I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 319

After tea time, it was time to show Lucas to his room.

Empress Dustia II personally guided Lucas. His room was on the first floor of the detached palace.

“You can use this room from now on.”

Alberto had already neatly arranged Lucas’s belongings in the room.

Lucas entered the room with a small gasp. It seemed much better than the room he had used in his family’s estate.

“Thank you for showing me, Your Majesty.”

“…Lucas.”

Dustia crouched down to meet his eye level and smiled warmly.

“I’ve heard about the bad things that happened to you. It must have been very hard.”

“……”

“I won’t tell you to think of this place as your home… but I will do my best to make you feel comfortable here, like it’s your own home. Ash and Serenade will help too.”

“…Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Lucas bowed his head.

“I will try my best too.”

“Yes. Let’s all try together.”

Dustia smiled gently.

Somehow, her kind smile felt like a real mother’s.

Embarrassed, Lucas quickly stepped back and accidentally knocked over a candlestick on the desk.

“Ah…?”

Before Lucas could grab the candlestick, it fell to the floor, and the flame started to spread on the carpet.

Click.

-It didn’t spread.

Dustia flicked her fingers, and as if time had reversed, the candlestick soared back into the air and landed quietly on the desk as if nothing had happened.

“Huh…?”

Lucas looked at Dustia in surprise and saw a shimmering gray magic around her.

Like a clockwork mechanism winding, the spiraling magic was sucked back into her body.

“Cough, cough!”

Dustia, who had performed an inexplicable miracle, coughed roughly. Only after her coughing subsided did she wink at Lucas.

“Oh dear, I’ll get scolded if they find out I used magic… It’s a secret between us, Lucas? Okay?”

Dustia held out her pinky finger, and Lucas unconsciously extended his own. Their pinkies intertwined and swayed back and forth.

It was a promise to keep a secret.

Dustia smiled sweetly, gently stroked Lucas’s golden hair, and then waved as she went out.

“Good night, Lucas. Call Alberto if you need anything.”

“Yes, yes…! Good night!”

Dustia, looking at Lucas who bowed politely as if he was cute, waved and closed the door.

Lucas stared blankly at the closed door, then staggered a few steps and collapsed onto the bed.

His mind was a mess. Everything felt awkward.

The circumstances of losing his parents and suddenly coming here, the kindness of strangers, the cold bedsheets and pillows in the winter air…

And the mysterious magic that Dustia had just displayed.

Lucas sighed softly and turned his head to the side.

He found Ash, his white breath clouding the windowpane.

“…?”

He rubbed his eyes, thinking he might have seen wrong, but it wasn’t. It was really Ash.

The eight-year-old prince was clinging to Lucas’s window, shivering. He mouthed, ‘Open it for me.’

“?!”

Terrified, Lucas almost rolled on the floor as he rushed to open the window.

Ash tumbled into the room, his cheeks flushed red from the cold, and grinned.

“Hi, Lucas!”

“Ah, hello… Your Highness.”

He had no idea what was going on. Lucas asked, bewildered.

“What brings you here at this hour…?”

Then Ash grinned mischievously.

“Let’s play!”

He said.

Lucas’s blue eyes widened in confusion.

“Huh?”

“I! I’ve always dreamed of playing with a friend at night! Serenade goes home at night, and I get so bored by myself!”

Then, he climbed back onto the windowsill and gestured outside.

“Come on! I’ll take you to my secret base!”

The little prince’s body disappeared outside. Flustered, Lucas hurriedly followed him out the window.

It was cold outside, even though it wasn’t snowing.

Ash, scattering white breaths, climbed over the narrow stone wall of the detached palace, up the outer wall stairs, and finally reached the roof.

He entered a small attic room just below the top of the detached palace through a window.

Lucas, who had barely managed to follow, was exhausted, but Ash pointed inside the attic and shouted triumphantly.

“This is my secret base!”

It was just an ordinary attic, not really a secret base.

There were scattered storybooks, toys, a chessboard, blankets, a lamp, and glass jars filled with preserved fruit.

Ash, seeing Lucas blinking and looking around, puffed out his chest and said proudly.

“I’ll make an exception and let you come in here!”

“T-thank you…?”

“Ah! This is the password! Memorize it?”

Ash raised his small hand and tapped on the window.

Tap. Tap tap. Tap.

“When you come to our secret base, knock this password. Got it?”

“Yes, yes…”

He didn’t even know if that could be called a password, but Lucas memorized it anyway. One knock, two knocks, one knock…

Ash grinned, then grabbed a blanket and put it over Lucas’s head, then covered himself with another blanket.

He turned on the lamp, squatted in front of it, and the young prince asked.

“Okay! What do you want to play?”

So, the two boys played all night.

They played chess with clumsy skills, took out preserved fruit from the glass jars, and licked their sticky, sugary fingers while reading storybooks.

As the night deepened, the topic of their crushes came up.

Lucas said he didn’t have one yet, and Ash said, ‘I don’t have one yet either,’ then kept talking about Serenade. About when she started visiting this detached palace and playing with him…

‘Ah, I see.’

Ash twisted his body when Serenade was mentioned. His chubby face was all smiles.

Even a fool could tell who this prince liked. Lucas chuckled.

They talked late into the night.

Soon, the night passed and dawn broke. The two boys, sprawled under the blankets, dozed off.

That’s when it happened.

Bang!

The attic door burst open, and the head attendant, Alberto, with a fierce frown, poked his head inside.

“Your Highness… You were here again! And you even dragged Lucas into this…!”

Ash, yawning widely as he woke up, whined.

“Alberto… you didn’t give me permission to enter here… Haaam.”

“There is no place in this detached palace that an old man cannot go, Your Highness!”

“Uwaaaah, don’t come in! This is a secret base!”

“From the moment I know about it, it’s not a secret anymore… sigh. Before Her Majesty notices, quickly wash up and go back to your room!”

Alberto grabbed the two boys by their sides and forcibly dragged them away.

Ash, as if used to this, yawned calmly even while being carried by Alberto, and said to the side.

“Let’s play again, Lucas!”

Lucas, staring blankly at Ash, smiled faintly.

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

Alberto put the two boys back in their respective rooms.

Having played all night, the two boys slept soundly all day. Dustia shook her head while watching them, and Serenade covered her mouth and laughed.

Such days passed.

Ash was a mischievous rascal who plotted pranks every day with a calm face, and Lucas always had to hang out with him.

There was no time for negative thoughts. Lucas quickly adapted to the detached palace, and they became a family, laughing and getting scolded together.

And so, time flew by-

***

5 years later.

Tap. Tap tap. Tap.

Lucas knocked on Ash’s door and entered without hesitation.

“I’m here, Your Highness. Are you ready?”

“Ughhhhh…”

Ash, standing in front of a full-length mirror, made a strange noise.

Ash was dressed in a fancy black and white tailcoat.

The thirteen-year-old prince had grown considerably compared to five years ago, but he was still a small boy. The tailcoat made him look more cute than cool.

“Hey, Lucas!”

Ash, struggling with his bow tie, yelled.

“Do I look weird?!”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Your Highness…”

Lucas, who was standing behind him, sighed.

“Out of all the appearances I’ve seen since I came here, you look the most decent… no, the most handsome today.”

The twelve-year-old Lucas was also wearing a suit today. The light brown suit was a bit big for the boy, but it looked decent enough for something that was hastily tailored.

The reason why the two boys were dressed up today was because today was Ash and Serenade’s engagement ceremony.

Ash, even with insoles and heeled shoes, looked at his small height and said with a tearful face.

“Will Serenade like me like this?!”

“Haa…”

Lucas sighed without realizing it.

He had realized that this young couple liked each other as soon as he came to this detached palace five years ago.

But they were the only ones who didn’t know it, and they were just looking at each other, unable to approach each other.

Watching from the side, it was maddening to see their terrible, pure love.

He even had to play the role of a love messenger, delivering love letters between them…

‘The long time of oppression and humiliation is over.’

After five years of digging! The two finally confirmed their feelings for each other! They got permission from both parents! And they are getting engaged today!

‘What engagement, just get married right away.’

It was a relief that they had taken one step forward, but Lucas felt dizzy at the thought of this grand digging continuing until their marriage.

They were shy even to hold hands, so how long would it take for them to progress… and he had to watch this slow couple take each step right behind them…

The thought alone was already frustrating. Lucas rubbed his forehead and shook his head.

Just kiss already! Make some progress! Just get married! Have a bunch of kids! About five!

‘Gasp! Kids?’

Imagining the children that would be born between Ash and Serenade, Lucas unconsciously shuddered.

‘They would be so cute.’

Since he was Ash’s guard, it would be his job to protect those babies right next to them.

No, he shouldn’t share the job with anyone. No nanny needed. He would mix the formula and feed the babies and rock their cradles.

‘I should learn how to take care of babies before that day comes.’

Lucas nodded, determined to ask the old maids in the palace for a preview.

Unaware of his guard’s sinister thoughts, Ash, standing on tiptoes, sighed with a tearful face.

“I wish I was just a little bit taller…”

Currently, Ash was shorter than Serenade.

The fact that the girl he liked was taller than him didn’t seem to sit well with Ash.

Lucas thought that this was just a phase, and that Ash would soon grow taller than Serenade.

But right now, he wanted to tease him more than comfort him.

“Maybe it’s because you don’t sleep at night and play?”

“Why are you so tall when you played with me!”

“Height is genetic. And I train with swords every day…”

“Ughhhh! Don’t do that, just share some of your height, you jerk!”

Ash, who was yelling, sighed and took something out of the closet.

“Here, Lucas! Take it.”

Lucas took it, puzzled.

“This is…?”

“It’s a sword.”

It was a steel sword.

The blade was about 50cm long. It was shorter than the wooden sword Lucas usually used. It seemed to have been forged with the length adjusted so that it could be brought into the imperial palace.

But thanks to that, it was suitable for the still young Lucas to use.

Lucas opened his mouth slightly and examined the light of the blade. From the handle to the blade and the scabbard, it was dazzlingly magnificent.

Ash shrugged, embarrassed.

“I thought it was about time you used a real sword instead of a wooden one. I got permission from Alberto and ordered it from the blacksmith in the capital. How is it, do you like it?”

“Your Highness…”

Ash added to Lucas’s moved face.

“It’s an engagement ceremony, and if the sword my guard is wearing is shabby, I’ll be embarrassed too… A wooden sword is a bit, how should I say it? It doesn’t look good, right?”

“…Please take back my emotion. Ugh.”

Lucas grumbled and put the long sword on his belt. Even though it was short, it looked decent.

“Good, my guard!”

Ash, satisfied with Lucas’s appearance, patted his shoulder with a determined face.

“Please take good care of me as my attendant today!”

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

“Good! Shall we go-!”

Ash took a deep breath and walked out triumphantly. Lucas followed closely behind him.

The servants and maids, who were busily moving through the hallway to greet the engagement ceremony guests, applauded and cheered when they saw Ash.

Ash walked proudly, even though he was embarrassed. Lucas held back a laugh and followed Ash.

And then, at the end of the hallway, when they reached the banquet hall set up in the courtyard garden of the detached palace-

“Ah.”

In the middle of the lush summer garden.

The dazzlingly beautiful fifteen-year-old Serenade was waiting.

The girl with water-blue hair was wearing a beige dress, a style commonly called a mermaid line [a dress that is fitted at the top and flares out at or below the knees].

She was like a mermaid.

“Ah…”

Serenade, who met Ash’s eyes, blushed and lowered her gaze. Long eyelashes cast shadows over her large silver eyes.

“…”

Ash, with his mouth wide open, couldn’t walk any further and froze in place.

‘His jaw is going to fall off.’

After putting Ash’s jaw back in place, Lucas shook his head.

And then,

‘Oh well.’

He pushed Ash’s back.

“Huh? Huh? Uwaaaah!”

Ash staggered and was pushed into the middle of the garden.

It was Serenade who caught Ash, who was stumbling and unable to keep his balance. The two of them staggered together, then finally stood up straight.

And then, they looked at each other,

And burst out laughing, as if they had promised to do so.

Laughter spread among the guests attending the engagement ceremony.

Empress Dustia II, who was sitting at the head table, Count Winter Silver and his wife, and all sorts of nobles clapped with laughter.

Only one person was crying, and that was Alberto…

Alberto was shedding tears with a stiff face as if he was suppressing his emotions.

The ends of his mustache, which he was proud of, were wet and drooping. Lucas thought it was a bit much, but his nose also tingled.

‘Be happy, Your Highness.’

Amidst the applause and cheers, the young boy and girl were happily talking to each other with their foreheads touching.

While watching the cute and overwhelming scene, Lucas looked around the audience without thinking.

And.

He saw Fernandez standing in the guest seats.

The seventeen-year-old Fernandez, whom he hadn’t seen in five years, had grown beyond recognition, but there was no way he could mistake that dark red hair, those eyes, and that atmosphere.

“…!”

Fernandez, seeing Lucas’s eyes widen and his shoulders tremble, raised his index finger to his lips.

Shhh-.

Fernandez’s dark red eyes in his glasses gave a thin smile. Lucas unconsciously gritted his teeth.

A small orchestra began to play music. The young couple awkwardly hugged each other and began to dance.

The engagement ceremony began in the warm and dazzling sunlight.

And Lucas had to follow Fernandez’s gesture and move into the dense shadows.