Chapter 21
Odelia shut the door and, the moment she caught sight of herself in the mirror, let out a strangled gasp. Good heavens, did I meet His Highness looking like this?
Her hair, puffed up like a lion’s mane, was in complete disarray. She swept it back with a sigh.
“Why in the world did he have to visit so early in the morning…?”
The maids who had entered to help her change bustled about, exchanging glances with one another.
“My lady, you must not have known since you went to bed early last night.”
“Hm?”
As Odelia blinked in confusion, another maid added,
“His Highness Calix stayed here overnight.”
“What?!”
Odelia stared at them in bewilderment, but the maids only smiled mischievously. They had quickly grown fond of their mistress—slightly brusque, yet unfailingly polite and kind.
“He slept in the guest room.”
“H-he did…?”
One maid approached holding up a dress from the rack.
“How about this pink one today?”
“Isn’t that color a little too sweet for me?”
Unable to hide her awkwardness, Odelia waved her hands, but the maids all giggled together.
“It matches the color of your cheeks right now, my lady~”
Glancing at the mirror, Odelia saw that her cheeks really were burning even redder than the pink dress. She quickly covered her face with both hands.
Then, sensing eyes on her, she turned her head in embarrassment. One maid parted her lips as if to speak.
“What is it? Do you have something to say?”
When Odelia asked, the maid hesitated, then shook her head lightly.
“N-no… nothing at all, my lady. Let me finish helping you change.”
She had in fact seen His Highness Calix leaving Odelia’s room the previous night… but she could not bring herself to say it.
If the lady truly didn’t know, then what exactly had the prince been doing in her room? The thought alone seemed improper. Resolving not to speak of it, the maid pressed her lips shut.
And of course, Odelia had no idea what the girl was struggling with.
Once dressed, Odelia headed back to the dining room. As usual, Calix and the Grand Duchess were waiting for her. But since it was her first time sharing breakfast with Calix, her heart felt strangely ticklish.
Trying to act natural, she carefully addressed him.
“I heard you slept in the guest room. You should have woken me.”
Setting down his cup, Calix replied calmly,
“You were sleeping so soundly you wouldn’t have known if someone carried you away. Snoring and all—I couldn’t bring myself to wake you.”
“I—I was snoring?!”
The Grand Duchess’s expression stiffened as she looked at Calix. But Odelia, slow on the uptake, didn’t grasp the implication behind his words. Shaking her head unconsciously, the Grand Duchess sighed.
Meanwhile, Calix kept teasing with a sly grin.
“It echoed all down the hall.”
“Please stop jesting, Your Highness…!”
Just then, the butler appeared with the morning paper. The Grand Duchess accepted it, but after unfolding it her face stiffened slightly.
The article reported that two sons of a count’s family had been brutally murdered in a robbery. Small portraits of the brothers were printed beside lurid sentences describing the horrific scene.
“My word… how could such a scandal happen in the middle of the social season…”
Clicking her tongue, the Grand Duchess slapped the paper down. Odelia tilted her head curiously.
“Is something the matter, Madam?”
“The count’s two sons were killed by robbers. It happened after they left a social club… Good heavens, the way they died was atrocious.”
Shaking her head, the Grand Duchess looked again at the article. Odelia, without much thought, picked it up herself and began to read.
[The incident is believed to have occurred around midnight. The count’s eldest and second sons were attacked by unknown assailants after leaving a social club.
The scene was gruesome: both victims’ faces were severely mutilated, and multiple stab wounds were found across their bodies.
Though the absence of all valuables suggests robbery, the strangest part is that both men’s manhoods had been severed.]
Odelia sucked in a breath. The illustration was sanitized, but the description alone was ghastly.
“What a bizarre and gruesome thing…” she murmured under her breath.
At that very moment, the mansion doors burst open. Cedric stumbled inside, panting heavily as though he had run the whole way. His clothes were askew, his hair disheveled, his face pale. His eyes, when they found Odelia, were wild with agitation.
Odelia leapt to her feet and hurried toward him.
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you sweating like this in the morning? Don’t tell me you ran all the way here?”
Still gasping for breath, Cedric grabbed both her hands.
“Odelia, I—!”
But then his gaze fell on Calix, seated calmly in the dining room. His words died in his throat.
“What were you about to say?” Odelia asked, tilting her head. Cedric exhaled shakily.
Ah… so this is how His Highness does it.
It wasn’t just a realization—it was something he felt in his bones. A suffocating pressure, an overpowering helplessness.
Last night in the carriage, when Calix had seized him by the collar, Cedric had understood for the first time that some men could break another’s will without shouting, without threats—just by existing.
That silence, that grip, that aura of command still weighed heavily on him.
Staring blankly for a moment, Cedric forced a smile.
“It’s nothing. I just ran… got a bit thirsty, ha ha…”
“Of course you’re thirsty after running. Come on, let’s go in.”
Laughing incredulously, Odelia guided him toward the dining room.
Inside, Cedric bowed politely to the Grand Duchess and Calix. Calix accepted the greeting with his usual calm, unruffled demeanor.
From then on, Cedric’s gaze never left Calix across the table. Catching his breath, he sank into thought.
Did he order it? Or do it himself? How can he sit there, so unbothered, after reading about such a brutal murder?
People had died—horribly. And yet Calix ate breakfast with the same serene face. Cedric’s watchful eyes now held not just suspicion, but a growing fear.
But Calix, whether aware or not, continued eating beside Odelia as if nothing were amiss.
Feigning nonchalance, Cedric reached for the breadbasket and tried to sound casual.
“Odelia. Did you read the article too?”
“You mean that one? Yeah, I did. It was gruesome. Cutting off a man’s center… that’s more than just robbery. It feels like revenge.”
Calix smirked and pushed the basket toward Cedric.
“And what sort of revenge do you think it was?”
Odelia hesitated, cheeks heating, before answering shyly.
“Well… cutting off that part, it must have had something to do with a woman, right?”
Calix chuckled.
“I thought the same.”
Then he fixed Cedric with a steady gaze.
“Cedric. Luckily, your face isn’t bruised.”
“Bruised…?”
The subject shifted naturally from the murders to Cedric’s own appearance. Odelia peered closely at his face.
He really did have faint scratches, as if from a scuffle, even if not full bruises. Alarmed, she grabbed his face in both hands.
“What is this? These scratches?”
Blinking rapidly, Cedric stammered,
“Oh? Ah, it’s nothing…”
“You didn’t get into a fight, did you?”
Frantically waving his hands, Cedric denied it.
“N-no, of course not!”
Studying him intently, Odelia turned toward Calix.
“Your Highness, you look like you know something.”
But Calix only shrugged with a blank face.
Odelia tightened her hold on Cedric’s face, demanding,
“Tell me! You really fought with someone?!”
Cedric’s shoulders sagged in resignation.
“I-it was just some vagrants, that’s all…! R-right, Your Highness?”
His eyes clearly conveyed surrender. He would submit in silence—he had no choice.
