I’m the Only One Who Can Put the Tyrant To Sleep – Chapter 63

Author: Asternkm

Time passed relentlessly. A new year dawned, and Caesar turned seventeen.

Which meant that another debutante ball was approaching—one he still couldn’t attend.

In the months leading up to the event in July, Caesar spent his days restless and uneasy.

If things went on like this, Evelyn would attend the ball, find a partner, have her first dance, and eventually… get married.

The thought alone consumed him.

Even as he sat in his office reviewing documents, his mind was preoccupied with something else entirely.

‘Should I pretend to be sick again this year? Would that work a second time?’

The problem was, he hadn’t been sick even once since last year’s debutante ball.

If he claimed illness every single year, even kind-hearted Evelyn would start to find it suspicious.

‘And if she realizes I’m lying…’

He shuddered at the thought of Evelyn looking at him with cold eyes.

At the same time, guilt gnawed at him.

Evelyn had never said she wanted to attend the debutante with him.

She had never asked him to be her partner, never said she wanted to share her first dance with him.

Everything was just his own selfish desire.

‘She wouldn’t care if she didn’t have her first dance with me, would she? If I were older than Evelyn and had my debutante first…’

A shadow passed over his face.

‘If I had danced with someone else first, entertained marriage talks, and even gotten engaged…’

Evelyn would probably just smile and congratulate him.

Caesar set his documents down.

It was the first time imagining Evelyn’s smiling face had made his chest ache.

“Your Majesty, is your hand still in pain?”

Alvin, who had been standing nearby, mistook the frown on Caesar’s face for something else and spoke up.

Caesar glanced down at his hand, where a sharp cut was visible on his finger.

It had happened a few days ago during a national holiday celebration he had to attend.

The wine glass he had been holding shattered, leaving behind a wound.

At the time, he brushed it off as an accident—maybe he had misjudged his own strength.

But thinking back, he wasn’t so sure.

‘What if it was an attack?’

Unlike the heavily guarded palace, the outside world was always full of dangers.

Even with skilled knights protecting him and enchanted tools providing extra defense, it could never compare to the security inside the palace.

The incident in the cave last year had been the same.

That hill wasn’t even far from the palace, yet an unimaginable event had unfolded there.

‘And because of that, Evelyn almost died.’

As soon as the memory surfaced, his expression darkened further.

If he had arrived even a little later…

“Your Majesty?”

“I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

Caesar reassured Alvin, who was looking at him with concern.

“By the way… Is Evelyn still in Katana’s room?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Hmm…”

Perhaps it was because he had been thinking about danger and past incidents, but suddenly, Caesar had an overwhelming urge to see Evelyn.

He needed to confirm with his own eyes that she was safe.

He abruptly stood up from his chair.

“Your Majesty? Where are you going?”

Alvin looked startled by the unexpected action.

“…I need to speak with Katana about some magic-related matters.”

“Then I’ll go with—”

“No, stay here and keep an eye on things. Evelyn might return at any moment.”

“…Understood.”

After a brief hesitation, Alvin bowed.

Without wasting any time, Caesar strode out of his office.

The palace guards stationed outside straightened and saluted him.

As he quickened his pace, a thought struck him.

‘The palace really is safe.’

It was constantly patrolled by guards, all visitors were monitored, and the outer walls were reinforced with protective enchantments.

‘It would be best if Evelyn never left the palace.’

Caesar had always been protective of her, but lately, his concerns had grown even stronger.

Ever since he brought Baron Chester into the lottery business.

Now that the Baron’s family was publicly aligned with the emperor’s faction, he worried that any hostility directed at him might spill over onto Evelyn.

‘Everything I did was to give Evelyn more power… Was I being too hasty?’

Caesar knew he was being overly cautious.

Logically speaking, the Chester family wasn’t in as much danger as Duke Bryden’s family, the central force of the emperor’s faction.

And yet, the only one he worried about was Evelyn.

Just like his mother. Just like his father.

He feared that Evelyn, too, might suffer or even die—simply because she was close to him.

Caesar was still afraid.

‘I am really just a child.’

Clicking his tongue quietly, he quickened his steps.

****

Caesar quickened his pace and finally arrived at Katana’s door.

‘Since I’m here, I should ask for a few favors. I need her to strengthen the protective spell on the magic bracelet. Or maybe I should just request a few more artifacts altogether.’

Just as he raised his hand to knock, he heard a familiar voice.

“You’re going to this debutante without a partner again?”

“Of course. There’s no one suitable.”

Caesar froze mid-motion.

The voices belonged to Katana and Evelyn.

And their topic of conversation was the debutante ball.

In an instant, all of Caesar’s previous worries about Evelyn’s debutante flooded back into his mind.

Lowering his hand, he instead focused on their conversation.

Katana spoke in an intrigued tone.

“Haven’t any guys asked you to be their partner? I heard they send letters to your house and everything.”

“Oh, they’ve sent them. But I don’t really have any close acquaintances… I barely even know most of them by face.”

“Then what about your first dance? Who are you going to dance with?”

“I’ll just pick someone random and get it over with. It’s just a formality, after all.”

Caesar didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The fact that Evelyn had no interest in a partner at least meant that there was no one she was particularly fond of.

But to hear her speak so indifferently about something he longed for so desperately—it stung.

He had gone to ridiculous lengths just for that so-called “formality.”

“Isn’t that a bit careless? They say your first dance leads to marriage!”

Katana sounded serious, but Evelyn let out a dry laugh.

“Katana, do you even understand what marriage is? You’re just a little kid.”

“Of course I do. It’s a lifelong promise.”

“Exactly. So why would I decide something so important just because of one dance?”

Evelyn remained unimpressed.

“But they say every little thing is important in high society! Even if it doesn’t lead to marriage, the partner you choose at the debutante influences all future marriage prospects!”

“But I’m not even thinking about marriage.”

“What?! Evelyn, marriage is the easiest business deal!”

Katana protested with such conviction that Evelyn chuckled again.

“Where in the world did you learn about high society, Katana? At this rate, you’ll be ruling over it in a few years.”

“Don’t change the subject!”

“Well… I mean, sure, marriage is the best way to form alliances between families. But you know my family doesn’t really care about that. We’re not very involved in social circles.”

“The palace is a social circle! You live here, so you should pay attention!”

Katana was getting more worked up about the issue than Evelyn herself.

And objectively speaking, she wasn’t wrong.

Most noble families arranged debutante partners in advance. While it was possible to find a partner on the day of the ball, that wasn’t exactly well-regarded in high society.

Of course, Caesar secretly wanted Evelyn to have a bad reputation in high society.

The more admired she became, the more marriage proposals she would receive.

‘Thank goodness Baron Chester and his wife don’t care about things like this.’

Caesar silently swallowed a sigh at his own selfish thoughts.

Then—

“It doesn’t really matter since I’ll be leaving the palace soon anyway.”

“…Huh?”

What?

Caesar’s entire body went rigid.

Leaving the palace?

“What do you mean?”

Katana sounded just as shocked. She had asked the question Caesar desperately wanted to voice himself.