The Tyrant Wants To Live Honestly

“Your Majesty, please sit comfortably and talk.”

Meanwhile, as soon as Robert came in, he stood at the door and stopped Carnan, who was asking Ethan questions.

He found it unnerving to see the young man being pressured in front of the door.

He escorted Carnan and his guests to the sofa and then brought them refreshments.

However, Carnan did not take his eyes off Ethan as he sat down.

He sipped his tea slowly, then looked between the Duke of Bronte and Ethan as if examining them.

“If you’ve been close to Dorothea in Cerritian, you would know.”

Carnan put down his teacup and opened his mouth.

“Did Dorothea ever manifest the power of a spirit in Cerritian?”

At that, the Duke looked at Ethan and opened his mouth first.

“Won’t the subordinates who went to the detached palace with the princess know better?”

“They all said they didn’t know, either they had no idea, or they really didn’t know.”

“I was surprised that they didn’t know either.”

“Ethan Bronte, how about you?”

Carnan quietly looked at Ethan as if he were interrogating him, with his clasped hands in his lap.

Then Ethan lowered his gaze obliquely, as if recalling his memories for a moment, and opened his mouth.

“As far as I can remember, I’ve never seen the princess manifest the power of spirit. This is the first time I’ve seen that in the debutante.”

Carnan’s eyes narrowed at the clear and relaxed voice without trembling.

“Really?”

Carnan, who had never asked the same question, gave him another chance to answer.

Carnan remembered Ethan Bronte from his debutante days.

When Dorothea’s light spread out from the darkness, his face looked at Dorothea with a smile as if he knew it already.

“How can I tell a lie before His Majesty the Emperor?”

“If you dare, I think you can.”

Carnan kept pressing him, but Ethan didn’t show a confused expression, Instead smiling.

“As a friend and Servant of Princess Dorothea Milanaire when I was a child, I am just happy that the power of the spirit that the princess wanted has been awakened.”

Like a cat navigating through a narrow gap, he flexibly answered Carnan’s questions.

Carnan was still concerned about his attitude but didn’t ask any further since there was no evidence.

“Hahah, that’s right, Your Majesty. When Princess Dorothea was staying in Cerritian, I don’t know how close she was to Ethan. At that time, the princess and Ethan were close friends with each other.”

The Duke actively appealed to the relationship between Ethan and Dorothea.

‘Didn’t he actively invest Ethan in Dorothea at that time!’

‘Didn’t he take Ethan to parties and social gatherings, despite the Duchess’s resistance to impress Dorothea!’

‘He had invested in Dorothea so early on, and now he wouldn’t lose his position to other nobles.’

“As you may have heard, during her stay in Cerritian, the Princess always refused to visit other young ladies and young men, but she would call Ethan to the detached palace to spend time together.”

Even the Duchess, who had not been willing to send Ethan out, nodded with a big smile next to the Duke.

Jonathan, who was sitting next to him, looked at Ethan, who had captured the emperor’s and Bronte’s attention and gritted his teeth.

Ever since he met Carnan, he has been like a sack of barley.

“I thought you were here to introduce me!’

Jonathan is here today with excitement.

Meeting with Carnan was a very important event for him, who had just graduated from Episteme.

He thought that the Duke had arranged this for him as he entered the palace in earnest.

An opportunity to impress the emperor and find out in advance what position he will take in the future.

‘I expected my father to give me praise and recommendations before His Majesty the Emperor.’

However, until his teacup was emptied three times, Carnan and the Duke were preoccupied with Ethan.

ckling!

With a snap, Jonathan nervously placed the empty teacup on the coaster.

Then the Duchess secretly tapped him on the thigh.

‘How dare you put down a teacup loudly in front of His Majesty the Emperor!’

Although she didn’t say it he knew that, and the fierce glare made him even angrier.

He made eye contact with the Duchess and patted his chest.

‘Shouldn’t you pay more attention to me!’

‘I’m the eldest son of Bronte, and they only care about that kid because he seduced the princess with his face!’

Only then did the Duchess realize that she had made Jonathan wait too long.

“Hmm, Your Majesty the Emperor. Our Jonathan is just as good and reliable as Ethan.”

Duchess Bronte cleared her throat and belatedly turned her attention to Jonathan.

“I graduated from Episteme this time.”

“Were you the same age as the Crown Prince?”

“No, I am older than His Highness.”

“You are late for graduation.”

At Carnan’s words, the Duchess and Jonathan’s faces froze.

“I think it’s because everyone in Episteme graduates a little late.”

The delay was because Jonathan failed the graduation exam, so the Duchess worked hard to wrap it up.

“I look forward to serving Your Majesty in the future, and gaining much experience in Lampas as the next head of the Bronte family…!”

An impatient Jonathan spoke up. 

Then Karnan’s blue eyes turned coldly to Jonathan.

“Lampas is not a training camp for the next head of the Bronte family.”

“…!”

At Carnan’s cold reaction, Jonathan’s face flushed red.

Then Ethan, who was next to him, smiled a little and drank tea quietly.

Jonathan, who was embarrassed in front of Ethan, gritted his teeth, and couldn’t open his mouth in front of Carnan.

* * *

The Bronte family came out after the meeting with Carnan was over.

“Great, Ethan.”

The Duke smiled as he patted Ethan on the shoulder, who had successfully impressed the Emperor.

At that moment, The Duke and Duchess looked the happiest.

“It’s thanks to the two of you who cared for me.”

Ethan said with a pretense smile and turned his gaze to Jonathan next to him.

He must have been very dissatisfied with the meeting, so he was staring at Ethan with a hardened expression on his face.

‘After graduating from Episteme, it’s time to get pretty excited, but it’s a shame.’

Ethan thought so and smiled at Jonathan as well.

“Thank you too, brother. Because of you, I also came to Lampas.”

At that, Jonathan’s face was getting more wrinkled.

“By the way, Ethan, do you know how much you insisted on going to Lampas when you were young?”

“Me?”

Ethan pretended not to know what the Duke said.

“I don’t know if you were jealous that Jonathan went to Episteme, or if you were just curious about Lampas, but when you were younger, you said you wanted to go to Lampas.”

The Duke and Duchess remembered a long time ago. Then the Duchess smiled and nodded her head.

“You cried and begged me to send you to Episteme, so I had no choice but to give you permission.”

“I remember.”

Ethan nodded slowly.

His childhood, when Dorothea hadn’t come down to Ceritian. He’d asked the Duke and Duchess many times with the intention of meeting Dorothea.

He cried and whined like a child, saying that it was his only wish that he usually didn’t beg.

Thanks to that, at the age of eight, he was able to leave for Lampas to take the Episteme exam.

Unfortunately, on the way up to Lampas, there was a carriage accident, which broke his leg.

Being late for the Episteme exam schedule and being physically injured, he had to come back down to Cerritian before he could even reach Lampas.

“At that time, you were depressed for more than a year because you didn’t take the test, so I was very sad. You acted as if the world had fallen.”

“And how good it is that you’re here, in Lampas, where you wanted to be.”

Ethan quietly nodded at the Duke’s smile. 

Pushing Ethan to stand by Jonathan’s side, the Duchess then opened her mouth,

“Ethan debuted and Jonathan graduated, and now that you are both grown-ups, you shouldn’t fight and you must get along well.” said the Duchess, putting the two of them together.

No matter how much they fight, the only place they could lean on was their siblings, so they need to help each other and lead the Bronte family well.

‘You have such a big dream, mother.’

Ethan thought, as he responded to the Duchess’s words with a smile.

Her calculations are good.

The eldest son and her son, Jonathan, will of course become head of the Bronte family. And Ethan Bronte will marry the princess and become a member of the imperial family.

In that case, Ethan, who had a connection with the imperial family, could become a strong support force for Jonathan.

But that’s not going to happen.

The look on Jonathan’s face, as he tried to contain his anger, said so.

‘I don’t think so either and…I can’t.’

He fiddled with the brooch in his pocket.

His gaze involuntarily turned to the east.

Converta Palace, where Dorothea was.

‘I came all the way to the Imperial Palace, and it was a pity to go back without seeing her face once.’

“Oh! Princess Dorothea Milanaire!”

The Duke of Bronte called out to Dorothea in a loud voice.

Ethan turned his head instinctively to follow the Duke’s gaze. True to his word, Dorothea was there.

As soon as he saw her face, he could barely breathe and his chest became tight.

While Ethan was frozen on the spot, the Duke stepped forward and approached Dorothea.

“Duke of Bronte….”

“I was just about to say hello to the princess! Oh, our Ethan is also here.”

The Duke motioned for Ethan to come quickly and greet Dorothea.

Ethan made eye contact with Dorothea.

“Hello, Princess Dorothea.”

“Hi, Ethan.”

Ethan didn’t know what to say after greeting her.

To Dorothea, he pretended to finish the end calmly, but he wasn’t confident to face Dorothea. And obviously, Dorothea would be uncomfortable with him.

As the two of them looked awkwardly at each other, the Duke of Bronte opened his mouth.

* * *