The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go

It was the next day after going downtown with Cedric.

There weren’t one or two things that happened yesterday, but I was very tired, still I had to do my job.

The first thing I did was to head to the blacksmith’s with mana stone jewelry.

‘I have a lot of work to do today. I should clean it up quickly and rest.’

[Will it work as you want?]

‘Shh.. Quiet. I’m going to finish it today somehow.’

[What do you mean? Well, everyone tells you to dream big.]

‘You’re really too much.’

It was the very time when I was having a friendly conversation with Caliberne, full of love as usual.

A strange man appeared at the corner of the hallway.

‘What, who…?’

Although I knew the people of the Imperial Palace to some extent, I didn’t know who that man was.

However, I could tell from his face, with golden curly hair and emerald eyes, he was very beautiful.

‘It looks like a sculpture, or a doll… Who is he, really?’

The moment I thought that I should ask Cedric later, I made eye contact with him.

At that moment, his green eyes widened in surprise.

“Huh?”

His eyes, which had been numbly looking around the hallways of the Imperial Palace until just now, became alive.

Just when I thought it was strange, the man ran up to me and raised his hand.

“Hey…!”

Caliberne, who kept chattering at the man’s voice, suddenly shut up.

“You’re Ciel Minerva, right?”

‘Huh? Does he know me?’

While I was dumbfounded, the man came one step closer and stared at my face.

“Looking closely, it seems right.”

“I… Who…?”

Then the man’s face hardened slightly.

“Don’t you remember me?”

He pointed his hand at his face and asked.

The moment I looked into his eyes, which seemed a little disappointed, a face passed by my memory.

Blonde and green eyes.

And an unlucky child with a very dirty temper.

“Kashㅡ”

“Commander Minerva.”

When I looked back at the familiar voice, Cedric was smiling at me.

“What are you doing here?”

He approached with a smile on his lips and soft voice.

‘But why didn’t his eyes look happy?’

Why do you look like that?

“We have to go to class.”

I didn’t miss Cedric looking at the man with a gaze that he didn’t like seeing him very much.

Cedric, who turned to me again, was smiling like an angel, but for some reason, he felt cold.

“Just the two of us, right?”

The reason for emphasizing the ‘Just the two’ part was obvious.

Looking at his bloody eyes, it seems that his obsession took over him again.

By the way, how did he know I was here?

‘Does he have a ‘Ciel‘ radar with him?’

Like an ability to find me like a ghost every time.

The man, who was staring at me sighing softly, slowly opened his lips.

“…Right. There’s your class.”

“What?”

“Hurry up and go. It seems very urgent for Cedric.”

The man smiled gently and nodded.

Unlike him, Cedric was looking at him coldly.

“That’s right. I’m sorry we’re in a hurry, so we’ll get going first.”

Saying that, Cedric naturally held my fingertips.

“Oh, Commander Minerva.”

I looked back at the voice I heard behind.

His beautiful green eyes were gently curved like a crescent moon.

Gold hair glistened beautifully in the sunlight flowing through the window.

“See you later.”

For some reason, memories from 8 years ago crossed my mind.

I remembered him with his face dyed red like a tomato and looking down as if hiding that.

“Yes…” I answered with a nod.

Then Cedric pulled my collar with his hand.

Anyway, he hasn’t changed even after 8 years.

That guy standing in front of me seems to have changed a lot.

“See you again, Duke.”

Kashuel’s lips moved very lightly, which he had tightly closed. Somehow, I thought he seemed to be delighted.

“Yes.”

I briefly greeted him, who answered in a voice as calm as a slowly swaying lake, and walked out of the hallway with Cedric.

‘Kashuel Alehard, the atmosphere around him has changed a lot.’

Walking side by side in the hallway with Cedric, I thought to myself.

In the past, he couldn’t even stand seeing me.

Unlike his childhood, when he was like a little devil, he looked so calm that I couldn’t barely recognize him.

‘Eight years ago, we first met when you came to the Imperial Palace and haven’t met since, haven’t we?’

Kashuel, who had stayed in the Imperial Palace for a little over a fortnight, disappeared without a word one day.

When I asked Cedric, he said Kashuel went to study in another country.

From that day on, I’ve forgotten about Kashuel, but now it seems that he has finished studying and returned to his home country.

“Ciel, what are you thinking?” Cedric stared at me and asked.

Inadvertently, I almost replied that it was because Kashuel had changed so much from his childhood so I was curious.

But if I did, I thought that Cedric would be jealous of him again.

[Good idea. Even with a brief greeting, it’ll be a mess if you think of him.]

Caliberne clicked her tongue and told me.

[I bet he’s really sensitive about the weird woman that was attached to you yesterday, right?]

That’s true…

“No, I didn’t think much about it.”

“Oh, really?”

Cedric replied with a bright expression.

Even if I pretended not to, it’s clear that he’s worried because I was thinking about Kashuel, whom I had not seen in a long time.

‘Was it because he thought I’d fall in love? How could that happen in such a short time?’

I sighed while watching Cedric, who seemed slightly relieved.

“How could Your Majesty remain that same even after eight years?”

“Huh? What?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know.” Ciel squinted at Cedric with a playful smile.

“You lied that there was a class today.”

The same thing happened eight years ago.

At that time, Cedric lied that we had to go because there was a class on a day when there was no class to separate Kashuel and me.

I don’t know if I could say he was young then, but how could he do the same thing even as an adult?

“Ciel, you don’t like me lying?” Cedric smiled and asked.

“You shouldn’t have lied.” I said, looking at the red eyes like camellia flowers.

“If lying was the problem, we could make it true.”

“What?”

“I’d like to take an extra class. Would you do that for me?”

I glanced suspiciously at his smile. I closely watched his expression, but I didn’t feel much passion for the swordsmanship lesson.

Above all, the way he smiled softly with the corners of his eyes curled seemed to be a trick to increase the time spent with me.

[That’s obviously not the face of a student who wants to learn more about swordsmanship. He just looks like he’s trying to seduce someone.]

Good. Caliberne feels the same way as me.

Concluding that Cedric’s request for additional classes had impure intentions, I firmly shook my head and declined.

“Nope.”

“Aren’t you cutting me off too quickly? That’s sad.”

Cedric swept his black hair with a disappointed look on his face.

In front of others, he keeps his perfect style where he doesn’t let out a single strand of hair, but only secretly scatters his hair in front of me.

‘Look at that pitiful face.’

People will think I did something really bad to him.

It’s just that I’m worried that he’ll give up his break time and collapse while taking additional classes.

“More than that, did you come here because you have something to tell me?”

“Did you notice?”

“Of course.”

I’ve seen him for nearly 10 years, so it’s no use to pretend.

“Actually, I got a call from the Magic Research Department.”

Cedric lowered his voice and spoke.

“…Already?”

“Yeah. They said they’d go ahead with the investigation as soon as possible, but it looks like they’ve been working all night.”

“It would have started last night at best, but it’s amazing to see the results already.”

I heard that Rukia was in charge of the investigation into this case.

He loved the study of magic so much that he didn’t usually sleep well, but he thought it was great nonetheless.

“Anyway, he asked for you to come as soon as possible today because he has something to tell us both.”

“Yes, I have time now. Will your Majesty go away right now?”

“Yes.”

Looking at Cedric as he nodded, I put a small bag of magic stones in his pocket.

Thinking that I should stop by the blacksmith’s later.

✿

“Oh, you’re here.”

Rukia’s eyes as he greeted us had turned dark.

I felt sorry for him who didn’t seem to have slept at all.

Even so, he looked very serious and didn’t seem like a sleepless person.

“Iㅡ Rukia. I was told to come as soon as possible.”

I wondered why Rukia contacted me in such a hurry.

Unless something happened, there was no way that Rukia would contact me so urgently not long after the investigation just started.

“Oh, it’s all for a reason.”

Rukia spoke slightly smiling.

“I’m here with news that the Commander would like.”

‘News? What kind of news?’