The Tyrant Wants to Live a Good Life,
Two months passed, and I turned nine.
But that didn't mean anything had changed. There were still few people visiting Conberta Palace.
Ray hadn't come to see me since that day, either. He seemed quite busy, having become the Crown Prince and enrolled in Episteme.
‘I really did get angry that day, too.’
The image of Ray, on the verge of tears, flashed through my mind.
He must hate me now. He won't come looking for me. That's for the best.
Now I just have to endure a good life without any intruders… …
“Dorothy…….”
Oh no. Ray, whom I thought would never come again, stood at the door, looking hesitant and scrutinizing me as I sat leaning against the bed.
“I brought a present.”
Ray hovering around, unable to enter while watching my reaction.
How could he even think of coming to see me after getting so angry that day? He should have been completely turned off by now; is he really such an idiot?
I looked at him in disbelief, and Ray quietly slipped into the room, perhaps taking my silence as a sign of affirmation.
In his hands was a basket of tomatoes he had brought as a gift.
Tomatoes, all of a sudden?
“These are the first tomatoes I’ve grown myself!”
Ray held up the basket of tomatoes proudly, smiling brightly.
Tomatoes? Does that mean the Crown Prince was sitting around growing tomatoes?
Ray had been quite busy since officially starting to attend Episteme. Now that he had just become the Crown Prince, there must have been many new things to learn and do.
But was he wasting time tilling a field like this?
“Growing tomatoes is fun. I planted pumpkins and eggplants too!”
Ray confessed that he had created a vegetable garden behind Stipes Palace, the Crown Prince’s residence, without Carnan knowing.
I had known that Ray tended a vegetable garden even in his previous life.
However, since Ray and I weren't on good terms back then—though it's hard to say we're on good terms even now—Ray tried his best to hide that fact from me.
Ray probably thought that if he confided in me about the vegetable garden, I would ruin it.
It was indeed the right choice. If he had told me about the garden before the regression, I would have destroyed it without fail.
Anyway, that is why I believed that the garden remained just a fleeting curiosity.
But in this life, since I accepted him to some extent, he easily revealed his secret. Foolishly.
“...Surely you didn't grow this instead of studying?”
I asked, looking at the tomatoes.
The Crown Prince, attending Episteme—and yet he wasn't faithful to his duties, instead getting lost in the games he liked?
‘If you're the Crown Prince, act like one! Stop thinking only about playing and do your job properly!’
Why had I gotten angry at him and said such things? A wave of betrayal washed over me.
Unlike me, who lived a desperate life, Ray lives happily.
So, he was able to become Emperor even doing that.
I ran solely to defeat you, without a moment to spare for the vegetable garden or anything else, yet you were the rightful Crown Prince even after doing that.
“I studied whenever I had the chance.”
As my sharp rebuke flew at him, Ray offered an excuse, looking dejected.
When he said "when I had the chance"? I burst out laughing at that remark.
You shouldn't have studied whenever you had the chance; you should have been growing tomatoes whenever you had the chance. No, you should have studied even when you had time to grow tomatoes.
The roles had been completely reversed.
He was already eleven years old. He should know what he needs to do by now, so why is he so innocent and immature?
Is it because everything is easy? Because everything was given to him for free?
How hard I tried just to get what was simply given to me by now! I forced myself to swallow my urge to lash out at him and tried to reason with him rationally.
“……You can’t become a good Emperor like that, Ray.”
Good, yes, you must live a good life.
Even as I made that resolution, a desire arose within me that Ray should not become Emperor.
Why you? Why is the Spirit of Light visible only to you?
Greed rears its head again, and recalling my sins once more, I force myself to suppress it.
No matter what Ray is like, it was a fact that I had failed to become a good Emperor.
“Ah…… Hmm, that’s right…….”
At my words, Ray’s expression hardened, and he bowed his head low.
Ah, um, that’s right. Was it really something that could be resolved with such evasive words?
Unlike my pent-up emotions, his answer was far too light.
Watching my reaction, he quietly set down the basket of tomatoes.
“Still, Dorothy, try the tomatoes. They’ll be delicious.”
Whether he understood what I was saying or not, he continued talking about tomatoes.
I turned away from the basket of tomatoes he had set down.
It was obvious I would get indigestion if I ate the tomatoes grown as a hobby by the great Crown Prince, who had put his studies aside.
When I didn't react, he finally nodded.
“Of course, I’ll do well in Episteme too and become a cool older brother.”
It was a promise that was completely untrustworthy.
I don't need a cool older brother. That isn't what I want. So, just take care of yourself properly.
Those words were held back to my lips, only to be swallowed deep into my heart once again.
“But Dorothy, don't you want to go outside?”
Ray noticed that I had grown dark and hurriedly changed the subject.
“Why?”
“You’ve never been outside the Imperial Palace before, Dorothy.”
At his words, I realized something.
Until I turned nine, I had never once left the Imperial Palace, as if I were trapped in a castle.
I had no friends to meet outside, nor was there any reason for me to go out.
Since I didn't attend the Episteme, there was no particular reason for me to leave.
Everything I needed was in the Imperial Palace, and if I needed something, I simply had to summon someone there.
A tailor would come into the palace to have clothes made, and the royal chef would take care of whatever I wanted to eat.
If I wanted to take a walk, I could simply go out to the spacious Imperial Palace gardens, where I could walk all day long.
Moreover, having already become Emperor and roamed every corner of the empire, inside and out, I had no curiosity about the outside world.
“Why don’t you go out for a bit? It’s stifling staying only inside the Imperial Palace.”
Ray seemed to have recently started enjoying going out while attending the Episteme.
Ray explained that there were many things outside that were different from the Imperial Palace.
How many people there were, how free it was, and how many unfamiliar objects there were on the streets.
He spoke of the world outside the Imperial Palace with great fanfare, as if he had visited some undiscovered New World.
He really thinks I'm a fool.
Everything he talked about was something I already knew.
Things I knew so well they were commonplace, yet things rarely seen in this stuffy Imperial Palace.
“Dorothy would definitely enjoy going out there, too. Since you’re smart, you’ll probably feel a lot.”
He smiled brightly.
“Shall we go out together someday?”
“No.”
When I flatly refused, Ray looked dejected.
* * *
“Your Highness, do you really not want to go outside?”
The nanny quietly asked me.
It seemed the nanny was still weighing on her mind over what Ray had said a while ago.
Furthermore, the number of times Ray had visited me had noticeably decreased since he officially started attending Episteme, and the nanny was very worried about him.
She said that Ray had at least been a friend to me, but even that had disappeared. Since Ray was practically the only guest visiting Conberta Palace, I could understand my nanny's concern.
'But I'm actually grateful that Ray is busy.'
It's so comfortable and quiet, and I like it.
'Going out will refresh your mood and make you feel better.'
My nanny continued to try and persuade me. It had already been fifteen days since she brought up the topic of going out whenever she had the chance.
'You might find something the Princess likes outside. There are so many fascinating things!'
That's why I said I wasn't curious.
However, my nanny insisted that I, being so smart, couldn't see the real world if I lived only in this narrow palace, and she wanted me to see and learn more.
She chattered for days, claiming that more experiences would make me a better person.
In the end, I surrendered.
After all. It was a bit much to never have left the Imperial Palace until I was nine years old. It wasn't like I was a fairy tale princess trapped in a castle under a curse.
"Fine, Nanny."
There was no reason to refuse the outing, even if it meant being stubborn.
Perhaps my answer appeared to her as the beginning of a positive change, she was delighted and prepared for my outing.
"Still, just in case, let's go look around for an hour or two."
The Nanny said as she wrapped a cloak around me.
So, that was the starting point.
* * *
"Good, you've properly conveyed the conditions to that woman, right?"
"Five large ones. To the Red Well within a week."
I was eavesdropping on the conversation with my eyes covered by something like a towel.
I could feel rough straw on the floor, and with every breath, I felt the dry air swirling with dry dust and sand.
So, this is...
"She seems to be a young lady from a fairly wealthy family."
Child abduction.
On my very first outing, I had come face-to-face with such a tremendous incident.
As I was walking down the street, the moment I stepped onto a deserted path, the nanny collapsed with a loud thud.
After that, a handkerchief covering my mouth and nose struck me from behind, and I lost consciousness.
It seemed they had brought me here and kept the nanny with them until I regained consciousness, then sent her away to bring money.
They didn't seem to know yet that I was the Princess.
I regained some consciousness, but perhaps due to the effects of the medicine, I felt groggy and lethargic, so I left my collapsed body as it was.
The kidnappers continued to chatter, as if they thought I hadn't fully recovered.
“She made a huge fuss, saying she would die if we left you behind, young lady. So I said, ‘Should we kill both of you right here? If you want to save you, bring the money,’ and she just ran away crying. Ah, maybe we should have just taken her along and sold her off.”
I could hear the kidnappers snickering amongst themselves.
Seriously, if life is going to get dirty, there are ways it can get even dirtier.
I was more angry than afraid.
I wanted to live a good life, so why is everyone so desperate to mess with me?
“When are we going to kill that kid?”
“Once it’s certain the money is in our hands. Before then, we might find a use for it.”
“To think a kid wears clothes more expensive than our house—it’s a total turn-off.”
“Indeed. What a jerk.”
