read, etiquette, etc). Despite Ray’s rude behavior to Jiskar and being very arrogant especially given the power difference, Jiskar is very lenient and only shackles Ray by the ankle apart from sleeping with him every night. Ray is mostly confined to Jiskar’s bedroom and gets bored and agitated. At some point, Ray even lets Jiskar have the impression he’s either a highly trained assassin or spy, but Jiskar still refuses to actually kill Ray or punish him.

Ray gets bored and ends up handling Jiskar’s paperwork in exchange for not having to sleep with Jiskar. However, when Ray wants to go outside, Jiskar says he’ll only allow him if he takes initiative in bed, to which Ray reluctantly agrees. Ray finally gets to go outside and he leaves about the palace’s surroundings. Rays goal is to access the magic tower and we learn that as Levnoad, he was the worlds strongest wizard because he’s a 4th-tier(?) (the MTL translated as a quartet so that’s my assumption). Basically, being a 3rd-tier was already an extraordinary thing and hard to achieve, so the fact that Levnoad c was a 4 was regarded as a legend in the world because of how impossible it seemed. However, Ray’s not allowed to go anywhere near the magic tower. This is where we’re introduced to Christian and Dunphil, Jiskar’s closest knights. Eventually, Ray sees the knights training and he’s clowning them in his head and ends up teaching them a lesson. Turns out that the knights he saw as super weak were actually the lower ranked knights.

Back in Jiskar’s room, Ray has to fulfill his end of the deal and it obviously turns out awful. You can just refer to the webtoon for this scene but again, Jiskar doesn’t enjoy hurting Ray during sex if that counts for anything.

So time goes by and Ray handles the paperwork while being getting to roam about limitedly while being escorted. By now, word has spread about Ray’s reputation and how “obsessed” Jiskar is with him and eventually the Empress requests to meet him. Quick note is that Jiskar has 5 sons and a daughter (IIRC). He has an empress, three consorts that were married purely for political reasons, and no concubines (except Ray). Jiskar had the crown prince when he was only 16. He has no affection for either the empress or crown prince, Chirac. The empress meets Ray and she’s obviously jealous. She invites Ray to a tea party with the other consorts and it’s your typical empress tries to assert dominance and bully Ray affair. Obviously, Ray doesn’t let himself get bullied but he does have a somewhat soft spot for Chirac even though he gets hot water spilled on him. Jiskar finds out and gets pissed, but Ray covered for Chirac and didn’t put him as he felt the child was already pitiful enough.

There’s a summer banquet soon to be held and Ray is invited as Jiskar’s companion. It’s a big deal because it’s a direct insult to the Empress since Jiskar is choosing to bring a slave rather than his own empress. Ray realizes that Jiskar was using Ray as a ploy to humiliate the empress hence why he’s always locked in Jiskar bedroom and given the impression that he’s highly favored. Ray calls out Jiskar since he’s being used for his political agenda and to satiate his lust whenever he wants. Jiskar tries to assure Ray that he is quite fond or Ray and convinced him that all he needs to do is attend the banquet so show appearances for a bit then he can leave whenever he wants.

The banquet happens and Ray ends up being more interested in the banquet to Jiskar’s surprise. After greetings, Ray mingles with the guest and eventually ends up being confronted by Chirac in the balcony. Ray taking pity on Chirac tries to tell him to give up on trying to be the successor and to stop his mother/grandfather from being power hungry as this will lead him to his death. Background is that the Empress’s father is a foreign count that helped Jiskar a lot in securing the throne which is why Jiskar married his daughter as Empress. However, the count became to power hungry which is why Jiskar doesn’t want Chirac to be the successor and is purposely cold. At one point, Ray has a conversation which Jiskar about his purposely cold treatment to Chirac and asked is that’s Jiskar’s way making it easier to dispose of him when the time comes to which Jiskar doesn’t really confirm or deny. We just know that Jiskar wants to diminish the Empress’s power.

When the banquet ends and Ray and Jiskar are back to the bedroom, Jiskar was a little jealous of Ray mingling with females, etc. Jiskar takes out his jealously when he sleeps with Ray and he’s being real McNasty here (he eats him out lol). As for Ray’s feelings, he’s conflicted bc while his body feels the pleasure, he’s too prideful/shameful to admit it bc it’s more or less against his will. The night ends with Jiskar holding onto Ray tightly while calling his name multiple times. It’s safe to say here that Jiskar is really whipped for that ass.

At some point, Ray is allowed to pick up sword training with Christian and Dunphil. It’s revealed that the two of them are actually the sons of the two most prestige counts in El Pasher. Dunphil is married and has a daughter named Christina(?) and Christian never married and is considered way past the marriageable age. His sexuality and history was pretty ambiguous here and I think Dunphil tried to take him to a brothel to no avail. Also, Ray is very skilled in’s swordsmanship. Even though as Levnoad, he was a renowned wizard, his sword skills were really good too.

There was a moment where Ray was caught trying to sneak into the magic tower and got caught. This was the first time Jiskar actually got really angry at Ray and he forces himself on Ray very roughly. But in the end, Jiskar couldn’t bring himself to keep up with it and he gives Ray a warning not to test how lenient he’s been with Ray.

Eventually, it’s time for a quarterly demon hunting event Jiskar decides that he will take Ray. There’s a papapa hot spring scene during the event.

During the demon hunting event, they’re trying to hunt an orc tribe and somewhere along the way, Chirac gets kidnapped by a female orc. Everyone assumed that Chirac was done for and Jiskar even thought it was better that he was able to get rid of Chirac this way, but Ray argues that female orc tend to kidnap younger children in replacement for losing their young. He eventually gets Jiskar to agree to send a rescue team for Chirac and they managed to save him. I kinda skimmed though this arch but eventually, they were hunting another species (I think Bloodworms or something) and Ray finally gets his hands on a manastone during the hunt. It appears that manastones are used as a catalyst of some sort to perform spells and magic (kinda of like an MP bar in a video game).

Spoiler: Torture Arc

Torture Arc: Once Ray gets the manastone, he goes batshit crazy with the magic. This scene was actually really fun and satisfying to read as we get a glimpse just how powerful of a wizard Ray is. He’s handing all the knights asses to them and everyone is fearing for their lives seeing Ray being a quartet wizard. Finally Jiskar confronts Ray and continually questions him for his true identity. Everyone kind of makes the connection of Ray and Levnoad since Levnoad is the only one known to be a quartet wizard. Everyone still doubts it including Jiskar and Ray neither denies or confirms it as he already know how absurd the idea is and sees no point trying to convince them. Ray and Jiskar have an intense duel off and Ray is having the upper hand for the most part. However, at the turning point, Chirac and Christian appear at the scene which throws Ray off and becomes the downfall of Ray. Jiskar captures Ray and confines him again. He gives Ray one last chance to reveal himself but Ray is stubborn. Jiskar has no choice but to finally treat him as a prisoner. Everyone tries to convince Jiskar to execute Ray for obvious reasons but Jiskar can’t bring himself to and wants to interrogate Ray further.

Ray is sent to interrogation and when Jiskar finally decides to check on Ray himself, he finds Ray severely bruised and disfigured. He witnesses the interrogator torture Ray by diving his feet into hot oil. Jiskar doesn’t do anything and the interrogator gets worse and starts to molest Ray and is about to even rape him. Jiskar couldn’t take it anymore and beheads the interrogator. He takes Ray back to his room and tries to nurse him back to health, etc. Jiskar doesn’t know what to believe about Rays identity but he can’t stand seeing Ray so tortured and weak.

At one point, Jiskar tries to get Ray to fess up threatening the life of his slave parents and this is the first time we see how important they are to Ray as he starts crying and begging Jiskar to spare their life. He even tries to appease Jiskar by giving him head but this only makes Jiskar more angry. Ray faints and has trouble remaining conscious.

Times goes by and Ray is still healing from the torture while Jiskar refuses to leave his side despite the court being very displeased that Ray is still alive. Ray is able to maintain consciousness and Jiskar is helping him recover a bit. It seems that Ray at this point has given up trying to escape. Another hunting event eventually takes place and Jiskar decides to bring Ray because leaving him at the castle alone makes him a target. As they’re camping, we find out that Christian and Dunphil are conflicted with the treatment of Ray. Dunphil knows that Ray only held back from going all out the moment he saw Christian and Chirac.

Spoiler: Escape Arc

Escape Arc: Christian is assigned to carrying Ray around when Jiskar goes off to hunt. Chirac is more or less aware that Ray might’ve spared his life and convinces Christian to help Ray escape. It’s not exactly out of goodwill but rather Chirac figured it’s beneficial for the both of them. Christian reasons to agreeing are ambiguous. The two finally leave Jiskar, who obviously goes insane once he finds out. When Ray wakes up and realize Christian helped him escape, he becomes anxious and starts crying because he’s afraid Jiskar will kill his parents and begs to be brought back. He passes out and the next morning, his attitude shifts 180 and he decides that the worse has already happened so he’ll escape back to Strass.

Ray and Christian are seemingly heading to Strass and stop by a village in the meantime. There’s a bounty on both of them but Ray is ordered to be brought back alive unlike Christian, who is painted as someone who coveted the Emperor’s concubine and kidnapped him. Ray and Christian dye their hair black and and disguised themselves as beggars. They get caught by slave traders and Ray takes advantage of the situation to get free medical treatment since Ray is seen as an investment commodity by the slave traders. We learn some things about Christian: it turns out Dunphil was in love with Christian but he knew that nothing could ever happen between them since they were men and both the successors of their respective dukedom. Dunphil married out of obligation whereas Christian didn’t marry because he believes in love (something like that)and Dunphil feels heavily betrayed by Christian.

As for Christian, Ray figured out his intentions real quick and knows that his loyalty still lies with Jiskar. Christian only helped Ray escape because he thought it would knock some sense into Jiskar. He hoped that Jiskar would eventually give up on Ray and return back to his normal self, except it did the complete opposite. Word has spread that Jiskar has gone insane and is killing anyone who displeases him left and right and has become something like a tyrant. There are rumors that a civil war is bound to happen.

Once it’s nearing the time for the slave traders to auction off Ray and Christian, the duo finally retaliate and kill the traders and escape. At some point, it’s revealed Christian has some sort of feelings for Ray: when Ray points how it’s a shame that Christian is too loyal to Jiskar and he would’ve wanted Christian to be his man (in the loyalty sense), Christian seemingly took it the wrong way and told Ray he should take responsibility for saying such things. I think Ray brushes it off not knowing what he meant and Christian got the idea Ray didn’t see him that way. They have a “and there was only one bed” moment and kinda just brush the incident under the rug.

Ray tells Christian that he wants to go to the neutral zone between El Pasher and Strass because there’s a secret location that is crucial to Strass. He tells Christian he has to swear to never reveal it to anyone. They go to the secret location and it’s revealed there is an Elf village there that Levnoad discovered once. Ray tries to convince the elf elder that he is Levnoad and none of the elves believe him. Finally, the elf elder says that if he wants to prove his identity, he has to climb some mountain next month on the full moon or something.

Back at Jiskar, we learn that he’s not as fully insane as everyone thinks he is. It turns out he’s using the opportunity to make himself seem crazier to draw out those who want to rebel. Jiskar wants to bait the Empress to take this an opportunity to overthrow him which is why he’s purposely acting tyrannical. That way, he has a legitimate reason to rid the Empress. The Empress takes the bait and causes a civil war of some sort, but Jiskar wins and it able to rid the Empress and her father. Chirac is spared and is exiled. However, Jiskar is going a little insane that Ray is gone and still wants him back. While Jiskar got rid of the Empress, there still a rebellion happening.

Back to Ray and Christian, we find out that Ray never intended to go back to Strass either and he has his own agenda, to Christians surprise. Jiskar’s messengers manage to find the duo and send Ray a message that if Ray doesn’t come back, then his parents will be murdered. Ray calls bluff because he figured by now how obsessed Jiskar is with him and doesn’t think Jiskar will follow through. Another message from Jiskar tells Ray in exchange for sparing his parents life, Ray must return to his side by 15 days and help him subdue the rebellion. Ray calls bluff again, but he does return to Jiskar a few days past the deadline.

Spoiler: Reunion Arc

The Reunion Arc:Ray and Christian finally return to Jiskar at one of his encampments. There’s a bit of a duel off between Ray and Jiskar with the former using magic and the latter using his sword. When they’re nearly face to face, Jiskar drops his sword and hugs Ray to everyone’s surprise (but Ray ofc). They head back to Jiskar tent to talk.

Back at the tent, they pretty much make up. Jiskar finally comes to term that Ray is Levnoad. Also, Ray is super badass at this moment. He completely has Jiskar whipped for him at this point. Ray confronts Jiskar saying he knew Jiskar wouldn’t ever do anything to his parents because Jiskar is crazily in love with him, to which Jiskar doesn’t deny. Ray makes Jiskar swear to him that no matter what there relationship is whether or not Ray is by his side, Jiskar must swear that he will keep Rays parents protected and taken care of, which he agrees. In return, Ray agrees to help Jiskar with the rebellion and Jiskar, the love struck fool, just takes it as Ray agreeing to be by his side. Ray doesn’t deny it, but he tells Jiskar that his heart and home will always be Strass.

Jiskar actually apologizes to Ray for everything. However, Ray brings up that an interesting point: he recalls that as Levnoad, he wants called a slave boy to his bed and he remembered how afraid the boy must’ve been. Since Levnoad was Emperor, he didn’t care at all. It wasn’t until he was reborn as a slave that he became more empathetic. Ray believes in a sense that he’s getting karma for killing his whole family and countless others to obtain the throne. Ray also recognizes that if he were in Jiskar shoes, he probably wouldn’t have spared himself for acting the way he did with they first met Jiskar. So he thanks Jiskar for sparing his life then.

So here comes the make up sex which gets pretty funny. At this point, Jiskar is an absolute simp and masochist for Ray. He tells Ray he will offer his heart to him in the literal sense. Ray even tests his loyalty and stabs him in the hand (kind of payback too because Jiskar was squeezing the shit out of Ray hands or something like it when he was recovering from the torture back then). Also, it’s kind of confusing but i think Ray was trying to top Jiskar (probably out of pettiness) but he realizes he can’t find himself doing it because Jiskar is very much a muscular man and he can’t imagine himself rolling. Jiskar, literally with a fucking hole in his hand, decides to take advantage of this situation and is like: guess I’ll just stick my finger up his ass…literally. Jiskar uses the bedsheet to “bandage” his bloody hand and has his way with Ray. Also, Ray is a complete tsundere now because he can easily kill Jiskar actually because he has access to magic, but he “reluctantly” lets Jiskar have his way and gives into pleasure.

They next morning, Jiskar finally gets medical attention to the whole in his hand and they devise their plan for the rebellion. Ray wants to have the highest position possible in El Pasher but the problem is that Ray is already branded as the slave who tried to assassinate the emperor so it’s not possible. Ray brings up that he has to climb a mountain to prove his past identity as Levnoad so they journey to the elf mountain with Christian, Dunphil, and a few knights.

Spoiler: Game of Thrones Arc

Game of Thrones Arc: Once they reach to the top, they find a bunch of dragons there. Dragons were treated as mythical creatures that once roamed the world, but no one in the modern age has actuallt witnessed one. One of the knight touches a dragon and he literally…assimilates into the dragon LOL. Everyone is going WTF and somehow, Ray is able to have some telepathic communication with the dragon. The dragon reveals that the knight is now absorbed into the dragon due to his lesser power level and has become one with the dragon for all eternity, or in other words, as good as dead to the humans. Ray asks what happens if someone of higher power touches a dragon and then dragon gives a vague response and Ray realizes this must be the test the elf elder was talking about.

Ray decides to go and touch the golden dragon that was there and the dragon joins Ray by turning into a tattoo in his arm. The dragons are more of a symbolic entity that can manifest at their owners will and don’t exactly have a mass. This is hard to explain and I’m kinda confused myself. Anyways, Jiskar sees this and decides he’s going to touch a dragon too and there so happened to conveniently be a black dragon around the corner. Now that the two have their dragons, its time for them to enact the game plan to quell the rebellion and find a way to secure a high position for Ray.

One of the rebels is an impenetrable fortress of some sort that has held its ground for 500 years. Ray’s plan is that now that everyone knows he is a quartet wizard and now has a literal dragon in him, he should pretend to be a messenger of god. He makes Jiskar gather 150K+ manastones and plans this whole explosion spectacle on the impenetrable fortress. Basically. Ray pretends he is a divine entity known as the Lion of God and he demands the fortress to yield. They obviosuly dont so he literally kabooms the fortress and “melts” it. Its a kill two birds with one stone situation where the rebellion is ceased and now Jiskar has a good reason to elevate Ray’s position to the second highest position in El Pasher. Ray is now the Grand Duke of Grayon or something like that.

Spoiler: The Grand Shebang

The Grand Shebang: Now that everything is dealt with, we get a glimpse of what life is like for Jiskar and Ray. At this point, its hard to determine Ray’s real feelings for Jiskar. Ray gets annoyed with Jiskar’s clingy behavior and always pushes him away, but at the same time, he lets Jiskar have his way with him in bed so its quite amusing. Jiskar is aware that Ray can quite literally demolish him at any moment given his power. Also, nobody really questions Ray’s new title since everyone believes he’s a divine entity. If anything, it secures Jiskar’s position even more and makes him more favorable to the public. Their dragon spirit thingys also have the ability to be mini-sized versions and whenever they are let out of their masters, the black dragon is always chasing the golden dragon and its very cute and a reflective of Ray and Jiskar’s relationship.

Jiskar eventually meets with Ray’s parents and gives them all the resources they need to live a peaceful life. Its a very endearing scene actually where Jiskar wanted to give them nobility status and whatnot but Ray stopped him. He didn’t want his parents to suffer any humiliation or be taken advantage of because his parents were born and lived their lives as slaves so all they know is a simpler way of living. Ray just wanted Jiskar to ensure they can live out the rest of their time in peace.

Lately, Ray has been trying to advance to the next rank of wizardry (so 5 elements(?)). He has reign of the magic tower pretty much and is milking the kingdom’s supply of manastones. Ray is very spoiled and knows it too. He even teases Jiskar for being cheap in not giving him enough manastones. At one point, Ray seemingly gets hurt while trying to advance his wizadry rank and Jiskar goes a little crazy because he thought Ray was dying since he fainted for a day and was bleeding out his nose, ears, etc. Jiskar is waaay too whipped now. He’s the very ciingly, possessive-type lover and tries to ban Ray from doing crazy research. Ray fights back saying that if he bans his research he will leave. Jiskar even says that he rather have Ray leave him then have him dead. This is where they finally compromise as Ray reassures him he wont die and they compromise in which Ray will gather more data before he attempts any crazy self-expirmenting again.

The remaining chapters of Part 1 is basically daily life of the couple. Theres a chapter where they have a dual for fun it seems. Jiskar might be the biggest simp for Ray to the point its almost pitiful, but he gets to have is way with Ray in the bedroom still. Ray is too much of a tsundere to admit when he’s feeling good haha.

Part 1 ends with a cute and funny chapter where Jiskar gives Ray little braids unbeknownst to Ray. When Ray is out and about in the kingdom, everyone notices the braids without telling him. When Ray finally realizes the braids, he calls Jiskar a pervert, but Jiskar says its natural for him to want to play with his lover’s hair. Ray just brushes it off as “cultural differences.” Some days alter, Ray notices that its now become a trend amongst men to have a few strands of braided hair (which apparently was only something for women’s hairstyle) so he gets angry at Jiskar for embarrassing him lol.

Final notes: the plot regarding if Eddy betrayed Levnoad/Ray i believe will be explored in Part 2 and other subplots. The relationship between Ray and Jiskar is like an old bickering couple its quite fun to read. I mean Jiskar is absolutely smitten with Ray now. In his official character profile, his preferences are literrary “Ray’s preferences” haha. See you guys in Part 2 soon!

 

Thank you so much

 

you are the best, thank u so much for the spoilers!

 

Oh boy, Part 2 summary/spoilers...where do I begin. I was absolutely wrecked and did not expect to be so emotionally invested. I can't believe I'm a Jiskar-apologist now. I actually cried so much towards the ending that during my work meetings, my eyes would water up whenever I think about this couple. Don't worry, its not a sad ending. This is SUPPPPER LONG!! Breaking it down into "arcs" and also including a relationship analysis and my thoughts on the ending. Thanks for reading and feel free to ask questions!

Spoiler: Mitchell Academy, Abek Country

Mitchell Academy, Abek Country
It’s been about 2 years since the event of part 1 and Ray is living his life mostly in peace in El Pasher with Jiskar. Most of the days are Ray having fun in the magic tower and running the kingdom’s mana stone supply dry. Lately, the Strass part of Ray is making him want a wife to continue his lineage so him and Jiskar have been bickering a lot about this. There was an event where Ray was taking to a Duchess who family has manastone minds but Jiskar gets jealous.

Ray argues that as a Duke, it’s going to create rumors if he doesn’t marry and he needs to continue his lineage too and have a successor. A lot of people already know Ray is Jiskar’s lover. Obviously they don’t see eye to eye so things are on edge between them. Ray decides to sneak out and go to a brothel because he still considers himself straight. So Ray pretty much views Jiskar as a sugar daddy at this point. During sex, Ray will give into pleasure, but after they’re done, post-nut clarity will hit Ray strong and he gets turned off at the fact that Jiskar is still a man.

Also, it’s during this scene that it’s confirmed Christian has romantic feelings for Ray. He openly admits that he’s in love with Ray and that he understands Jiskar’s frustration. He says if the man he love talks about marrying someone and having kids with them even if it’s purely political, he can’t accept it. Dunphil is flabbergasted by this revelation and is jealous in the inside, but everyone moves on pretty quick from it.

Ray wants to go to the neutral country Abek which is where Chirac is currently. There’s sort of like a Hogwarts there called Mitchell Academy where a lot of noble kids are shipped off too and they learn various subjects including magic, etc. Ray wants to be the guardian of Chirac and watch over him for a year or so. Jiskar obviously wants Ray to remain with him but he knows that Ray will just do want he wants anyways. Jiskar gives in and Ray is suspicious that he’s not putting up more of a fight. He thinks it’s not a big deal because it’s not like they can’t see each other from time to time.

Ray arrives at Mitchell Academy and he catches up with Chirac. Despite the fact his mother committed treason and had to be killed off, he matured a lot and still respects Jiskar for sparing his life. We also have a better of idea of Ray’s age now. He’s roughly 19 since he mentions it’s now been almost 20 years since Levnoads death.

Ray attends some classes with Chirac and he discovers that one of Strass princes is there, Azeroth. Edrich is the current emperor and Ray learns the apparently after Levnoads death, the emperor actually helped Edrich secure the throne and even vouched to clear his name as everyone suspected he killed Levnoad. Ray is surprised as he also has suspicions that Edrich could’ve killed him and is the prime suspect. There are also rumors that Edrich is also a sword master on the same level as Jiskar. It also turns out that Chirac and Azeroth have a frenemies relationship and it’s really endearing.

I think it’s been about a month since Ray was in Mitchell Academy and on one of the nights, Ray actually has a wet dream about Jiskar much to his embarrassment. He thinks it’s because they’ve had sex almost every night for the past two years so his body is suffering from “withdrawal” lol.

Ray wants to basically prove to himself he’s still straight so he tries to sneak into a brothel. He runs into a red-head guy and they both end up at a bar instead. The red-head dude is weirdly really nice to Ray and asks him what’s troubling him. Without giving away too much, he just says he’s at a disagreement and red-head is all like who do I need to beat up. Eventually, Ray gets caught.

It doesn’t matter because Jiskar ends up appearing soon under the pseudo identity of the “Duke of Glen.” Since Abek is a neutral country between Strass and El Pasher, not many people in Abek actually know what El Pasher’s emperor looks like so Jiskar gets away with his identity. Ray and Jiskar end up having make up sex of course and the topic of Ray wanting a wife isn’t brought up.

Spoiler: Edrich: The Emperor of Strass

Edrich: The Emperor of Strass
We learn that there’s actually going to be peace talks between El Pasher and Strass soon in Abek but Jiskar wants Ray to return back to El Pasher before then. Of course, Ray is stubborn and refuses to listen. He wants to take the chance to talk to Edrich and figure out what exactly happened with his death and etc. Eventually, it’s revealed the red-head guy Ray met earlier at the bar was Edrich the whole time. Also, when Cerrado (Levnoad’s sword teacher and the previous captain of Levnoad’s elite knights) sees Ray, he’s so shaken he drops Edrich sword and causes a scene since Ray is pretty much a carbon copy of Levnoad apart from being shorter/skinnier. Edrich and them all question who the hell Ray is and they kinda all just conclude that he’s probably the son of Levnoad. Ray goes along with it because it’s probably easier to let them assume.

There’s a lot of tension now because Edrich now thinks Ray is Levnoads son and should go back to Strass immediately. Jiskar is very insecure that Ray will leave him for Strass and their relationship gets strained. They have a lot of makeup sex but Ray still refuses Jiskar’s request to return to El Pasher. Ray keeps saying he wants to be there for the peace talk but they both know it’s only bc Ray wants to get answers of what really happened with his death.

Ray and Edrich have a lot of encounters and Edrich, under the impression that Ray is Levnoads son, tells Ray that he really didn’t kill Levnoad and that it was the Duke of Calloway who thought they would be able to claim the throne if Levnoad died. He keeps trying to convince Ray to come back to Strass. We learn Edrich is an insanely cruel ruler and actually is a sword master par with Jiskar. He treats his subjects inhumanly as he once ordered his servants to literally be human stepping stones when it rained. He also has really chronic and painful headaches that impairs him. Ray feels a lot of guilt and is reflecting if he’s the reason why Edrich turned out this way.

Back at the room Jiskar and Ray share, they continue to have arguments about Ray refusing to return to El Pasher. Ray keeps saying he needs to find out about is past etc and Jiskar is getting really pissed bc Ray ends up saying insensitive things. He knows how insecure Jiskar is but he still taunts Jiskar saying if he plans to fuck him, then hurry up with it. Extremely pissed, Jiskar tries to leave which Ray taunts him even more saying that Jiskar can’t bear to be without him. Jiskar is angry and tells Ray not to regret his words for pushing him.

Jiskar gets really rough with Ray and penetrates him without prepping and using any oil which obviously is painful for Ray. It’s important to note that Ray knew he pushed Jiskar to this point and Ray has all the power (literally) to push Jiskar away. Ray doesn’t do anything but he kinda realizes how much Jiskar was always focused on Ray’s pleasure during sex and he’s showing what it would be like if Jiskar had no consideration for Ray.

Obviously, Jiskad really can’t bear to hurt Ray so he stops and pulls out. It’s revealed that Ray hates seeing Jiskar sulk and have a sad expression so when Jiskar is about to leave, Ray can’t stand it and pulls Jiskar back to him. Ray ends up confessing everything about how Edrich was the only brother he spared and his feelings on why he needs to have closure on his death to Jiskar.

After Ray finally pours out his feelings, they have really sweet make up sex and go at it all night. We find out that Ray really gets touched when Jiskar finally smiles because it’s been a long time he’s seen Jiskar have a happy expression since their bickering. Jiskar apologized for being rough earlier but Ray says he’s not mad because he knew he drove Jiskar to that point and that if he really didn’t want to allow it, he could’ve blasted Jiskar off. Also, Jiskar asked Ray to promise to always tell Jiskar all his thoughts and feelings, even if he thinks I’ll hurt Jiskar, and Ray agrees.

The following night, Jiskar begs Ray to return to El Pasher before the peace talks and Ray refuses again. The two also kinda of address Ray sexuality because Ray gets all moody when Jiskar kisses him and is affection and Ray says it’s because he really doesn’t find himself attracted to men. Ray claims that he really likes women in the end of the day so Jiskar is like imagine me as a women then LOL. It’s a funny scene where they both try to imagine the other as a women. Ray teases Jiskar to not imagine him as a small and petite female since he’s already as short as he is now. Ray finally tells Jiskar everything about Edrich as he promised, including the chronic headaches and how he starting to see Ray as Levnoad. Ray tells Jiskar he’s going to take the opportunity to get all the answers from Edrich, who is currently bedridden due to the headaches and Jiskar accepts it.

Ray visits Edrich at his room and tries to get as much information to what happened after his death and if Edrich was really involved or not. We also learn that despite how horrible the headaches are, Edrich refuses to get any professional medical attention. As they talk, Edrich mostly accepts that Ray is Levnoad. There are three key things that made Edrich realize that Ray is truly Levnoad. First during a singing class, Ray is asked to to sing and he’s actually pretty bad. However, Levnoad was also bad at singing too. Edrich and his personal guards including Cerrado, end up singing a Strass song and there’s a lot of nostalgia. The second event happened when Edrich kept taunting Ray about his relationship with Jiskar and he finally sees Ray use show himself as a quartet wizard. The third is the mana stone bracelet that Ray has. It’s apparently in the same exact design that Levnoad used to do magic. He calls Ray “Brother Levi” and it does make Ray somewhat uncomfortable. Despite Ray trying to tell him his life as Levnoad is done, Edrich doesn’t care and treats Ray kindly as if he really missed him, which throws Ray off. Edrich claims that he never hated Ray and while he was afraid of him growing up, he greatly admired him so therefore couldn’t never bring himself to kill Ray.

Edrich and Ray spend the day together and it’s nostalgic and sentimental for Ray. However, Ray is concerned with how cruel Edrich is towards his servants and how cold he is to his son. Edrich’s reasoning is that with all the hardships and cruelty he suffered from being emperor after Levnoads death, why should he bother to be kind to others. Ray also notices that Edrich has a knight who accompanies him at all times named Evan, but there’s something off with this guy because Evan wears a ring that has a magical aura to it and it’s obvious that Evan doesn’t follow the proper etiquettes of an elite knight.

Later that night, when Ray returns to visits Edrich, he see Evan and ends up confronting him about the ring. When Ray removes the ring, Evans true appearance is revealed: he has blonde hair and blue eyes that are strikingly similar to Levnoad. Ray is baffled and questions Evans identity but he doesn’t give a clear answer. He cried to Ray saying if he’s really the son of Levnoad, why didn’t he go back to Strass and why is he refusing to even return now. Evan vaguely mentions that he would’ve had had to live his life like this if Ray had come sooner which leaves Ray very confused and suspicious. Edrich eventually catches their encounter, but Evan manages to change his appearance back in time. Ray asks Edrich what’s Evan’s purpose and relationship to him. Edrich brushes it off and says not to bother with such a lowly thing and Ray asks one more time if Edrich killed Levnoad which he denies and said it was the Duke of Calloway (he’s an uncle or something similar).

In the bedroom, Giscard returns and we learn that Ray is so familiar with Giscard’s scent that it’s all he needs to know to indenting him. Ray tells Jiskar everything and about how he was foolish to think Edrich could forgive him after all the hardships and stuff he suffered during his death. Ray also reveals Evans identity and suspects that he has been taking out all his rage and anger by abusing Evan because he looks like Levnoad. Ray is worried that he’s jeopardizing the peace talks between Strass and El Pasher that’s scheduled in ten days. Ray says he’ll take responsibility which frustrates Jiskar. Instead, Jiskar reveals to Ray that he’s been purposely doing a bunch of paperwork to avoid running into Edrich himself because he knew it would worsen the tension because he might be unable to control himself. Jiskar says it’s not for Ray to feel the blame. Jiskar asks Ray how much more does he have to watch him be frustrated and strained when he’s also been trying to do everything he can to make things easier. Ray gets really touched because of how thoughtful and considerate Jiskar has been all this time.

They have a really sweet sex scene where Ray finally holds Jiskar hand during sex and indulges him. As we know, Jiskar always put Ray’s pleasure above his own so Jiskar does ask Ray’s permission if he can go a little rough and Ray says okay. There’s a really endearing dialogue where Jiskar asked if Ray is really okay. He reassured Jiskar hes fine because he sees how much Jiskar feels good and he should hurry before he changes his mind. When they finish, Jiskar says possessively how he wishes he can chain and shackle Ray so that he can only have his eyes on him. Ray thinks about how he usually acts angry and retorts whenever Jiskar says things like this, but he doesn’t resist in the end because he knows Jiskar will never truly do anything that Ray doesn’t like.

On the other end, we find out the true nature of Evan and Edrich’s relationship. It’s really disturbing so please skip if you find the following warnings triggering (brutal rape and assault, implied incest). Ray assumed that Evan was an outlet for Edrich’s hatred of Levnoad, but the reality is much more sinister and disturbing: he is Edrich’s outlet for his lust after his own brother. Edrich abuses Evan because he doesn’t look enough like Levnoad. The same night, Edrich beats Evan and proceeds to rape him. There is no prepping, affection, or consideration on Edrich’s end; it’s purely animalistic. When Edrich gets frustrated that he can’t penetrate Evan due to the lack of prep, he shoves the bottle opening of oil inside Evan and then rapes him again…it’s really hard to read and is such a stark contrast to Jiskar and Ray’s first time actually. I think this scene really serves as a foil to Edrich and Jiskar. We find out that Edrich’s obsessive lust over Levnoad is not a secret within the Strass’s knights which is why Cerrado and the others tend to look at Evan with disgust.

Spoiler: The Peace Talks

The Peace Talk
It’s now about to be three days til the peace talk and Edrich and Cerrado constantly try to sway Ray to return to Strass. Ray keeps telling them he has no intention to return to Strass because Levnoad is dead and he’s only Ray. Eventually, Jiskar runs into Edrich despite his best efforts to avoid him. Jiskar tries his best to be civil and brings up the peace talk which Edrich dismisses without consideration. Edrich ends up attacking first and they both duel. Edrich constantly taunts Jiskar saying Ray will inevitably return to Strass and leave him. He also says sus things like how he can’t imagine the physical relationship between Ray and Jiskar which the latter thinks why tf would you even think that about your brother. Eventually, Ray finds out and uses magic to stop the fight. Cerrado tries to convince Ray to let him see a Strass doctor to which Ray replies that he’s El Pasian and leaves with Jiskar.

Back at their room, Ray scolds Jiskar for being reckless, but he eventually concedes bc he knows Jiskar only acts that way if Ray is involved so he asks him what did Edrich say about Ray to get him riled up. Jiskar answered it was because they said Ray will leave him for Strass and Ray thinks it’s pointless to get angry because they’ll always try to use that against him. Jiskar continues to sulk and Ray notes how Edrich was really about to kill him to which Jiskar agrees. The conversation gets more sensitive as Jiskar tells Ray how anxious he is that he will really leave him for Strass. Jiskar says he knows that Ray has the power to do so and that he would be the one to lose against him if they fought (Jiskar actually meant Ray could beat Jiskar due to sheer power and not because of the fact Jiskar can never hurt Ray). Ray tried to comfort him with his actions and they share a heated kiss. However, Jiskar broke it up to Rays surprise nd questions him.

This is when it gets really gut-wrenching. Jiskar remorsefully brings up how Ray isn’t even attracted to men and that if Jiskar never forced himself on Ray in the beginning, he wouldn’t have been like this. Rays displeased that he’s bringing that up and Jiskar asks him if he agrees. Ray replies that even if it’s true, it doesn’t matter now because Ray‘s been making his own choices and that it’s not Jiskar to come to those conclusions himself. Ray encourages him to get on with it and they have sex. They have a funny pillow talk after the post-nut clarify hits Ray, who pushes Jiskar from hugging him when he remembers Jiskar is a man. Ray replies he’s only 50% into it and Jiskar argues that he’s at least 75%. Later, Ray decides the two of them should sneak into town under disguise.

The next morning, they go out in their disguises and it was supposed to be a cute sneaky date for them two except the run into Edrich and Evan at a bar and things get sour. Jiskar is only holding back because Ray is there but Edrich says stuff and continues on about how Ray will return to Strass, how he deserves better, and all that stuff to purposely tick off Jiskar. Things get really heated and Edrich decides to be petty and reveal Giscard’s disguise loudly, who in turn does the same back to Edrich. It causes a commotion and Ray has to pay the barkeep to not say a word about anything. Ray finally tells Edrich that he’s not returning to Strass because Levnoad is dead and he’s Ray of El Pasher. Ray and Jiskar finally returns to their room.

There’s another heart-wrenching conversation back at the room. Jiskar solemnly expresses how he can never be enough for Ray. He tells Ray he thought he gave it all when he gave Ray the Duke title, a lot of territory, royal courtesy, but none of it will ever be enough for Ray since he was once the Emperor of Strass. Ray tries to comfort Jiskar knowing that the things Edrich said got to him. Jiskar is doubtful because he thinks it’s only inevitable that Ray will want to go home and that he hates El Pasher. Ray said it’s not that he he hares El Pasher, but it’s only natural for Strass to be wary of the rivaling country. Ray reassures him that he actually enjoys his peaceful life in El Pasher and doesn’t intend to leave. He tells Jiskar how even as Levnoad, if he didn’t had to be Emperor and was able to serve by one of his brothers side, he would’ve been satisfied with that. But because his older brothers couldn’t trust him anyways, it was a kill or be killed situation. Ray tells Jiskar since El Pasher is already prosperous country, he likes that he can enjoy a leisurely lifestyle and do magic research to his hearts content. Ray internally concludes that it’s better to remain in El Pasher regardless because his presence in Strass will only cause more strain if he were to go. Jiskar asks Ray depressingly to stay with him and that he’ll give Ray whatever he wants and needs even though it’ll never be enough, to which Ray teasingly responds to lighten the mood that he needs 100k gallons worth of manastone. They spend the rest of the night cuddling and chatting.

There’s a scene where Azeroth is talking to Chirac and he expresses how sad he feels when he sees the attention that Chirac receives from his father. Chirac tries to comfort Azeroth as he knew what it was like to be his position. He tries to be rational and tells Azeroth that it’s common for royals to do that. Chirac really sympathizes with him.

At some point, Cerrado asks Ray if they can have a friendly duel and they go at it. The Strass knights are watching by the sidelines and there’s an emotional scene by the end. Cerrado and the knights begin to kneel and they’re all crying because they finally realIe Ray is really Levnoad. Ray is emotional too because these were all the knights who were very loyal to him and it’s a surreal moment to see them all aged up by 20 years and so. They all beg Ray to return to no avail. Ray notices that Edrichs entourage is extremely odd because they’re all people who were extremely loyal to Levnoad and it was obvious that none of them respected Edrich. Ray wonders why Edrich would have people who seem like they’re willing to betray him and treat him colds by his side. Chirac and Azeroth were there to witnessing the duel and knights reaction. They bicker cutely and Chirac teasingly tells Azeroth to start treating him with more respect.

The day has finally come to for peace talk between El Pasher and Strass. But it’s announced that Prince Azeroth has been murdered. The death hits the hardest for Chirac since they were friends and Chirac really related and sympathized with his situation. It’s a really solemn mood during this time. Ray feels awful because he knows it was most likely Edrich behind it but he can’t determine why. Ray also feels extremely bad for Chirac. However, it’s revealed that Ray is now considered the prime suspect and they figure out that Edrich is trying to frame Ray.

Ray wants to see Edrich and get to the bottom of it and Jiskar objects because he’s afraid Edrich will really cross the line this time. The argument gets really heated to the point Ray threatens Jiskar to let him go or he’ll really get angry. Jiskar eventually gives in and says he’ll accompany Ray, but they both know it’s a bad idea. Ray confidently says that Edrich won’t really do anything to him and Jiskar needs to stop being overprotective. In the end, Ray does feel bad for taking out his anger on Jiskar because he knows Jiskar is innocent in all this.

Spoiler: The Turning Point

The Turning Point
Ray meets Edrich on the road and it was obvious that Edrich was expecting him. Edrich starts the conversation oddly by pointing out how short Ray is. He said s how Ray would’ve been a carbon copy of Levnoad if not for his height and slimmer figure. He calls Ray cute which really pisses him off. Ray reveals that he was cursed by one of the elves in the mountain to be a “dork” (that’s what MTL says lol). Edrich then tells Ray he needs to become stronger if he wants to be the emperor of Strass. Ray is confused and Edrich says that Ray isn’t the type of person who would be happy to be under the someone and he should return to Strass and aim for the throne.

Rays confused and Edrich explains that everyone already believes he’s the son do Levnoad so he has a right. Erdrich says Ray can literally be emperor as long as he kills off the every other candidate for the throne. Edrich eventually admits that he did kill Azeroth which shakes Ray and catches him off guard. Edrich takes advantage of Rays state and hugs him rather inappropriately. He’s sniffing his neck and whatnot and it makes Ray really uncomfortable so he pushes him off and regains his composure. Ray tries to confirm with Edrich if he really killed Azeroth to which he confirms it. But the disregard and lack of any empathy over the fact that he could kill his own son like nothing disturbs Ray.

Ray returns to Jiskar and he’s actually really relieved to see him. Ray tells everything. Jiskar is frustrated because he doesn’t like seeing Ray stressed. He pushes Ray to the wall and Ray knows Jiskar has been holding back a lot due to his love for Ray. Jiskar finally vents out his feelings to Ray. He tells Ray how he knows Ray can never truly separate from Strass and it pains Jiskar to see Ray depressed over the situation. He tells Ray that he would’ve killed Edrich if he could.

Ray is mad, but not actually at Jiskar. He’s mad at Edrich and the fact the situation is more complicated because he’s Strass’s emperor. Ray tells Jiskar he can’t kill Edrich as long as he loves him and Jiskar asks Ray if he really thinks he won’t do it. Ray feels defeated and tells Jiskar he knows he’s the reason why everything is happening. They kinda bicker, but not seriously and more because Ray is too prideful. Eventually, Ray cools off and allows Jiskar to comfort him. They have a sweet moment where Ray lets Jiskar kiss his face and eyes (usually Ray gets annoyed) and Ray even takes the initiative to brush his hair and touch he ears. Ray realizes he’s never taken the initiative to caress him and he now sort of understands why Jiskar always does it to him. Ray doesn’t want to admit that he really enjoys it.

Ray eventually asks for Chirac as he thinks he deserves to know the truth of the situation. When Chirac comes in, he’s very emotional and sad, but he immediately asks Ray who framed him as he knows it wasn’t Ray that killed him. Chirac picks up on the situation fasts and already assumed that Edrich was possibly behind it. Ray silent confirms what Chirac has already assumed. Chirac cries and confesses how he once thought he was the most pathetic and unfortunate person in the world and he would purposely act pitiful. He continues to cry for his deceased friend. Jiskar eventually comforts Chirac in his own way by lightly sweeping his had and Chirac cries even more. Ray thinks that while Jiskar is no means an affectionate father, he did protect Chirac compared to Edrich who was William to sacrifice his own son for the sake of his agenda.

The tension between Strass and El Pasher is really bad and word has already spread about the murder. I assume since everything happened in the neutral country, the laws are different so technically it’s not enough to start a war. Regardless, things are looking bad on both sides. At some point, Cerrado reaches out to Ray and asks if Edrich framed him and once Ray confirms it, Cerrado goes on an outrage. Ray again find it peculiar since Cerrado is part of Edrich’s closet knights so he confronts him about their behavior. Cerrado finally reveals the truth: Cerrado and all the knights who served under Levnoad only followed Edrich because they believe that’s what Levnoad’s will wanted. Levnoad always put Strass first and wanted peace in the kingdom so Cerrado had to convince the other knights to be loyal despite how much they actually they despised Edrich. Ray realizes how agonizing it must’ve been for them so he tells Cerrado that his judgement was right and that Levnoad would’ve wanted the same in putting Strass’s safety first. He says Levnoad is probably having a good life in hell or something like that and Cerrado is emotional. Cerrado tries to tell Ray to come back to Strass and Ray refuses again saying it’ll cause more issues. He tells Cerrado that he should be pledging his loyalty to Edrich. Ray leaves and feels very uneasy with the state of Strass: an emperor who is vulnerable to the people by his side and the knights who are force to be loyal to someone they hate.

Ray returns to Jiskar who tells him the update on the Azeroth situation. Jiskar said he knows Cerrado visited him so Ray vaguely tells Jiskar that he just tried to convince him to return to Strass. Jiskar knows there is more to it but Ray doesn’t reveal much since he’s in front of other El Pasher knights. Due the Azeroth incident, the peace talks inevitably don’t happen so the two emperors no longer have a reason to stay in Abek. Everyone is set to return, but Ray says he’ll participate in one of the murder investigations to ease Abek’s King conscience. Jiskar is displeased that Ray didn’t mention this earlier and Ray pretends that he didn’t know but they both know he’s bull shitting. Ray wants to use this time to figure out how he should deal with Strass.

When Ray goes to where the investigation is being held, he sees Evan and Edrich already there. It turns out that Edrich bribed the investigators so there’s nothing more to be done. Ray is pissed and Edrich continues to push Ray into confirming where his loyalty lies. Then, Edrich has another severe headache attach and he’s crippling in paid. Ray rushes over worries and tries to call for a doctor, but Edrich refuses. However, when Ray is close enough and vulnerable, Edrich takes the chance to disarm the man’s bracelet from Rays arm. Evan then than brings some sort of drug to Edrich, who then forced it into Rays mouth via kissing…Ray is then immobilized.

Edrich points out how Ray always lets his guard down around him and Ray feels stupid for being so careless. As Ray’s consciousness begins to fade, he’s thinking about Jiskar will react and he’s hoping Jiskar doesn’t go crazy. Right before Ray oases out, Edrich kisses him again.

Spoiler: The Climax

The Climax
Ray has a flashback dream about when he realized how naturally talented Edrich was in swordsmanship. He recalls then how he made Edrich to live his life in fear of being killed. Ray believes he spared Edrich due to his guilty conscience of killing all his relative and raised him like a pet to make himself feel better.

Ray wakes him to find himself restrained to the bed and laughs bitterly. Evan questions why is Ray laughing in this situation to which he answers that it’s funny how he allowed himself to be fooled by Edrich again. Evan just tells Ray to go back to Strass to prevent things from getting worse. Before Evan leaves, he tells Ray there’s something important he has to tell Ray and to find him when he can. Edrich finally returns to the room.

[TW: attempted rape, SA, incest] Edrich and Ray exchange some verbal blows until Edrich starts to touch Ray sexually. He begins to kiss and molest him much to Rays horror. Ray tries to rationalize and thinks Edrich is doing this to scare him, but Edrich goes on and reveals how he has always imagined this moment. Ray tries to fight back and reminds Edrich that they’re brothers but it’s useless because Edrich begins to undress Ray. Edrich continues to reveal the sick fantasies he’s had of Ray. At this point, Ray comes to the conclusion that Edrich is doing everything out of hate: he billed Azeroth because Ray showed some fondness to him and now he’s trying to rape him because it’s the biggest insult worse than killing him.

Rays heart is hurting and he’s beginning to feel really emotional as he recalls when Edrich was an innocent child. He tries to blame the drugs for making him sentimental when he’s about to experience the worst thing possible. Edrich tells Ray to promise him that he’ll return to Strass before he goes crazier, so Ray agrees hoping it’ll stop him, but Edrich continues with his assault. Ray thinks to how most people would call for God or something when they’re pushed to their worst limits, but Ray never felt that desperate before. He recalls back to when he was first humiliated and tortured, his willpower was still strong and all he focused on was survival. However, in this moment, he wished for God or anyone else to save him for this hellish nightmare. He ends up calling for Jiskar even though the irony was that he was once humiliated by him.

Edrich stops his assault for a bit and Ray taunts him asking if he’s jealous. Ray responds that even if he might fall in love with Jiskar, who is he to interfere. Edrich continues his assault and Ray is real lying afraid now. Finally, Jiskar, Dunphil, and Christian arrive. Ray sees Jiskar’s expression and it’s the first time he’s seen him so enraged to that extent. Everything is happening in a flash and Edrich and Jiskar are dueling to the death. Ray realizes that all the talk of Jiskar being the greatest sword master in the world is as no joke. Jiskar has the upper hand at this point and as he’s about to deliver the final blow, Ray screams no, only Jiskar listens and edrich takes the opportunity to fatally wound Jiskar.

Ray is losing his mind and freaking out as he’s trying to comprehend everything. He goes immediately to Jiskar and tries to pour as much healing magic as possible. He manages to use magic again and casts a spell to bind him. Even though Jiskar is on the brink of death, he still tries to soothe Ray. All the sudden, there’s a fire going on and Ray realizes that El Pasher must’ve been trying to start a fire to create a diversion and attack Strass. Cerrado ends up committing treason because he comes to Rays aid instead of Edrich after he realize what he tried to do to Ray. As chaos ensues, Ray eventually tells everyone to act like they never witnessed anything that happened including Erdrich stabbing Jiskar to prevent a way from breaking out. Ray and Jiskar are able to escape safely with Cerrado’s help.

Jiskar receives medical attention from the strongest healers in the world and thankfully, he’s able to survive due to his strong body from being a sword master and the fact that healing magic was applied immediately. Regardless, the damaged he sustain was severe. It takes a full day for Jiskar to wake up and the first thing he says is that Edrich is really a strong swords master and is concerned about Ray’s safety. Ray is baffled because if he were to be stabbed by Edrich in such manner, he would’ve died immediately.

Jiskar reveals his true intentions to start the fire, distract the knights, and then kill Edrich. He tells Ray how would he expect him to remain calm when he was about to lose him. Ray feels guilty as he reflects on Jiskar’s injury since he knew that Jiskar easily could’ve killed Edrich if he didn’t tell him to stop. Even though Jiskar was ready to start a war, Ray understood his view. Ray apologies to Jiskar and said he should’ve listen to him before instead of trying to chase after Edrich. He agrees to finally go home with Jiskar to El Pasher.

Jiskar then becomes sullen and tells Ray that when he saw him about to be violated by Edrich, he realized that he’s done the same to Ray when they first meant. Ray thinks about how Jiskar as been reflecting a lot on their first meeting. He tries to tell Jiskar it’s not a big deal but Jiskar thinks otherwise. Jiskar feels really bad but Ray tries to tell him it’s different because Ray was really just a slave back then and Jiskar didn’t know his true identity whereas Edrich knows he’s Levnoad and did it to humiliate him. Jiskar doesn’t seem convinced. Jiskar reveals how he wishes he can chain Ray up so that no one else can see him and that he’s no different from Edrich. Ray doesn’t agree and he wants tell Jiskar that he’s different but the words don’t come out his mouth. Ray admits in his mind it’s true he did recall back to his first time with Jiskar when Edrich was assaulting him. However, Ray recognizes that he wouldn’t have cared about a slaves feelings when he was Levnoad so he understood Jiskar’s actions then. Even though their relationship started with coercion, Ray grew attached to Jiskar and really does enjoy being physically intimate with him which is why he doesn’t care about how their relationship started now. Ray decides there’s no point in explaining this to Jiskar given how injured he is so he just tells him to go rest and leaves once Jiskar is finally asleep.

Jiskar finally awakes and his first instinct is to worry about Ray instead of himself, which does touch Ray. He demands Jiskar to properly rest because he’s still trying to do paperwork. When Jiskar goes to sleep, Ray decides to find Evan to see what he wants to reveal. Evan take Ray to a portal that Levnoad tried to built. It was a direct portal from Abek to Strass that was a secret project only Levnoad could complete. Apparently, only one way works from Strass to Abek, but the return method is too complex so Evan asks Ray to activate the portal if he’s really Levnoad. Ray does manage to bring them back to Strass. Evan then takes them to a secret underground chamber where they find Levnoad’s corpse perfectly preserved that it looks like he’s only sleeping. Ray is disgusted and demands answers. Evan begins to tell the story.

When Levnoad died, everyone mostly suspected Edrich but since there was no other heirs since Levnoad killed them all, the emperor (their father) had no choice but to put Edrich to the throne. Eventually, Edrich does find evidence that it was the Duke of Calloway who poisoned Levnoad. However, the emperor father thought it was shameful that some nobody Duke was able to kill someone as great as Levnoad so they hide it but still clear Edrich name. Everybody hates Edrich since only a few know the truth and the emperor father doesn’t do anything to help Edrich case either. The emperor father isn’t over Levnoads death so much that he was the one who actually built the preservation chamber. The emperor father forces Edrich to make as many descendants as possible. There were a lot of threats of rebellions to avenge Levnoads name, but since Cerrado decided to serve under Edrich, it eventually stops. Edrich realized fear was the only way to get people to listen to him which is why he becomes a crazy tyrant after becoming a sword master.

At some point, Edrich gets seduced by a male prostitute who barely looked like Levnoad. This is when the sick lust for his own brother started. He kills the male prostitute but it’s the beginning of him raping anyone who shares some resemblance to Levnoad only to kill them later. Word spreads about this, but only those in the castle actually know he rapes them while everyone else just thinks he’s killing them due to hatred. Evan was a slave boy that Edrich came across and he takes him to do what he did to all the others. But since Evan refuses to listen to edrich who usually makes them call him “Eddy,” Evan ends up being spared. Evan is also the one who resembles Levnoad the most. Evan knows he’s special for being the only one to disobey but there’s literally no affection between him and Edrich. Evan reveals that occasionally when Edrich is in a good mood, he spills our secrets which is why Evan knows so much.

Ray doesn’t really know how to process all this and is appalled. Ray takes them back to Abek and goes to see Edrich where he asks one more time if he killed Levnoad. Edrich says no and again tells him it was the Duke of Calloway. Ray asks about Evan this time and Edrich replies saying they’re not him and he only hated that they didn’t look anymore like him. He reveals his sick obsession. Ray asks about Azeroth and the answer is the same, he did it because he wants Ray to become emperor which means he’ll need to kill all the potential successors just like Levnoad did. Ray can’t take it and he strangles Edrich, who is even happy to be strangled by him. Ray leaves.

Ray returns to Jiskar and tells him everything he learned, but he tells Jiskar he needs to go back to Strass to fix things. They argue as Ray wants to prevent Edrich from starting a war but Jiskar said he’s willing to do the same for Ray. Jiskar tells Ray that if he tries to claim Strass throne, he’ll have to kill all his family once again because there will be no other way. Ray hates the fact that Jiskar is right but doesn’t answer. They don’t meet eye to eye and Ray tells Jiskar he’s going to meet with Cerrado.

When they meet, Ray realizes that Cerrado has truly lost it as well. Cerrado is ready to go against Edrich and betray him to make Ray emperor. He tells Ray if he doesn’t decide to return to Strass with them in five days, they’ll kill Jiskar so that Ray can be free.

Ray is mentally unsound and doesn’t know what to do. Eventually, Jiskar finds him and Ray tells him everything. Ray says he doesn’t want to think anymore and Jiskar tells him to let him get his mind off of everything. They have a lot of sex and Jiskar tells Ray he’s really going to shackle him this time. Ray argues against it but still has sex with him because he doesn’t want to think about anything else.

It’s the next day and Jiskar never actually shackles him. They argue again with Ray saying he needs to go to Strass to convince Edrich and Cerrado and Jiskar lays it down flat to Ray how unrealistic it is. Ray knows Jiskar is right but he takes out all his anger on Jiskar saying he might as well take this opportunity to unify take Strass for himself. They have angry sex again. At some point, Jiskar takes away Rays manastone bracelet and Ray knows that he allowed Jiskar to do it because he could’ve resisted if he really wanted to know. It’s non-stop sex at this point and Jiskar says a lot of possessive things.

The next morning, Ray wakes up and his body is going through one of the after effects of the torture where he’s really sick and his feet feels like it’s burning. Ray gets really clingy if Jiskar because Jiskar always took care of him whenever it happened. Ray is finally stabilized and Jiskar feels guilty thinking it’s due to his suffering but Ray believes he experiences these after effects when he’s under too much stress. They argue again and Ray keeps saying he has to go back to Strass. When Ray doesn’t want t argue anymore, he tries to seduce Jiskar to get his mind off everything but Jiskar refuses him due to his current state. Ray passes out soon as Jiskar holds him.

It’s now two days until Cerrado’s attack and Ray has no appetite or strength. Jiskar continues to care and hold him. Jiskar says he’s preparing for war against Strass and Ray freaks out saying he needs to go back. Ray passes out again.

It’s now the final day and when Ray wake up, Jiskar tells him to prepare because they’re going to war. Ray keeps saying he needs to go to Strass and he yells at Jiskar if he’s really going to lock him up. Jiskar doesn’t answer so Ray says he won’t excuse Jiskar loves him too much to do anything he’ll hate. After another long silence, Jiskar says Ray is right, kisses him, and returns the manastone bracelet. He tells Ray to leave for Strass (I’m sobbing at this point lol).

[Get ready for emotional damage] Ray is shocked and tells Jiskar he doesn’t think he’s capable of letting him go. Jiskar agrees but tells him he’s doing it now. Ray is still confused and asks how Jiskar can even manage without him to which Jiskar replies he can’t manage without him, but he’s letting him go because he can’t bear seeing Ray fall from exhaustion and stress because of him. Jiskar points out how thin Ray has gotten in the past 5 days. He tells Ray to leave for Strass again and Ray runs to hold him. Then the wound that Jiskar had starts to bleed heavily and Ray realizes that Jiskar’s condition was worsening but Jiskar was too focused on taking care of Ray. Even then, Jiskar apologizes and asks if Ray is okay, not caring for himself. Ray panics thinking how can he leave Jiskar now but Jiskar tells Ray he needs to go now. He tells Ray there’s no one else in the world who deserves to be as prideful as Ray. He tells Ray to not wander any further and to go where his heart leads him, don’t let anyone sway his decision and that everything is possible with him, that even if he doesn’t have the answer now, he’ll find his way through his actions. Jiskar passes out due to blood lost.

Ray goes through an existential crisis as Jiskar is passed out and he reflects on every thing Jiskar said. Ray accepts that he had to shed blood in this lifetime as well to get what he wants. He thinks about how the two men who were obsessed with him thought they were giving him everything but they never actually thought what Ray really wanted. However, he realizes that Jiskar proved him wrong in the end by letting him go much to his surprise. He says that Jiskar made the right choice: he gained Ray completely by losing Ray.

Ray leaves and Christian tries to stop him. He tells them to send medical attention to Jiskar right away and that if Christian tries to stop him, Ray will never forgive him. Ray finally meets with Cerrado and Edrich. He tells them he will return for the throne and he tells Edrich he’ll keep his promise to keep him by his side as long as he remains his loyal dog and knows his place. Ray decides that he’s going to be Strass emperor not for anybody else but himself. On the way back, Edrich tells Ray how word has it that Jiskar is pretty much half dead now. Ray responds that Jiskar will never do anything Ray doesn’t like so he won’t die and to not bring it up again.

Spoiler: The Beginning of the End

The Beginning of the End
It’s been a few months since the whole incident and Ray is talking to his ex-fiancé when he was Levnoad. They agree that Ray will be engaged to her daughter when he ascends the throne. With Edrich’l and Cerrado’s help, Ray has been purging the princes apart from the crown prince. The next chapters are just Ray establishing his name in Strass and getting ready to kill his way to the throne. Also, the elf’s curse on Ray is lifted and Ray grew taller and looks exactly as he did as Levnoad now. Edrich still sus with Ray but Ray always puts him in his place and tells Evan to deal with him.

It’s been one year since Ray left Jiskar. In one of Ray’s villa in Abek that was gifted to him, Ray finally reunited with Jiskar, alongside Christian and Dunphil. They’re all shocked by Ray’s appearance. They share an endearing reunion moment with some playful bickering about Rays appearance. Finally, Jiskar hugs Ray and they head into the villa.

Ray immediately checks Jiskar’s scar to see how it healed. THe two make up for lost time as Ray tells him everything he’s endured. Ray is now the one initiating the affection and Jiskar doesn’t know how to accept it really. Ray even reassures Jiskar hes the only one he Ray will allow to act clingy and possessive. They have a lot of make-up sex and go at it like rabbits until daytime. They talk more about Ray’s situation and Jiskar hates to see Ray depressed over having to kill his family again. Sadly, there time is up and before Ray leaves, he finally tells Jiskar he loves him..only to announce his engagement right after. Ray purposly doesn’t look at Jiskar when he tells this.

Back in Strass, Ray continues to kill off the other throne candidates. Edrich’s headaches are getting worse but he always refuses to see a doctor. Ray is cold to Edrich and only uses him for the throne, taking full advantage of Edrich’s obsession. Ray misses Jiskar.

Ray and Jiskar finally reunite again after 10 months. Its harder for them to meet due to Ray’s situation and finding a good excuse to go to Abek. Ray goes straight to jumping Jiskar’s bones, but he ends up falling asleep for the whole day. When he awakes, he admits that he barely sleeps due to the anxiousness of planning and carrying out the murders. Jiskar is pained and tells Ray to sleep more who tries to argue they shouldn’t be wasting their short time together, but he sleeps nonetheless. The spend the rest of their time chatting, eating, plotting murders, and having sex. Their time ends with Jiskar telling Ray he didn’t wish to have him this way..

Back in El Pasher, Jiskar’s three remaining consorts were spared even though some of them were supporters of the previous empress’s rebellion. Jiskar figured it would be more problematic if it was revealed they were more or less traitors and cause issues to the new crown prince. Christian finally inherits his duke title despite being unmarried. Jiskar actually knows of Christian’s feelings for Ray, but isn’t mad since Christian protected Ray before and is loyal to Jiskar first. Ray and Jiskar occasionally meet at their villa in Abek and Ray looks more worn every time. Ray can only sleep for real in jiskar’s arms. jiskar once tried to offer Ray help with the throne situation but Ray refused and even got mad since. Jiskar can only help Ray from afar and give him the chance to properly sleep.

Its now been four year’s since Azeroth’s death. Chirac still mourns for his friend. Everyone believes Ray killed Azeroth now that its obviously he’s aiming for the throne and killed every other prince. Chirac still believes in Ray and knows he didn’t murder Azeroth at least. He actually follows the news of Strass every day and he has mixed feelings for Ray. He prays that Azeroth’s mother and her two sons will be safe.

Spoiler: The Grand Finale

The Grand Finale
Ray finally succeeds in killing the crown prince, leaving his last opponent as Edrich. Ray also releases his dragon for the first time in Strass. Ray has most of the support from the nobles and anyone who is against him is killed.

Rosella, one of Edrich’s concubines and Azeroth’s mother, requests to meet with Ray privately. She requests for Ray to spare her and her kids and to exile them where she promises to live quietly. Before Ray can give an answer, there’s an emergency with Edrich. Ray rushes to Edrich who is on the verge of dying. Even though its what Ray wanted, he still feels somewhat worried and we find out that Edrich had planned to die off since the beginning which is why he never wanted to get his headaches treated. His wish for Ray to be emperor is coming true and Ray thinks he’s really lost it now. Edrich passes out.

Its been about 1.5 years since Ray and jiskar reunited. Ray actually travels by borrowing his dragons body at a small bird-like size. Usually, traveling this method is a last resort and Ray doesn’t want it to be known he can even do that for security reasons. But Ray really wanted to see Jiskar after Edrich fell into a coma. They go into a more private area to discuss, but Ray immediately tries to have sex and Jiskar stops him. He gets Ray to reveal the truth about Edrich’s situation. Ray finally pours out all the feelings and regrets he had about Edrich and cries. His mental state isnt good and Jiskar tries to comfort him. Ray passes out and sleeps for two whole days. Ray cries more when he wakes up, but their time to leave is overdue. Ray gives kisses all over jiskar’s face like how Jiskar used to do to him and Jiskar receives it awkwardly. Ray teases Jisakr to learn to accept his love before he leaves.

Ray is finally the Emperor of Strass and he uses his dragon again at the coronation.

Its been over 5 years now since the day Ray left. The villa hasn’t been visited in a long time. Ray and jiskar are reunited and Ray compliments Jiskar’s congratulatory gift of some ancient goblet. Its the first time they’re both meeting as emperors and they catch up on. Ray reveals that he was able to talk to Edrich one last time before his death and that Cerrado actually retired when he ascended the throne. Ray finally addresses his new empress much to Jiskar’s despair. Ray tries to cheer him up by telling Jiskar that if he really loves Ray, he can make Jiskar his concubine if he’s willing to leave El Pasher. Jiskar finally says that once he fufills his duty and safely hands over the throne to the crown prince, he’ll come over and be Ray’s concubine. They joke about the matter some more and then have their long awaited reunion sex. Fun fact that in this sex scene, Jiskar gets back at Ray by asking him where he feels pleasure the most: his front or back. Jiskar wins as he gets Ray to admit he feels it best from being the bottom lol.

The morning after, they share a bittersweet conversation of where they’re at now. jiskar tells Ray he was always destined to be an emperor in the end. Ray recalls how back then was the last chance he had to living a peaceful life with Jiskar in El Pasher. But they both agree that Ray’s pride will never really allow him to be anything but Strass’s emperor. Ray reveals he decided to spare Rosella, Azeroth’s mother, and her two kids even though its a risky move. Chirac’s prayers were answered.

Finally, its been exactly 25 years since the death of Levnoad that took place after the truce agreement with Strass and El Pasher. Now, the treaty talks are being held again in Abek between the two emperors. Everything has come full circle since Ray looks exactly like Levnoad did before he died. Even Jisakr hardly changed appearance which everyone assumes its because of his sword master status. The two finally shake hands and officiate the peace treaty.

Ray and Jiskar have tea in private and spend the next hour talking about their plans with the new treaty. The story ends with Ray telling Jiskar the same exact words he said as Levnoad when they first did the truce, which is he’ll see him when he gets the chance.

THE END!!

Spoiler: My ending thoughts

I can't believe I really wrote all that so if you actually read it and made it here, THANKS LOL. Clearly, this couple left a deep impact on me and I was really an emotional wreck towards the ending. I'm sad because the ending to me is more bittersweet than happy. I respect that Ray stayed true to character to the very end but I feel so bad for Jiskar who had to give up everything for the man he loves, including the chance to stay by his side. I just have to hope that Jiskar will really become Ray's concubine in the end. But I cried when I thought how Jiskar has to watch Ray have kids and potentially marry more concubines since Strass is known for "spreading their seeds" to have as many heir candidates as possible. I also hope they have an easier time meeting in secret because 1-2 times a year it too sad for my heart. I really loved how realistic the development of Ray's feelings for Jiskar went too. Seeing the roles reverse where Ray ends up being more affectionate and pushy was great. And of course, Jiskar's unconditional love for Ray moved me to tears. I liked that they both address the beginning of their relationship and how it was based on non-con and coercion, but because Ray knew what it was like to be in Jiskar's position since he was once an emperor too, he was able to forgive jiskar easier which is reasonable. I realllllly hope the webtoon gives us side stories beyond this ending. I NEED TO SEE JISKAR BECOME A CONCUBINE.

Spoiler: Favorite Moments/Quotes

Here are some of my favorite moments and quotes that depict Ray and Jiskar's relationship development:

• "In the past two years, I have been involved with Jiskar almost everyday" - When Ray had his first wet dream after being away from Jiskar lol
• Ray admitting that he genuinely likes conversing with Jiskar and enjoys their debates
• Ray drinking because he's too tsundere to admit that Jiskar's gloomy expression bothers him, especially when he's the cause. This was when they were arguing in the beginning over Ray getting a wife.
• "You're the only one who can touch me, kiss me, and see my body...Its only you. Don't you see how special you are to me?" - Ray trying to reassure Jiskar after the whole marriage arguement.
• "Whenever Jiskar uttered these words because he couldn't control his possessiveness, I would get angry and provoke him to try something. But I know Jiskar would never actually follow through. Jiskar never does anything I really hate." - Ray's though when Jiskar says he wishes he can chain Ray up again.
• "But you've decided to ask about the past and I have no interest in answering.I do it because I want to. l've made up my mind. What's wrong with you? Who are you to judge? How dare you look down at me with gloomy eyes?" - Ray's response to Jiskar bringing up their first meeting and concluding that Ray would never be interested in sex with him if he hadn't coerced him.
  
• "I did something that would not be easily forgiven by you. I know how much you have endured and yielded just by being with me. Nevertheless, I will continue to want more. I want to tie you up so that you can't go anywhere and have your heart. I still have these thoughts whenever I see you." - Jiskar expressing his insecurities to Ray
  
• "However, in my previous life as Levnoad, I had no consideration for a slave's feelings, so I understood that what Jiskar had done to me, who was a slave, was inevitable. As time went by, I became quite attached to Jiskar. It started with coercion, but it's true that sleeping with him was very stimulating and pleasant. That's why I just decided to let it go, and it's not that I didn't really care about the past when I was humiliated." - Ray's thoughts
  
• "Don't wander any further...... go as your heart leads you.... don't care about other people's circumstances, do whatever you want. Anything is possible with you. Even if you can't see the way right n ow, there must be an answer to the action...Go... to Strath......go and do everything you want." - Jiskar's final words before Ray leaves for Strass as he's literally bleeding to death. i cried like a rela bitch the first time I read this.
• "In order to gain me, you had to lose me completely" - Ray's thought when Jiskar finally let him go. Tears.
• "Smiling lightly, I put my nose against the tip of his nose. 'But I'm going to allow it to only one person. You're the only one who can touch me, and the only one who can cling to me.'" - Ray reassuring Jiskar during the first reunion since Ray left. Context: Ray made a comment how he's over all the people who were obsessed and possessive over him, so Jiskar felt guilty and sulked.
  
• "I felt good that this man belonged to me. Jiskar's heart belongs to me. It's my greatest possession." - Ray's thoughts
  
• "My Giscard, I often think about you. I remember countless words that you said affectionately while recalling your expression, calm voice, and body. That's when I feel so overwhelmed. I love you.I'm sure that's what it feels like to love." - Ray confessing for the first time right before he tells Jiskar about his engagement. Also cried like a bitch.
• "Jiskar had long wanted to win my heart. He finally achieved his wish. He got my heart completely, and in return he lost th opportunity to be around my body." - Ray's thoughts leaving Jiskar during their first reunion.
• Ray being the one to finally kiss all over Jiskar's face after he used to be annoyed whenever Jiskar did it to him.
• So many more I'm losing track LOL

 

thank you for your summary! You really worked hard! Tbh this is the kind of realistic and bittersweet love story I avoid but your write up was too good to pass up.

 

oh man :< It makes sense the ending is like that but it doesn't mean i'm happy with it

 

I agree…it’s very bittersweet. I hope the webtoon can give a more happier ending or at least show them in the future together or something. The webtoon actually is more tame then the novel so far

 

ty for this!! does the novel ever explain jiskar's interest/obsession with levnoad? bc when jiskar and "ray" first met it seemed like jiskar had a unrequited one-sided love for levnoad.

but it doesn't seem like they met before the truce? or did the novel mention it

 

You’re correct that Jiskar and Levnoad never formally met before the truce. However, there was a bonus chapter where Jiskar secretly caught a glimpse of levnoad training or something (I don’t remember it’s been awhile) some time before the truce where he witnessed how strong Levnoad was. That’s where his infatuation and admiration begain I believe. As for how quickly Jiskar fell for Ray, since it’s been over a decade I believe he didn’t make the connection right away that he was Levnoad but Ray’s attitude and demeanor probably reminded him of the feeling he had when he first saw Levnoad back then.

 

Man.... It rlly is a bittersweet ending. Tho it's more bitter than sweet.. I think I'll be dropping this when the empress arc finishes that's the only true ending I believe. Hopefully the manhwa changes and Ray shows more love for the seme(forgot his name already) and doesn't cheat on him(when he went to fuck someone in the brothel). Hopefully that doesn't happen in the manhwa.. tho it's realistic since it shows ray's complex about his sexuality. I still hate it tho

 

Haha don’t worry, Ray never cheated on Jiskar when he went to the brothel. He was about to go but then guilt got to him and Eddie interrupted him anyways. Ray does show Jiskar lots of love during the final chapters of part 2!! But still bittersweet since they can’t always be together. Hoping if the webtoon is popular enough, maybe they’ll give a happier ending through side stories.

 

Ohh?? I thought it said something like when he finished, he realize how he still likes girls or something. Maybe I was just sleepy and couldn't read it properly. Thank God he didn't cheat tho. Thanks!

 

This novel is so good! Hopefully the author will give us more extras now that the manhwa is being released. I really wish to see J as Ray’s concubine and also Ray’s children.

While it is sad to watch your beloved being with other people, I didn’t get sad over Ray having to do that (having wife, concubines and children). I guess I can accept the fact that this unavoidable and part of his responsibility- just like J did the same (before Ray, I know, but he did as this was his duty as emperor and to protect his empire). They love each other, but both are Emperors, none is above the other, so… I’m not sad at all as the novel convinced me.

There are things, though, that even if there’s a explanation, I really find it hard to accept. The torture, for example. The torture for me, if I was Ray, would be the end of this romance. Sure, Ray was a slave and sure, his identity was unclear, but I just can’t.

 

hii can u send me the link where i can read it free? pleasee

 

I wanna read this novel but I cant find this novel anywhere, can somebody help me?

 

Can you give it to me, if you find the novel

 

OMG you are the only one who made me create an account here to reply to your wonderful work, thank you so much for doing your best to summarize everything for us. and I DEFINITELY agree with you ! its really bittersweet but i must admit that for me its really heart breaking, for the ending to end like that!!!! ima literally crying !!!! I hope they will spend they time together in the end.. like they will find the time to leave the throne to their successor soon and they will reunite and be together forever uhuhuhuuh

 

I think you replied me wrong but may i ask you send me the novel , if you have it