The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go

 

⚔️

 

“Your Highness!”

 

When he heard my voice resonating in the corridor, Cedric glanced back.

 

“Ci— Ciel?”

 

He never seemed to anticipate my appearance.

 

His eyes were looking at me in disbelief as the tears forming in the corners of his eyes abruptly fell.

 

I’ve never noticed that grown man holding Cedric’s hand before.

 

The moment he spotted me, the man grimaced; his attire suggested that he was a member of the Imperial Knights.

 

But I couldn’t afford to worry about that because I was so startled at the time.

 

I seized the man’s wrist, who grabbed Cedric’s hand.

 

“What on earth was going on over here?”

 

Even half of the huge man’s wrist was too much for my hands to fit. I wish my hands were bigger, though.

 

“His Highness doesn’t hate it.”

 

He uttered a warning while scrutinizing his sluggish, frozen-looking, dark eyes.

 

I gave the man a furious glare. Despite my young age, I had no intention of giving up.

 

But the man was also tough. He furrowed a brow but made no other facial expressions.

 

“Well, wait, Ciel, it’s not that…”

 

‘Well?’

 

I didn’t fully understand what was happening.

 

Why does Cedric seem embarrassed?

 

“Ah, sorry. This wasn’t—”

 

Right at that moment, I heard the man snort. I turned my head to gaze at the man’s face, who was grinning sarcastically.

 

“Ha! You’re interfering without knowing the subject.”

 

“What?”

 

It was ridiculous. ‘

Subject?’

 

Wasn’t it he, who was ignorant of the subject to forcefully grab the Crown Prince, the second-in-command of the Empire, even though the Prince said he didn’t like it?

 

Cedric’s hand was gradually released by the man.

 

Cedric grabbed my hand as soon as it slipped away from his grasp.

 

He was obviously upset because of that; it was obvious.

 

“You’re the rumored one, aren’t you? The one that was hired because of the oracle.”

 

It sounded like a voice I’d heard somewhere.

 

‘Ahh.’

 

It was undeniable. It matched the voice of the man who entered the room exactly, much like the last time we played hide-and-seek with Cedric.

 

“Brian, stop—”

 

Cedric was restless and stopped him.

 

Shaking his head, the man identified only as Brian then responded, 

 

“It’s all right, Your Grace. What’s wrong with not being able to speak this much?”

 

He spoke to Cedric while diverting his gaze away from me, and there was no arrogance in his voice.

 

But a weird radiance emanated from those creepy black eyes.

 ‘Was that an illusion?’ 

For some reason, the edge of his hazy eyes seemed to be left with an unpleasantly stinky arrogance.

 

“I asked you what you were doing earlier,” 

 

Brian turned his gaze to me and said, “I was trying to bring His Majesty to the class to do my job as a swordsmanship teacher.” 

 A swordsmanship teacher. 

Those words stuck in my ears.

 

Then he tilted his head and asked, “It seemed to you nothing but an act to describe

‘what have you done?’

”

 

The problem had been properly grasped.

 

He goes under the name Brian Tekarke.

 

A member of the Imperial Knights and the son of Marquis Tekarke, who has close ties with the Imperial Family.

 

He was also a swordsmanship teacher who taught Cedric how to use a sword.

 

‘Oops…’

 

If I was the one who taught Cedric how to control mana, he was the one who taught Cedric pure swordsmanship that didn’t use mana.

 

As mana and pure sword skills aren’t related to one another, I was thinking of visiting him soon for more effective guidance.

 

‘I couldn’t believe we met like this.’

 

Anyway, it seems that I misunderstood him.

 

Eventually, I bowed my head to him and spoke politely.

 

“I’m sorry. There seems to have been a misunderstanding.”

 

“Ci– Ciel…!”

 

I lowered my head and extended my hand to him, for a handshake.

 

“I’m Ciel, in charge of His Majesty’s mana control. I’m sorry to greet you this late. I look forward to your kind cooperation.”

 

Brian stared at my outstretched hand, and he said in a low voice, “Enough.”

 

Then, ignoring my outstretched hand, he spoke to Cedric.

 

“It’s late, so let’s go, Your Highness.”

 

‘What’s with this man?’

 

Do you at best dismiss someone when they offer their hand, no matter how decent you are?

 

He spoke in a calm tone at that point, suppressing his fury.

 

“I wish there was no such thing in the future.”

 

“Oh, of course,” I replied with a carefree smile.

 

“I understand you’re not used to life in the Imperial Palace, but I hope you know when to intervene and back down.”

 

Such a place. Although he pronounced it in a slightly crooked manner, it was clear that he was referring to the orphanage down the slums.

 

I mean, it was a subtle disgrace to my background as a commoner.

 

“I don’t know if you’ll ever get used to it.”

 

Brian said with a sneer, “I don’t know if you’ll ever get used to it.”

 

Unfortunately, this scumbag’s words would not have reached Cedric.

 

Considering that, he purposefully stepped in Cedric’s way and spoke in a voice I could only hear.

 

“Brian!”

 

When Cedric called out his name, Brian looked startled.

 

But after casting a dismissive glance my way, he quickly dragged Cedric away.

 

I suddenly snapped back to reality as I stood frozen in the corridor, gritting my teeth.

 

‘I’d get a higher salary, you unlucky son of a bastard! We’ll see.’

 

⚔️

 

“So, you’re saying you’ve met the new commoner in person?”

 

The front teeth of a minuscule man wearing an imperial knight’s armor were visible as he raised his voice.

 

At the words of the man who looked like a mouse, the man sitting cross-legged in the center of the knights’ resting room, with the coat of the imperial knights hanging on his arms and a gleaming sword hanging on the wall, grinned blissfully.

 

“Yeah, I’ve met her, and she’s not a big deal,” Brian sneered and raised the teacup and said.

 

“A child of the oracle, I thought there would be some extraordinary qualities about it. But that’s not the case at all. How ugly that stupid face looked.”

 

At those words, the five men surrounding Brian burst into laughter.

 

When Brian heard laughing that included both mockery of the subject of the story and self-serving flattery, he gently set down his teacup.

 

“No, you have to have a sharp edge to teach the Crown Prince. What was she thinking about, shamelessly pushing her face into the imperial family?”

 

“Well, she just doesn’t seem to know how to think.”

 

Once again, the room was buzzing with laughter.

 

“No, to what extent are you saying that?”

 

A man with crumbly blonde hair pressed against his eyes and asked in a squeaky tone.

 

“When she saw that I was going to take his highness for class, she ran and started to get angry at me. She asked the Crown Prince what the hell was happening. It’s only natural for me as a teacher to take his highness to the training ground.”

 

Brian’s answer was greeted with cheers from all over the place.

 

“Hey, the kid jumped in without knowing what’s going on and got angry right away?”

 

“She doesn’t have a clue…”

 

Brian murmured low, looking down at them, “His Highness, well, I don’t know what the hell was so beautiful about it.”

 

“That’s what I’m saying. I didn’t expect him to miss class because of that unlucky little kid.”

 

Brian buried himself in the back of a soft chair and opened his mouth with a voice full of complaints.

 

“Did you expect that? The gentle and docile prince skipped class because of that kid. Then he wouldn’t even come to the next class, so it was hard to appease him.”

 

“Exactly what did you say? What was it…”

 

The blonde knight rolled his eyes around, stroking his sideburns with his fingers.

 

“I didn’t say much. I just hinted that if he had learned to adjust his mana from me instead of a new, inexperienced teacher, he would have made progress faster.”

 

“Then His Highness jumped and became angry?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Brian spoke in a low voice, “I don’t know how she did it, but she must have been good at it. If the one who didn’t make a sound gets so angry like that.”

 

“Oh, she’s a commoner with no place to accept someone like her!”

 

Everyone laughed as if they were happy at the remarks of the person who had front teeth like a mouse.

 

“Yes. I’m going to humiliate her sooner or later. Even if it wasn’t before, his Majesty has awakened his mana now, so if it’s not for that kid, the role of mana control teacher would return to me.”

 

“Of course, that’s a natural thing to say!”

 

Satisfied with his men’s answers, Brian curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled despicably.

 

“I would make her miserable so that she would realize her place and never look at the Imperial Palace again.”

 

Once again, the lounge became noisy with laughter.

 

The feast of those who foretold victory was filled with laughter and enthusiasm.

 

But they overlooked one thing.

 

‘Oh, did you mean that?’

 

That was the fact that I, the person who was listening behind, heard their conversation through the open door of the lounge.

 

Now I am fully aware. The explanation for why the kind Cedric didn’t want to attend class.

 

And even the foolish guy’s plot, which was drizzled with soiled oil.

 

It was too soon for him to retire, but if he did, I would welcome him with open arms regardless of what he accomplished.

 

Until my mana problem had been fixed, I had no intention of quietly leaving the Imperial Palace.

 

“Well, I’m going to train now. If I didn’t go, the leader would say something about it.”

 

“Yes, Vice-Captain Tekarke!”

 

I stood still in front of the door of the lounge and laughed, hearing the gruff voices of the knights walking out of the lounge.

 

The greasy-faced Brian Tekarke was the first person I spotted when the door was fully open.

 

“Oh, hello,” greeted Ciel.

 

He walked toward me with a group of young knights in behind, and I smiled warmly at him.

 

The knights who were standing behind Brian rolled their eyes and looked at one another.

 

It was evident that he was uncomfortable with my existence.

 

“You’re telling a very interesting story–”

 

I smiled even wider as I talked to them in an intriguing tone.

 

“Will you please tell me that story?”