Your Majesty, I’m Not that Man - Chapter 4. The Tyrant’s Gift (1)

That night, unable to sleep, Cassion made a resolution.

Though he had fled in fear before, there was no reason to avoid her any longer.

Cassion’s heart raced with unfamiliar emotions as he paced the room. His mind was a swirling storm of conflicting thoughts.

“She’s mine anyway. She’s already in my harem—my woman. What’s there to fear?”

Lavinia had made her desires clear: she wanted to be the only one to receive his love. If he gave her that, perhaps she would come to care for him in return.

Yet, doubts lingered in his heart.

“But is this feeling truly love?”

Cassion had never experienced anything like it before. He questioned whether it might simply be an attraction born of novelty. After all, he had never encountered a woman like her. Wasn’t it absurd to think he could love someone he’d barely spent time with? Love at first sight was the stuff of fairy tales, not his reality.

“She’s only caught my attention, that’s all. I’ve grown numb after years of hollow relationships.”

Convincing himself that this couldn’t be love, Cassion continued to pace, his brow furrowed.

But even as he reaffirmed his doubts, his yearning for Lavinia didn’t waver. It had only been a single night without her, yet it felt unbearable.

He tried to rationalize her seemingly indifferent attitude toward their intimacy. Lavinia had been calm and composed from the start, even when she requested to become a concubine instead of the Empress. Perhaps she had anticipated this path and steeled herself for it.

But that very fact—the lack of romantic beginnings—suddenly left him unsettled. It reinforced his belief that she might never feel anything for him. The realization stoked a simmering frustration within him.

“Even if the beginning was flawed… isn’t it the ending that truly matters?”

Thankfully, Cassion had never been cruel to Lavinia. If anything, he had treated her gently, even with a hint of compassion.

When he held her in his arms, her pleasure had been undeniable, her body yielding to him in ways that made his chest tighten with emotions he didn’t fully understand. He remembered the way she had looked—awkward and unsure, yet overcome by waves of ecstasy—and his face flushed crimson.

“Why am I hesitating? This is ridiculous!”

Lavinia had been chosen as his Empress. All he needed to do was restore her to that position, hold a proper wedding ceremony, and shut down the harem for good. It was a simple solution.

Yet the idea of such sweeping gestures, which would bare his affection and devotion for her to the world, gave him pause. Could he truly allow himself to reveal so much of his heart?

Cassion was a man who never showed his hand, not to allies and certainly not to enemies. It was that inscrutability that struck fear into others, making him an untouchable figure. Lavinia, too, might use that knowledge to manipulate him if she realized how much he desired her approval.

“It’s not right for her to hold the reins. I should be the one in control, not Lavinia.”

And yet, he couldn’t shake the thought that if he saw her now, he would offer her the stars and moon if she so much as hinted at wanting them. The idea made his mouth go dry with unease. He had always scoffed at men who became slaves to their lovers, yet here he was, on the verge of becoming one himself.

He wanted to summon her immediately, but he wasn’t sure he could maintain his composure in her presence. Despite that, the longing to see her was driving him to distraction.

“What should I do?”

He wondered what Lavinia was doing. He had left her after their time together yesterday, and she must have been confused by his sudden departure. Was she thinking about him? Did she wonder why he hadn’t come to see her last night?

“Attend me,” Cassion called.

A group of servants approached and bowed their heads low.

After a moment of hesitation, Cassion asked, “What is the Lady doing right now?”

“She is in her quarters within the harem, Your Majesty,” one of the servants replied.

Of course. She had no reason to leave at this hour, especially when Cassion himself hadn’t attended any imperial meetings yet.

He debated asking her to join him for a meal, but his nerves got the better of him. It was strange—he, who had never known fear, found himself paralyzed by the prospect of facing her.

“Has she…”

The words faltered on his lips. He had almost asked if Lavinia had inquired about him, but he stopped himself.

The servants attending him were loyal to the Emperor, not to Lavinia. And Lavinia, though technically part of his harem, was just a concubine. Even if she was curious about his whereabouts, she had no authority to send a servant to ask after him.

Instead, he commanded, “Summon everyone who has attended to the Lady since yesterday. I wish to speak with them.”

The Emperor’s peculiar demand startled the attendants, but they masked their surprise expertly. Instead of questioning his motives, they simply bowed and replied, “As you wish, Your Majesty,” before leaving the room.

Cassion could only watch anxiously as they departed, his face betraying the unease simmering within him.

＊ ＊ ＊

The Emperor had requested that one of Lavinia’s attendants be brought to him, but it wasn’t as though he had ordered that Lavinia be left unattended. A court attendant informed the head maid of the request and asked her to find someone sharp and capable to serve Lavinia in the meantime.

The head maid seemed to grasp the Emperor’s intentions. She personally selected the most competent staff from among those in the imperial palace and sent them to Lavinia’s side. The previous attendants had been skilled enough, but these replacements were seasoned professionals, having honed their skills within the imperial palace for years.

“…The staff has changed? What’s going on?”

Lavinia, who had been enjoying a leisurely morning as Kassion was not pestering her, looked surprised to see her attendants and maids leave, only for new ones to replace them.

One of the new maids approached her with a gentle expression and said,
“It’s a routine matter, my lady, nothing for you to worry about.”

“Is that so?”

Lavinia found it strange. It had only been three days since she’d arrived at the imperial palace, and yet the staff was being changed already. Noticing her suspicious look, the maid added, “They’ve only stepped away temporarily to receive some training. They’ll return shortly. Please don’t worry.”

Lavinia didn’t feel particularly anxious. While her previous attendants had been careful around her, it was merely because they were carrying out their duties, not because they had formed any close bond with her. Lavinia gave the matter no further thought and simply instructed them to bring more tea.

Meanwhile, the attendants who had been reassigned from Lavinia’s side were being escorted by an imperial attendant to the Emperor’s quarters. They had been given no explanation and were simply following the attendant, only realizing the destination as they neared the Emperor’s residence. Their faces turned pale with dread.

Why, of all places, were they being summoned here? If they were headed to the Emperor’s quarters, there was only one possible destination they could be taken to.

Their fears were confirmed when the attendant led them straight to the Emperor’s private chambers. Inside, the Emperor, Kassion, was seated on a sofa, draped in an opulent gown.

“Your Majesty, I’ve brought them,” the attendant announced from outside the open drawing room doors.

Kassion nodded slightly.

“Let them in.”

“He commands you to enter. Go in now,” the attendant said in a subdued voice, motioning for Lavinia’s attendants to enter. Hesitantly, and with wary glances at the Emperor, they quietly stepped into the room.

Once they were all inside, Kassion signaled with his eyes to the attendant standing outside. The sound of the door closing behind them made the attendants tense up, as though the very hairs on their heads were standing on end.

What is he planning? Why were we called here? Surely this has to do with the lady we serve, but why us?

One of the maids, standing at the front of the group, stepped forward and greeted him with a deep bow.
“We greet the sun of Adalaxus.”

Kassion merely inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment, his gaze icy as it swept over them.

“…So, you’re the ones attending to the lady?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the maid replied, her voice steady, though her face betrayed an effort to appear composed.

Kassion frowned as he continued scrutinizing them. Then, in a sharp tone, he asked,

“Tell me, then. What did the lady do yesterday?”

The maid almost asked for clarification—What the lady did yesterday?—but quickly adjusted her response.

“Yesterday, my lady followed her usual routine…”

She began listing Lavinia’s schedule, detailing events Kassion already knew. He cut her off with a dismissive wave.

“Enough! Not that. What was Lavinia doing after I left the room?”

The maid hesitated before responding carefully,

“She… she slept, Your Majesty. The entire time.”

Kassion’s expression froze.

“Slept? The whole time? Without waking once?”

“We wouldn’t know since she didn’t summon us… but as far as we’re aware, she remained in her chambers the entire time,” the maid answered cautiously.

Kassion paused, lost in thought. She slept the whole time? Had he worn her out that much? Earlier, he’d heard she had eaten after returning to her room, but if she had gone straight to bed after that, it meant she only had one meal the entire day.

Realizing this, a wave of anger surged within him. The thought that someone he treasured so dearly—someone he could hardly bear to look away from—had been made to skip two meals ignited a fury he could scarcely contain.

“Incompetent fools!”

Kassion’s thunderous roar sent Lavinia’s maids and attendants shrinking back in fear.

“I assigned you to look after her! And yet you let her go with just one meal and sleep the entire time?!”

The emperor’s overwhelming authority crushed them to their knees, their heads pressed against the floor.

“W-We have committed an unforgivable crime, Your Majesty!”

“We only thought… since she seemed to be sleeping so peacefully…”

“Silence!!”

Kassion nearly gave in to his temper and ordered their execution on the spot, but then he considered that Lavinia wouldn’t like such a decision. Pacing furiously, unable to suppress his frustration, he glared at the trembling maids and attendants before him.

It was an unusual sight—this was the emperor who had never concerned himself with what his concubines did. And now, here he was, chastising palace servants because Lavinia had skipped a meal.

“…What about this morning? What did she do?”

The maid, sensing a chance to redeem herself, scrambled to answer with enthusiasm.

“She washed, had breakfast, and… looked down at the garden from the balcony.”

The garden? Is she really interested in something so trivial?

Kassion frowned, briefly weighing the maid’s response. Then, with a sharp glance, he continued,

“And besides that? She didn’t do anything else?”

“She asked if it was possible to go for a walk… and if she could ride a horse,” the maid replied cautiously.

“A horse? Does she like horseback riding?”

That caught his attention. His tone shifted, becoming noticeably warmer as he perked up. The maid, still timid but sensing an opportunity to ease the tension, nodded.

“She didn’t say it outright, but… it seemed that way.”

“Hmm… I see.”

Kassion, seemingly satisfied, nodded but then fixed the maid with a sharp, probing gaze.

“She didn’t ask about anything else? Anything at all? Speak freely. I won’t punish you for whatever you say.”