Chapter 75
To be honest, Aileen barely heard the conversation that followed.
“Aileen.”
Was she overthinking this? Was she jumping to conclusions?
No.
She couldn’t ignore the warning that her instincts were screaming at her.
Only one person would do something this sloppy and bold at the same time—
Count Cassier.
Someone who acted first without worrying about the aftermath…
“Aileen.”
She finally lifted her head when Cedric called her for the second time.
They had told Diana—who was still exhausted—to rest, and stepped out into the hallway.
“Ah… sorry. I was thinking.”
“It is an irritating thing to think about.”
Cedric ran a hand through his hair in frustration and pointed at the list in her hands.
“Both you and I tried to help Baron Tallon’s family’s reputation, and they stabbed us in the back.”
“They probably weren’t trying to betray anyone. They were probably offered an amount they couldn’t refuse.”
Aileen sighed as she said it.
A financially collapsing house didn’t have the luxury to weigh consequences.
They would accept the deal first and worry later.
Thinking that, she quietly touched the lid of the candy box she had brought with her—
and froze.
“They didn’t buy this exact honey candy by coincidence…”
There were many very similar shops on the same street.
Choosing this one out of all of them?
She had thought it was just a kind gesture from the baroness, grateful for the dress Aileen gifted her.
She thought the baroness picked a famous local product from the capital, knowing Aileen missed the city.
How careless of me.
It wasn’t coincidence.
Only Count Cassier would know that Aileen—who never wanted anything—would still eat candy from this particular shop.
Did he overhear my conversation with Grandmother?
Or it could be simple deduction.
If she ate this often as a child, there were probably still boxes of it stored somewhere in the mansion.
“You know something, don’t you?”
Cedric leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching her with half-lidded, sharp eyes.
He already looked certain.
Aileen instinctively touched her face. Was it really that obvious?
“You have a habit of pausing like this when you’re debating whether to tell me something.”
“I do?”
“At least when you’re talking to me.”
Judging by his stare, he wasn’t going to move until she spoke.
“…Last time and this time—both times—it felt like I was the target.”
“That’s true.”
“Someone who has lots of money, and has a reason to target me would be…”
“Count Cassier.”
“You thought the same?”
Cedric wasn’t surprised. In fact, he looked more controlled rather than emotional.
“I did think about it. I saw things in the capital myself.
If I hadn’t seen it firsthand, I wouldn’t have suspected him.”
Cedric stepped away from the wall, fingers tapping the hilt of his sword out of habit as he scanned the hallway.
“The Count Cassier I saw? Yeah. Completely capable of something like this.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“In the end, your family is trying to kill you.
Not that they act like family to begin with.”
His voice revealed his belief about blood ties—
The people who should be your last safe place… should never betray you.
Aileen gave a faint, bitter smile.
“I stopped thinking of them as family a long time ago.”
“Maybe once, you thought they could change.”
Cedric’s stubborn tone carried a hint of his own longing—
He wanted to believe that people who share blood shouldn’t betray each other.
“If my ‘uncle’ tried to kill me, I wouldn’t be hurt by it.”
That roundabout admission said everything.
If Cedric were in Aileen’s position… he would be deeply wounded.
That was why he was careful with her.
Why he stepped cautiously around her pain.
“So it’s fine.”
“…No, it’s not. He’ll try again.”
Cedric answered a beat later, voice low.
“He already failed multiple times. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to try again so soon.”
“I can’t be reassured by guesses.”
“For now, it should be fine.”
Aileen knew the count well.
A failed attempt would only make him paranoid about being traced.
He wouldn’t risk another move immediately.
“We need to dig into Count Cassier thoroughly.”
Cedric finally declared it.
“Dig, catch him with evidence, and get rid of him.”
“It won’t be easy. Don’t rush.”
“You say you’re in danger, and you’re this calm?”
“You’ll protect me, won’t you?”
Aileen didn’t mention Ruth’s final clue—the one that confirmed her suspicion.
Ruth needed to remain her hidden trump card.
If she mentioned him now, people would immediately blame an apprentice knight for “misunderstanding,” and Ruth would be the one in danger.
“For now, let’s handle what’s right in front of us.”
“You’re right.”
Cedric also knew that the Lowell estate had been far too chaotic lately.
Internal, external—too many things needed cleaning up.
***
❖ Chester Lowell
From afar, Chester watched Cedric and Aileen speaking.
Their brief conflict had melted away like snow—
and they seemed even closer now.
Unbelievable.
He really thought he’d created a proper rift.
“This is troublesome.”
Chester muttered, annoyed at how his plan was falling apart.
He needed to clean up the loose ends he had set in place.
“Tell the kitchen maid to confess.
And deal with her afterward.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bribing a kitchen maid had been easy.
Telling her to slip rat poison into Diana’s food while pretending it was a mistake—just as easy.
What he failed to consider…
He failed to consider that Cedric actually listened to Aileen.
Even if they argued on the surface, the two trusted each other.
That bond was stronger than he’d expected.
Breaking it wouldn’t be easy.
“I suppose I need a new method now—something other than sneaking around.”
Letting Count Cassier pull sloppy tricks had only tangled things further.
It was time for Chester himself to intervene directly.
***
❖ Meeting with Kess Dorian
“Why do you want to sit in on my meeting with the Emperor’s administrator?”
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone with someone I’ve never met.”
“I’ve met him before.”
“But I haven’t.”
Even when Aileen clearly wasn’t thrilled about it, Cedric refused to leave.
“He’s not going to suddenly try to assassinate me.”
“Unless you’re planning to talk about something I shouldn’t hear.”
He was basically asking—
Do you trust him more than you trust me?
It was such a childish question that Aileen was speechless.
The room stayed silent until Kess Dorian arrived, immediately entering after being told time was up.
“Lady Cassier—ah, Lord Lowell, you’re here as well.”
“He refuses to leave.”
Kess thought for a moment, then shrugged.
“That’s fine. It may be better if he hears this too.”
“What is this about?”
Kess ignored Cedric’s tense posture and placed a large velvet case on the table.
“Let’s handle official matters first.”
He opened the velvet box, revealing a heavy emerald tiara—
a very familiar one.
“This is… my grandmother’s favorite.”
“Yes. Strictly speaking, she only ‘borrowed’ it during her lifetime. It belongs to the imperial treasury, so it should have been returned.”
This much, Aileen already knew.
But the next part was different.
“But?”
“But the late Princess Consort wished for it to be worn by her ‘granddaughter’ on her wedding day.”
Kess gently pushed the case toward her.
“The Crown Prince ordered that it be delivered to you now.”
Aileen couldn’t bring herself to pick it up.
She simply ran her hand lightly over the surface.
This was Lennard’s way of saying,
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me.”
“…But there’s no way someone like you would come all the way here just to deliver this.”
But Kess was the Crown Prince’s advisor, not a mere delivery messenger.
“I’m here to escort you, Lady Aileen.”
“Escort me where?”
“To the imperial palace.”
“That… what?”
Cedric finally spoke up, leaning forward so much that he nearly blocked Aileen from Kess’s view.
Kess kept his gaze on Aileen as he explained.
“His Highness has been excessively focused on work lately.”
“That sounds like good news.”
“To the point of harming his health. He barely enters his bedroom anymore.”
Then, in a tone suggesting that she already knew the reason, Kess added:
“I asked him, but he wouldn’t answer. There must have been a reason.”
“…So he wants me to come?”
Aileen tried hard not to react to Cedric’s stare beside her.
“I’m asking on his behalf. His Highness listens to you—even if only pretending to.”
Aileen already knew the reason.
Of course she knew.
She knew exactly why Lennard was breaking down… and why he might continue to break.
“Are you not going to ask what happened?”
“You already know, don’t you?”
“…Even if I go, I can’t ‘fix’ anything.”
She didn’t like being treated as if she were some kind of solution.
She wasn’t that kind of person—not in her own eyes.
“You’re wrong. Your mere presence is always a help to him.”
Kess’s expression said he fully believed it.
His sincerity made Aileen sigh softly.
