The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go

“What are you talking about? Please explain it properly.”

As the firm voice resounded in the room, Caliberne’s sigh came as if answering it.

“It’s literally the same. It couldn’t be like this!”

“No…”

Ciel’s chest tightened and her head throbbed.

It’s just that things are getting complicated these days.

“You said that three years ago, that my Mana would be cured…” (Ciel)

“It was definitely better back then.” Caliberne replied in a seriously subdued tone.

“But not now. Rather, it’s more dangerous than before we met.” (Caliberne)

“Wha-, that much?”

When Caliberne first met me, she judged that I might die in a few months.

If so, it means that my current condition has surpassed that time.

“No, I don’t think so. Maybe you’re wrong?” (Ciel)

“No, I’m sure.” (Caliberne)

It felt like my soul was about to leave my body at Caliberne’s answer, which was so impregnable.

“Did you get a fortune from Cedric? Or, something like that?” (Ciel)

“Don’t deny the reality and come to your senses.” (Caliberne)

As Caliberne said, I wanted to believe that all of this was just a dream.

It’s not enough that my retirement was postponed, so I’m given a verdict that’s not different than a terminal sentence.

“You didn’t just let it go even though you knew it, did you?”

“Do you think I’m that inconsiderate? I was confused for about two days, but looking at it today, it seems like it’s right, so I’m fed up with it.”

Seeing the light emitting like karaoke lights, Caliberne seemed to be quite excited.

“What do you mean, you’re not human?”

“Oh, that’s what I’m saying!”

“But, be honest…”

Ciel slowly spoke, clasping her hands around the sword.

“You’re not a quack or anything, are you?”

“You, really…”

“No, at that time, you said that holding hands for five minutes a day would be enough? Then you said there was no problem? Then again you said I would get better in a few years?” (Ciel)

Caliberne could not refute the words that popped out like canons.

“And you said that I got better?”

“…Oh, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Eventually, Caliberne, who couldn’t stand it, shouted.

“Oh, really…”

Caliberne bit her words and soon shut up.

At first, I thought Caliberne, who’s usually fickle, was sulking and went to bed.

So I hastily spoke to appease Caliberne.

“Wait, hey, don’t get madㅡ” (Ciel)

“…Listen to me.” (Caliberne)

Surprisingly, however, a soft light emanated from the sword with Caliberne in it.

As much as the soft light that wrapped around the tip of the sword, I was somewhat surprised by Caliberne’s unshakeable voice.

“Because I’m certain that you’re in danger right now.”

“…Okay.” Ciel answered with a nod.

In fact, Caliberne was right.

There was nothing that would be solved by avoiding reality.

“Then what should I do?” Ciel asked softly, looking down at her bandaged hand.

The feeling of a slight burn. The smell of burnt lingered in the air.

Red blood…

It was something I never wanted to go through again.

“How could I… live?”

I pretended to be okay, but my voice trembled as I spoke.

Both hands of Ciel clenched to a fist.

It seemed that I came to this world thinking I wanted to die, but I really didn’t want to die this time.

‘How did I end up holding the sword again?’

“Listen carefully. Holding hands… Originally, it would have taken 5 minutes, but now you have to fill 10 minutes every day. It was written in the contract, so you could do it, right?” (Caliberne)

“Yeah.”

“It used to take about five years to get better. I don’t know why, but your mana is running rampant right now. That’s why sparks leak even if you don’t hold the sword.”

Caliberne continued to explain in a calm voice.

“It might take longer than five years to heal in this state.” (Caliberne)

“…I see.” (Ciel)

“I’m sure it won’t be more than 10 years. I’ll do my best, no matter whatㅡ” (Caliberne)

The light emitted from the sword containing Caliberne warmly wrapped my hand.

“So even if you don’t like it a little, let’s do it once as the Emperor said. Otherwise, you’ll suffer.” (Caliberne)

Drops of blood kept falling on the floor.

What appalled me as intensely as that was the cloth scattered on the floor and Mirian’s scream.

‘I shouldn’t hurt anyone.’

Ciel clasped her right hand tightly, thinking to herself.

“But Caliberne, would Cedric be okay? Won’t he get hurt like Mirian for touching me?” (Ciel)

“It’ll never happen to him.” Caliberne said straight away.

I would have been a little uneasy if Caliberne spoke vaguely or didn’t get an immediate answer, but fortunately Caliberne didn’t.

“In fact, the longer you stay with him, the more likely it is that you or the others won’t get hurt.”

For once, I was relieved.

“Okay. I got it.”

Now all that was left was a decision.

✿

In front of Ciel are two quill pens, two flipped papers, and two expired contracts.

And one Emperor looked distant on the outside but he was crazy about his obsession.

‘I should stay alert.’ (Ciel)

‘The only thing that could deal with a crazy man was also a crazy person.’

The bottom line was that I, too, must become crazy in order to deal with this madman.

So I made up my mind and spoke.

“Shall we get started, Your Majesty?”

“Okay.” Cedric replied with a relaxed smile.

“Well, I thought you’d choose this one.”

In the end, what I chose was the renewal of the contract.

As it turned out, I thought I’d rather stay by Cedric’s side and prevent the war from happening.

Then Cedric and the people of the Deamant Empire would live happily, and the whole continent would be at peace.

‘I would make you an empire that would surely remain in history, Cedric Deamant.’

Still, there are some areas where he still listens to my words, so it may not mean that there was no hope at all.

And I was going to make the most of it.

“It’s a bit disappointing though. I also ordered a new bed because I didn’t know if you would choose the marriage instead.” (Cedric)

As expected, he’s an unwavering madman.

And you’re a thoroughly prepared nutcase.

“The bed was said to be very special. The craftsman said that it would never collapse even in a violent night—” (Cedric)

“Yes, I’m not really curious.” (Ciel)

With my hands clasped together, I smiled lightly and cut off his words.

It was ridiculous for a knight to cut off the Emperor’s words, but honestly, I think it was worth cutting off.

“So, this was a draft for the new contract, right?” (Ciel)

“Yes. Read it.” (Cedric)

Accepting the contract Cedric had handed me, I glanced down at the paper and skimmed through it like a hawk’s eye.

He’s a guy who has already painted a big picture once with a simple oath.

When I rolled my head once, I had to roll it ten times to avoid being deceived by him.

“Ciel, the contract would be torn. You don’t have to worry because I didn’t put any strange clauses in it.” (Cedric)

“Did you…?”

“No, I really didn’t put any. It was based on the provisions of the existing contract and only raised the annual salary.” (Cedric)

“Really?”

Ciel asked, looking at Cedric with his brow raised as he spoke calmly.

“There’s something strange in your eyes.”

Then Cedric squinted and smiled. With his head tilted.

“Which part?”

“The time increased by 10 minutes?”

“Yes, since we’re adults now and we use a lot of magic on a large scale, wouldn’t it be effective if we hold hands for 20 minutes?”

Ignoring Cedric’s clever reply, Ciel fixed her eyes on the top of the contract.

“And the contract period. Please revise it from 8 years to 5 years.” (Ciel)

“Five years?”

Caliberne said it would take more than five years for my mana to recover.

But if it doesn’t take eight years to get better, wouldn’t it be a loss?

If the excess mana does not heal even after five years, I could ask for a renewal of the contract then.

If it’s Cedric anyway, he’ll welcome it with open arms.

For now, the priority was to get even a little bit in the contract.

If I don’t, I might end up being swayed by that guy for years.

“I think that would be difficult.” (Cedric)

As expected, I knew it would come out like that.

“And what’s the provision that we eat together once a week to strengthen the student-teacher relationship? Did you write it down on the basis of the existing contract, right?” (Ciel)

“I said I wrote it down based on the basics, not that there was no change.” (Cedric)

Anyway, you’re really good at talking.

“You put in little by little different provisions in this way, so I have no choice but to read it carefully.” (Ciel)

“Ow, it’s a shame I got caught…” (Cedric)

“What did you say?” (Ciel)

Then Cedric smiled and looked away.

“No. I didn’t say anything.”

I thought I just heard your true intentions just now.

“First of all. Please revise the contract period first. And I would like you to correct all the parts I mentioned earlier and include the provisions I want.” (Ciel)

“Well, adding a clause may be difficult depending on the content. As I said earlier, it would be difficult to change the contract period.”

Cedric held the quill pen at the tip of his fingers and twirled it and spoke.

“Five years wasn’t enough.”

“What? What do you mean, not good enough?”

But Cedric smiled and did not answer the question.

“At first, I think you agreed to renew the eight-year contract. Was there anything you wanted to get after three years?”

“It’s my three years of peace.” (Ciel)

“I’ll let you pursue that peace even if you work for another three years.” (Cedric)

“No. I’ve been doing it for eight years, and it’s absolutely impossible here.”

Ciel leaned forward and glared at Cedric.

“Please change the contract period.”

“Hmm…” (Cedric)

“Please amend the provisions that I mentioned.” (Ciel)

However, there was no immediate response from Cedric.

Maybe he’s trying to choose by using that good brain of his.

“Okay. First, we’ll eat once a week.”

However, after contemplating for a long time, the only thing he came up with was the deletion of the clause.

It shouldn’t be like this.

‘I really didn’t want to do this.’

Ciel quietly reached for the sword leaning beside the table.

“Okay, so anyway, at this point, you don’t want to change the contract period or the rest of the terms.” Ciel picked up the draft contract and said.

‘What should I do?’

Sometimes the best way to persuade someone was to become super crazy.

“Ciel? Why are you taking out the swordㅡ”

Crack~

Even before Cedric finished speaking, a blue spark emitted out from the end of the sword and headed for the contract in my left hand.

The contract began to burn up from the few sparks.

Ciel calmly spoke holding the contract that was slowly burning

“Wow, it’s burns well.”

In an instant, the air in the room calmed down.

Cedric, who had never shown a raw expression since the emergency meeting, looked blank for the first time.

“Your Majesty, if I put my mind to it, I would use the sword to sign the contract as wellㅡ”

Ciel said, tapping the half-burnt contract with her sword.

“Did you know that I could break through all the bars and walls of the dungeon? Repairing it would cost quite a bit.” (Ciel)

“Cielㅡ”

“A contract should be in favor of both parties, Your Majesty.” (Ciel)

Ciel crumpled the contract, which had already been burnt and had nothing but fragments, in her hand.

“Change the terms of the contract, amend the terms, and add the clauses I ask for. If these three don’t happenㅡ”

It felt refreshing, so I coldly smiled.

“I won’t care about the oath, and go on my way.”