I Grabbed the Tyrant’s Heart

“Ciel, Euel.”

As I walked down near the concourse where the party was held, my father approached excitedly.

“Euel is always cute and pretty.”

“Father, I’m, ugh.”

Kiss, kisskisskiss.

I turned my head away from the man who grabbed me and gave me a kiss, but it was meaningless.

“Ciel, who does Euel look like to be this pretty?”

“She looked like me.”

“Euel resembles Mom, so you are so lovely and pretty.
Hmm, Ciel.
Make your hair look like Dad.
The same black.”

“Let’s just pick something that looks like your hair color.
Because her hair resembles me.”

“That alone is an honor for me, Euel.
You look like Dad!”

I want my father to be the blue-blooded Minister of Defense as others say in front of me.
He talks too much in front of me…….

“Euel, would you like to say hello to Ethyl?”

“Ethyl Bonart? Why does she have to say hello to him first, Ciel?”

“That’s because he’s close with Euel.”

“I don’t approve of him.
There is no one in this world who can be our Euel’s partner.”

“I admit that, but I can’t help it.
Ethyl is better than anyone else.”

Mother, who mumbled unfamiliar words, moved her steps in search of Duke and Duchess Bonart, even before Father managed to stop her.

“Ciel… ! Geez, Mom is gone.
Euel, shall we go too?”

“… yes.”

It was cumbersome to say hello to people, but the choice of staying with my father was easy, so I just affirmed it.

We didn’t come early, but the hall was already crowded.

Most of the parties and banquets held in the Imperial Palace are mainly open to Counts and above, but in a case like today, everyone can come, so it will be more crowded.
Sometimes they come for pure purpose, or they come to have their faces stamped on those in power, whom they can’t usually see.

Look, they already had their heads down.

“Father.”

“Yes?”

“I’m glad I am Father’s daughter.”

I have no one to look good to except the Crown Prince.
I’m glad that the Crown Prince was also weak-hearted against me.

“… Millen? What’s wrong with your face?”

“I know.
What’s going on, Millen?”

“Sniff, Ciel.
Euel, sniff.
Euel.”

 

Still being held in my father’s arms and putting my chin on his shoulder, I belatedly chewed my tongue.

“Euel said it’s good to be my daughter?! Ciel, I’m really glad she was born.”

I never said it was good, I wanted to correct it, but I kept silent.

“Uel, Mom-”

Mother, who seemed to be asking why he was not putting me down, looked at my stiff expression and closed her mouth.
And she laughed.
Instead, Duke Bonart, who was beside her, intervened.

“Hahahaha, that would be great.
She’s a daughter, so she could tell cute stories.
All our Ethyl does is training, training, and training every day, and there is no friendliness at all.
What is he doing now that he hasn’t come yet? It is clear that he is still stuck in the Knights.”

“Are you jealous, Leon? So look at my daughter.
I’m not envious of you having three sons.
Hahahahahaha!”

Is this person really the iron-blooded Hardland….?

“Euseniel.”

Like a savior, a familiar voice came.
Ethyl!

“What is this, this punk? You came to Euseniel before your father?”

“Hello, Father.
Long time no see, Duke Hardland.
And Duchess.”

Ethyl seems to have come separately from Duke Bonart.

“Hello, Euel.”

“Hello, Ethyl.
Father, drop me off, ugh.”

“I’m going for a walk with Euel! Ciel, I’ll go out.”

“Millen, put down Euel.”

My father stopped at the resolute voice, but I don’t think he’ll give up on me easily.
What was that painted on the ceiling of the central hall of the Imperial Palace? The moment I lift my head,

“His Majesty the Emperor, enteeerrss!”

The Emperor, the Empress, and the Crown Prince appeared, and my father put me down in sorrow.

After the ceremonial opening remarks and greetings, the Crown Prince’s birthday party began, and I wondered if I would be free now-

“You should go and greet the Crown Prince, Euel.”

– Originally people have to go and congratulate the Crown Prince in order of highest rank.
This is the original law, but since the Crown Prince is young, he cannot sit for a long time, so only the Duke’s family has to greet him.

… This is not good.

After saying our greetings to the Emperor and Empress along with Father and Mother, we went to greet today’s main character, Tess.

“Crown Prince, congratulations on your sixth birthday.”

I politely unfolded my dress and greeted him.
I straightened my body, but I still couldn’t raise my head.
I thought I knew what Tess was going to look like, but nevertheless.

“Euseniel.”

“Oh dear, Crown Prince.
It should be Miss Euseniel.”

“Look at me, Euseniel.”

“Crown Prince!”

“Hoho, don’t mind it, Empress.
It’s nice to see a friend after a long time.
Raise your head, Euseniel.”

There was nothing on Tess’s face.
It even looked empty.

Before, I was happy to see him after a long time, so I felt guilty now.
His expression wasn’t what I expected, but it feels terribly wrong.

As if I had hurt him.

“Happy birthday.”

“Thank you, Euseniel.”

Again, the Empress’ scolding continued, but Tess stared steadfastly at me.

People from families below ours continued to greet each other.
Lots of familiar faces.
Oh-ho, the Xuen family also brought their son this time.
The youngest daughter is still four years old, so it seems they couldn’t bring her because she couldn’t enter the Imperial Palace.

“Euel, why don’t you go over there with Ethyl and talk.
You two haven’t seen each other in a long time.”

Why does Mother keep pushing me to Ethyl?

“Uhmm, or is there another friend that Euel likes?”

Doesn’t it have to be Ethyl?

“I will escort Euel, Duchess.”

Ethyl, who appeared from nowhere, smiled and held out his hand to me.
Looking at him like this, sometimes I forget that he’s eight years old.

“Let’s go.”

“Thank you.”

As I moved to avoid Father’s intense gaze, someone blocked our way.

“Hello, Euseniel.”

“Crown Prince.”

Tess’ smiling face wrinkled in an instant.
For a moment, he took my empty hand and looked at Ethyl.

“Hoho, the Crown Prince already came to Euseniel right now?”

The Emperor came with a kind smile, and the Empress, who was talking with the people of her family, did not come with me.

“Ethyl of Bonart greets Your Majesty, the great lord of the Northern Empire.”

“Oh, you are Leon’s son.
I’ve seen you before in the Imperial Palace Knights.”

“I am enjoying Your Majesty’s blessing, and am living a rewarding day.”

Ethyl’s cheeks were slightly flushed as he talked.

“The apprenticeship with the Imperial Knights, how pleased Ethyl was when Your Majesty first brought up.
I am also always grateful.”

“Hohoho, it was the Crown Prince who made that suggestion.
He said that Bonart’s eldest son, whom he met at Hardland the other day, seemed to have a great passion for swordsmanship training.
And he suggested giving him a tour of the Imperial Knights.”

“Crown Prince.”

“Yes.
He expressed his gratitude for the dedication of the Bonart family, and said that I should raise great talent.
Hahahahaha!”

The Emperor seemed very satisfied.
Sure enough, because the heir who was rumored to be a crybaby and a fool almost a year ago now gave a plausible opinion.

It’s nice to see Tess growing up, but I can’t help but laugh.

I wanted to ask Tess right away.

‘You hate Ethyl, don’t you? So what were you really thinking?’ -something like that.

Of course, it wouldn’t matter if he was aware of his position as the Crown Prince, but the Tess I knew couldn’t be like that.

Rather, he would try to keep Ethyl away from me.

“Euseniel, does your head hurt? What’s the matter?”

Two lukewarm hands wrapped around my cheeks.
The familiar blue eyes are staring at me.

“Gasp.
No, thank you.
It’s nothing, Crown Prince.”

The child with wide worried eyes couldn’t have done that.

“Oh no, Euseniel.
If you are sick, you can go and rest.
Thanks to you, the Crown Prince was able to grow so wonderfully, so you must continue to help.”

“I am honored.”

“Euel.
Let’s go over there and rest.”

As Mother grabbed my hand and pulled me, someone grabbed my other hand.