The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go Chapter 64

 

As soon as I heard that, the water I was swallowing caught in my throat and I coughed frantically.

 

The troupe surrounding me patted me on the back in panic, and James, who had asked, looked down at me in surprise.

 

“Ca, Captain, are you all right?”

 

“No, it’s just…”

 

This time, I realized that I couldn’t even speak properly when I heard the weirdest words I’d ever dreamed of saying.

 

After wiping the water from my mouth, I was unable to speak for a while before I finally managed to get the words out.

 

“James, about that question you asked me earlier.”

 

“Uh, yeah.”

 

For some reason, James was listening to me in a much more polite manner than he had been earlier.

 

“Who told you that… I mean, who said that?”

 

All four knights exchanged a sly glance at my reaction.

 

So, there’s something up.

 

Sera spoke up first, “Well, we usually only see you in your armor, so we haven’t had that many chances to see you with your bare hands, have we?”

 

“Huh? Uh… I don’t usually show my hands when I’m training for the Knights.”

 

She was right when it came to Knights, I usually wore armor, so I rarely showed my bare hands.

 

Not all the time, but eight times out of ten, they trained without showing their bare hands.

 

“Why is that?”

 

“Well, yesterday during the new knights’ intensive training, you took off your gloves once for some reason.” 

 

“Huh? Really?”

 

After hearing Hillac’s words, I racked my brain for a while before I remembered that I had taken my gloves off and put them back on once yesterday while checking the training schedule.

 

“Oh, right, I guess so…”

 

“I saw it then, and I can see it now.”

 

Mika looked at me and said in an emphatic voice.

 

“That tattoo on the ring finger of your left hand!”

 

Ahh…

 

That’s when I realized what was going on.

 

“At first I thought it was a ring, but then I looked again and realized it was a symbol or something.”

 

Mika said enthusiastically.

 

“It’s not a ring, but I thought the ring finger of your left hand was also a sign of engagement or marriage, and since you don’t seem like the kind of person who would get married right away, I wondered if you were engaged—”

 

“Sorry, actually, I’m not.”

 

Mika interrupted, startled by my words.

 

“Heh, you’re not?”

 

“Yeah, I get that you misunderstood, but first of all, it’s not a sign of engagement.”

 

I said, looking down at the shiny, glowing green pattern.

 

“Oh, I see… I thought His Majesty had given you an amazing ring, and then you decided you didn’t like the idea of being burdened by it, so you got a tattoo.”

 

Sera scratched her chin, and Hillac beside her chimed in.

 

“I have a different take on it. I thought His Majesty would have preferred a tattoo that would leave a lasting mark, so I thought the two of you came to an agreement and got a tattoo instead of a ring.”

 

After hearing what they said, I said with a look of disbelief.

 

“You know, I can understand mistaking it for an engagement.”

 

Four pairs of eyes fixed on me, and I raged at them, saying.

 

“Why do you all think I’m engaged to the Emperor? I could have been engaged to someone else.”

 

“No, honestly, who else would you be engaged to but the Emperor?”

 

James’s response was even more baffling.

 

When I gave him a confused look, he spoke first.

 

“Well, let me explain it to you in one fell swoop.”

 

Then he glanced at the other three knights and said.

 

“Raise your hand if you’ve ever seen the Captain alone with a man other than His Majesty or Vice Captain Turka.”

 

But none of the other three raised their hands. They just shook their heads in unison.

 

“See, so it’s natural to assume that if she was engaged, it would have been to the Emperor.”

 

“Exactly, and I’m sure the Emperor will quietly dispose of any man who tries to hit on her.”

 

Dispose of them?

 

Still, he’s the emperor of a country, yet sounds like a street thug who’s blinded by jealousy and cuts people to pieces.

 

“Anyway, I understand, but no, I didn’t get this engraved because of an engagement, and-“

 

“I had it engraved by myself for another reason.”

 

I turn around at the sound of a voice behind me, and there’s Cedric, smirking and amused as always.

 

“His Majesty himself engraved it…?”

 

Sera said, covering her mouth in surprise.

 

“Sera, it’s not like that, it’s because of an oath…”

 

But the four knights were too focused on Cedric to hear me.

 

“That’s right. I engraved it myself.”

 

“Wow, so you did…”

 

“But, Your Majesty, you said it was of a different kind, what does that mean?”

 

Cedric smiled at Mika’s question.

 

“It was engraved as a token of a promise far deeper and more important than an engagement.”

 

The four knights’ jaws dropped at that.

 

“No way…!”

 

By the looks on their faces, the four were clearly in serious misunderstanding.

 

“So it was a sign of marriage, not engagement!”

 

“I didn’t think you’d skip the engagement stage and go straight to marriage, Captain, you certainly know when to do it!”

 

“Oh my gosh, you should have told me sooner, so we could have congratulated you.”

 

My head started to ache as I watched the knights excitedly congratulate me.

 

I glanced over at Cedric, who stood off to the side, looking harmlessly amused, but he didn’t end up correcting the information he’d spilled.

 

🗡️

 

“Your Majesty, when you speak like that, everyone misunderstands you!”

 

“Why, I never said anything wrong.”

 

Cedric replied with a graceful flick of his quill.

 

“It is a symbol of your pledge to me, and I gave it to you.”

 

“But you say it’s a token of a promise that’s more important than an engagement, and everyone takes it the wrong way!”

 

It wasn’t until I intervened and told him that it was a sign of honoring an oath to the Emperor that everyone’s misunderstanding was cleared up.

 

Even James, who had some knowledge of the oath, only knew the penalties for not honoring it, not the new pattern that came with honoring it.

 

So everyone misunderstood when they saw the new pattern on my left ring finger.

 

“An engagement is a promise that can be broken anyway. People get engaged and break up more often than you think.”

 

Cedric put down his quill, clasped his hands together, and spoke calmly.

 

“But our vows are different. It lasted eight long years, and it was kept.”

 

“So?”

 

“It means it’s not in jeopardy of being broken because it’s already been kept, and it’s a promise that symbolizes our eight years together.”

 

Glaring at Cedric, my eyes narrowed at the over-interpretation, but he was undeterred and continued in a crystal clear voice.

 

“And it’s a promise that allows us to still be together eight years later, so it’s a more significant promise than an engagement to me.”

 

“Perhaps to you, but to me, who was tricked by you at the age of twelve, it sounds like an unfair contract.”

 

“Oh, please, be my guest.”

 

Cedric chuckled bemusedly and raised the stake.

 

“Oh well, an unfair contract is harder to break than an engagement.”

 

He stroked the sizzling hemp beside him and muttered to himself.

 

‘How did I ever fall for this guy…’

 

Of course, it didn’t change anything.

 

🗡️

 

“Ugh.”

 

I’ve become wary of even taking off my gloves in public after realizing that the green pattern on my ring finger could be misinterpreted.

 

At first, I didn’t think too many people would notice the pattern because it was so thin, but that changed when the Knights discovered it.

 

During training, I was so frustrated that even when I took off my gloves, I wore slightly bulky gloves with a sapphire ring on the ring finger of my left hand, just in case the pattern was visible.

 

For some reason, sapphires are not commonly used as wedding or engagement rings in this world.

 

It was also a good excuse to carry a spare, since I primarily used sapphires as magic stones.

 

‘This will have to do for now. Just until Cedric quiets down a bit…?’

 

Just then, Cedric, who had fulfilled the personal training goal I had given him, approached me as I was resting on the grass.

 

“Ciel, I’ve finished practicing focusing my magic, what do you want me to do now?”

 

Hiding my left hand so as not to be seen, I replied in a nonchalant tone.

 

“Then you should practice pure swordsmanship. I’ll challenge you to a duel after you’ve made fifty swings at the practice puppet.”

 

“Okay, but what’s that thing in your left hand?”

 

I wonder what kind of fuselage vision he has.

 

“Um, it’s nothing, go practice.”

 

“It’s a ring on your ring finger of your left hand, and it’s nothing?”

 

“It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just an emergency stockpile of magic stones.”

 

There was no point in hiding it anyway.

 

Cedric glared down at my hand as I exposed it.

 

“You didn’t wear the one I bought you.”

 

No. Was that the problem?

 

Then he squatted down in front of me and asked, “Can I see that ring just once?”

 

“Why the ring?”

 

“For your preference research.”

 

By the look in his eyes, I knew he was mad if I didn’t show it to him, so I gave him my left hand.

 

As he squeezed my hand and stared at the ring, he muttered in a low voice.

 

“So, you like this.”

 

The truth was, I didn’t like it, I’d just picked up any sapphire ring I could find that would be less misunderstood, but I didn’t argue.

 

As he stared at it, Cedric suddenly bowed his head and pressed his face close to the back of my hand.

 

“Your Majesty?”

 

His warm breath on the back of my hand sent goosebumps down my spine.

 

My face flushed with heat at the thought of his lips on my bare skin.

 

“Now, wait—”

 

And then it was gone.

 

Cedric opened his mouth, his red eyes flashing like a fierce beast.

 

Like he was going to bite into my flesh and leave indelible gnash marks.