The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go - Chapter 12

Brian’s expression rotted in a heartbeat at my words.

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

His subordinates, who worked under him, noticed the situation and yelled at me.

 

“How dare you ask that to the vice captain…”

 

At that moment, when I thought that there was no such thing as a red flag yet, Caliberne said.

 

[That’s the right thing to do.]

 

It felt a little bad that I had the same thoughts with this dirty sword, but I got over it for now.

 

As I looked straight at his subordinates without losing, Brian stopped them with his arm and said,

 

“I’m sure she’s doing this because she doesn’t know, so let it go for now.”

 

And he looked back at me in a bad mood and said in a grim voice.

 

“It’s been a while since she came to the Imperial Palace, so she probably doesn’t know anything.”

 

At his words, his subordinate knights began to giggle.

 

In the end, it seemed no different from when they talked behind my back.

 

With a twisted smile on his lips, I wanted to peel that face.

 

I turned my head toward Brian, who was creaking out of the hallway, and shouted.

 

“Vice-Captain Tekarke!”

 

A round face with a harsh expression turned to me.

 

“How long do you think I won’t know?”

 

Brian didn’t respond.

 

He just continued his steps again where he had stopped for a while and headed towards the training ground.

 

◍◍◍

 

“You did a good job in today’s class.”

 

“Yes, Ciel did a great job too.”

 

I reached out to Cedric, who was smiling brightly.

 

“Then, could you give me your hand?”

 

“Yes!”

 

Cedric held out his hands, smiling wide revealing his white teeth.

 

So, with both hands facing each other, I gently opened my mouth.

 

“You’ve been doing great lately. You’ve done better than I initially expected, so I think we’re making progress quickly.”

 

“Really?”

 

Cedric’s face immediately turned pink.

 

“Yes, you do.”

 

“Oh… but maybe it’s not because I’m good, but because Ciel taught me well.”

 

Cedric said with a sheepish smile.

 

Was there a child at that age who would say something like that?

 

“Thanks for saying that, but I don’t think so.”

 

If Cedric’s words were true, the grades of all the students I tutored to make a living in my previous life would have risen tremendously.

 

Of course, that was not the case.

 

“But Ciel’s class was really easy to understand. It’s different from Brian-”

 

Cedric couldn’t finish his words, made an ‘Oops’ expression in the middle and then shut his mouth.

 

It’s like saying something that shouldn’t be said.

 

I slowly frowned my brows as I watched Cedric blushing with embarrassment.

 

“Hey, Ciel, what you just…”

 

“Your Grace, was Tekarke’s class very difficult?”

 

Having overheard Tekarke gossiping about me the other day, I knew Cedric missed classes without Tekarke permission because he had insulted me.

 

But apart from that, I didn’t expect his class to be difficult.

 

“No, Ciel. It’s not like that.”, Cedric shook his head and said.

 

“It’s not that Brian’s class was difficult, it’s just that I’m not good at it… ”

 

There was a shadow hanging over Cedric’s face as he muttered out a voice that was barely audible to me.

 

A dark face that lost confidence.

 

It was the face he showed only at the beginning of my class.

 

‘I thought I was okay just by teaching him in mana controlling class.’

 

In the end, it was said that he still hadn’t found confidence in the basic swordsmanship.

 

“I don’t think so, Your Grace. It’s not like that at all when I see you in our class. Why didn’t you tell that to his highness?”

 

The Emperor wasn’t as strict as I thought.

 

If Cedric wants a more basic lesson that fits his level, the Emperor would fully understand him.

 

‘If Cedric had told him, the Emperor could have done something.’

 

Cedric, who was biting his lips, sighed quietly and answered.

 

“…I didn’t want to be found out that I couldn’t even keep up with basic swordsmanship classes…”

 

Cedric’s hand, which was holding mine, received the mana.

 

As if to endure a sad feeling.

 

“Father would be disappointed…”

 

I forgot for a moment.

 

I don’t know for sure, but I know that Cedric had a very difficult childhood that was different from others.

 

“Ah. I’m sorry, Ciel. You probably don’t want to hear this.”

 

“No, that’s fine. You could talk more.”

 

I held Cedric’s hand, which was slightly relaxed, and spoke.

 

“I know how you feel.”

 

It was a word that popped out without even realizing it.

 

I realized the moment the words came out of my mouth.

 

Their origins and personalities were completely different, but maybe I was seeing myself in Cedric.

 

I might have been looking at myself, anxious about being abandoned again when I first got people’s attention.

 

Cedric looked at me in amazement as I said that.

 

He looked at me silently for a while with clear eyes, then lowered his head and muttered in a low voice.

 

“I, of course, love holding hands with Ciel.”

 

“What?”

 

While I couldn’t wake my senses at the sudden attack, I pulled Cedric’s hand toward me and laughed happily.

 

How many people would expect a child with such a bright smile to become a tyrant who would cut people’s throats in the future?

 

“I didn’t know holding hands with other people could feel so good.”

 

Cedric, who had his face tinted red, opened his mouth.

 

“It makes me feel warm.”

 

The fact that he didn’t know that holding hands with others felt like this meant that he had never had a chance to hold hands with others until now.

 

Despite living surrounded by so many people in the palace.

 

“I, I’ve never held anyone else’s hand before. Ciel was the first person to hold my hand.”

 

“You haven’t even held Paul’s hand?”

 

Then Cedric answered with a sullen face.

 

“Oh, Paul was tall… I’m more used to holding onto his pants or the hem of his clothes than holding his hand.”

 

“Ah.”

 

Cedric mumbled quietly as he nodded his head in intense realization.

 

“Aside from Paul, actually, nobody reached out to me first.”

 

And he said, smiling with his clear eyes folded in a crescent shape.

 

“So I’m grateful to you.”

 

After hearing that, I couldn’t say anything.

 

 

◍◍◍

 

‘That man, from his words to his actions, was like trash that threw away his humanity. It would be strange for him to teach.’

 

A few days ago, Cedric inadvertently said that Brian’s class was difficult, and I’ve been struggling with that problem lately.

 

Cedric followed my classes well, and from what I heard, his other subjects also had no problems.

 

Rather, academic teachers such as history, monarchy, and language praised Cedric to the point where their mouths went dry, saying that he was obviously a genius.

 

The only thing he struggled with was purely swordsmanship classes.

 

‘I don’t want to let it slide, no matter how much I look at it.’

 

Cedric didn’t seem to want to let the Emperor know that he was struggling with his class, so I decided to stay still for now, but I didn’t intend to continue being quiet.

 

If your sword skills don’t support it, it’s useless to learn how to control mana.

 

Unfortunately, the mana adjustment class was at the basic stage right now, but if the level goes up further, the limitations due to the lack of sword skills would be revealed.

 

‘I’m working for 200 million kerta, and I’ll do my best.’

 

And personally, I wanted Cedric to find some confidence in using his sword.

 

Because life was terrifying to live under the pressure of a sense of helplessness of not being able to do it, and you couldn’t keep up all the time.

 

“I think it’s here.”

 

This was the window of the east corridor on the first floor of the main palace.

 

And now it’s 3pm.

 

It was time for Cedric to take a sword lesson from Brian.

 

The place where Cedric took swordsmanship lessons was at the outdoor practice area in front of the east exit of the main palace.

 

In other words, I could see Cedric taking lessons very well here.

 

‘All right, I could see very well here.’

 

Sure enough, I saw a familiar figure outside the window on the green floor of the swordsmanship practice area.

 

As expected, it was Cedric and Brian who were in class.

 

‘Wait, what’s that…?’

And as I kept watching them, I couldn’t keep my mouth closed at the shocking sight that unfolded before my eyes.