The Tyrant Wants To Live Honestly

‘An inn for our first meeting. It felt strange from the moment I came to a bar with this kind of atmosphere.’

 

“No, I have to go home. I have a brother to take care of.….”

 

Clara tried to get out of his grasp.

 

Then the man muttered in annoyance.

 

“Why are you being so expensive for an old maid? Huh?”

 

Her heart sank as a single word passed by her ear.

 

Clara’s body stiffened in his strong grasp.

 

The moment when both the desire to run away and the fear of not being able to run came together.

 

Bugh!

 

The sound of a strong blow that shook the bar passed her ears, and the man’s hand holding her fell away.

 

The body held by the man stumbled again, and strong arms grabbed her.

 

Clara raised her head in surprise at the hand supporting her.

 

And then a familiar face caught her eye.

 

“Knight Stefan…?!”

 

“…..”

 

Stefan’s mood was different from usual.

 

Clara later realized that Stefan had punched the man.

 

The man lying on the floor turned his head and glared at Clara.

 

However, the man who was about to get angry looked at Stefan and kept his mouth shut.

 

Stefan is an imposing figure: tall enough to reach the ceiling, a solid and strong body at first glance, dark facial features and heavy charisma.

 

No one would be able to stand in his way.

 

“Bastard….”

 

Stefan thought out a word through clenched teeth. And he held Clara up, who was drunk.

 

“Knight!”

 

Stefan carried her out as if there was nothing more to discuss. With a box of apple pie hanging on one arm.

 

* * *

 

Stefan put Clara down when they reached the park.

 

Clara’s face was still bright red. Rather, after coming out of the bar, she seemed to have relaxed, but she didn’t have any strength in her body.

 

To completely sober up, it seemed like it would be better to get some fresh air.

 

Stefan sat Clara down on the bench and waited for her to wake up.

 

Clara lowered her head and said nothing.

 

Stefan was also a quiet person, so when Clara closed her mouth, only a quiet breeze blew between them.

 

“I looked ugly.”

 

After a long period of silence, Clara opened her mouth.

 

Stefan shook his head saying no, but Clara, who had her head down, did not see him.

 

“What did I expect…?”

 

She made a big decision after everyone was making a fuss that it was difficult to find a position at this age and that she had to go.

 

‘So here I am.’

 

“I shouldn’t have gotten so excited about this….”

 

Clara looked uncharacteristically depressed.

 

It’s all because of drunkenness.

 

“Baron Gregory told me that there was someone who was perfect for me. As soon as he saw me, he thought I would be a good match.”

 

That was why Clara became depressed.

 

In the eyes of other people, does she look like the kind of person who gets along with that type of person?

 

It may be greedy to choose a good man in a situation where she has to support her brother who is getting older and whose legs are hurting.

 

“People have said that. My eyes have become too high as I serve the emperor.”

 

She buried her face in her hands and mumbled.

 

Some people blamed her for not being married yet.

 

She was under the impression that she was working for the imperial family, so she thought she was a noblewoman and had a high opinion of her.

 

That she was too demanding at an age when she should be married, grabbing any man she could find.

 

Stefan was speechless as he looked at Clara.

 

‘No, it’s not like that, you were much more deserving…’

 

But he didn’t say it out loud, worried that his words might hurt her.

 

For some reason, Stefan seems to have a harder time speaking in front of Clara than usual.

 

“You know, knight. Sometimes I wish someone would take care of me.”

 

She has lived her whole life taking care of someone.

 

Before entering the imperial palace, she had to take care of her ill brother Anton, and after entering the imperial palace, she took care of Dorothea and took care of the imperial affairs.

 

‘I had to take care of it. Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t like it.’

 

Anton was a good older brother, and Dorothea was worth serving.

 

Both Anton and Dorothea were great blessings to her.

 

But sometimes, really, really sometimes, she thought it would be nice to have someone to lean on.

 

Until now, no matter how difficult things were, she could not complain to anyone.

 

With Anton at her home, her struggles always took a back seat.

 

It was impossible to hold on to Anton, who was having trouble even moving, and complain.

 

Still, she can’t tell Dorothea that she was tired.

 

Dorothea must have had a hard time as emperor, so the head maid couldn’t be a burden to her.

 

However, because she is also human, there were days when it was difficult to press it down inside.

 

She doesn’t want anyone to listen to her whining and complaining, so it would be nice to have someone to lean on for a while.

 

“But no matter what, I don’t want to live with a man like that for the rest of my life…”

 

Clara scoffed.

 

Then she wiped her mouth and raised her head.

 

Her pretty brown eyes met Stefan’s.

 

The eyes seem a little more watery than usual.

 

“Why isn’t there a man as cool as Knight Stefan in my life?”

 

She said jokingly and smiled brightly with a red face.

 

At that moment, Stefan’s heart dropped.

 

However, Clara lightly tapped Stefan’s cheek without knowing what happened to his chest.

 

“I’m sorry to say something depressing all of a sudden. You’ve been cursing a lot today because of me…”

 

“No.…”

 

‘I didn’t curse at you…’

 

“If I don’t want to bother the knight any further, I’ll just go in now. My brother will be waiting too.”

 

Clara jumped up from her seat.

 

“Thank you today.”

 

She smiled brightly and bowed as if nothing had happened.

 

“Then I’ll go first.”

 

“..…”

 

Stefan quickly stood up, but Clara ran away.

 

‘It’s late, it’s dangerous, I need to take her home. Her steps were still unsteady.’

 

But Stefan didn’t have the courage to catch her.

 

It seemed like Clara didn’t want to show him her gloomy side anymore.

 

So, like a fool, Stefan followed behind her again.

 

* * *

 

next day. Stefan spotted Clara far away and swallowed dryly.

 

He didn’t know what to say to her after what happened yesterday.

 

‘Ughh…’

 

While following, he saw. Clara cried as she walked home alone.

 

‘Like a fool, I can’t even comfort her.’

 

Stefan blamed his stupid mouth.

 

If he had been like Ethan or Raymond, he would have been more supportive to Clara.

 

‘I would have embraced her affectionately and comforted her warmly.’

 

“Knight!”

 

At that time, Clara ran towards him.

 

A warm wind blew and caressed his skin.

 

“Did I by any chance cause too much trouble yesterday?”

 

She stopped in front of Stefan and slowly raised her head to look at his eyes.

 

‘Does she not remember?’

 

Stefan blinked and Clara scratched her cheek.

 

“I think I met you and left and muttered some nonsense, but I don’t remember exactly what I said…”

 

She smiled awkwardly, perhaps because she was embarrassed to show that she was very drunk.

 

Stefan shook his head and said that nothing had happened.

 

Then Clara breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“phew… Anyway, thank you very much!”

 

“…..”

 

A ‘you’re welcome’ silence.

 

Clara understood his silence and laughed.

 

“More than that, I left yesterday on my own, so I should contact that person and apologize…”

 

At Clara’s words, Stefan grabbed her shoulder. Clara looked up in surprise and Stefan shook his head.

 

“Politeness is… reserved for those who deserve it.”

 

Clara’s eyes widened as Stefan opened his mouth urgently.

 

It was her first time hearing Stefan speak so fast.

 

Clara thought about his words for a moment and then burst into laughter.

 

“I see. It’s kind of silly to apologize in person when that man wasn’t even that nice, isn’t it?”

 

Stefan nodded at Clara’s words.

 

“Still, the Baron introduced me to him, so…I hope he doesn’t have any trouble…”

 

Then Stefan looked at Clara with a solemn expression and was full of worry.

 

Stephan was a count, higher than a baron.

 

Moreover, he was also a knight favored by Emperor Dorothea.

 

He’d thrown the first punch, and he dragged Clara away

without permission.

 

So Clara cannot take responsibility for that.

 

‘Still, just in case, it would be better to send a warning to the Baron.’

 

Since he wasn’t much of a talker, he thought it would be a good idea to ask Joy to visit Baron Gregory.

 

* * *