WHM | Chapter 09

~Chapter 09~

Eileen finally gave a faint smile and shook her head.

“The social scene may feel like a battlefield, but it’s not a place where serious injuries happen. Don’t worry.”

 It was just the Countess wandering around the ballroom that bothered her. If she happened to run into Cedric, nothing good would come of it.

 Moreover, considering the things she had heard from Mia and Sadina today, she wasn’t sure what nonsense might slip out in front of Cedric.

Cedric lowered his head to carefully examine my feet.

Eileen gestured toward the empty balcony.

“Let’s go there.”

“…Oh, alright.”

Cedric gave her a suspicious glance as she acted a bit hurried. Regardless, she walked ahead briskly, and he ended up following her.

 As soon as the door closed behind them, Eileen plopped down onto the long chair, now cast in shadow. Cedric, looking at her, had a somewhat puzzled expression.

“You’re… being unusually informal, aren’t you?”

“Are we really going to start observing formalities between us now?”

It wasn’t entirely a lie when she said her feet hurt. The shoes were tight because she hadn’t had them fixed properly, and she could feel her feet losing sensation.

“…What exactly are we to each other?”

“A partnership for a common goal?”

Eileen answered in a slightly dazed voice. It was a response that just popped into her head without much thought, so it held no real meaning.

“Yeah. That’s true.”

As she frowned slightly while pondering the question, Cedric let out a sigh and suddenly knelt down.

 Then, without warning, he grabbed Eileen’s left foot, which was exposed from beneath her dress.

“Why are you… all of a sudden…”

“Wait a second. Let me check. You said it hurts.”

Without even worrying about his clothes getting dirty, Cedric placed her foot on his knee.

 Then, unbelievably carefully, he began to slowly remove her tight shoe.

 Eileen was stunned by his sudden action and could only stare at him in silence.

“It’s really hurt, Right?”

He inspected her foot carefully, noting the slight blood seeping from the skin. He spoke in a gruff tone, but his touch was surprisingly gentle.

 Eileen blinked as she looked down at him, finally responding after a moment.

“It’s nothing serious.”

“It is. You’re bleeding.”

“I’ll just put some ointment on it later.”

Feeling awkward in the situation, Eileen shook her foot free from his grip and placed it on the cold marble floor.

 She quickly missed the warmth of his touch, though. What a strange thought that was.

“Let me see the other foot.”

But Eileen just shook her head and looked away, trying to act uninterested.

She couldn’t understand why Cedric kept closing the distance between them so suddenly. And wasn’t he overreacting a little?

“No.”

“Are you asking me to buy you new shoes, too? Why are you wearing shoes that don’t fit you?”

But Cedric, with his usual swift reflexes, didn’t let her go so easily. He grabbed her right foot, still in the shoe, and carefully examined it.

“…If I ask for new shoes, will you buy them for me?”

“No.”

“How stingy. Even though I’m your fiancée.”

Cedric himself couldn’t understand why he cared so much about Eileen’s well-being. Was it because Cassel had asked him to treat his fiancée well?

 Or maybe it was because he enjoyed seeing Eileen so flustered. It felt like a childish reason, and he didn’t want to admit it.

“…Well, technically, I’m your fiancée whose wedding is about to be called off.”

This was Cedric’s attempt to calm the weird, uneasy feeling inside him.

 Right. They were about to break off the engagement. In four years, they might no longer matter to each other and might not even see each other for the rest of their lives.

“Alright, fine. Just rest for now, and you can put the shoes back on later.”

Eileen, with bare feet on the floor, spoke in a playful yet sharp tone.

“I’ve already said my goodbyes to everyone, so go ahead and leave your about-to-be-ex-fiancée behind and greet those other pretty, elegant young ladies.”

Despite her cool tone, the way she fiddled with her earlobe and stared down at the floor made her look lonely.

What ridiculous thoughts am I having…?

Despite everything, Cedric found it difficult to get up from his seat.

 He stared at her for a long time, then finally muttered,

 “You’re pretty too.”

 This was the truth. When he first saw her arriving at the Duke’s residence today, he had literally stopped in his tracks.

 He’d never tell her that, of course.

He had chosen this dress for her, thinking it would suit her…

 But he hadn’t expected it to suit her this perfectly.

 “What?”

“You don’t need earrings or anything. You look fine without them.”

It had taken all his courage to say that once — there was no way he could say it again.

So he stood up quickly, looking away, and muttered under his breath,

 “…Really.”

Eileen tilted her head and looked up at him with clear, bright green eyes that shimmered with rare warmth.

That only made Cedric more flustered.

He backed away completely and said,

 “I’m leaving now.”

“You’re acting like a kid.”

“Can you please stop saying that?”

Not that he actually hated being called childish…

 He just didn’t like that she really saw him that way.

“Fine. Lord Cedric Lowell, who is not childish.”

Her bright smile was different from the fake ones she wore earlier in the ballroom.

Cedric couldn’t say anything back to that.

“…I’ll get you a drink.”

“But I thought you were leaving. Now you’re coming back?”

He tried to sneak away with an excuse, but Eileen didn’t let him off that easily.

“I don’t know. I’m going,” he grumbled.

Cedric opened and closed the balcony door quickly, then leaned against it and took a deep breath.
He didn’t need a mirror to know his face was burning red.

Why is it always me…?

 Why was he always the one who ended up feeling so shaken?

***

Just as Cedric took a few steps to clear his confused mind, someone stopped him, blocking his path.

 “Lord Lowell.”

 “…Count Cassier.”

 A middle-aged man with a sly, almost sinister expression approached, stroking his mustache. His smile was so endearing that it almost looked pathetic.

 “I’ve been trying to greet you all evening, but you’re quite difficult to have a conversation with.”

 “As you can see, I’ve been busy.”

 “Please, take a moment to speak with me.”

 Cedric, thinking the man probably had something bothersome to say, couldn’t completely ignore him.

 Eileen’s nagging about interacting more with the nobles echoed in his ears.

 ‘And…’

 Though he wasn’t her biological father, the fact that he bore the Cassier name still tied him to her.

 It didn’t sit well with him to outright ignore someone with the name Cassier, even if it was the Count standing before him.

 “…Alright, go ahead.”

 Cedric glanced briefly toward the balcony where Eileen was and finally gave a small nod.

 “It’s not about anything else, but now that His Majesty himself has arranged for the engagement, Cassier and Lowell have become one family, haven’t we?”

 After being given time, the man started with a long-winded introduction. Cedric wasn’t used to such indirect speech and preferred directness, something that was common in the north.

 Perhaps it was because he had become accustomed to Eileen’s straightforward way of speaking that he found the capital’s roundabout way of talking somewhat frustrating.

 ‘Is Eileen the exception…?’

 Cedric, frustrated, ran a hand through his hair, cutting off the Count’s lengthy speech with firm words.

 “Let’s get to the point. Eileen is becoming a Lowell, not a Cassier, and Lowell is joining forces.”

 “…Eileen? I see you’ve become quite close with my niece.”

 The Count raised an eyebrow and smiled slyly. He looked like a predator who had spotted its prey.

 Only then did Cedric realize what he had just said and how it might have been interpreted.

 At the same time, he realized, perhaps unconsciously, how much more familiar he had become with Eileen than he had thought.