The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go – Chapter 51

Author: Nikss

⚔︎

“Huh, yes…?”

“Yes, I mean it.”

That’s surprising…

Time could also change people like this.

“I didn’t know. You hated me so much back then.”

“Oh…”

Kashuel hesitated with a short sigh.

With his tongue wetting his lips a few times, he stared at me with a rather perplexed gaze.

“I’m sorry. I still feel sorry.”

“No, well, that’s possible ’cause you’re young. You showed that you didn’t like it, but when teased, you didn’t say a lot of hurtful things,” Ciel explained.

“I’d be happy if that was the case, but I’m still sorry.”

“It’s all right.”

Seriously, it was cute compared to what I had been through at the orphanage before.

When I think about it, he only had a high pride, and it doesn’t seem like he said a lot of things that demeaned me.

“And I know it’s hard for you to believe, but I didn’t hate you.”

“Well?”

Wait, what else was he talking about?

“I know. I deserve that kind of reaction. But it’s true.”

“Oh, really?”

“Then, I was a little…”

Kashuel sighed and touched his forehead.

“I must have been crazy. I’m sorry, but I didn’t hate you.”

“Oh, yes, I see,” Ciel answered.

Let’s just say yes, since he keeps saying those words.

It doesn’t matter if you hated me back then or not anyway.

“It was rather the opposite.” Kashuel continued.

“Opposite?”

“Yes.”

My mouth opened agape, but I couldn’t think of what to answer him.

The opposite of dislike…

‘Does that mean that you liked…?’

No, it couldn’t have been.

That high-nosed noble kid couldn’t have done that, and I looked at Kashuel.

“Hey, you don’t have to take it seriously. I just mean, I never hated you.”

“Ah yes.”

And the conversation didn’t last for a while.

Somehow the atmosphere seemed awkward, so I opened my mouth first.

“You must have studied well at the academy because you were the first-class imperial wizard from the beginning.”

We had a conversation about what we had been doing for 8 years.

Kashuel said that he eventually gave up his dream of becoming a magic swordsman and turned into a wizard.

He added that he entered the academy to train wizards and took the Imperial Palace Wizard Exam right after, graduating as the top student.

“How many years after I left, and you became a Knight Commander? The academy kept track of Deamant’s news.”

So for a while, the story blossomed with each other’s past stories.

When we first started the conversation, it couldn’t be that awkward, but by the end of it, we started talking to each other quite casually.

As a result, it was past 4 in the afternoon before I knew it.

“Oh, I guess I should go now.”

“Ah, yes.”

Kashuel nodded and rose from his seat, “We can talk about it again next time.”

“Yes, of course,” Ciel answered.

“Are you going to see Cedric?”

Ciel paused a little and looked up at Kashuel.

It was a very brief moment, but at first glance, it seemed that a light of regret passed through Kashuel’s green eyes.

“Yes.”

There was absolutely no reason to lie.

Because Kashuel already knew that, I often met Cedric for magic and swordsmanship classes.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Kashuel said with a slight smile.

I tried to pack my things and organize the teacup, but Kashuel said again, “It’s okay, so leave it.”

In the end, as he said, I left the teacup and the table as it was.

“Well then, see you later.”

“Oh, wait a minute.”

“Yes?”

As soon as I was about to turn the doorknob, Kashuel called me.

“Excuse me.”

He strode up to me standing at the door. Then he extended his long fingers towards my hair.

“Where did you get this thread? I’ll take it off for you now.”

“Oh, thank you…”

“No, I…”

He smiled as he showed me the seams he had removed from the ends of my hair.

“By the way, your hair is still pretty,” Saying that, Kashuel’s eyes were fixed on my hair.

Seeing the mysterious color of his eyes that seemed to recall vague memories, I couldn’t say anything in the end.

“Now, you can go. See you later.”

Leaving him behind with a bright smile, I headed out to the hallway.

‘Why did he say that…?’

I pondered over Kashuel’s words over and over again, but I couldn’t figure out the answer.

⚔︎

Screech!

When I heard the sound of grinding teeth clearly, I let out a sigh.

‘What’s wrong with him again today?’

Cedric, whom I met after talking to Kashuel, was visibly irritated.

As soon as he saw me, he silently grabbed one of my arms and clung to me, and suddenly he began to grind his teeth.

Each time I looked back at him, he was staring into space with a ferocious gaze.

As if he’s going to kill someone with his eyes just by looking at them.

[Originally, the squeamish kids sometimes say that. There are days like that. On a rainy day or something.]

‘Caliberne, it’s not even raining today.’

[Well, maybe there’s something else. But you know that the reason that the Emperor is doing that is most likely due to something related to you.]

Yeah, that’s true.

But seeing that he was already showing such anguish like that, it was annoying to ask.

‘Ah, maybe it’s because I came to meet Kashuel…’

Did he put a radar on me? Or did he plant someone around me?

He knows everything like a ghost.

“Your Majesty, what are you up to today?”

At that, Cedric turned his head and glanced at me.

“…Ciel, I don’t like blond hair.”

So it’s true. He’s doing that because I met Kashuel.

‘Will that obsession ever go away?’

Somehow, that piece has been directed at me so far, but wasn’t it time to shift to the original heroine as it was meant to be?

‘Well, I don’t know when it will come… It might be different when the female lead appears.’

Let’s not be hasty.

Until the female lead comes, I could make him a good person.

After surviving in this bloody imperial palace for 8 years, couldn’t I do one of those things?

[Don’t forget. You almost gave up!]

I almost shed tears at Caliberne’s voice filled with regret.

I never imagined that I would get to know all the thoughts of Hwanghee, who was captured by King Sejong and was liberated from the affairs after entering this novel.

“I especially hate curly gold hair,” Cedric added.

I patted Cedric on the shoulder, thinking, ‘It’s obviously Kashuel.’

“You can’t hate people for no reason.”

“It’s not without reason.”

“You shouldn’t hate it for ridiculous reasons, even if there’s a reason.”

“…Okay.”

Still, Cedric doesn’t answer any. As expected, he listens well.

It’s just that Cedric listens well and doesn’t practice it.

“Ciel, did you have tea with Kashuel today?”

“Oh, yes. It just happened.”

“Did Kashuel suggest drinking together first…? No, didn’t he ask you to drink together?”

“No. It’s not like that, I was with the Marquis Lauren, but the Marquis had urgent business, so he went first.”

There weren’t three people from the beginning, but saying this would calm Cedric down a bit.

“Oh, is that so?”

Surely, suddenly, Cedric’s face starts to turn red.

“Yes, it is.”

“I see.”

He wrapped his arms tightly around me for a while, perhaps he was in a good mood, and after a few minutes, he tapped my shoulder.

“Ciel, let’s have tea together.”

“You don’t have much time, do you?”

“I have time for Ciel.”

“No, don’t take a break because of me again. Time management is also a skill of a monarch.”

“It’s true! I’m free because the meeting was canceled this Friday.”

Cedric appealed to me, looking straight into my eyes as if to ask me to believe him.

“And drinking tea is an opportunity to get a good rest, right?”

No, that’s what I heard…

[Don’t be persuaded, idiot. He’s drinking tea as an excuse and wants to be with you.]

Oh well, it was.

…I must not be swayed.

“And the time I spend with Ciel is my real break.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. How can you think of our time together as a break?”

“I don’t have to feel burdened. I’ll prepare your favorite White Moon tea.”

“I have money, too. Though it’s money from His Majesty.”

Then Cedric smiled.

“I’ll give you a bonus.”

“Ah! I love drinking tea.”

“Yeah. I love this about Ciel.”

[What a monster…]

Caliberne muttered in an absurd voice.

⚔︎

Today was the long-awaited Friday.

The day I decided to drink White Moon tea with Cedric.

When he first offered a bonus, I instinctively accepted his offer, but I quickly came back to my senses.

I made it obvious that I didn’t want to be with my boss, but in fact, being with Cedric wasn’t always a big stress.

‘If it was true, I would have withered and died sooner.’

However, the part that he had to manage his stamina as an Emperor was not an empty word, so I reconfirmed whether Cedric would be able to take a break even if he met me.

Personally, I didn’t want him to sacrifice his break time for me.

And if he, who has to deal with all sorts of tasks, even collapsed because he sacrificed his break time to meet me, the Imperial Palace would literally become a melting pot of chaos.

‘Well, when I looked at it closely, it didn’t seem like Cedric had much to do on Friday.’

So I finally accepted his offer.

I met him in the study and decided to drink tea together in the garden, so after morning training, I headed straight to the study.

Just as I was about to stand in front of the familiar door and knock, I heard Cedric’s voice from inside.

“Yeah. Slowly, I need to extend Deamant’s power elsewhere.”

The moment I heard those words, my body hardened like a stone statue in front of the door.

‘Do we need to extend Deamant’s power to other places?’

Wasn’t this a typical aggressor’s ambassador who wanted to expand their territory by conquering other countries?

“I agree, Your Majesty.”

Besides, I could hear Paul’s voice agreeing with Cedric’s words.

“Yeah, first I think we will need to go to the kingdom of Ackeletta.”

The calm voice heard through the cracks in the door turned into a mountain of voices and made me dizzy.