There was a small incident in the beginning, but the class ended well.
“Good job, Your Majesty.”
As he continued to practice, his slouching posture without confidence was corrected, and Cedric was able to release his mana weakly even after I let go of his hand.
My stomach kept boiling because of Caliberne’s constant annoyance, but I somehow managed it.
‘What kind of greenlight was Caliberne talking about?’
I told Caliberne a few new love-related words because he seemed to be interested in the subject of swords, and I didn’t know he would use them to tease me like this.
I gritted my teeth thinking that I should punish him when I get back to my room.
“Oh, no. Ciel did a great job too.”
Cedric smiled softly as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
‘Now that the Prince released a lot of mana, we would need to hold hands right?’
It was very awkward to bring up the topic of holding hands first.
‘No, 200 million kerta. 200 million kerta. And my life…’
Then I held out my hand to him…
“Then class is over your highness, so I’ll hold your hand.”
“Huh? Oh…”
As soon as he finished speaking, Cedric’s face turned red again.
Nevertheless, he did not twist his body awkwardly or avert his gaze like before.
“Yes, here.”
He reached out shyly, and I held his hand with my right hand.
Perhaps because he had just been holding the sword, his hand was warmer than the last time.
“Hey, am I not weird?”
“What?”
While holding his hand, I tilted my head at the sudden words he uttered.
When I looked up at him, I saw two clear, unshakable eyes staring at me.
“Weird, what? Where?”
“I’m immature… and I’m not good at anything unlike my father…”
The red eyes rolled slowly.
A heavy voice, unsuitable for his age, flowed from between his tender lips.
“I thought it would have been ridiculous.”
Now I realize this kid’s problem.
‘You lack confidence.’
Even though he’s old enough to believe that he’s the best in the world after receiving so much compliments.
“No. Not at all. You’re not childish.”
“But…”
“You’re trying to make up for the parts you thought you lacked with.”
I continued speaking in a serious voice.
“That’s not ridiculous.”
Then I put my left hand over his right hand and spoke.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
Then Cedric looked at me with a slightly startled expression.
“I-if I’m with Ciel, together, I might not be abandoned.”
My heart thumped again.
The face of my parents from my previous life, and the mother whom I had only seen for a week in this life, passed in my mind.
I bit my lips and closed my eyes, controlling the emotions that seemed to flow out of my throat.
“That’s not gonna happen.”
“But…”
His childish voice trembled softly.
“I don’t know how to do anything differently from my father. My father, the Emperor, was good at everything.”
Cedric said, scratching his cheek with a gloomy face.
“There were rumors that I wasn’t his real son…”
After he spoke, my mouth was wide open in surprise.
Who the hell said that kind of thing?
To the extent that this child knows such rumor.
‘Are those people blind?’
Perhaps Cedric himself didn’t know, but the Emperor and his appearance were very similar.
Of course their atmosphere was quite different, but it was safe to say that Cedric was a miniature version of the Emperor.
‘You’re the Emperor’s son, whoever sees it.’
On top of that, I confirmed his adult appearance in the novel, and I knew that he would resemble the Emperor almost like a duplicate copy.
“I’m afraid that my father might abandon me.”
It really took my breath away.
‘I, who was a commoner, and Cedric, a member of the royal family. Why does everyone have to live with such anxiety?’
I wrapped Cedric’s little hands with my hands, and I felt the power transfer to his hands.
The emotions boiling in my heart were intense and hot.
And it was painful and cold at the same time. But for some reason, I didn’t want to show that feeling in front of this child.
“It’s okay, Your Grace. His Majesty would never abandon you. Rather he would be proud of you.”
Even in my previous life, I had never seen such a calm child when tutoring elementary school students.
Cedric was a very good child compared to the average kids his age, and his learning attitude was also good.
‘Usually, if I had a son who was this handsome and gentle, I would have fed him every day and raised him with gold and jade at his feet.’
Oh, of course, starting a war was a bit of a big deal.
“If he later sees you, your highness, wielding the sword yourself, His Majesty would surely like it.”
A happy light shone on Cedric’s dark face.
“Is that so…?”
“Of course.”
I smiled confidently.
so that he can be reassured.
Cedric smiled brightly, revealing his white teeth for the first time.
I almost grabbed my heart at the sight, but I managed to keep my head down.
‘There can’t be two suns in the world, but if I had to choose only one, I’d choose that face as the sun.’
“Ciel, you know. You can call me Cedric when we’re not in class!”
“Oh, no, that’s a bit…”
“Can’t you?”
In the end, my heart was weakened because of his teary eyes looking at me.
When the sun sheds tears, who wouldn’t be sad?
“Well then, to His Majesty, uhm Cedric…”
“Ah, yes.”
There was silence for a while after that.
Until Cedric opens his mouth again.
“By the way, Ciel. Your hands are very soft.”
“What? Oh, well, thank you.”
Then he smiled brightly again, wrapping his hands around my hands and placing it on his cheeks.
“Ah…”
“It feels good because it’s soft like marshmallows!”
Heat rushed to my face in an instant at his sudden attack.
[Hey, the whole world is pink, it’s pink!]
I yelled in my heart to Caliberne shouting excitedly.
‘Hey, shut up! I’m in class!’
But Caliberne didn’t listen to me.
[Look at this, people in the neighborhood! Ciel doesn’t give classes, but the two are only playing around!]
I gritted my teeth and made up my mind.
One day, while he’s in a sword, I’ll melt him in a furnace.
✦✦✦✦✦
After our first class, Cedric gradually opened up to me.
Now, there are a lot of times when he talks to me first, and sometimes he even laughs.
‘For now, there are no problems with our classes.’
It took some time, but I learned that Cedric was a student who works hard and masters what he learns.
To be honest, I wondered if I had to step forward.
‘If he had used another great magic swordsman as his teacher, he would have done it well on his own.’
As I learned later, even the famous magic swordsmen at that time failed to awaken his sword, and the anxious Emperor received an oracle and hired me.
‘I don’t think there would be problems if we keep going like this until my retirement.’
As I was stretching over the armchair in the lounge, I thought to myself.
“Oh, life is so comfortable, so comfy.”
When I was in the orphanage, I slept with my legs folded because there was no place to stretch my legs.
Although I realized that I would have died within a few months if I had lived that way, I’m fine now.
A solution was found, and Caliberne said I would get better if I held hands with the Crown Prince for five years.
In fact, it was not my intention, but beyond saving my life and earning a good high salary, what else was better than this?
The difficulty of the task seemed to have increased considerably compared to when I was in the orphanage, but the standard of living had literally risen vertically.
I was in the middle of peacefully admiring the painting hanging on the wall with my eyes wide open.
Bang!
The door to the lounge room opened with a loud sound.
Surprised, I jumped out of my chair and looked at the person who came in as if to break the door.
“Ciel, Ciel-”
“Your Highness?”
This was a lounge mainly used by the upper class of the Imperial Palace Knights, where the Emperor specifically allowed me to use.
In fact, it was unlikely that Crown Prince Cedric would come this far.
“How did you get here? But why are you in such a hurry—”
Then he took a deep breath and cried out in an urgent voice.
The two shaky eyes looked anxious like a deer being chased by a wolf.
The little hand that desperately ruffled my collar was trembling.