Unexpectedly, I Became the Emperor’s Fiancé

After finishing my conversation with Helen, I managed to calm my turbulent emotions and stepped out onto the terrace.

Then, I immediately started looking around for Cedric.

It seemed I had exhausted all my energy dealing with Helen, but unfortunately, there was still one thing left I had resolved to do at today’s banquet.

Looking around the banquet hall, I noticed Cedric standing in a dim, shadowy corner.

This surprised me. Cedric was supposed to be the star of this banquet. Naturally, he should have been in the center of the hall, receiving all the attention.

Why was he standing in such an unlit spot? My question soon turned into realization, all because I saw the young Duke Dright loudly laughing and talking with many people on the opposite side.

Considering that Cedric is a scion of one of the four great ducal families and even the commander of the Paladin Order, it was odd that there was so little known about him.

Not even rumors, let alone common gossip. Of course, it could be said that as a devout person serving the gods, he lived a life distanced from worldly concerns and thus avoided scandalous behavior.

In fact, that’s what I had believed until now. But what if that wasn’t the case? What if he was just accustomed to living in someone else’s shadow, familiar with leading a desireless life, and therefore never chose to step into the light himself?

…This also makes sense.

I decided to slightly change my plan after considering the situation. Instead of persuading him with the sweet talk of how much power he could wield by sitting in the position of the family head, I would make him come out into the light on his own. Given the current circumstances, this seemed to be a more effective strategy for the plans ahead.

“Sigh.”

I took a deep breath and let it out solemnly.

I couldn’t afford to be pushed back by his momentum as before. No matter what happened, I had to return with at least a minimal gain, even if it wasn’t a positive response from Cedric.

I must salvage something.

With that firm resolution in mind, I stepped forward towards Cedric, who was standing with impeccable posture.

Perhaps he heard the sound of my footsteps. As I approached, Cedric, who had been staring into space, suddenly turned his head towards me.

“!”

“…….”

I hadn’t anticipated our eyes meeting so suddenly, and I struggled to hide my flustered expression, lifting the corners of my lips slightly.

Then, the clear blue of his eyes flickered momentarily but soon returned to a detached expression.

People usually become curious or wary when someone approaches them, but Cedric did not. He seemed utterly uninterested in me, quickly shifting his gaze away.

The look in his eyes showed a fleeting change that could easily be mistaken for indifference.
How was I supposed to start a conversation in such a situation?

I felt overwhelmed, as if I were facing a massive wall, and I found myself fidgeting with my fingers. All the while, my mind was quickly searching for an appropriate topic of conversation.

Finally, I came up with a decent topic to break the ice and cautiously started speaking.

“Does Sir Cedric not particularly enjoy being the center of attention?”

“…Yes?”

“It’s hard to imagine someone who could be the star of the banquet not receiving any attention. So, I thought about why you would avoid all that attention and stay out of sight. Then, it occurred to me that maybe Sir Cedric doesn’t like being in the spotlight.”

One of the highest virtues of a knight is asceticism. As servants of the gods, knights must lead lives of integrity. And avoiding the pursuit of honor and power, as well as public attention, is part of that asceticism.

Therefore, it was only natural for Cedric to avoid the public gaze and stand in the corner.

It must be for the sake of purity through asceticism.

The moment I reached that conclusion, I heard Cedric’s deep voice.

“I don’t particularly enjoy being the center of attention.”

“Why?”

As my question followed, Cedric, who had been silent as if lost in thought, murmured lowly.

“I’m familiar with indifference, and I also despise attention.”

Huh? I momentarily scrunched my nose at the seemingly contradictory answer. It felt no different from dissonance, saying he was accustomed to indifference yet despised attention.

When my gaze expressed my confusion, Cedric’s eyes fixed on something.

Following his gaze, I saw the Viscount Dright laughing heartily.

To others, he might seem endlessly kind, but knowing the secrets he hid, his appearance seemed nothing but pretentious to me. Thus, I couldn’t help but frown.

Unknowingly, I found myself staring at Viscount Dright as if glaring at him, when a firm yet sweet bass voice reached my ears from beside.

“Miss Obelton?”

“Yes? Ah… Sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment.”

It was then I came back to my senses and hastily averted my gaze from Viscount Dright.

Cedric, who had been watching me with an inscrutable look, then asked a meaningful question.

“Do you know what the most important thing to be cautious of when hunting is, Miss Obelton?”

“I’m not sure. What is it?”

“It’s not mistaking a fox’s den for a rabbit’s burrow. Just because there’s a rabbit doesn’t mean it’s necessarily in a rabbit’s burrow.”

“Ah.”

Fox dens and rabbit burrows.

I pondered deeply over the two contrasting terms.

Why would Cedrics tell me this story? Especially since I had just been looking at the young Duke Dright.

My brief contemplation led to two conclusions.

One was that Cedrics might already know the true nature of Duke Dright and wanted to warn me, and the other was…

“But you can’t tell if it’s a rabbit burrow or a fox den from the outside. Then, what should we do?”
“You throw two kinds of bait which the animals inside cannot resist but come out for. One bait is to lure out the fox, and the other is to lure out the rabbit.”

…It meant that Cedrics had long figured out my intentions and was ready to extend a hand before I even made my proposal.

Things seemed to be resolving more easily than expected.

Suddenly filled with hopeful thoughts, I felt a rush of joy but quickly suppressed it. Getting overly excited and careless could easily spoil everything.

Once I had calmed down a bit, questions that had been hidden beneath superficial emotions began to surface one after another, making their presence felt.

Cedric had said that in order to know the master of the cave, two types of bait were needed to lure out the fox and the rabbit.

And given his personality, the fact that he said two baits were needed means it was not just a casual remark.

Then, who is the rabbit and who is the fox? Moreover, what is the bait for the rabbit, and what is the bait for the fox?

Additionally, I was puzzled as to why Cedric wanted to join hands with me. As mentioned before, for a paladin, who holds celibacy as the highest virtue, purity is essential. Thus, it seemed unlikely that he would collaborate with me for honor or power.

The more I thought about it, the stronger the feeling that Cedric had something up his sleeve, which I couldn’t shake off.

Facing the issue directly would be the best method, but making even a slight mistake here could not only jeopardize a cooperative relationship with Cedric but could also offend him, accusing me of tarnishing his pride.

Consequently, it would naturally follow that our conversation could not continue.

Therefore, I had to be very careful. Even a small mistake could cause significant repercussions.
I watched his clear, pure white pupils, contemplating in my mind how I could approach Cedric in a way that could lead to the outcome I desired.

My hesitation was not long. Unlike with Helen, there were fewer concerns, so there was no need for prolonged deliberation.

“Sir Cedrics, I wish you would step out of the shadows now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I hope you would take your place as the successor of the Dright family.”

Pressuring someone as upright as Cedrics when his intentions were not clear to me could only result in mistrust.

Therefore, I decided to openly reveal my ambitions, showing my hand first.
If my guess was wrong, he would be puzzled, not understanding my words, and if he was planning to cooperate with me, as I suspected, he would react to the card I had played.

If the former, I could simply turn the conversation around naturally like any naive young lady, saying, “Of course, it’s just a fanciful wish born out of hope that a talent like you becomes a pillar of our empire. Please don’t mind it.”

If it was the latter, then I should not miss the given opportunity.

I counted a few seconds inside my head, then observed Cedrics’s reaction.

He looked as calm as ever, no different from before.

What?

I hurriedly hid my surprise.

I at least expected a change in the light within his eyes, but not even a slight movement?

Does this mean it’s not working?

“Please become the bait for my hunt, Sir Cedrics.”

In the end, I threw the dice with a gambler’s heart, throwing them harder than before. I hadn’t planned to go this far, but seeing Cedric’s unresponsive demeanor made me anxious.

Fortunately, it seemed like an excellent choice, as Cedric slowly let his expressionless face fall in response to my direct request.

It was as if his calm unresponsiveness had been eagerly waiting to crumble all this time.

“But Miss Obelton, I can only offer myself as bait for the rabbit.”

“…What?”

While it was good to elicit a reaction from him, I was once again lost in confusion by his cryptic answer. He can only serve as bait for the rabbit… Could there possibly be a separate fox?

Just as I was considering this, a knight at the entrance of the banquet hall announced someone’s arrival.

“His Grace, Duke Laszlo Hazel, has arrived!”