~Chapter 12~
At moments like this, Cedric always remembered the warning his father once gave him:
“Prepare yourself and stay strong.”
That cold and emotionless sentence was the last advice his father had ever left him—almost too heartless to be a father’s final message to his son.
The night news of his father’s death reached him, and assassination attempts started. They came again and again — some large, some small.
Even the head chef, who had prepared Cedric’s meals for years, tried to poison him. Cedric had to brush that off like it was nothing.
‘I thought they’d stop sending assassins once I got to the capital…’
Apparently not.
They must’ve thought today—when things were already chaotic—was the perfect time to strike.
The killers seemed to be watching from a distance, trying to avoid being seen. But if Eileen didn’t leave soon, they might decide it was easier to eliminate both of them at once.
Cedric could probably handle it if he was alone. But with someone to protect, anything could happen.
“Don’t be a nuisance. Just leave.”
In his urgency, his words came out too bluntly.
He regretted it as soon as they left his mouth—but Eileen responded faster than he could fix it.
“So… I’m a nuisance now.”
Her voice was low and flat. Cedric wanted to say that he didn’t mean her presence was a nuisance.
But if he gave away that he had noticed their enemies, things could get dangerous very fast.
“I just… need time to think.”
That much was partly true. When he had walked out here alone earlier, his mind had been a mess.
He looked at Eileen, who was staring at him silently. He wondered if he should try to explain better.
But before he could say anything, Eileen spoke with a calm, steady voice.
“Alright. I’ll go.”
Yet Cedric, who had become used to her tone over time, could now recognize it—her voice was trembling slightly.
Cedric wanted to punch himself.
Of all the things he could’ve said, why that?
He could’ve used softer words to get her to leave. Why did he have to sound so cold?
“Eileen, I…”
What could he even say?
‘I’m sorry for being immature?’
‘It’s not that I hate you?’
‘I’m not the kind of person who’ll ignore you if you open up—so please talk to me?’
No matter how he phrased it, it would turn into a long explanation.
And right now wasn’t the right moment for that.
In the end, Cedric chose to avoid her gaze.
***
Eileen’s footsteps slowly faded away, and the eerie silence returned.
Cedric fought the urge to grab his hair in frustration.
He figured he might as well get this over with quickly.
So he called out.
“…Hey. I’d appreciate it if you came out now.”
Even to his own ears, it sounded like a tired, cliché line. He let out a dry laugh.
His hand lightly rested on the hilt of the sword at his hip.
‘Do I need to make the first move?’
There was no response. For a moment, he wondered if he should go find them himself.
Then, from a dark corner of the hallway, someone dressed like a servant from the Duke’s estate stepped out.
No—that wasn’t all.
Cedric quickly glanced toward the opposite direction—the garden.
Another figure, like a shadow, appeared there too.
So it was at least two of them. Maybe more.
“You’re not going to tell me who sent you, are you?”
“…”
Cedric focused on the one who was closer. The man gave no reply, of course.
But the blood-soaked sword in his hand gleamed coldly under the moonlight.
The way he casually flicked the blood off the blade made it clear—he wasn’t some clumsy amateur.
That sword had definitely just taken someone’s life.
And it was likely one of Cedric’s men—someone from the guards assigned to patrol the Duke’s estate that very night.
“I guess letting you walk away alive isn’t an option.”
If it were Kassel, he’d figure out what was going on quickly. He’d bring knights quietly without alerting anyone.
So all Cedric had to do was stall for time.
But that plan quickly turned out to be a mistake.
“…Maybe I was too relaxed about this.”
Sching—!
With a sharp sound, Cedric swiftly drew his sword, clashing with the assassin’s blade.
He could feel his sword being pushed back slightly, and muttered in surprise,
“They sent someone decent, I’ll appreciate them for that. One more time—who sent you?”
Still, no answer.
“You’re going to die anyway. Might as well tell me that much.”
Clang—
Cedric easily overpowered the assassin, twisting his wrist and forcing the man to drop his sword.
For the first time, a flicker of panic crossed the assassin’s face — the one disguised as a servant.
The man barely managed to dodge Cedric’s relentless follow-up attacks. He was saved only because another attacker suddenly jumped in from the garden.
‘Tch…’
Cedric had expected something like this, but knowing an attack might come didn’t make it any easier to deal with.
He quickly blocked a dagger aimed at his side. A sharp jolt ran through his wrist from the force.
‘This is going to be a problem…’
Even though he managed to land a deep cut across the attacker’s stomach, the others didn’t let up. They came at him again, like wolves.
After finally defeating one and turning to face the third, Cedric was unable to avoid getting hit this time.
“Argh…!”
A sword pierced his arm—a searing pain quickly followed, likely from poison.
“Lord Cedric!”
A familiar voice shouted from a distance, followed by the sound of armor clanking as someone ran.
“Ugh…!”
One of the assassins in front of Cedric suddenly fell—revealing a young knight standing behind him.
Cedric let out a heavy breath of relief as the tension briefly eased.
“Eden. You’re late.”
“I came as fast as I could, you know.”
The young knight with dark brown hair—Eden—was now facing the last assassin. He was breathing hard, clearly pushing himself.
But his movements were fast and clean. He twisted his sword, caught the enemy off-guard, and slashed diagonally across their body.
“Tch. I was hoping we could keep one of them alive.”
Cedric frowned as the last assassin collapsed.
“Ah… right.”
Eden scratched the back of his head, looking a bit guilty.
“Now we won’t be able to figure out who sent them. Sorry. I thought there would be more.”
To be fair, Eden’s quick response made sense—Cedric had been in danger. His eagerness couldn’t really be blamed.
After all, they were close in age and had trained together since their knight apprentice days.
“It’s fine. You did what anyone would’ve in an urgent situation. Thanks for saving me.”
“But… what if they weren’t the only ones? I’ll go check the area.”
“No need to—”
But before Cedric could finish, Eden had already hurried off, clearly unsatisfied with how things ended.
From a distance, more knights were running toward them. Cedric leaned against a wall, watching Eden walk into the garden.
Cassel rushed up to support him.
As Cedric let his shoulders relax, the knights from the Duke’s estate quickly took over the scene.
“Are you hurt?”
“A little. The wound isn’t the problem—I think the blade was poisoned.”
“I’ll call the physician right away.”
Only then did Cedric lower his sword and check his arm. His sense of touch was already starting to dull.
“You’re not usually this careless.”
“Try fighting three people at once.”
He grumbled, but he knew Cassel was right. It was rare for him to make a mistake dealing with assassins like this.
“My mind was… somewhere else.”
He reluctantly admitted it.
Though he didn’t say it aloud, it was Eileen’s face that had distracted him.
“Because of Lady Eileen Cassier, I assume.”
Cassel hit the nail on the head before Cedric could even think of a cover-up.
Cedric glanced at him, irritated. Cassel stepped aside to make room for the physician who came running.
“There’s no other reason she would leave in a carriage alone so early. It must’ve been because of you.”
“…At least she made it out safely.”
“You were together?”
“I told her to leave. She would’ve gotten in the way.”
