At that moment, I heard Cedric’s voice and immediately came to my senses.
“Huh? What are you thinking?”
“Oh, no. Just…” Ciel smiled and said it was nothing.
Cedric tilted his head, finding Ciel’s answer strange, but didn’t ask any more questions.
“Well, anyway. That’s what happened. I think Princess Persephine, who you once told me about, will be here soon.”
“Now I don’t have to show you the princess’ portrait.”
Persephine’s portrait was of course pretty, but her actual appearance was too perfect to capture in a portrait.
It’s better to see it at once than to hear it a hundred times, and Cedric may change his mind when he sees Persephine himself.
“No, well… Wouldn’t it be nice to see her face more?”
“…”
“No. Shouldn’t your Majesty pay more attention to Princess Persephine for a while?”
“Why?” Cedric asked with a frown.
A piece of work.
Cedric has no interest in the fact that such a great beauty would come to him that once she walks by, he would be enchanted by her beauty, like a fish sinks to the bottom and a bird falls from the sky.
“That’s because she will feel uneasy coming to another country alone without anyone to lean on. On the other hand, I’m not in a situation that anyone should care about.”
“Well, the arrival of Princess Persephine doesn’t solve the problem with your mana.” Cedric spoke in a low, subdued voice.
His shining red eyes lit up, and his movement, which slowly bended his upper body, was as elegant and smooth as the gesture of a wolf preparing to hunt.
Before I knew it, his hand reached right near mine.
Seeing his fingertips, which were soft almost touching mine, I swallowed my saliva silently.
A distance that could be reached by raising his finger a little.
The more I reflected on that fact, the more my hands seemed to stiffen.
“I will pay the most attention to you no matter who comes.”
“…”
“Ciel, you know that, right?”
His red lips curved like an arc.
A beautiful smile as if drawn with a brush.
It was a dangerous smile that would devour me when I looked at it.
‘This is dangerous.’
As expected, he deserves to be a sub-male.
There’s no way that I wouldn’t get a sub-disease after seeing that face.
‘It’s best to avoid the topic at times like this. ‘
I looked as calm as I could and said, raising my head. “Of course, I’m not asking you to take care of the princess even if you overdo it.”
“Then?”
“Although Ackeleta is a vassal state, there’s no need to sever ties with them.”
Even in the original, the relationship between Ackeleta and the Deamant Empire was not much different from what it is today.
In the end, Cedric, who forcibly brought the Princess of a dependent state, was defeated even though he had a mighty Empire.
To eliminate risk, it’s essential to maintain a good relationship with Ackeleta, even if it’s a vassal.
“Please pay attention at least to the extent that Princess Persephine doesn’t think she was treated unfairly in Deamant. That’s enough.”
It’s difficult to make the two of them close, but that’s okay.
Without the elements of conflict, war would not happen easily.
As long as Cedric doesn’t harm the Princess, there won’t be any reason to take issue with it in other countries.
“This is a message for Your Majesty. I hope you’ll listen to me.”
Surprised, Cedric’s red eyes grew slightly bigger.
I meant what I just said…
‘This time, I think you’ll have a happy ending.’
Even if I don’t say it, I know Cedric will do well on his own.
But I hope it doesn’t go wrong this time.
Unlike the original, I want to live long.
I can’t help but hope that those red eyes will shine for a long time.
That’s why I’m telling this to him.
Cedric, with his mouth open agape as if there’s something he wanted to say, nodded and closed his lips again.
“… If you say so.”
The red eyes didn’t tremble at all. Looking into those eyes, I felt a little relieved.
“Well, be as good as you can and don’t do anything weird.”
“Do anything weird?”
“Anything like bullying or scaring the Princess. It’s unlikely, but just in case!”
I said in a hurry, remembering what Cedric did to Persephine in the original story.
“Well, I see. That’s what I was going to do, but I’ll try to be kinder.”
“And there’s one more thing.”
Persephine in the original had a lot of trouble while she was imprisoned.
That experience was a kind of awakening.
Even if Cedric does develop interest in Persephin as originally planned, we could avoid the bad ending of the original book only if he did not lock her up because of his obsession like the original.
“You must never lock the princess in her room. You can’t tie her with shackles or chains.”
“…”
I couldn’t hear Cedric’s voice, who was always answering well.
While I was counting the precautions with one hand open, I raised my head as the surroundings became quiet.
“Your Majesty?”
The moment I looked ahead, I was surprised.
Because Cedric’s red eyes were shining like a beast again.
‘What— what?’
His eyes, as if they had already lost their taste, were brimming with obsession.
And those eyes, for God’s sake, were on me, not on the letters from Ackeleta or the portrait of Persephine.
He raised his fingertips, and his hand, which brushed across my skin, completely covered my left hand and grasped it gently.
As if conveying the message that there’s no escape.
“I will only do that to you.”
Flagged by the obsessive voice, I let out an inner scream.