The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go

When Cedric grabbed the chains, Ciel couldn’t stand the shackles and shouted.

“Oh, wa-wait, come on, ahh!!” (Ciel)

Then Cedric, who had dead eyes covered with obsession just now, was frightened and dropped the chain.

“I-, I’m sorry, Ciel! I thought it would make it less painful by adding a lot of fabric…!” (Cedric)

Then he hurriedly fiddled with the shackles and said,

“Now, I’ve adjusted it from medium to soft medium. Does it hurt less now?” (Cedric)

“No, it doesn’t hurt much. Soft medium? What do you mean?” (Ciel)

When I asked Cedric, who was uttering words that I couldn’t understand, Cedric casually began to explain.

“The Magic Research Department said that shackle tightening could be adjusted in five stages.” (Cedric)

Cedric stretched out his hand and kindly marked a five with his fingers.

“Soft, then soft medium, medium, medium hard, hard.”

No, it’s not like grilling some kind of steak, what’s the reason for making it so detailed?

“No, wait, wait a minute. Don’t run away, what do you mean?” (Ciel)

In the end, I couldn’t stand the overflowing amount of information and raised my hand.

Then Cedric widened his eyes and said,

“Uh, tell Dalton and the Marquis Lauren so that they don’t even think about going out…”

“I don’t understand anything right now. What’s this shackle? What do you mean by magic research? Just what are you talking aboutㅡ” (Ciel)

“Your Majesty!”

Even before I finished speaking, the door opened, and Marquis Lauren and Dalton, the imperial doctor, appeared, breathing heavily behind the open door.

“Was it true that Count Minerva has regained consciousness?”

“Yes. As you could see.”

Cedric stepped aside so they could see Ciel too.

Seeing Ciel like that, the two of them, unable to keep their mouths shut, rushed to the bedside and started arranging equipment.

“Then I’ll take a quick check-up. I’m so glad you’re awake, Count.”

The examination proceeded without even thinking about it, and the attending doctor determined that there was no problem.

“That’s a relief. It looks fine.”

“Oh, I see…”

“You didn’t get any major trauma even though you fell. There were a few scratches, but… There seems to be no internal injury.”

Caliberne seems to have absorbed my overflowing mana as much as possible and worked hard.

Of course, the scale of the lightning strike was so large that it seemed difficult to prevent me from being shocked.

“It would have been dangerous though, Count. If His Majesty didn’t do artificial respiration on the spot when you had cardiac arrest…”

“What? Artificial respiration?” (Ciel)

Surprised, Ciel glanced at Cedric, but Cedric turned his head and avoided her gaze.

In the awkward atmosphere, Dalton broke the silence by coughing loudly.

“Hmm. Anyway, you’re really lucky that it ended up like this despite the shock caused by the mana runaway, Count.”

‘Tha mana runaway.’

When the word fell into my ears, I came to my senses.

‘Do these people know that my mana has gone wild?’

Just as I looked up at Dalton with that thought, the Marquis of Lauren stepped forward and said,

“The Count… The Count’s now severely overpowered.”

He spoke in a very subdued voice.

“Given the condition, it seems that it was originally due to excess mana, but thanks to the use of lightning strike, the impact would last for a few days.”

That, I know.

When using a lightning strike, the user’s mana must be released entirely, but this mana alone couldn’t cause a lightning strike.

Therefore, when using the lightning strike, the magic stone forcibly increases the speed of the user’s mana generation and even generates non-existent mana.

Nevertheless, in the past, I had to be a little careful after using a lightning strike, but this time, I couldn’t withstand the overflowing mana and seemed to have been shocked due to it.

“For the time being, we need to suppress and control your mana a little bit. So I’m sorry, but I think you’ll have to wear those shackles for a while.”

“What?”

Ciel was at a loss for words when Marquis Lauren told her to openly wear shackles, but then finally came to her senses and asked back.

“No, in the first place, what does this shackle have to do with mana suppression?” (Ciel)

“I’m really sorry, Count…” (Lauren)

Marquis Lauren’s face crumpled as if in agony, and placed a hand on his forehead.

“When I asked the Magic Research Department for a tool that could suppress mana for a short period of time for the Count, there was only one thing left that could withstand the Count’s mana.” (Lauren)

Ciel asked while looking at the Marquis, who was expressing his sincere apology.

“…But wasn’t this what the prisoners used?” (Ciel)

“It’s probably because there’s never been a time when we had to forcibly suppress the mana of high-ranking people or nobles…”

The Marquis added with a deep sigh.

“They said they only had these shackles left behind by a sorcerer caught in the rebellion once. There wasn’t enough time to create a new tool, so we had no choice.” (Lauren)

All this situation really felt like a lie, but I had no choice but to accept it.

Once I listened to the explanation of the Marquis Lauren, it seems that the novel didn’t suddenly turn into a thriller or a devastating 19-gold genre.

“However, to make the Count feel as comfortable as possible, we added high-quality silk several times to the part where the skin touched, added a new tightening control device, and painted it with pure gold for the sake of aesthetics.”

“Oh, yes… Thank you.”

“Ah, just in case, do you want me to do a weight control spell?”

Ciel was distracted by the pouring questions and words.

‘I know you did it for me, but the shackles are too burdensome…!’

At that moment, while I was screaming inside, Dalton came up to me and said in a solemn voice.

“Count, it must be hard… but it couldn’t be helped.” (Dalton)

“What? What else I shouldn’t do?” (Ciel)

“I think it’s best for the Count not to go outside for now. You shouldn’t leave this room. It’s the only place that has almost completely removed the elements that would stimulate the Count’s mana.”

Anxiety slowly rose from his voice.

‘No way.’

“You shouldn’t go out for a week.”

Unsurprisingly, my prediction was right.

“A week? Then, the Knightsㅡ”

“Sir Turka said he would take care of it. You shouldn’t train or work for a week. It’s dangerous if you mishandle the sword and your mana explodes again.”

Saying that, Mr. Dalton raised his glasses.

“And I think you should keep wearing these shackles except when you wash up.”

“That’s kind of…”

Of course, unlike before, thanks to Marquis Lauren’s weight control spell, I felt like I had nothing in my ankle and the shackles were too light, but I thought this was still a bit too much.

‘I can’t believe it’s a week.’

The thought of not being able to wield a sword for a week and having to live with wearing this, my throat seems to be burning at the thought of it.

With a sigh, I understood them, and wanted to take a break and drank the water from a glass on the bedside cabinet and gulped it down.

“I’ll tell you one last thing.”

Mr. Dalton, who kindly waited until I finished drinking water, spoke seriously with his hands clasped together.

“Unconditionally, you must stay with His Majesty for a week at all times.”

Clankㅡ

The glass of water that slipped from the hand fell to the floor.

Water spilled over the bed, and flowed from the edge of the bed.

The fallen glass rolled over the floor.

But none of that mattered.

“Your Majesty and I always… What?”

The other instructions were also shocking, but this one was the most shocking.

“The two of you should always be together. As much as possible 24 hours a day. His Majesty could absorb the Count’s mana, and even if he did, there would be no problem with His Majesty.”

’24 hours a day?’

Was that possible in the first place?

“It couldn’t be solved just by holding hands as we’ve done so far. You have to make more physical contact than that, as much as possible…”

At the ensuing words of Dalton, I shook my head and grabbed the hem of his clothes desperately.

“No way, Sir. Did I hear it wrong so far, right? Right?”

“Count, calm downㅡ”

“Are you being threatened by His Majesty? If that’s the case, please wave your hand-“

Someone placed a hand on my shoulder, denying the reality.

“Ciel.”

It was Cedric.

He said with a dazzling smile with his red eyes bent finely.

“I didn’t threaten Dalton.”

At Cedric’s words, Dalton also nodded.

Marquis Lauren looked down at me with a sad face as I stared blankly at them.

“Because I’ll take good care of youㅡ” (Cedric)

At the whispering low voice, my heart started pounding again.

Ciel couldn’t resist the touch of his hand that tucked her hair behind the ear and tidied it up in the heat that rushed over to her face in an instant.

Right in front of me, there’s a crazy handsome man.

How fascinating the red eyes looked, and why the sharp jawline looks more like a sculpture today.

Like, why do I keep seeing the sensual gulping on his neck?

That’s cheating.

My heart that stopped in front of this face had nothing to do with it.

“Let’s get along well for a week.”

Ciel eventually accepted reality with the soft voice that wrapped around her ears.

✿

“Would it be okay with your work for a week?”

Cedric, who was reading the documents frantically from the bed, glanced down and asked.

“Yes, it’s fine. I’ve done almost half of today’s work here.” (Cedric)

Are you saying that being competent and having abilities are different?

It’s not like you’re in the office, you’re doing things so quickly, even in bed.

Cedric, who quickly handed over the documents and flicked the pen, made me feel guilty for some reason.

“Your Majesty, with the knights, I should also…”

“No!”

Before I could bring it up, Cedric cut off my words at once.

“No, you don’t know what I’m going to say. Don’t you have to listen to it first and refuse?” (Ciel)

“Obviously, you’re trying to take care of your work here. No, you’re a patient.”

“If I let Sir Turka do all the work by himself, he might die…”

Nevertheless, Cedric shrugged and responded.

“There’s a deputy commander in case the commander was absent. Sir Turka would do well, so don’t worry. He has been good enough at work for the past few days while you’re unconscious.”

Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t trust Sir Turka either.

Although he was the vice-captain, he has been with the Knights longer than me.

However, I was very concerned that he had to do the work that I should have done for another week or so.

‘I’m sorry that my retirement was canceled in a situation where the takeover was completed, so I left the job to you.’

Cedric turned to me as he turned over the pages papers, wondering if he knew my thoughts like a ghost.

“If you’re sorry, you just have to be nice to him after you get better. So don’t worry about it and rest.”

In the end, I had no choice but to give up on the stubborn response.

After a week, I laid down again in bed, thinking that I should buy Sir Turka a meal after I recovered.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Commander Minerva, the knights have come to visit us!”

Ciel immediately answered.

“Yes, please come in!”

The door opened at my answer, and then Sir Turka appeared.

“Sir Turka.”

When I called his name, Sir Turka walked into the room with an invariably friendly smile and greeted me.

“Commander, how are you? Oh…”

But the moment his gaze reached me, he couldn’t speak and froze on the spot.

“Argh! What happened?”

James, who was following him, bumped behind Sir Turka, who had stopped in the middle of walking inside the room, and rubbed his nose then poked his head out.

“What? Why? Oh…”

With the same expression on his face as Sir Turka, Hillac glanced at James, who was speechless and opened his mouth blankly.

The eyes of the three men were shocked and rested on my golden shackles.

“Commander! We also bought some delicious cookies for you…”

Sera, who also came in with a cheerful greeting without knowing anything, was at a loss for words when she saw the shackles.

“Commander, we’re here tooㅡ”

When Mika and Drit’s voices were heard through the door, Sera quickly closed the door and prevented them from entering.

“Oh, what’s that?”

“Sera, what are you doing? Please open it!”

While watching Mika and Drit slam and knock on the door outside, Sera calmly clasped the doorknob and locked it.

As everyone looked at her in amazement in silence, she answered with a quivering voice.

“I can’t show this kind of dangerous thing to children under the age of 15, right…?”

Seeing that her gaze stays in shackles when referring to ‘dangerous things’, I suppressed my desire to deny reality and put my hand on my sore forehead.