I’m the Only One Who Can Put the Tyrant To Sleep

Chapter 23 Because everyone wants to correct incorrect information. Especially if it’s a negative rumor about you.“I see. You’re quite skilled.”Caesar gave me a strange look as I smiled falsely and flattered her.I gave him a look that said, “Hold still, it’s all for a good cause,” but I don’t think he understood, judging by the look on his face.After that, I asked Devit a few more sneaky questions.Finally, all the grains of sand fell down. Devit and Caesar never took their hands off each other, but nothing seemed to have changed.“Is that it?”Devit looked at me with anxious eyes.“Nothing has changed, am I innocent?”“The results will be announced at once after all the maids come and go.”Devit nodded slightly and left the room, and I hurried to Caesar’s side.“How is it?”“What?”“Did you feel anything?”“Yeah, feeling.”“You have?”I snapped, and Caesar shrugged.“I thought I was going to get hives on my body from all the nonsense you’re spouting, but is that a change?”“I beg your pardon?”It’s a serious matter with your life at stake, but you’re joking.“You mean there isn’t?”“… Yes, maybe. If only I could figure out what the change is.”As I sat nearby, I glanced at his hair color. Even the skin and eye color, just in case. But there was no change at all.His hair was still silver, and his eyes were blue.“It’s impossible not to recognize it.”“Then she’s not that maid.”Caesar shrugged once more. Before he had any doubts, I hurriedly called the next maid.The head maid and veteran maid, Mamid, strode into the room.“Come in, Mamid.”I smiled and greeted her. *****  “Why?”I paced the room nervously.“After all, there was no change.”Playing with the hourglass on the table, Caesar said.Moments ago, the fourth and final maid had just left the parlor, but despite a minute of contact with each of them, Caesar showed no change.I went to the side of Caesar’s chair and squatted down, and looked up at him as if to grope him.“What are you doing?”Caesar looked down at me, puzzled.“Didn’t you feel anything?”“No”“Take a good look in the mirror.”Maybe his hair had changed color, just enough that no one else would notice.As I pointed the mirror at Caesar, he looked meticulously at my face with a tired face.“No.”“Really? Really not? Take a good look.”Was the darkening of the hair a change that only occurred to that woman? Could it be that different parts of the body change for each capable person?I bit my lip nervously, then lifted my head.“Your highness. I know this is really rude.”“… If you know, then don’t do it.”“Can’t you just take off your clothes once?”I reached for Caesar’s uniform jacket, and he jumped to his feet.“Are you crazy?”“But it could be that you have a tattoo or something, or…”“Or what.”“Or… It’s just, Your Highness, you’re wrapped up too tightly.”Caesar shook his head as I eyed the tight uniform with displeasure.“Huh? Just once, or Your highness you can take a look in the mirror alone.”“You want me to stand naked in front of a mirror alone, like a madman?”“It’s not… ha…”I sat down and buried my face in my hands.I knew very well that I was being stupid. If it doesn’t change that much, it means one of two things.Either there is no guide among the four, or the condition is not contacting each other. What Katana discovered was a legend, and legends were bound to be twisted.But knowing with my head and believing with my heart are two different things. I wanted to find a guide, even if it meant forcing myself to do it.‘Caesar, I… I don’t want to die either.’It was a plausible clue, but I felt a sinking feeling that I hadn’t gotten anywhere. Katana had gone to the trouble of using magic for me several times.“I thought it… would be among the maids.”I sighed deeply.Caesar strode forward and crouched down to face me.“It’s too soon to give up, isn’t it?”I barely lifted my drooping head to look at Caesar.“None of the maids have it.”“No. There is still one person left.”“Yes?”“There are five maids in the Crown Prince’s Palace.”The faces of the maids flashed through my mind.“… Four?”“No, five.”“Four?”Caesar shook his head and raised a finger.“You are here. The fifth maid, my personal maid.”At the end of that finger was none other than me.“… Yes?!”My mouth dropped open. Caesar was telling me that I could be his guide.‘That’s impossible.’“It can’t be.”“Why not? You are one of the maids too, and like I said, one of the ones who appeared before me a month or so ago.”“But if it was me, you would already have a reaction.”“Reacted to what?”“Because we made contact for more than a minute.”“And when did you do that?”“What? Of course…”I reflected on the days I spent with Caesar until now. We met several times at the flowerbed. We talked and made flowers together.I was right next to him when he went on rampage, and I hugged Caesar who had fallen. I was there when he went on a rampage, and I held his hand, begging him to live.‘That is… More than a minute?’As I thought about it, I realized that maybe not. If it is not for contact in the first place, it is not possible for people to touch each other for more than a minute…‘Unless you are lovers, unless you hold hands or kiss, you should not touch for more than a minute…’Not really. You can shake hands or hug, but that doesn’t last a minute.‘Nonsense.’In the original story, when Floria witnessed male lead rampage and accidentally touched him and realized she’s a guide, I was stunned.How could it be so improbable? A novel is a novel, after all, if two people who meet by chance are destined for each other. They might have even sworn a little.‘And yet I am Caesar’s guide?’Isn’t that a really absurd probability?“Evelyn.”Caesar held out one hand to me. I don’t know when he’d gotten so big, but he was only fifteen, and his huge hand was packed to the brim.As I stared at it, it snapped once more, as if to say, ‘Grab it.’“You can check it with just one minute of contact, so there’s no reason to delay.”‘Yeah, there’s nothing to lose by making contact. I’m just checking, just checking….’No way, I thought to myself, I had a feeling of foreboding in my head.I barely lifted my trembling hand and placed it on Caesar’s palm. All I had to do was hold his hand for one minute.Then all this niggling, uneasy foreboding would be revealed.“The hourglass…”I looked at the hourglass on the table.“We don’t need an hourglass.”Suddenly, Caesar grabbed my hand and placed it on his chest.“Wha-what….”“You told me it was your heart to beat fifty times.”Caesar looked at me completely. In his blue-gray eyes filled with my dumbfounded face.I could feel the hard calluses on Caesar’s palm on the back of my hand, and the pulsating heart in my palm.Thump- His heart beats violently once.Thump- I felt the heart beating in my hand that was held by Caesar. Somehow, heat rose on his face.Caesar closed his eyes and began to count in a low voice.“One two….”His voice echoed through the drawing room, where only the two of us were here.I swallowed dry saliva. I thought I was lucky that we didn’t count my heartbeat.‘Maybe my heart is beating… so fast now, that even if I counted fifty times, it would be less than a minute.’The reason my heart was beating so fast was all because of Caesar’s strange behavior. He’s acting like a big boy all of a sudden, and this kind of skinship…‘Is this why touching is so important?’Just holding his hand, Caesar felt closer than ever.“Forty-eight, forty-nine…”Perhaps because of the mood, his voice seemed to be lower than usual.“… Fifty.”The numbers finally ended.I opened my tightly closed eyes. No, no, no, that can’t be right.“… Hah. Look at this.”It was the same as the previous five maids. There was not a single noticeable change in Caesar.‘As expected.’“Well, I don’t think it’s me either.”I was about to hurriedly pull my hand away.“Wait.”Caesar tightened the grip on my hand.‘What this power…’I’m staring blankly at my hand, which is trapped in a big hand and can’t even move.At that moment, along with a rumbling sound, a vibration was felt from Caesar’s body. It was as if the pounding of his heart had spread through his veins.‘This…!’It was similar to when he had a rampage. There was a vibration, and the wind blew.But this time it was a gentle breeze that didn’t break anything, but rather embraced everything.‘This can’t be…’The breeze gently swept my hair in front of my eyes. I gently closed my eyes and opened them.Then, I inhaled sharply at what I saw.