Chapter 8
“……I know.”
“You know, and yet you still say something like this? It’s truly unpleasant.”
The polite honorifics had already vanished.
“You finally agreed to the engagement proposal, and the response I get is to reconsider the marriage?”
One of Cedric’s eyebrows twitched.
“Even if you’ve found a position for Miss Ines that might suit her better than the Angel family, you’d do well to give it up, Count. No noble house would proceed with a marriage to your family while making an enemy of me.”
“Making an enemy? I never thought of it that way.”
“Oh? So you didn’t consider that I, with my pride wounded, might genuinely sabotage her marriage prospects. Well, think about it now.”
Count Greenwood stared at Cedric Angel in surprise. He hoped the threat to interfere with the marriage was a joke, but there was no trace of humor on his face.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. And you pretend you didn’t say it. As you well know, among the suitable matches for Miss Ines Greenwood, there’s no one better than me.”
Taking the count’s silence as affirmation, Cedric continued.
“As far as I’m concerned, once the promise between our houses is made, all that’s left is to fulfill it. What do you think?”
Count Greenwood nodded heavily. When he’d suggested taking more time to calmly decide on the engagement, he’d anticipated several possible reactions from Cedric Angel. But this intense outburst wasn’t among them.
“Shall I give you some advice? Once you’ve set a course, it’s best not to waver. It only introduces unnecessary noise into what was a satisfactory deal.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good.”
The honorifics that had disappeared returned.
“I’ll be watching to see if you truly keep that in mind. For now, I’ll take my leave first.”
With a composed face, Cedric gave a slight bow and turned away. Watching his retreating figure, Count Greenwood decided to forget the recent exchange, just as Cedric had advised.
Hadn’t he at least made an ‘effort’ to listen to his daughter’s story? As Cedric said, there was no better match for Ines than the Duke of Angel. There were a few other ducal houses, but they were all men much older than her.
His younger sister Leah had married the emperor, who was a full twelve years her senior, and become an imperial consort. Because of that, he was scorned by the empress’s faction for selling his sister to buy a title. Marrying his daughter off to someone with a significant age gap would be far less appealing than placing her beside Cedric, the most eligible man in Laitenia.
Count Greenwood steadied his mind, which had briefly wavered in denial. He felt irritated, as if he’d unnecessarily let himself be swayed by his daughter’s whims—clearly just a fleeting caprice—and lost face to that young upstart.
Count Greenwood took a moment to refresh his mood. When he entered the meeting room to discuss the conference outcomes with the remaining nobles from the consort’s faction, the Duke of Angel had already departed.
* * *
After the noble council meeting ended, Cedric, who had been heading straight back to his mansion, now stood before a dark green door. In his hand was a bouquet of tulips.
With a slightly awkward expression, he looked down at the tulips and recalled the florist’s words.
‘She said the flower meanings differ by color.’
Cedric had never been one to care about flower languages. If the quick-witted owner hadn’t dissuaded him, he would have bought yellow tulips simply because he liked the color.
“For lovers just starting out, the flower meaning is especially important. Men might not mind, but women are different.”
It was quite a famous flower shop. Passing by, he’d impulsively stopped the carriage, drawn in by the abundance of vibrant, colorful flowers.
Ever since hearing that Ines had injured her leg, thoughts of her had swirled in his mind throughout the meeting. But unlike usual, it didn’t stop at thoughts; his impulsive visit to the count’s residence to see Ines was likely spurred by the unpleasant conversation with Count Greenwood that followed.
Just yesterday, the count had been trying to woo him, but suddenly he’d changed like a different person, suggesting they take time to reconsider the engagement. As if implying he had nothing to lose.
He should have told the count to pretend it never happened. He should have used every threat to erase those words entirely. But what came out of Cedric’s mouth was laced with anxiety, fearing the engagement with Ines might truly fall apart.
“Or orange flowers would be nice too. They mean warmth and enchantment.”
The yellow tulips, which seemed to suit her well, carried meanings like hopeless love or unattainable affection—words that sounded ominously in his already complicated mind. In the end, what ended up in Cedric’s arms was the pink tulips recommended by the florist.
Warmth, indeed.
What nonsense. The feelings he harbored for her were nothing like mere warmth.
Ines Greenwood.
She was a notorious figure in high society, though not in a good way.
Like the rest of the Greenwoods, she was accused of shamelessly coveting what she couldn’t possibly attain.
Unlike her aunt, who had spent nights with the emperor—twelve years her senior—without even being married and eventually became his consort, or her father, who rode his sister’s coattails to success, Ines Greenwood was timid and quiet.
She always attended social events, but that was the extent of it. With no close friends, she’d stand awkwardly alone, not dancing, just passing the time before quietly returning to the mansion.
Her personality, so different from her family’s, inevitably drew attention, and soon everyone knew that during these events, she gazed fervently at one particular person.
That person was him. Cedric Angel. Those who noticed Ines’s feelings mocked and ignored her even more, saying she was just like the Greenwoods—greedy and vicious. How dare a family that rose through the consort’s power aspire to the ancient House of Angel?
To Cedric, Ines was a somewhat peculiar presence. Having been the head of the Angel family since he was seventeen, he was always surrounded by people. At first, Cedric thought she’d be no different. Count Greenwood was the most power-hungry person he knew. It wasn’t hard to predict he’d soon approach through his daughter.
Yet, from the moment they first became aware of each other until now, Ines had never once initiated contact with Cedric.
While Ines maintained that strange distance unchanged for years, Cedric grew increasingly frustrated as time passed.
When Count Greenwood proposed marriage to Ines, Cedric finally understood the meaning behind his pent-up feelings.
He wanted Ines Greenwood firmly within his domain. Her elusive, tantalizing presence—hovering just out of reach—made her an object of anxiety for him.
After years of repetition, it had become habit: at social events, Cedric’s gaze would naturally drift to where Ines might be standing. The difference was that her lack of finesse always caught people’s eyes, while he did not.
If she wasn’t at her usual spot on the edge of the banquet hall, an inexplicable unease would rise, and he’d search for her discreetly, without others noticing.
Even that stirred such emotions in him; if she were to become another man’s wife……
From the day he heard the count’s proposal, the imaginings that tormented him went beyond displeasure—they were downright horrifying.
Cedric didn’t have many things he truly valued. If any, it was the butler and head maid who had supported him and protected the family after his parents death. He’d never desperately wanted objects, people’s attention, or wealth.
But Ines was different. Just this one person. The only one. Upon hearing Count Greenwood’s proposal, it took considerable patience for Cedric not to accept immediately.
Separately from his feelings for Ines, he didn’t like Count Greenwood. If the count realized how desperately he wanted the marriage, it would lead to all sorts of annoyances. It was better to let him assume it was a political decision made on a whim.
‘That conversation today.’
Cedric’s brow furrowed. Take time, he says. On whose authority?
What could possibly be the reason for the count’s sudden proposal? Then, it struck him that he’d never once spoken to Ines.
Suddenly, his vision cleared like fog lifting.
A sick visit.
Yes, that was a perfect excuse.
With the engagement decided, hearing she was hurt made visiting her the natural next step. The fact that the decision had been made only a day ago wasn’t particularly important.
And so, he bought the bouquet, and before he knew it, he was at the door of the Greenwood count’s residence. After standing lost in thought for a while, Cedric suddenly realized no one had come out from the mansion. It dawned on him that he’d been standing before the dark green door without even knocking.
He let out a soft laugh. He, who spoke his mind even before the emperor, hadn’t expected to feel this tense just visiting the Greenwood residence.
He quickly checked his attire, then grasped the door knocker and rapped on the door.
Soon, the dark green front door opened, and a maid appeared.
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