Chapter 29
“Come to think of it, I believe I prefer Miss Ines’s everyday clothing more than her attire at official events.”
“I’m not sure what you mean by my everyday clothing.”
Ever since he draped the cloak over her shoulders, her thoughts had been in complete disarray.
As a result, she ended up answering even things she could have simply ignored without responding.
Seeing that, Cedric narrowed his eyes playfully and said,
“I mean the yellow dress you wore on our previous date.”
“Ah! That…!”
The memory of that day resurfaced, and Ines’s face immediately turned red.
Faced with a topic she had never expected, she did not know what to say, and her voice trailed off.
“By the way, where exactly are we going?”
Her intention to abruptly change the subject was obvious.
However, Cedric gladly played along with what Ines wanted.
“We’re going to see the horses.”
“The horses?”
“Yes.”
His future fiancée was uncomfortable in crowded places.
Knowing that very well, Cedric found suggesting a visit to the horses to be quite a useful excuse.
Ines’s expression darkened slightly.
Cedric’s words had reminded her of something she had momentarily forgotten.
Fortunately, the Angel family’s paddock was not very far away.
Those attending the hunting festival had all brought their finest horses.
Cedric was no exception.
Moreover, he was determined to catch a snow fox at this hunting festival.
For that reason, he had even prepared three horses in case of unforeseen circumstances.
All three horses were familiar to Ines.
They were the very reason she had attended the hunting festival.
However, pretending not to know, Ines asked Cedric,
“Which one is your horse, Your Grace?”
“Those three over there that were prepared separately. Do you see the white, black, and brown horses?”
Ines nodded.
“All three are excellent horses, but the white one is the fastest. I intend to ride that one during today’s hunting festival.”
‘As expected…’
It was exactly the same as in her previous life.
Ines hesitated briefly.
However, the conclusion had already been decided.
‘This has nothing to do with breaking off the engagement.’
There had been another hunting festival in her life.
On this very day in her previous life, Cedric had suffered a riding accident.
He had nearly been seriously injured, though fortunately the actual wounds had not been severe.
Perhaps he would not be badly hurt this time either.
However, with circumstances subtly changing, she could not be certain the outcome would remain the same as before.
Falling from a horse was a serious accident.
Knowing he might be in danger, she could not simply ignore it.
No.
Wasn’t the reason she wanted to break off the engagement to protect Cedric in the first place?
Trying to prevent the riding accident he would suffer while attempting to catch a snow fox for her was not much different in principle.
Just as she wanted to prevent his execution, she also wanted to prevent any injury, no matter how minor.
She hated the thought of him getting hurt.
That was why she had attended the hunting festival despite deliberately making herself sick in order to stop this from happening.
After hesitating for a moment, Ines took a deep breath and slowly spoke.
“I would like you to ride that horse.”
Her finger pointed toward the chestnut horse leisurely grazing on the grass.
At her words, one of Cedric’s eyebrows rose.
“The chestnut horse?”
“Yes.”
“In a snowy field, a white horse may not be very visible to others. You said you were going to hunt a snow fox, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I did.”
“From a distance, someone might mistake the white horse for a fox. You could be injured by another person’s arrow, so I think it would be better to ride a horse with a more visible color.”
Concealing her anxiety as best she could, she spoke as casually as possible.
“You never know. It’s better to prevent danger before it happens.”
“Haha. You needn’t worry about something like that.”
Horse riding was one of Cedric’s long-time hobbies and specialties.
He was skilled enough to ride all day long or twist his upper body backward and shoot arrows while riding.
For someone like him, being told he might get injured while riding a horse was, in a way, almost an insult.
‘If anyone else had said this…’
He would have been extremely displeased.
However, it was Ines who had said it.
Cedric was simply delighted by the fact that she was worried about him.
Unable to hide his pleasure, he asked,
“If visibility is the concern, wouldn’t the black horse be a better choice?”
“No. That one is too aggressive.”
“Hmm? How do you know Tan is aggressive?”
This time, he was genuinely surprised.
It was impossible to determine a horse’s temperament merely by looking at its appearance while it wandered leisurely inside a paddock.
Startled by Cedric’s confusion, Ines hurriedly corrected herself.
“No, no. I mean, it just looks too aggressive. The brown horse looks peaceful while grazing, and it gives off a gentler impression.”
“Ah. Is that what you meant?”
Fortunately, Cedric did not seem to read too much into her words.
Despite her flimsy excuse, the conversation continued naturally.
“Very well. Then I shall ride Sorrel.”
As Ines had said, the brown horse, Sorrel, was gentle and docile.
It was a fine horse.
However, compared to the others, which were larger and more fierce due to their wild horse bloodlines, Sorrel could sometimes seem rather dull.
Still, if Ines wanted it, something like this was not difficult.
To catch a snow fox, one needed to approach the prey as closely as possible without being noticed.
However, he did not want to upset Ines over a pointless preference.
No.
To be honest, it was a slightly different feeling altogether.
Every time they met, she tried her hardest to leave him with a bad impression and keep her distance from him.
Yet somehow, she was worrying about him.
Because of that insignificant fact alone, his heart was pounding harder and faster than usual.
‘Am I happy?’
So that’s it.
Cedric quickly understood his own feelings.
Realizing how much even a small amount of attention from Ines could affect his mood was almost frightening.
At that moment, the tense expression on Ines’s face gradually relaxed.
Once again, Cedric praised himself inwardly for deciding to ride Sorrel.
Just seeing her smile sent a tingling sensation through his chest.
He smiled back at Ines.
At the same time, he vowed to catch the snow fox no matter what so he could see that smiling face once again.
☆☆☆
Ah.
I’ve done it.
Several months had passed since returning to the past, and Ines had come to realize one thing.
The more she acted differently from before, the more the events around her changed.
After she injured her leg with a piece of glass, Cedric began visiting her while she was sick—a development that had never happened in her previous life.
Before their engagement, they had only met during the hunting festival and the New Year’s ball.
Now, they had already gone on their first date.
Because she bought the teacup, Adrian—who had died miserably in her previous life—had come under the sponsorship of House Angel.
One person’s life had already been completely changed.
Compared to the previous world where Adrian had died, there was no way of knowing how many things had already changed beyond her awareness.
Nor could she know how those changes might eventually alter her own life.
‘How much more will change from now on?’
If Cedric avoided injury as she intended, many things would undoubtedly change again.
Of all those things, one fact was certain.
‘At the very least, Cedric and I will no longer exchange letters.’
A bitter smile appeared on Ines’s lips.
In her previous life, after their political engagement had been arranged, the riding accident at this hunting festival had become the reason she and Cedric grew closer despite rarely meeting.
The letter of concern she sent to Cedric after his injury because she could not withstand her father’s nagging.
What had seemed like an awkward relationship gradually became closer as more letters were exchanged.
Even now, Ines still remembered every line of the letters she had exchanged with Cedric.
Although she knew those memories had become empty and meaningless recollections with no one left to share them with, the thought that even the act of sending those letters would disappear entirely left her feeling strangely unsettled.
This was what she had wanted.
She should have been happy.
Then why did she feel this way…?
Meanwhile, completely unaware of what serious thoughts occupied the mind of the woman beside him, Cedric secretly stole glances at Ines without ever growing tired of it.
Perhaps because she was wearing clothes she rarely wore, she looked much younger than her actual age.
Bundled up like a child.
Wrapped in a round and cozy silhouette.
With her petite height reaching only about his shoulders.
And her cheeks flushed pink from her cold.
There was not a single thing about her that was not adorable.
‘I’ve lost my mind.’
Cedric lamented inwardly.
Adorable?
Yet even while thinking such ridiculous thoughts, he could not take his eyes off Ines in her quilted trousers and rabbit-fur vest.
The serious expression on her face only made her seem even more adorable in such clothing.
Cedric waved a hand in front of her face and spoke.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
Lost in thought, Ines suddenly realized he had been staring at her intently.
Startled, she quickly shook her head.
“No, it’s nothing. I was just thinking that the horse is very beautiful.”
“Are you interested in horseback riding?”
“No. Not at all.”
The reason behind the question was obvious.
Not wanting to create any unnecessary point of connection between them, Ines answered immediately.
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