Chapter 24
Thud.
His footsteps, which were heading out the open door, stopped abruptly. Claire was standing right in front of him, awake. He hadn’t realized when she’d woken up.
Her eyes naturally shifted to look behind him, where Isabel stood in her nightgown.
Claire walked toward Cedric, her steps so light they didn’t even make a sound. She reached out and grabbed his collar, pulling him down towards her. Isabelle’s hand, which had been holding his collar, slipped away.
Cedric’s eyes briefly showed a flicker of confusion as the distance between them closed.
“I was worried when I woke up and you weren’t there,” Claire said. There was no anger in her voice. Cedric swallowed hard at her calm and gentle tone.
“Yeah, I was surprised too. His Highness, the Grand Duke, suddenly came to my room in the early morning, all by himself without any attendants,” Isabelle said, smoothly lying. It was a situation that anyone would misunderstand.
“I only came because something unusual was happening in the North. I had to check,” Cedric quickly countered. He frowned, wondering what on earth Isabelle was thinking, saying something so ridiculous. He moved to stand beside Claire.
‘What if she misunderstands?’
Cedric hated the whole situation. He hated being the cause of it and was worried that Claire might get hurt.
But to his surprise, Claire didn’t seem affected at all. She blinked calmly, as if she had expected this.
“Really? That’s strange. I just ran into a maid outside. Next time, don’t send others away if you have something to talk about. A man and a woman being alone in a room can lead to all sorts of rumors, you know.”
Claire walked over to Isabel, who was standing there in her thin nightgown, and fixed her clothes. “If you stay dressed like this in the North, you’ll catch a cold,” she said with a smile as she tightened her grip on Isabel’s slender shoulder.
Then, without any sign of lingering interest, Claire turned back to Cedric and took his hand. She adjusted her clothing deliberately, lowering one shoulder, and said with a smirk, “Oh my, my clothes slipped.”
Cedric’s face turned red at the sight of her pale skin. Without hesitation, he picked her up in his arms. The look he had given Isabelle was icy, but his eyes now burned with passion as he looked at Claire.
Back in the room, Cedric gently set me on the bed.
I narrowed my eyes, glaring at him. I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed.
But I quickly realized it was a trap set by Isabelle, and I didn’t let myself get provoked. Still, that didn’t mean I wasn’t jealous.
“Grand Duke, from now on, don’t go to Isabelle’s room. Ever,” I said firmly.
I knew what was going on, but Cedric didn’t fully understand Isabelle yet. As long as she was here, more things like this would keep happening. More misunderstandings could arise.
“I won’t go. Ever.”
I crossed my arms and stared down at Cedric, who was kneeling in front of me, looking up. I couldn’t help the corners of my mouth from twitching upward.
His dark, smooth hair swayed as he rested his face gently on my lap, slowly blinking his eyes. He reached up and placed my hand on his head, guiding me to stroke his hair.
‘…This sly man.’
Where did he learn to do such charming things?
With a gloomy expression, he hugged my waist and closed his eyes.
“I won’t do it again, so don’t be mad. I don’t want to cause a misunderstanding and get divorced.”
I knew that too.
If I hadn’t known anything, I would have been suspicious and disappointed in him. But I understood the situation well, and that’s why I handled it calmly.
I sighed softly as I gently ran my fingers through his hair. His hands, which were holding my waist, slowly moved up my back.
“What can I do to make you forgive me? Just say the word.”
Cedric looked up at me from his kneeling position with a smile. His eyes, which had seemed calm earlier, now glowed with intensity.
A shiver ran down my spine as his hands trailed lightly along my back, knowing exactly where to touch. He knew exactly where I was most sensitive, and he was moving his hand in a slow, teasing way.
I flinched.
My hand, which had been stroking his hair, froze. Every move he made captured my full attention, making my mouth go dry.
I was firm with Isabel, but with Cedric, I couldn’t be as harsh. Especially not when he looked up at me with that ridiculously handsome face, and his shirt strained against his muscles as if it was about to burst open.
“I don’t know how much of this is an act,” I muttered, covering my face with both hands. I didn’t want to misinterpret his actions and get hurt. I had suggested deceiving Isabelle, but now I was getting more and more scared.
“My lady,” he said in a low voice, and the air in the room suddenly changed. Cedric took a deep breath and leaned closer until his lips were nearly brushing my neck. His warm breath made me flinch in response.
“You keep pushing me away, so I was just playing along. But I’ve always been sincere. If the princess hadn’t been there earlier, I would’ve held you right then. Do you think I’m acting like an animal?”
His words startled me, and I opened my eyes wide. My stunned face was completely exposed to him.
As our gazes met, the tension between us doubled.
Cedric leaned in even closer, until there was almost no space left between us.
I could feel the primal desire in his intense blue eyes.
“You’re not like an animal…” I whispered.
“My lady, may I kiss you?” he asked softly.
His gentle voice made me nod without thinking. He carefully reached out and cupped my cheek.
A warm, soft sensation touched my lips. My eyes closed on their own, and I could feel my trembling breath. He pressed his lips against mine, gently sucking on my lower lip before lightly licking it.
My heart raced so fast I thought it might burst, and I gripped the blanket tightly. It was just a kiss, but it felt overwhelming.
I ended up staying awake all night.
‘I can’t stop thinking about the kiss,’
No matter how much I shook my head, Cedric’s face kept appearing in my mind.
‘Get a grip!’ I slapped my own cheek, wincing at the sting, and got out of bed.
I couldn’t keep being this distracted. I had things to do. The hailstorm must have caused chaos in the village.
I quickly opened the window and whistled.
“Tweet!” (Did you call me?)
“You look fine,” I said, relieved.
I had been worried when there was no response at first. Fortunately, the bird seemed unharmed.
“Tweet tweet! The hail was crazy!”
“Did Zeno protect you?”
“Tweet!” (Yes! Zeno is so strong!)
The bird excitedly hopped around, clearly still buzzing with energy.
I gently patted its head and sighed in relief.
“Let me know if anything happens. But for now, it’s better if you don’t come here. There’s a dangerous person around.”
“Tweet! But the forest is too cold! I want to come back to the garden soon.”
“I’ll get rid of them soon,” I promised.
The bird seemed to cheer up at my words and flew back to the forest.
I closed the window and slumped to the floor. I had to act quickly before something else happened.
‘Cedric will be busy for a while.’
Thanks to Isabel’s actions, there would be a mountain of things for him to deal with.
I immediately pulled the bell cord.
“You called for me?”
“What is Isabel doing?”
“She said she was going to take a walk around the forest this morning.”
“…The forest?”
I jumped up from my seat.
The forest? Why would she go there suddenly? It wasn’t enough that she caused trouble with the hail yesterday, now she was clearly up to something more.
“What about Sir Caven?”
“He’s busy handling urgent matters with His Highness since this morning.”
“And Sir Arita?”
“He should be outside.”
“Call for Sir Arita!”
As soon as I finished getting dressed, I immediately left the room. It seemed like the only way to restore peace in the Grand Duke’s estate was to send Isabel away as quickly as possible.
“I will ask His Highness first.”
“There’s no need. Since Isabel’s gone to the forest, I’m worried, so I’ll check on her. I’ll explain everything when I get back.”
“But…”
Rien hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“She went alone, which makes me worried. There could be monsters out there.”
After I called for Sir Arita, he rushed over, listened to the situation, and said:
“There could indeed be a problem.”
Without delay, I mounted a horse with Sir Arita.
‘I need to stop her before she causes more trouble.’
Isabel was probably desperate enough to do anything right now.
She was being sold off to an old king; what did she have to lose?
We rode swiftly toward the forest.
‘There are many animals roaming in the forest. I’m worried she might harm them.’
“We should hurry,” Sir Arita nodded in understanding.
Riding fast, we soon reached the edge of the forest.
It looked like Isabel had also come by horseback because clear hoofprints were left in the dirt, almost like a trail pointing the way.
‘If I follow these tracks, I should find her.’
We followed the trail.
Not long after, we arrived deep in the forest and soon spotted Isabel, smiling brightly as she saw me.
It was as if she had been expecting me to come. Sitting confidently on her horse, she stared at me with a haughty smile and lifted her head proudly.
A sense of dread washed over me.
