Episode 23
Are you that uncomfortable?
‘Wouldn’t it have been better to talk a little more carefully?’
Cedric was taken aback and hastily made an excuse.
“It doesn’t mean you have to sleep, because it’s your choice. It’s just that your room seems a bit chilly to me. My room is on the warm side, so I thought it would be better to sleep together.”
Even Cedric himself thought it was a lame excuse.
But Lillian was too busy to notice that. In fact, the girl didn’t even realize that she was now looking overly surprised.
The reason Lillian turned white was simple.
It hit the nail on the head.
‘Even so, I was wondering how I could get closer to the duke.’
I didn’t expect you to come out like this at first!
After the plan to announce her existence by attending the banquet in the imperial palace failed, Lillian calmly set up a new plan.
‘I can’t do anything stupid like that again.’
It was done out of anxiety, but over time it was a handshake.
It was done out of anxiety, but over time it was a handshake.
If she did the same thing again, it was clear that Maynard’s people would no longer show unconditional favor to Lillian. But that doesn’t mean she can’t just lower herself.
‘I need to keep the custody certificate, just in case.’
But the custody deed hadn’t been seen since coming to this mansion. Cedric probably has it.
At first, I didn’t look for the certificate on purpose to avoid arousing suspicion, but now I needed to get it back.
In this country, the right to decide on the disposition of a minor child was always with an adult who had a custody certificate. If there was any sign of anything going wrong, she was to take the deed and run away.
‘But I rarely get a chance to enter the Duke’s room.’
If I can sleep with the Duke, I might have a chance.
Lillian did the calculations quickly in her head. However, Cedric, unaware of Lillian’s thoughts at all, just tried to cancel his words quickly at Lillian’s reaction.
“If sleeping with me makes you uncomfortable…”
“… Oh no, it’s fine. Thank you for caring.”
But Lillian was one step faster. Lillian quickly wiped her mouth with a napkin and smiled.
“I was a little surprised. I also like being with the Duke.”
At Lillian’s words, Cedric’s face instantly turned bright.
So, a small change came to Maynard Mansion.
***
“Is the lady asleep?”
“Yes, but speak quietly.”
Lillian was fast asleep, breathing lightly and evenly.
Lillian clung to the side of Cedric, who was leaning against the head of the bed.
Cedric had raised his hand to block the light from reaching the eyes of the sleeping child, and perhaps thanks to that, Lillian showed no signs of waking up… She even clung close to Cedric’s side as if she liked his warmth.
Cedric’s mouth, looking down at the scene, subtly drew an arc.
‘Maybe she wasn’t the type to sleep alone in the first place…
People who are used to sleeping alone do not narrow the distance even if they share a bed. But Lillian would take Cedric’s side from the day she first slept in Cedric’s bed.
I couldn’t help but wonder if I thought of how startled she was when I first talked about sleeping together.
That day, Cedric had to finish dinner with a very complicated mind.
‘I was worried that she might be uncomfortable.’
After all, Lillian adjusted to Cedric’s room very quickly.
According to Mary’s report, Lillian always rushed into Cedric’s room before lights out. Then, she always gets into bed first and waits for Cedric to come.
She dozed off with drowsiness in her eyes, and when Cedric arrives, she pulls the blanket over herself.
“Good night.”
Then she fell asleep right away, and in the morning, she said hello from a distance, rubbing her eyes, as if she had never slept together like that.
“Haam, good morning…”
After going through it a few times, Cedric got used to having this handful of warmth in his bed.
Hearing good morning from a child rubbing her eyes with her hair in a magpie house in the morning, and going to sleep listening to the peaceful breathing.
All of these things touched Cedric’s heart as much as they were unfamiliar.
To the extent that it feels unfamiliar to go through such a change just by bringing a child into the house.
‘Did you know all this, Agnes?’
Cedric quietly called his dead wife. She was the only person who brought about a change in his monotonous life. And now it’s a name that I’m more used to repeating in my mind than saying it out loud.
A conversation I had with Agnes in my life suddenly flashed through my mind.
— I’m going to have a baby, Cedric.
— You’re not feeling well, either. Do you have to? The doctor said it’s dangerous for you to have a baby. I… if I have a child and I lose you. I don’t have the confidence to love that child.
―Why do you think so negatively? Of course, I have to live and raise our children together.
Agnes said and hugged her worried husband.
―Cedric, don’t worry. You will definitely love our child. With or without me
—… I’m not sure. I don’t even know why you need to have a child. If we need an heir, we can take him from the collateral.
— No, I want a child. I’m sure my child will make you happy.
Cedric put on a complicated expression as he looked at Agnes, who looked happy.
But Agnes only laughed, asking if she was ever wrong.
In fact, nothing she promised had ever gone wrong, and there were only two things she guaranteed in her lifetime.
That Cedric would fall in love with her.
And that Cedric would love their child.
‘I still don’t know.’
One certainly fits. Cedric loved Agnes more than his own life.
It was proof that even though it had been 10 years since Agnes died, he still couldn’t come to his senses about anything related to Agnes. But that didn’t prove that Cedric loved their child.
Cedric went looking for the child, and the reason he was so shaken by the child’s existence was that the child was the last trace left by his wife.
But if that’s the case. If you simply can’t forget your wife, why does Lilian touch your heart like this?
‘Because of the thought that she might be my child?’
No, the first time I saw her, it wasn’t such a deep feeling.
Above all, it was not confirmed that the child was really the lost daughter, but this feeling was already not good.
Cedric still remembers the faces of the children who said they were his daughter, which had passed by many times in just a few days. They also had innocent faces, and perhaps really resembled Agnes.
The moment I believed they might be real and the moment it turned out that they were not, the feelings I had from the day I went through my entire body were still vivid.
“…”
Cedric lowered his hand to block the light pouring down on Lillian’s sleeping face. As the light invaded her child’s face again, I could see Lillian’s eyebrows narrowing. Instead of raising his hand again, he moved the lamp aside a little and got out of bed.
Anyway, he still had work to do.
Originally Cedric was a man who wouldn’t leave the office until night if he had any work, but since he had slept with Lillian, the urgent work of the ambitious hour would be roughly settled in the bedroom.
Thanks to this, there was a visitor in front of Cedric for a report.
A man with reddish-brown hair and a rather blunt-looking face.
“This is the investigation of the Merrifield Orphanage you mentioned.”
Hope you enjoy ♥️
