The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go

 “Ciel? What are these?” 

I shoved them into Cedric’s hands, who looked at the orange leaves in wonder.

 “Here, keep them. All five of them, Your Majesty.” “Oh, no. Are these for my sleeve?” “Well, let’s call it that.” 

Cedric looked at me suspiciously and handed me all the leaves

 

But I took them back, indicating that I had no intention of accepting them.

 “No, Ciel, take these.” “You can’t return what you’ve already taken, it’s not a big deal, it’s just a little something, and you can keep it until we head to the temple.” 

Then, Cedric narrowed his eyes and said,

“There’s no way you’d give it to me if it were only a little something.” 

I clicked my tongue at that.

 

‘You’re clever.’

 “Ciel, there’s no point hiding it, so tell me. You gave it to me because you didn’t want me to be in danger again when we got to the temple.” 

Cedric stared at me, smirking. Eventually, he sighed and nodded.

 “Right?” “Yes, that’s right.” “I see, thank you. Should I give you a vacation as a reward?” 

With that, Cedric spread the leaves out on his lap and began to examine them closely.

 “So, what exactly is this?” “Uh, I bought them when I was traveling out of town for work.” 

I picked up one of the leaves resting on Cedric’s lap.

 

“It’s a special material that weakens the effects of all magic, so I made it into a liquid and applied it to the leaf. It’s also somewhat effective against poison, and the effect of this one leaf is about three minutes.”

 “Ah, I’ve heard of such a thing. So it’s true.” 

Cedric said, his eyes shining with wonder.

 “I heard the Imperials tried to make something like that to mitigate poisons and curses, but they gave up because it was too bulky to carry around, even though the effect lasted no more than ten minutes.” “Yeah, I guess that’s why they just focused on reducing the duration of the effect and reducing the size. If it’s three minutes, five sheets will last 15 minutes.” 

At the time, I bought it half as a souvenir in case I ever needed it.

 

I didn’t realize the day would come when I would be thankful that it actually worked.

 “I even went to Rukia to confirm that the product is indeed effective, and she verified that it is, but it only weakens the effect of all magic, not completely nullifies it.” 

With that, I handed the leaf back to Cedric.

 “But it’s better than nothing, so I’ll take it.” 

As I continued to hold out the leaf, Cedric eventually gave in to my stubbornness and took it.

 “Ciel, thank you, but really, shouldn’t you have this leaf instead?” 

Cedric said with concern,

“I mean, you’re my guard, so you have to fight off more enemy attacks than I do…” “If I were afraid of every single one of those attacks, I wouldn’t be a Knight Commander.” 

After watching Cedric for the past eight years, I realized.

 

Unbeknownst to me, Cedric was a genuinely kind man. He cared about others more than himself, in a silly way.

 

And he cared about me more than anyone else.

 

‘How could I throw away such a life as yours?’

 

I would never let Cedric’s words go unanswered. I called out to him, my voice firm.

 “Your Majesty.” “If I had to choose between your life and mine—” 

Trailing off, I wrapped both hands around his hand clutching the leaf, and squeezed.

 

For I am here, and my hands are wrapped around yours like this.

 

‘I meant to tell him not to be afraid, because I am here, and I always will be.’ 

 “I won’t give up on either of us.” 

There was a surprised glint in his crimson eyes.

 

After a moment of silence, Cedric chuckled softly and leaned his head on my shoulder.

 “That’s very like you.” “Isn’t it?” “Yes.” 

And then he whispered, his voice as sweet as it had ever been.

 “I trust you.” “…Ugh.” “But.” 

Cedric said, snapping one of the leaves he was holding in half.

 “Your Majesty, why would you cut it in half…” 

Cutting it in half does not remove the effect of the magic-dampening liquid.

 

The broken leaf has half the surface area covered by the liquid, so the effect lasts for half as long, a minute, and a half.

 

If a situation arises that requires the use of this leaf, it would be better to take an uncut leaf.

 

After using the leaf for a minute and a half, the leaf must be replaced when the effect wears off, as there would be no way to weaken the magic in the meantime.

 “There’s a reason.” 

With that, he handed me two leaves, one halved and the other whole.

 “Half and half. It’s only fair.” “Your Majesty, this is—” “A reward and bribe for my trusty knight.” 

Cedric said, forcing the leaf into my hand.

 “So don’t leave me, and consider it a favor to stay close.” 

Cedric smirked, and I couldn’t ignore his words.

 “…It’s not fair to use that face.” “What? What did I do?” 

The innocent look on his face, like he really doesn’t know anything, makes him all the more radiant.

 

‘I could put diamonds on that face, but they wouldn’t shine as brightly as his.’

 

I mean, it’s not my fault that I promised myself I wouldn’t fall for it every time, and then I kept falling for it repeatedly.

 “Okay, fine, I’ll take it.” 

Cedric grinned even wider as I reluctantly accepted the leaf.

 

I don’t know how he manages to smile so brightly, given the amount of leaves he could use.

 “Anyway, if anything happens to you, use this and wait for me to come back.” 

I said, looking into his red eyes, which seemed to be burning with a warm flame.

 “Because even if the sky were to fall, I’ll be running to you in seven and a half minutes.”  “Then the palace will be empty tomorrow.” 

There was a hint of disappointment on Persephine’s face as she spoke.

 

It was her reaction to hearing that Cedric and I would be out of the palace all day tomorrow.

 

‘I see you enjoyed your time with us more than I expected.’ 

 

Well, just keep her company, maybe once a day, and give her a little sword practice.

 

Or feeding the fish in the lake together and telling her that Cedric likes animals and wasn’t such a bad person.

 

‘I don’t suppose anyone has ever done something as simple as that?’

 

I was beginning to wonder what kind of humanity the current royalty of Ackeletta had to treat their first princess so poorly.

 “I won’t be gone long, Princess, I’ll be right back.” 

After all, the temple wasn’t far enough away to warrant an overnight stay.

 

Of course, this visit had to be as private as possible, so I couldn’t tell Persephine that I was heading to the temple tomorrow.

 “Oh, but you said you’d be gone most of the day…” “We can meet up another day.” 

Cedric said, pushing the cookie in front of him toward me.

 “Because tomorrow’s not the end.” 

At that, her purple eyes, which had been so full of regret, began to light up.

 “I see, I was an idiot.” 

Her smile spreads across her face like a magnolia in full bloom, and it warms my heart.

 

Cedric, who often showed signs of jealousy towards Persephine, sipped his tea with a faint smile on his lips for some reason.

 “So I can look forward to the day after tomorrow, then?” “Of course, princess. We’ll have even more fun than usual.” 

Persephine, who burst out laughing at the words, was no different from the original Persephine I knew from the original story.

 

Looking at me and Cedric, her violet eyes shining, her voice sincere, she said,

“Well, then, I wish you both a safe night’s sleep.” 

And with that, the tea party, filled with the aroma of tea and pleasant conversation, came to an end, and our last day before the temple.

  

As usual, the night went by too fast.

 

It felt like less than an hour after I closed my eyes, and when I woke up, it was already daylight.

 

The party headed to the temple were up early, and so were I and Cedric.

 

Princess Persephine had risen early, and after bidding us farewell once more, went her way.

 

‘As expected, the carriage procession is quite long.’

 

When royalty visited the temple, they rarely traveled in body only.

 

With offerings to the gods and carriages for their entourage, the procession was quite long.

 

Of course, today, the carriages would be split up so that it wouldn’t be obvious that it was the emperor’s procession.

 

Compared to usual, the carriages were more modest, with few markings or decorations to identify them as imperial carriages.

 

‘Then I should stop by the knights who are participating today…’

 

As I was thinking this, I suddenly heard a loud bang, followed by a shout.

 “Ugh, what’s going on!” “What are you doing, stop it!” 

The sound made me turn my head involuntarily.

 

It all happened so fast.

 

A black horse, drooling and seemingly agitated, broke free from the coachman’s grasp.

 

The horse, much larger than a normal steed, tumbled to the ground and leaped up onto the screaming coachman’s arm.

 “Huh? 

And right towards where I was.

 

People screamed, and someone’s desperate voice rang in my ears.

 “Ciel!!!” 

And then the menacing hooves of a horse came crashing down on me, right up to my nose.