The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go

The expedition headed south to the border, and with the help of reinforcements sent along the way, all returned safely.

 

Falling under a powerful sleep spell, the members of the expedition regained consciousness as soon as the Mages broke the spell.

 

Ciel, however, who had been poisoned, did not regain consciousness until they reached the palace.

 

Cedric’s eyes grew cold as he watched her struggle for a long time.

 “…Paul, how was Ciel’s condition?” “Yes, no major changes or abnormalities from two hours ago.” 

Cedric chewed his lip in silence at Paul’s answer.

 

‘The poison is completely detoxified, and Doctor Dalton said there shouldn’t be a problem, but…’

 

Still, Cedric was uneasy. He feared that Ciel, sleeping so still, would suddenly stop breathing and leave his side forever.

 

Nothing would be more harsh and cruel to Cedric than to never see her gentle blue eyes again.

 “She never showed any sign of waking up, did she?” “Yes, I’ve been watching her ever since you left this room, but…” 

Paul shook his head.

 

At the words, Cedric’s face lit up, and he looked down at Ciel with a dark expression.

 “Still, Your Majesty, the staff, including Doctor Dalton, have told me that she should be on her feet soon, so why don’t you give her a little patience?” “…As you wish.” 

With that, Cedric sat down beside Ciel and pulled off his gloves.

 

‘I can’t use these.’

 

Paul thought as he put the red, blood-soaked gloves away.

 

Cedric’s hands were clean and unscathed, so this blood must have belonged to someone else.

 

Paul could smell the foul scent of blood wafting from the gloves, and he had a feeling they were infused with anger.

 “…Did the interrogation go well?” “Yes.” 

A successful interrogation meant they’d gotten everything they needed to know from the mole. That meant he was no longer worth keeping alive.

 

When Cedric heard that someone was trying to harm the head of the Imperial Knights, he quickly organized reinforcements and set out.

 

Those who saw Cedric personally carry the wounded Ciel to the palace, soaked in rain, shuddered at the life he spared.

 

Cedric was not usually one to show his anger in public.

 

So Paul had a fair idea of how his returning Lord would deal with the spy who had participated in the attempted assassination of the Imperial Knight Commander.

 “You disposed of him yourself.” “…Because he tried to lay hands on my person.” 

Cedric trailed off.

 “She attributed his failure to kill me last time to Ciel’s interference.” “So that’s why he wanted to ambush and kill her while she was far from the palace.” “That’s right. Though it doesn’t sound like it worked out so well from what the man we captured at the scene said.” 

Cedric squeezed Ciel’s hand.

 “Apparently, he cast a wide-area sleep spell to lull the entire expedition to sleep, and then tried to kill Ciel discreetly.” “I suppose they thought that even if a group of people attacked, they could still lose against a Knight Commander.” “Indeed, even while poisoned, she managed to subdue most of the men there, and even stated that they were baffled by Ciel’s resistance to the sleep spell.” “Ah, so the difference in magic power was so great that it didn’t work?” “I think so. I heard that the Temple’s protective magic didn’t work against Ciel last time, and I think it did this time, too.” “Then they must have used poison, since it didn’t seem to work.” “Yes.”

Cedric added through gritted teeth.

 “I don’t know as much about Ciel as I thought I did, but I’ve been carefully preparing for this assassination.” 

He hadn’t expected that the Imperial Palace would have secretly placed an amulet to prevent communication via jewelry.

 

Rukia thought it odd that the jewelry Ciel was carrying contained traces of communication to the Imperial Palace, so together with Cedric, they interrogated the spy to find out what happened.

 “We’ll have to search the palace once more, in case there are more spies.” 

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

 “Rukia has arrived, and it’s Dalton.” “Come in.” 

With Cedric’s permission, they opened the door and entered, took a seat at Ciel’s bedside, and began examining her.

 “Um, what’s wrong with her…?” 

Cedric asked, wide-eyed, as Rukia looked down at Ciel with concern.

 “Why, Rukia, is something wrong, is her magic unstable again?” “Yes, Your Majesty. It was a little unstable earlier, but it’s getting worse.” 

Rukia replied anxiously, and Dalton added.

 “The magic isn’t entirely unrelated to her physical condition, and the fatigue from the expedition and the ambush must also be affecting her body right now.” “I don’t think we should leave her like this…” 

Rubbing her chin, Rukia muttered,

“Your Majesty, you know that thing I gave you the other day, where is it now?” 

Cedric instantly recognized the

‘thing’

Rukia was referring to. He’d kept it on hand, just in case.

 “It’s here. Do you want it now?” 

Cedric asked as he set the golden chain down on Ciel’s bedside table.

 “Yes, please place it on her now and hold her hand right away.” 

Rukia said, looking at the scale on the mana meter she had set up next to Ciel.

 

As Cedric put the chains on and took Ciel’s hand, the fluctuating scale slowed slightly.

 

But that was all, and Ciel’s power remained unstable.

 “Rukia, I think this might be…” 

Dalton began, and Rukia nodded.

 

Right now, with the chains on, it was difficult to stabilize her power just by holding her hand.

 

More direct contact was needed. With their backs to Ciel and Cedric, Dalton and Rukia quickly whispered.

 “I think this might be the best we can do.” “Isn’t it?” 

Cedric spoke up, finding the whispering odd,

“Would you mind telling me what you’re talking about?” “That, Your Majesty.” 

Rukia said, a little embarrassed.

 “The Captain said that on the night before the expedition, she spent more time with you than usual, but it still seems to have some effects of not seeing you for a while.” 

Then Dalton spoke,

“Plus, it seems like she’s not in the best of condition right now, and her magic is erratic.” “Yeah, so?” “It seems that it will take much more intimate contact than hand-holding to stabilize it quickly.” 

Cedric’s brow narrowed at that.

 “How much contact are you talking about?” 

Biting her lip, Rukia took a deep breath.

 

Preparing herself, she spoke quickly, as if to vent the truth she’d been holding inside for so long.

 “You’ll have to kiss her.” “What?” 

Cedric asked in bewilderment, and at the same moment, Ciel, who hadn’t been awake for a long time, opened her eyes.

  

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Cedric’s face.

 “Ciel!” 

The ceiling was luxuriously patterned, and she felt the warmth of a quilt against her hand.

 

‘We’ve made it to the palace alive.’ 

 

With a sigh of relief, her body relaxed.

 

Doctor Dalton and Rukia surrounded the just-awakened figure and began to examine her.

 “Captain, now that you’re awake, we’re going to do a basic examination.” “While you’re being examined, please keep your hand on His Majesty’s shoulder.” 

With a nod, I followed their instructions.

 

‘By the way, I think Rukia said something strange to Cedric earlier…’

 

The words sounded like they were meant to get Cedric to kiss me.

 

Although, of course, I could be mishearing.

 

‘I don’t know.’

 

It bothered me to even think about it now. 

 

All I wanted was a little rest.

 “Thankfully, everything is fine, and the poison has almost dissipated. You’ll be on track to feeling better soon.” 

So said Doctor Dalton, finishing his examination.

 

However, Rukia’s eyes on the meter didn’t look so hopeful.

 “But not in terms of magic power, Captain, because His Majesty has been holding your hand the whole time, hasn’t he?” “Uh, yeah…” 

Cedric was holding my hand the moment I woke up, so I had somewhat expected it.

 

My mana had probably become unstable.

 “However, the speed at which the mana stabilizes is much slower than that, so I think it needs a little more contact…” 

Ugh, wait a minute. Maybe I hadn’t been mistaken about the kiss.

 “Excuse me, but what exactly do you mean by close contact?”

I asked Rukia, feigning ignorance.

 

But Cedric answered first,

“They want me to kiss Ciel.” “…” 

Wait, I wasn’t ready for this.

 

Seeing Cedric bluntly tell me that we should kiss, I was speechless.

 “Uh… I see.” 

I quickly called out Caliberne’s name in my mind.

 

Fortunately, Caliberne immediately responded to my call.

 [Uh, you’re up, Ciel.] 

‘Caliberne, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I have a very unstable mana state.’

 [I know, and I’m trying to calm it down now.] 

Caliberne spoke in a calm, even tone.

 [So now the head of magical research is saying you two should kiss, that should be fun.] 

‘What, did you hear everything? And how funny is that, because we’re not like that at all?’

 [Oh, really?] 

Caliberne said in a surprised voice.

 [Then you don’t want to kiss him?] 

I paused at Caliberne’s words.

 

‘I don’t want to kiss Cedric…?’

 

My heart, which had been beating at a steady pace, suddenly began to beat rapidly.

 “Ciel, are you okay?” 

A pair of red eyes suddenly came into view, and I was startled out of my thoughts.

 

Red eyes that looked straight at me.

 

And when I saw his lips set on his sculpted face, I couldn’t help myself and lowered my head. My face burned as if it were on fire.

 

‘I don’t dislike him, on the contrary…’ 

 

I clasped my hand over my mouth, startled by the thought.

 

‘I must be crazy.’

 

Just then, Cedric wrapped both his hands around my right hand.

 “Ciel, can we do this?” “What? Uh, come on, wait—” 

Without warning, Cedric leaned in and bent his head toward me.

 

In the blink of an eye, his lips were on mine.

‘Huh?’

But it wasn’t my lips he kissed, it was my cheek. His lips lingered on my cheek for a few seconds.