The Tyrant Wants To Live Honestly

Simple dishes were served on a wooden table with the sunlight falling at an angle.

 

“Did you grow all these ingredients, Ray?”

 

Julia asked, leaving the sleeping Gemma in the care of the nanny.

 

“Of course not, Just eggs and vegetables.”

 

Raymond smiled with a rather proud look on his face.

 

“And I baked the bread this morning. I’ve been enjoying baking lately. I think I’ll go to Po next time and learn how to make a proper pie.”

 

In Friedia, Although There are servants, Raymond often does some of the household chores himself when he wants to.

 

In particular, baking bread to eat for breakfast has been one of his recent hobbies.

 

He was planning to try making cheese starting next week.

 

“Every time I see you, I’m amazed.” Julia said.

 

“why?”

 

“The person who was once the crown prince is here doing that.”

 

After Dorothea ascended the throne, Raymond lived on a farm in the quiet suburbs of Prydia.

 

He often socialized with agronomists, played with neighborhood kids, and raised his dog Cookie and chickens, just as he wanted.

 

TL: An agronomist, or crop scientist, studies plants and how they can be grown, modified, and used to benefit society.

 

It was a very rare case in the life of the royal family.

 

“Yeah, I can’t believe I was once a crown prince. I don’t know how I survived back then.”

 

Raymond smiled and put caprese on a plate.

 

Of course, his life that began after leaving the imperial palace was not smooth from the beginning.

 

In the early days of Dorothea’s reign, several ministers visited him and whispered to him to reclaim the throne.

 

The nobles who were connected to him and the ministers who ignored Dorothea.

 

They held onto him to extend their own political lifelines.

 

There were also people who came for other reasons.

 

Some thought that Dorothea, as a non-Episteme, was unqualified to be emperor.

 

They complained that it was unacceptable, citing tradition, and were not pleased with Dorothea’s political moves, which they sometimes felt were unconventional.

 

Because of that, the early days of his life after leaving the imperial palace were noisy rather than quiet.

 

After several years of repeated rejection and indifference from Raymond, they slowly drifted apart.

 

“It’s nice that it’s quiet these days. There aren’t many people visiting.”

 

Raymond finally felt like he was enjoying his own time.

 

“But why did you two suddenly come today?”

 

Raymond asked Theon and Julia while they were eating.

 

They lived nearby and often stopped by, but they rarely visited without a single message.

 

“Oh, we were wondering if you’d like to come up to the Lampas next week.”

 

Theon’s words made Raymond cough once, and then cough again.

 

“In the Lampas? Why?”

 

Raymond was taken aback by the sudden suggestion.

 

He avoided visiting Lampas as much as possible.

 

This is because many things were read as political, regardless of his intentions.

 

Therefore, unless it was a must-attend event, such as Karnan’s death anniversary or an official imperial event, He would not visit Lampas.

 

“Huh? Haven’t you heard the news yet, Ray? That is good news about Her Majesty.”

 

“What?! Dorothy?!”

 

At Julia’s words, Raymond let go of the fork he was holding and his eyes widened.

 

When he looked like he had no idea, Theon nodded as if he was affirming Julia’s words.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

 

Raymond felt a moment of disappointment.

 

‘If it was such news, I wanted to know it before anyone else, but it seems I was the only one who didn’t know.’

 

He was so sad that he almost cried.

 

At that time, Raymond’s butler, who had been watching, approached him hesitantly and handed him a letter.

 

“It was a letter I received this morning, and I was planning to give it to you when you came back after leaving early in the morning.… ” 

 

The letter he held out had Dorothea’s seal on it.

 

“Ahh! You can bring this to the field!”

 

Ray quickly wiped his hands with a napkin and opened the letter.

 

Dorothea’s handwritten letter conveyed good news, just as Theon and Julia had said.

 

Raymond couldn’t take his eyes off the letter for a long time and then smiled happily.

 

“It’s true.…!”

 

“I guess the letter arrived late because this place is so far away in the corner.”

 

Raymond folded the letter and put it in his arms instead of giving it to the butler.

 

“Are you going, Ray?”

 

“I have such good news, of course, I have to go!”

 

* * * 

 

The Lampas Raymond had visited for the first time in a long time felt particularly noisy.

 

There are a lot of people, a lot of work, and a lot of things.

 

Even though Raymond has only lived in the countryside for a few years, he is unfamiliar with the country he has lived through his whole life.

 

“Prince Raymond!”

 

When he arrived at the imperial palace, Clara and Joy welcomed him warmly.

 

Clara became the highest-ranking maid who served the emperor, and Joy was in charge of the Imperial Guard.

 

“It’s been almost a year since we met last year!”

 

“How can you not come once, this is your hometown after all.”

 

“Haha, how are you?”

 

Raymond greeted people in the imperial palace whom he had not seen in a long time.

 

Clara briefly told the story and relayed news from the imperial palace.

 

“Her Majesty still has work, so I think you’ll have to wait a while.”

 

“I’ll be happy to wait, I’m not in a hurry.”

 

“Then the servant will guide—”

 

“I’ll go on my own. Just to look around for the first time in a while.”

 

Raymond waved his hand and said he would go alone.

 

‘I’ve lived here all my life, so it’s as easy as finding my room.’

 

Theon and Julia went to see Hezen first because Ceres wanted to play.

 

Raymond, who had some time alone, simply walked around the imperial palace leisurely, accompanied only by servants.

 

Since he had some time left, he also went to see the vegetable garden he used to tend.

 

Even after he left, the garden still remained, as the gardener and others continued to tend it.

 

Although a few crops changed and the scale decreased, the good earthy smell still remained.

 

‘I’m the only one who is relaxed.’

 

While looking at the garden, he thought as he saw people coming and going in the distance.

 

Whether it was the ministers who came in to work or the servants who took care of the palace affairs, they seemed to be constantly busy.

 

For some reason, he felt like he shouldn’t be too relaxed, so he walked away.

 

“Prince Raymond! When did you come to Lampas?”

 

Just as he stepped out of the garden, someone greeted Raymond.

 

‘I ran into an annoying person.’

 

Raymond stopped walking and thought to himself.

 

When he turned around, it was, of course, Count Duncan.

 

Raymond greeted him with an awkward smile.

 

“I hurried up after hearing the news of Her Majesty.”

 

“Ah, I see!”

 

Count Duncan had more gray hair than a few years ago, and his belly fat also increased accordingly.

 

It seemed that the operating gold mine was still doing well.

 

“Haha, indeed, it’s great for Prince Raymond to come up. But has Prince Raymond had any good news yet?” asked Count Duncan.

 

This is why he hated it.

 

Anyway, these days, everyone he meets asks that question.

 

The question is, ‘Are you not getting married?’

 

Dorothea got married and their eldest child, Hezen, was already five years old, but Raymond had not even gotten engaged, let alone gotten married.

 

Considering his age, he has now become the so-called ‘old bachelor’.

 

“Don’t you find that all the marriage proposals submitted are not accepted?”

 

“All the ladies inside and outside the empire are outstanding and wonderful. So why…?”

 

“I have no particular intention of getting married.”

 

“Yes?”

 

As Raymond spoke with a grin, a question mark appeared on Count Duncan’s face.

 

‘It’s not like you couldn’t hear me.’

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“You’re going to get married. It’s one of the important duties we have as human beings.”

 

“A human duty…” Raymond thought back to Duncan’s words.

 

As expected, ‘duty’ seemed to be a word that did not fit him well from the beginning.

 

“Shouldn’t everyone get married, start a family, pass on the generations, and build a family?”

 

“The Milanaire family is already being raised wonderfully by Her Majesty.”

 

“That’s a different story.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

Raymond scratched his cheek awkwardly.

 

“Family is a gift of new happiness in life. You might not know it because you haven’t gotten married yet, but—”

 

“To be happy, but didn’t the Count always lament about the family problems?”

 

The count stuttered at Raymond’s question.

 

He complained a lot about his wealth and his wife’s extravagance.

 

Moreover, unlike him who wanted to send his children to Episteme, he was frustrated with his children not doing as he wanted.

 

He would say silly things like marriage is the grave of life.

 

“Well, that’s what happens sometimes…and such problems also make people mature.”

 

Raymond nodded in front of Count Duncan, who rolled his eyes.

 

“I see… But the Count has never lived a life without getting married, right?”

 

The Count’s brow furrowed as Raymond asked.

 

‘A life without getting married?’

 

“I think I can live a life that the Count doesn’t know about. I think this life too will help me mature in a different way.”

 

Raymond shrugged.

 

“So you’re saying you won’t get married until you die?”

 

“I have no intention of starting a family I don’t want because of my age, Count Duncan.”

 

Raymond smiled brightly.

 

* * *