Chapter 34
Just as Cedric had expected, Ines was startled.
Thinking that her wide, round green eyes looked adorable, Cedric smiled gently.
“Was that really so surprising?”
“No, that isn’t what I meant to say…”
“Surely you weren’t suggesting that we continue living as complete strangers until the engagement.”
No.
Absolutely not.
The answer Cedric wanted did not come.
There was still something she could not honestly tell him.
Something she was hiding.
Cedric could not even begin to guess what it was.
“Though I suppose I wouldn’t mind.”
At his casually tossed remark, Ines’s face brightened as she asked again.
“Would that really be okay?”
He had expected it, but seeing her genuinely pleased still irritated him for some reason.
Closing his eyes slightly, Cedric answered.
“Yes. If that’s what Miss Ines wants.”
“Th-Then…”
“Then I’ll simply discuss moving the engagement ceremony to an earlier date with Count Greenwood.”
Before she could finish her response, Cedric cut in.
“Th-The engagement ceremony?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t wait until spring, so I intend to suggest holding the engagement as early as next month. Count Greenwood probably won’t refuse.”
“But it would be difficult to prepare for it.”
For a moment, she was left speechless.
Then she managed to offer a single weak objection.
But Cedric remained completely unmoved.
“You don’t need to worry about that, Miss Ines.”
His tone suggested he could already see through everything going on inside her head.
“If we triple the budget, it can be managed somehow. I’m willing to spend even more if necessary.”
“So, Miss Ines, the decision is yours.”
“What would you prefer?”
His attitude suggested that everything depended on her answer.
From Ines’s perspective, who wanted to make the engagement disappear entirely, moving the date forward was the worst possible outcome she wanted to avoid at all costs.
‘See?’
Ines clenched her fist tightly.
His manner of speaking.
His voice.
His gentle gaze.
Even his appearance.
Everything was the Cedric she had loved.
Yet there was one fundamentally unfamiliar aspect.
Had she ever felt cornered like this when speaking with the Cedric of her previous life?
She had believed she knew him better than anyone.
Yet now she found herself questioning that belief.
Whether the Cedric she knew had truly always been this kind of person.
No.
Whether the version of Cedric she knew could even be called the entirety of who he was.
‘Perhaps it isn’t Cedric who has changed…’
Perhaps she was only now seeing another side of the kind Cedric that she had failed to notice in her previous life.
The moment that fundamental question crossed her mind, Cedric’s voice reached her.
“Miss Ines, what shall we do?”
“Either option is fine with me, but I prefer moving the date forward.”
“If you make your decision, I’ll immediately speak with Count Greenwood.”
Without giving Ines time to think, Cedric urged her for an answer again.
The choice had been handed to Ines.
Yet in reality, she had no choice at all.
“No…”
“I think it would be better to hold the engagement ceremony in spring as originally planned.”
“I see.”
“Understood.”
Cedric answered cheerfully.
“Then shall we say our goodbyes for today?”
Even while cornering her in conversation, he did not want her to dislike him.
Saying that the engagement should proceed as planned in spring was no different from saying she would not cancel it.
For Cedric, that was close enough to the answer he wanted to hear.
He decided to end the matter there.
Yet even after making that decision, parting from her still felt disappointing.
In the end, Cedric decided to indulge himself just a little more.
Taking a step closer, he grasped Ines’s hand before she could even react and brought it to his lips.
It was merely a polite greeting.
The warmth of his lips could not even be felt through her soft gloves.
Yet a burning heat spread from the hand he held.
Seeing the face of his prospective fiancée turn bright red, Cedric smiled.
He wanted her to be conscious of him, even if only in this way.
Watching Ines react exactly as he intended, he finally felt his dissatisfaction gradually fading away.
“I would prefer to spend more time with you, but I imagine that would make Miss Ines uncomfortable.”
“However, regarding our next meeting, what do you think about visiting the Angel ducal residence?”
A place where they could be alone.
A place that was not public.
A place where they would not need to worry about other people’s eyes.
Smiling, Cedric remarked that the Angel ducal residence was the most suitable place because it satisfied all those conditions.
There was no room for objection.
In the end, Ines could only nod with a heavy heart.
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“So, you’ve promised to meet Duke Angel again.”
Inside the carriage on the way home, it was Count Greenwood who broke the silence.
“You already know the answer, so why bother asking?”
Her father’s eyes and ears were spread throughout noble society.
Naturally, he would have already learned every detail of her conversation with Cedric.
“Hm.”
Count Greenwood did not deny his daughter’s words.
Ever since obtaining the power he had believed would never belong to him in his lifetime, Count Greenwood had constantly suffered from an inferiority complex over not being born among the central nobility.
That inferiority complex had left him unable to trust anyone.
Naturally, he had placed eyes and ears around his daughter as well.
He had not stationed them too close out of concern that Cedric Angel might find it unpleasant.
Nevertheless, he had already received reports about the general content of their conversations.
Watching Ines dare answer him back after his probing question, Count Greenwood found himself thinking something.
Although she was the daughter he saw every day, she seemed like an entirely different person.
She had always been a child who hovered nearby seeking his approval.
Yet now, the way she treated him coldly like a stranger felt strangely unfamiliar.
“Then treat Ines a little better, Brother. You know how lonely that child is.”
Recalling his younger sister’s reproach, Count Greenwood frowned.
Treat her better?
He already treated her well enough.
A good marriage prospect.
Power.
Wealth.
Wasn’t he already busy enough providing her with advantages others could only envy?
“I’ve heard there are women like that before marriage.”
“They become anxious and depressed for no particular reason.”
Remembering the trivial story a young nobleman had told during the hunting festival about his sister before her wedding, Count Greenwood decided to try understanding his daughter.
The man she had loved from afar for so long was becoming her fiancé.
Perhaps the nervousness of that reality was making her anxious and depressed.
But his effort did not last long.
Soon, Ines’s timid attitude began irritating him once again.
How could someone so timid and innocent possibly become the mistress of a ducal household?
He would consider it fortunate if she did not end up being manipulated by the servants of the estate.
“Treat Ines a little better.”
Just as he was about to begin lecturing her, it felt as though his sister’s voice echoed in his ears once again.
In the end, Count Greenwood softened his attitude and asked Ines.
“Very well.”
“Where did you agree to meet?”
“Try to meet in public places with lots of people around whenever possible.”
“That would be better for you.”
Count Greenwood proceeded to list several suitable dating locations.
Parks.
Botanical gardens.
Famous restaurants.
Every one of them was a place crowded with people and perfect for being observed.
“We agreed to meet at the Angel ducal residence.”
“At the ducal residence?”
The answer from his daughter was unexpected.
The Count frowned.
Then, a moment later, he burst into loud laughter.
He laughed so heartily that tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.
“Ha ha! You’re more capable than I thought.”
Lately, he had been discovering many new sides of his daughter.
He had believed she was merely quiet and obedient.
Yet it seemed she knew how to use tricks when it came to the man she loved.
“Well.”
“You must resemble your aunt at least a little, so I suppose that’s only natural.”
Lea Greenwood was the only woman among the Emperor’s many lovers who had ever been appointed as an imperial consort.
How many women had the Emperor embraced while waiting for his much younger Empress Consort. to come of age?
From the beginning, theirs had been a political marriage without love.
The Emperor and the Empress Consort. felt nothing for one another.
At least, the Emperor did not.
Yet out of courtesy rather than affection, the Emperor kept no official woman by his side other than the Empress Consort.
Lea could have dismissed it as a single night’s mistake.
However, the Emperor did not.
Or more accurately, he could not.
Starting with her words that it had been an honor simply to serve him for one night, Lea attempted to distance herself from him.
That attitude only made the Emperor more desperate.
In the end, he was forced to grant not only the position of imperial consort but also great wealth and the title of Count to the Greenwood family before he could officially claim Lea.
A flower blooming atop a cliff is all the more valuable because it is difficult to obtain.
Her strategy worked perfectly.
After marrying her, the Emperor abandoned all his former debauchery and devoted himself solely to Lea.
As a result, his younger sister gave birth before even the Empress Consort.
And she bore a son.
“I see.”
“So that’s why you’ve been acting this way all along.”
Count Greenwood smiled with satisfaction, as though he had finally understood all of Ines’s peculiar behavior.
He had thought she lacked that sort of cunning.
Yet it seemed she was more clever in handling people than her appearance suggested.
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