The Tyrant Wants To Live Honestly

So he had to let Dorothea go somehow. So he took out the letters that had been put aside and made an appointment at any time.

 

He also readily accepted the request for a date with the young ladies.

 

‘Maybe if I meet a lot of women, I might be able to fall in love again, right?’

 

Dorothea isn’t the only woman.

 

Maybe a woman who can heal his wounds and understand him will come along and fill the hole that Dorothea has left in his life.

 

But even after meeting a few people, his emptiness only increased.

 

‘I feel sorry for the young ladies I met, but whenever I see other women, I think of Dorothea and compare them.’

 

All the criteria were Dorothea, so no matter who he met, he couldn’t find anyone who met that criteria.

 

The more he met other women, the more he confirmed his feelings for Dorothea.

 

Still, he didn’t stop meeting the nobles.

 

It didn’t matter if the right person never came along. He can forget the sadness and jealousy that digs into him only when he meets anyone and talks about something worthless.

 

When he was alone at home, distractions tormented him, and he felt the urge to run to see Dorothea.

 

‘Just like before the return, I was tempted to kill Theon Fried, and I had to kill my beating heart for fear of making the same mistake again.’

 

The bright side of actively meeting people was nothing more than a mask to hide his darkness.

 

‘is that a good thing? In the eyes of the princess, I seem to be doing well.’

 

Ethan sighed in front of Dorothea.

 

Knowing his heart or not, Dorothea smiled awkwardly in front of him.

 

“I mean…It seems that you are living well, and maybe you’re finding your own way now, so I’m worried that saying this will be a bad thing for you, but I think I’ll have to do it once, or I’ll regret it if I don’t…”

 

Dorothea’s words were longer than usual.

 

In Ethan’s eyes, Dorothea, who was gibberish and rolled her eyes, which somehow made her look even cuter.

 

‘She was as adorable as ever.’

 

Ethan smiled and nodded, not knowing what Dorothea meant by 

‘bad things’.

 

“Tell me, Princess.”

 

‘I am ready to accept any hurt you give me.’

 

‘I spent my whole life looking at you even though I knew I would get hurt.’

 

A foolish man could handle everything just by looking at Dorothea’s face.

 

Even if she puts a knife to his heart, he’ll be happy to laugh.

 

Ethan smiled quietly as he waited for her next words.

 

Dorothea clenched a small fist and brought out the desire that had been boiling deep in her chest.

 

“I think I want to be loved by you.”

 

Finally, Dorothea closed her eyes and spilled the water.

 

‘As Theon and Clara said, I have to be honest with myself at least once so I won’t have any regrets. I can’t keep these feelings to myself.’

 

At Dorothea’s confession, Ethan looked at her with wide-open eyes, frozen on the spot.

 

When Ethan didn’t answer, Dorothea asked.

 

“Am I still worthy of your love?”

 

Dorothea raised her head, which had been bowed because she wasn’t confident, and made eye contact with Ethan.

 

And the water that she spilled impulsively came to him as a huge tidal wave.

 

Soon, her blue eyes became a hot flame and burned his heart. Those eyes cut off Ethan’s last patience.

 

‘It’s all up to you.’

 

He swallowed Dorothea’s breath. Dorothea was startled and trembled for a moment, but he craved her red lips as if biting a sweet fruit.

 

‘Am I still worthy of your love? What a foolish question to ask…’

 

He carved deep into her with the tip of his sweet tongue, as if to remind her clearly.

 

‘I have loved you, I will love you, I will love you, even if you don’t want me to.’

 

If she wanted to, he could tell her he loved her so many times until his breath was gone.

 

He pushed his body heat into her, hotter than she could handle.

 

Dorothea was sweaty with moisture from Ethan’s hot body.

 

She was in ecstasy.

 

TL: ecstasy is an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement.

 

‘I’m sure he kissed me before, too, but I was so surprised that I didn’t even think about it.’

 

‘Was it so warm and sweet to share body temperature?’

 

The overwhelming sense of happiness that she realized only later fell into a single drop of salty tears.

 

A kiss with him was too provocative, and even a light hug was hard to understand, so she couldn’t get out of it.

 

TL: provocative in this sentence means arousing sexual desire or interest, especially on purpose.

 

Dorothea became addicted to it and buried herself deep in Ethan.

 

She wanted to be loved for a long time but didn’t know how to be loved, and now she is slowly learning how to be loved.

 

And now she seemed to know that to be loved well, she had to know how to love well.

 

* * *

 

The nobility of the club, which hosted the music performance, confirmed the extension time.

 

It was because Dorothea and Ethan didn’t return even after the music performance time started.

 

But people had no complaints about the delay.

 

Rather, they seemed not interested in the music performance because they were talking about the spirit of light that Dorothea showed.

 

Attended by both Ethan and Dorothea, who are the No. 1 targets of interest in society, the music wasn’t important to this event.

 

However, Nereus took out his frustration on the servant by asking them to find Dorothea and Ethan.

 

“We are already 30 minutes late because of the two of them!”

 

The servants hurried to find Dorothea and Ethan.

 

He would normally be hanging out with other nobles gathered in the hall, but now he bit his lips in the preparation area behind the music performance stage.

 

‘Dorothea Milanaire, you really know how to deal with spirits…!’

 

He clenched his fists as he ducked behind the stage curtain.

 

‘Being humiliated in front of other nobles, I couldn’t even go out into the hall.’

 

“Did you even want to prove that you are weaker than me, Nereus?”

 

Dorothea’s words shattered his pride.

 

She had beaten him in swordplay and in tests of knowledge before, and she made it clear that she was superior in every way.

 

Her spirit, which he thought was a trick, was real even when looked at up close.

 

In this place where there was neither Carnan nor Raymond, only Dorothea manifested her powers, so there was no doubt.

 

Moreover, it was an overwhelming power that Nereus could not fight.

 

It is a well-known common knowledge that the Hark royal family has a stronger bond with the spirits than Milanaire.

 

But why is Dorothea’s power stronger than theirs? It didn’t make sense to Nereus.

 

‘Then why did you hide it until now? You had such a strong power!’

 

He felt a fever and his head spin at the thought of how ridiculous Dorothea must have thought of him all this time.

 

‘I can’t believe you’re playing with people like this.’

 

‘Besides, even that bastard.’

 

Nereus remembered Ethan, who disappeared with Dorothea.

 

He has recently turned the social world upside down with his face as a weapon, and it seems that his nose has been raised by people chirping.

 

It was just a few days ago that Monica, who had been talking about the engagement with him, broke off the engagement.

 

Although others may not have seen it, Ethan smirked and laughed when he saw Nereus being pushed by Dorothea with the power of a spirit.

 

A prince of a country can’t be treated like that by a bastard who couldn’t even appear in episteme.

 

‘An arrogant bastard I didn’t like him from the beginning.’

 

‘Will he come to his senses if he takes one more punch?’

 

He was hit hard at the Episteme graduation ceremony, but he still didn’t know his place.

 

Nereus thought he had to trample that arrogant bastard once.

 

Just then, a violin came into his eyes.

 

The violin case was engraved with Ethan’s name in elegant handwriting.

 

Nereus’ eyes narrowed for a moment as he read Ethan’s name.

 

He had heard rumors of Ethan’s playing ability.

 

Some of those who heard him play were said to be so ecstatic that they would faint.

 

Even Countess Duncan, who is famous for her picky ears when it comes to music, was said to have praised Ethan’s skills.

 

They even said that a royal orchestra in a foreign country wanted to invite him to play.

 

But Nereus laughed at the rumor.

 

‘He is famous for his looks.’

 

‘There are so many musicians in Lampas, so how well would he do if he learned the violin alone in Seritian, a distant province?’

 

‘It’s clear that people praise him just because of his face. It would be more accurate to say that he’s a good-looking guy, not a musician.’

 

Because of that, he was opposed to inviting Ethan to the music performance.

 

“You listen to music with your ears, not with your eyes.”

 

He pitied the aristocrats in the music clubs who wanted to invite Ethan.

 

It was clear to him that they wanted to see his face, not listen to music.

 

Besides, if they invite Ethan to the music performance, more people will come to see him, so the music club was hoping for that too.

 

In the end, Nereus couldn’t stop the club’s nobles from inviting Ethan.

 

‘But the handsome Ethan Bronte now goes out and doesn’t come back, even delaying the concert?’

 

‘What a shame!’

 

Nereus glanced around.

 

The nobles were busy conversing among themselves, and the servants had gone to find Dorothea and Ethan.

 

Confirming that no one was watching him, Nereus carefully opened Ethan’s violin case.

 

Inside the case lay the violin, which was more carefully cared for than he had expected.

 

The smooth curve of the violin was so beautiful that he coveted it. In addition, the string was also wearing a silver-covered high-quality string.

 

‘You have a good eye.’

 

It’s funny to show off with expensive equipment when you have nothing.

 

Ethan’s violin, better than expected, was enough to fuel his irritation.

 

Nereus took the small knife next to him and cut the E string.

 

Although it was metallic, the thinnest E string was easily broken with a single stroke of his knife.

 

After cutting one string, it wasn’t difficult to cut the other string.

 

Nereus smiled as he looked at the broken violin.

 

‘Try playing well without strings.’

 

Nereus took the spare string from the inside pocket of the case and closed the case in its original state.

 

He threw all the spare strings into the pond in the garden.

 

* * *