Chapter 44
As Cedric carefully observed Ines’s reaction, he thought to himself,
He hadn’t been mistaken.
Her attitude had definitely changed.
Seeing Ines’s calm reaction, Cedric finally believed that she had accepted their engagement.
He took a sip of wine before offering her a polite apology.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you beforehand.”
“Count Greenwood treasures you very much, Miss Ines.”
“He was worried that if you found out in advance, you would only become unnecessarily nervous.”
He had thought it rather strange that the person involved herself was being kept in the dark about the announcement of the engagement date.
Although he had not been pleased with the idea, he could not entirely fail to understand the Count’s concerns.
Part of the reason had also been that he had been too unsettled by Ines’s inexplicable attempts to distance herself from him.
So even if it meant using a somewhat underhanded method, he had wanted to firmly impress the engagement upon her.
However, today Ines was different.
She had danced with him,
and she had remained calmly by his side despite everyone’s attention.
That was why Cedric allowed himself to become a little greedy.
Even after learning that their engagement date would be announced,
he hoped her attitude would not change.
He wanted to be certain that her heart belonged to him.
“It seems Count Greenwood was mistaken this time.”
At Cedric’s words, Ines merely smiled faintly without answering.
She already knew exactly what her father had been thinking.
Her plan of pretending to be materialistic had already failed.
Cedric had openly displayed his wealth and status instead, using the situation to his own advantage.
After her plan had fallen apart, every time Ines saw her father, she stubbornly insisted that the engagement be canceled, just as she always had.
“Only now do I finally feel that you’re truly my daughter.”
Her father had tried coaxing her,
reasoning with her,
and even scolding her,
but when none of it weakened her resolve, he had angrily said those words.
However, Ines knew.
Her father was every bit as stubborn as she was.
Once he made up his mind, he would push through to the very end.
He would inevitably try to control her.
Announcing the engagement date at the New Year’s Ball without even informing the people involved.
Creating a situation that could not be undone so that she would have no choice but to give up.
It was a decision that was unmistakably like her father.
“Once it’s announced here today, there won’t be a single noble in the kingdom who doesn’t know about it.”
Her voice was calm,
as though she found it regrettable.
At those words, Cedric suddenly realized something.
Unlike himself, who had been excited about the engagement announcement,
she was not happy at all.
Rather,
she looked like someone quietly accepting a disaster she had long prepared herself for.
The shocking realization made his blood run cold.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Ines asked as Cedric stared at her with a grave expression.
“Miss Ines.”
“Yes, Duke Angel.”
“The air in here feels rather stifling.”
“Pardon?”
At Cedric’s words, she looked around.
Although the ballroom was crowded with nobles,
the air inside was perfectly fresh.
The small windows near the tops of each window frame had been opened, allowing plenty of ventilation.
“It doesn’t seem stuffy to me.”
“No.”
“I feel a little short of breath.”
“Let’s step outside for some fresh air.”
“Right now…?”
“Yes.”
Cedric placed both his and Ines’s wine glasses on the windowsill,
then gently took hold of her arm.
It was not easy to shake him off in a place filled with so many people.
Even at this very moment,
countless eyes in the ballroom were carefully observing their every action,
whether with good intentions or bad.
Having no other choice,
Ines began walking after Cedric.
***
The moonlit garden was blanketed in freshly fallen snow.
Cedric draped his coat over Ines’s shoulders.
Even now, he could not help worrying that she might be cold.
Wrapped inside the oversized men’s coat,
Ines felt as though she had been completely enveloped.
The familiar scent of the cologne Cedric often wore drifted toward her.
Just what did he want to say that he had brought her all the way out here?
They had never left the ballroom like this in her previous life.
With every unfamiliar step she took along a path she had never walked before,
Ines felt as though the ground beneath her feet might collapse.
Again.
It had changed again.
She had been so careful,
yet another situation that had never happened in her previous life was unfolding.
No one would voluntarily leave the ballroom to wander through the garden on such a cold night.
After confirming that no one else was there,
Cedric approached Ines, who stood quietly in place.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“No…”
“I’m fine.”
“But why did you bring me here?”
“Because there’s something I want to say where no one else can hear us.”
“Pardon?”
“Miss Ines.”
Cedric’s blue eyes looked directly into hers.
“There’s something I’ve wanted to ask you.”
“It’s something I’ve thought every time I’ve seen you…”
He paused for a moment.
These were words he truly did not want to say aloud.
But after making up his mind, Cedric finished the sentence.
“It seems to me that you don’t want this engagement.”
At those words,
Ines’s eyes flew wide open in shock.
The slight intoxication she had felt vanished instantly.
Faced with Cedric’s blunt question,
Ines merely parted her lips.
She had no idea how to answer.
That reaction alone was enough of an answer for Cedric.
“The way you act confuses me.”
“Didn’t you… like me?”
“That’s…”
“Ah, that wasn’t the right way to put it.”
“You still like me even now.”
“You can’t deny that, can you?”
As Cedric fastened her coat more securely around her,
he quietly studied her expression.
Just as he had expected,
she showed no sign of discomfort when he touched her.
She did not want the engagement.
But she did not dislike him.
The woman who had loved him for so many years.
Did not want only the engagement.
That unbridgeable contradiction was plunging Cedric into complete confusion.
“Miss Ines, you aren’t someone who’s good at hiding your feelings.”
“That’s why it’s all written plainly on your face.”
“I can tell that you still have feelings for me.”
“And I can tell just as clearly that you dislike the idea of becoming engaged.”
He wanted to know why.
“You don’t seem like someone who dislikes me.”
“You seem like someone who’s burdened by the idea of becoming engaged to me.”
That was exactly right.
Hearing Cedric describe her feelings so precisely,
Ines drew in a sharp breath.
“The Count has chosen Saint Cristan’s Feast Day for our engagement ceremony.”
“In just about two months, you’ll become my fiancée.”
“So please tell me now.”
“What is the reason?”
He had to know before he could solve it.
He no longer wanted to continue this exhausting game of cat and mouse.
Feeling the determination behind Cedric’s words,
Ines hesitated for a moment.
Should she tell him the truth?
Or would it be better to brush it aside?
However,
she did not think vague excuses would resolve this situation.
In the end,
Ines nodded.
“You’re right, Duke Angel.”
“I don’t… want this engagement.”
Cedric merely maintained a serious expression without saying a word.
It was clear he wanted her to continue.
Instead,
Ines returned the question to him.
“I have something I want to ask you as well, Your Grace.”
Ines hoped her voice was not trembling.
Although her legs were shaking,
she forced herself to remain standing.
At the very least,
she did not want to appear weak before Cedric.
“Until now, you’ve never shown me any interest at all.”
“So why have you suddenly changed?”
“I still don’t know how I’m supposed to understand this new side of you.”
“That’s because…”
“Until the subject of our engagement came up, Your Grace had never even spoken a single word to me.”
“The engagement was decided unilaterally by my father and by you.”
“I was merely informed afterward.”
Then Ines slowly closed her eyes before opening them again.
“To me, even your sudden kindness feels like another announcement.”
“Am I simply expected to accept whatever has already been decided?”
At those words,
Cedric stared at her blankly,
as though she had completely caught him off guard.
After remaining silent for a long while,
he finally spoke.
“…I never thought that would be a problem.”
Because Ines liked him.
Unlike before,
he had simply believed that if he devoted himself to her wholeheartedly,
she would naturally be happy.
At Cedric’s answer,
Ines quietly nodded.
“You’re right.”
“It isn’t a problem.”
“Who am I to complain?”
“I’m someone who’s expected to marry whoever my father chooses.”
“And since that person turned out to be Your Grace, then according to both you and my father…”
“…perhaps I ought to be happy.”
“Miss Ines.”
“But I still don’t understand.”
“Why are you treating me like this…?”
“We’ve never been this close.”
“So why do you keep treating me this way?”
Those words were also Ines’s true feelings.
Why had Cedric suddenly changed?
Everything had begun changing from the very morning she returned to the past.
The day Cedric visited her after hearing she had injured herself by stepping on broken glass.
Thinking back,
it was difficult to explain why he had come all the way to the Greenwood estate carrying a huge bouquet of pink tulips.
“The day you came to visit me while I was sick was the first time you and I ever had a private conversation.”
“Do you remember?”
“…I remember.”
“Until the day before that, we had never even exchanged a proper conversation.”
“And then suddenly you brought flowers and came to visit me while I was ill.”
“Isn’t that strange?”
“What exactly happened that changed your heart so completely?”
