Chapter 74
“Diana!”
Cedric jumped up in shock and rushed to her.
Meanwhile, Diana—her eyes only half-open—looked annoyed, almost bored.
She even frowned.
“…You’re too loud.”
“You almost died, and that’s all you have to say?”
“…Yeah.”
Aileen quietly watched Diana, who looked strangely sulky.
It seemed whatever conversation Diana and Cedric had before she collapsed… had not ended well.
“I know exactly what poison I ate. Did you check the candy box?”
“How do you know that? And what candy—?”
This time Cedric understood before Aileen did.
His whole body froze, the tension snapping back into place.
“The one I gave you as a gift?”
“Yeah. That one.”
“You didn’t eat the biscuits?”
“I didn’t even touch them. Were they poisoned too?”
Diana, who had been acting uninterested, suddenly widened her eyes.
“…All this time you thought I ate those?”
“I thought I told you before I fainted. Candy. You didn’t hear me?”
Diana looked toward Aileen standing in the corner, then back to Cedric.
“Wait… is that why things became awkward between you two? Because you thought Aileen gave me poison?”
“Of course I didn’t think that.
But Aileen’s maid was with you, and—hold on. You heard us talking?”
“I said you were noisy. I wanted to sleep more, but you two kept arguing.”
“Sorry. We should’ve talked somewhere else.”
When Aileen joined in, Diana’s attitude softened immediately.
“No, it’s because Cedric is being stupid.”
Diana suddenly buried her face into her pillow and mumbled for someone to call a healer.
Cedric, unusually, couldn’t respond to her and only stood there with an embarrassed expression.
The guilt he felt wasn’t directed only at Aileen.
“…Alright.”
He got up, closed the door behind him, left briefly, then quickly returned.
“I called the healer. And told them to bring that damned candy.”
He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, staring into nothing—back to the stiff, detached “Lord of Lowell” demeanor.
Immediately, a very heavy silence filled the room.
It was obvious something had gone wrong between Cedric and Diana even before she collapsed.
“What is going on between you two now?”
Aileen finally spoke, unable to watch this awkwardness any longer.
Diana grabbed the chance and grumbled dramatically.
“I said I want to become a healer, and Cedric told me it’s impossible.”
“I didn’t say impossible.”
“I told him it wasn’t because Aileen encouraged me!”
Diana poked her head out from between the pillows, looking wronged.
Aileen blinked, startled at being mentioned out of nowhere.
“What did I even encourage?”
“It sounds sudden because I said it suddenly! How is it strange that I might want to leave to study healing properly?”
The two continued talking, half-forgetting Aileen was there, but it wasn’t hard to follow the conversation.
“You’re not going right now.”
“Still. I didn’t know how serious you were.”
“The candy… It had a faint bitter, ashy taste. And the scent stung a little. Probably mixed with honey. I realized too late, but… it’s a deadly poison made from the extract of a certain flower. You wouldn’t know this.”
Aileen had never seen Diana speak so sternly and seriously.
Cedric also looked shocked silent, as if seeing this side of her for the first time.
“It’s the kind that doesn’t leave any trace in the body.”
Diana finished explaining, then glared at Cedric.
“…I studied so hard. Other healers know these things. You’re the only one who doesn’t. And all you ever tell me is to stay home.”
“That’s because you always try to wander into dangerous places. You even said you wanted to go to battlefields!”
“You go.”
“I’m the head of the Lowell family. And I’m good with a sword.”
“So? Healers follow the fighters everywhere. I want to do that too.”
“You can’t.”
“Why?”
Diana’s voice trembled, and she looked like she might cry. Cedric panicked and looked to Aileen for help.
Aileen gave him a look that said, Well? This is your fault.
Clearly, Cedric had acted like “Lord Cedric” again.
She had zero intention of helping him.
“Why can’t I? I read every book! And when you got poisoned, I studied even more…”
She burst into loud sobs. Cedric hurried toward her.
Aileen immediately thought: Terrible idea.
“Don’t come near me! I hate you!”
A pillow flew at him.
Cedric easily caught it… and the next one… and the next.
“Diana.”
“…You’re so annoying.”
Cedric sat beside her bed. Diana immediately hid back under the blankets.
“Aileen listens to me seriously, but you only ever think your opinion matters.”
Just when Cedric thought she was calming down, she threw one last sharp jab and dove under the blankets again.
Cedric sighed heavily and stacked the thrown pillows beside him.
“I promised I would protect you, Diana.”
“I don’t need that kind of protection.”
“I promised your mother—before she passed away—that I would protect you no matter what. That she didn’t have to worry.”
“Diana.”
But she didn’t move.
Cedric looked torn.
Aileen finally stepped in.
“Cedric. Remember what I said? Diana needs to find her own path.”
“Even if she has to leave here?”
“How else will she figure out what she wants?”
“It’s too sudden.”
“It’s only sudden because you weren’t paying attention to what she wants.”
Cedric looked ready to argue, but he knew she was right.
His “care” was always one-sided.
What he thought was best.
What he wanted.
“Everything changes sooner or later, Cedric. Nothing stays the same.”
“…I wish nothing had to change, Aileen.”
He reached out.
When Aileen didn’t pull away, he took her hand tightly—as if afraid she might disappear.
“I like things the way they are. Just like this.”
Cedric didn’t want to lose anyone again.
That was his greatest fear.
To hold everything together himself, to shield everyone as the frontmost wall…
He wondered whether wanting that was selfish.
“You too.”
His fingers tightened.
Whenever he thought he understood Aileen, she slipped away like mist.
Especially now—when she felt like she might leave any moment.
“…Me too?”
Aileen tilted her head, confused by his words, but Cedric didn’t explain.
Why had he suspected she encouraged Diana?
Because deep down, he wanted Aileen to care just as deeply about him as he did about her.
Deep inside the criticism he’d thrown at her…
There had always been this quiet desire.
He wanted Aileen to stay at his side—even jealous of Diana if needed.
To choose him.
To remain in this place.
‘I want you to stay.’
Stay here.
Choose him.
‘I…’
After circling around all the worst possibilities, Cedric finally reached his conclusion:
He didn’t want Aileen to leave.
He didn’t want change.
***
Later
Diana finally came out from under the blankets after the healer arrived.
The healer examined the broken candy pieces with a shocked expression.
“The detox happened unusually fast. Considering how much poison you consumed, this is surprising.”
“The tea Aileen gave me slowed the poison down.”
Aileen let out a quiet “Ah,” the pieces suddenly fitting together.
She had noticed something was off.
“So that’s why your cup was so empty.”
“I figured I had to drink the tea first before talking.”
Diana shot Cedric a look meaning, See? I know a lot more than you think.
But Cedric was pacing around the room, furious, searching as if an enemy were hiding somewhere.
“Who would dare slip poison into a gift like this? They’re insane.”
“I’ve kept a list of the families who sent me gifts. We can question them.”
“As if anyone would admit it.”
“Cedric.”
“You could’ve been poisoned too. I even told you to take the candy first.”
He seemed angrier on Aileen’s behalf than on his own.
“Cedric.”
“From now on, don’t eat anything unless it’s been checked. From anywhere—kitchen included.
Why were the biscuits dangerous too? And you and Diana nearly—”
“Cedric. We’re both fine. That’s what matters.”
“It’s not fine.”
“You can’t protect me and Diana from every danger in the world.”
“But I should have.”
His voice cracked with self-blame.
“That’s my job. You’re my responsibility.”
Aileen watched him quietly until he finally slumped onto a chair, exhausted by his own emotions.
“Is there anything else I need to know about this poison? Even something small?”
But as Cedric spoke seriously with the healer, something bothered Aileen.
“This poison costs an enormous amount of money to obtain. I’ve only heard of it—never seen it in person. It’s extremely rare.”
Aileen froze.
‘You need a lot of money to hire assassins like that.’
Ruth’s words echoed in her mind like a warning.
A lot of money.
That detail linked everything together.
When she thought of money, one family came to mind.
A family so wealthy they made even the imperial family lower their heads.
A family whose identity, pride, and strength all came from one thing: unimaginable wealth.
A family with gold mines that never ran dry.
A family she knew better than anyone else—
The Cassier family.
Count Cassier clearly had not given up on taking Aileen’s inheritance for himself.
