CHAPTER~07
Silencing
[Batis Detective Agency]
The wooden sign on the door swung open, and Yvonne, hooded in her cape, stepped outside.
She had worried that the detective might suspect her identity, but those fears were unnecessary, as he only asked for the information needed to find her mother.
Yvonne finally let out a sigh of relief and checked the bills in her hand.
They were the money left after paying the detective his investigative fee.
The bills were neatly folded, but the marks of many hands handling them were evident.
It wasn’t money from the Duke of Leroy’s estate, but money that Adel had saved to pay for her mother’s treatment.
‘I didn’t think I would have to use it like this…’
She could have taken one of her many jewels without anyone noticing, but she didn’t want to use the ducal fortune for personal reasons.
Her father had died indebted to the ducal house, which was why she was here unwillingly.
If she used the estate’s wealth for herself, she would become no different from the father she despised so much.
Yvonne folded the remaining bills carefully and put them in her pocket as she descended the creaking stairs.
By the time she reached the detective agency’s front, the sky, which had been lit by the sunset, had grown quite dark.
‘I can just say the coachman dropped me off in front of the mansion when I return to the estate.’
If Logan wasn’t at the mansion, the butler or the servants wouldn’t question it much, and even if he were, he wouldn’t suspect anything seriously for just one day.
As Yvonne contemplated her excuse while stepping outside, a voice suddenly came from beside her.
“It doesn’t seem like a place a lady would enter alone.”
Startled by the voice, Yvonne froze in her tracks.
When she turned toward the voice, the man she never wanted to meet again was standing there.
Yvonne instinctively stepped back, like prey cornered.
But just one step.
The man closed the distance she had barely created in an instant.
The faint scent of him, like winter wind, became overwhelming.
His large hand reached out and lifted one side of her cape hood.
At the same time, their eyes met once again.
“Lady Yvonne.”
Her pupils trembled.
His blue eyes, looking down at her, were so beautiful they were terrifying.
“…Were you following me?”
“I’m not exactly that idle.”
Indeed, it seemed unlikely that someone busy would trail her. There was no reason to follow her in the first place.
Yet, Yvonne couldn’t let her guard down.
Cedric seemed to read her feelings as if to add,
“I told you, Lucerne is small.”
If it were a coincidence, he could have just passed by, so why bother acknowledging her? They weren’t that close.
She couldn’t read Cedric’s intentions, but one thing was clear.
She must not get involved with this man any further.
It was a warning her instincts gave her.
“You’re right about that, I suppose.”
She nodded slightly, used the motion as a greeting, freed the hood from Cedric’s grip, and turned away.
He had noticed something suspicious when he saw her leaving the detective agency.
She had to turn before he caught on to her weakness…
“Mouth.”
At that moment, a low, deep voice from behind seized Yvonne’s heart.
“No need to block it?”
…Caught.
Eventually, Yvonne turned around.
His frightening blue eyes, impossible to read, stared at her.
“Seeing how you’ve wrapped your face, it seems you want to hide that you came here today.”
“…What do you mean?”
Even as Yvonne’s gaze now openly displayed sharp vigilance, Cedric remained relaxed.
Then he said nothing more than,
“Ride. I’ll take you to the mansion.”
He gestured slightly toward the direction of the Glaston family carriage.
Yvonne didn’t want to ride with him, but she had no choice.
His words were less a kindness and more a threat.
She approached the carriage, unable to refuse.
Cedric followed alongside as if to escort her, but Yvonne ignored him and climbed into the carriage on her own.
It was her utmost rebellion.
From behind came Cedric’s low, amused chuckle. But that was all.
When Cedric climbed in behind her, the carriage suddenly felt heavy and confined, though it had been spacious.
Perhaps it wasn’t just her imagination, for Cedric’s knee brushed against hers.
The man’s legs were firm, almost rigid. Even that brief touch caused slight discomfort.
“…Sorry.”
Yvonne flinched and removed her knee from between his.
At that moment, Cedric’s gaze followed her movement downward.
His lips curved subtly, as if amused, but Yvonne, who quickly averted her eyes, didn’t notice.
The carriage finally departed.
Yvonne worried that Cedric might ask why she went to the detective agency, but he said nothing, having essentially forced her into the carriage.
Occasionally she glanced at him sideways, but he only stared out the window.
The silence began to make her uneasy.
The carriage passed the square and entered the dense townhouses.
Finally, Yvonne spoke first.
“Is there something you wish of me?”
At last, Cedric’s gaze returned to her.
“Did it appear that way to you?”
Frowning at his question, Yvonne thought back to how he had forced her into the carriage under the guise of silencing her, and now asked this with a brazen expression.
It seemed he enjoyed holding her weakness and seeing her reaction.
“So it isn’t?”
Startled by her own sharp tone, she studied Cedric’s expression.
Yet, contrary to her worry, a curious interest gleamed in his eyes.
“If you have a wish, could I grant it?”
“What if I ask something outrageous?”
She knew nothing about this man, but one thing was certain: he had immense wealth, enough to make even the Duke of Leroy envious.
So he wouldn’t ask for money.
Even if it weren’t monetary, she couldn’t be sure she could fulfill his request, but she had to somehow silence him.
Yvonne met Cedric’s gaze directly.
He seemed to expect a reaction from her—pleading or bowing low.
She wanted to break the expectations of this arrogant man.
She gripped her hands in tension but answered firmly,
“We’ll have to negotiate. As much as possible.”
“Negotiate. Negotiation, huh.”
Yet he laughed again.
“I like that.”
He drew a smooth line with his lips leisurely.
But his eyes, which had seemed to smile, were now calm, like a businessman at a negotiation table.
“Of course, it won’t be easy.”
Cedric Glaston had reportedly expanded a business independently from his grandfather’s empire.
He used that fortune to support the war between Herrington and Ferranz, and was knighted for his efforts.
So he must be a skilled businessman.
Seeing him in front of her, Yvonne truly realized he was a businessman.
“Then, what should I receive…”
Cedric murmured, looking at Yvonne intently, as if to extract something from her expression.
Yvonne did not avoid his eyes.
The lingering sunset light cast both shadow and illumination in Cedric’s cold blue eyes.
In the silence, as if time had stopped, the scattered light on his face made Yvonne dizzy with confusion.
Is this how I appear in his eyes too?
Just as she wondered, he spoke.
“I covet those eyes.”
For some reason, the moment felt strange.
It was distinctly different from her life up to now.
