CHAPTER~17
Am I Going to Lose?
Yvonne went straight to the point.
“What is it that you wish to say?”
“Have you ever been to a theater?”
“Yes. I was very young, so I don’t really remember.”
Adel, being a commoner, had never been to a theater, but this was a lie Yvonne made up, assuming she might have.
“Then in your memories, I will be the first man to go to the theater with you.”
Derrick placed two tickets on the table. It was the opera Cindy had been chattering about, the one currently in fashion.
“Will you allow me to be your first man?”
Yvonne hesitated to take the tickets he offered. Just the thought of being alone with this man made her stomach churn.
She recalled her promise to Nadia at that moment.
“If it’s alright, may Nadia come along too? She regretted parting ways so much that day.”
“It seems the young lady is uncomfortable being with me.”
The smile on Derrick’s lips had disappeared.
Yvonne realized she had shown her feelings too openly and bit her lip.
“I just thought including Miss Nadia might have that meaning.”
“…I apologize. I didn’t consider your position.”
“No need to apologize.”
Seeing Yvonne’s remorse, Derrick’s smile returned as if nothing had happened, and he nudged the tickets closer to her.
“Then we’ll consider it arranged for that day.”
Yvonne forced a smile at her affectionate fiancé. In reality, she had no power to refuse his suggestion.
The banquet at the Ashton Count’s estate was tedious. Just like any other banquet.
Perhaps not for other men, but for Cedric Glaston, who drew women just by standing, it must have been so.
He had never openly called a banquet boring or tedious, but his perpetually languid expression spoke volumes.
Yet today, Cedric was smiling, occasionally even chuckling.
His friends, watching him with half-lidded eyes, whispered among themselves.
“What’s up with him? Something good happened?”
“Oh. Finally found a woman to marry?”
Speculations ran wild about his recent successful endeavors, even claiming he had secured a foreign princess…
Yet none of these hypotheses had anything to do with what actually occupied Cedric’s mind.
Yvonne Leroy. She hadn’t attended the banquet either. Except for the one at the Leroy estate, he had never seen her at any other event. Today was no different.
A noble young lady’s social debut was meant to present her to the marriage market.
Since she was already engaged, she might not feel the need to be active socially.
It wasn’t that he had arranged to meet her at the banquet, nor that he had been stood up, but the situation left him uneasy, and somehow amused.
As he idly tapped his glass, his friends turned to him.
“Cedric, this isn’t the time to be so carefree. If there’s a hidden princess, bring her quickly.”
“Yeah! Derrick is going to the opera with the Leroy lady next week. The next day, the newspapers will claim he’s the next master of the Glaston estate.”
The same topic always came up recently: marriage, the Glaston heir, his half-brother, and the fiancée, Yvonne Leroy.
He remembered the girl trembling with fear when left alone with Derrick in the hunting grounds. Recalling her made him feel irritated. She was an annoying woman in many ways.
Cedric took a cigar from a friend’s case on the balcony and lit it as naturally as if it were his own. Voices of friends mingled with the smoke.
“By the way, what happened with that hunting trip? Lady Lopez went too.”
“Right. The Lopez family is quite decent, but that girl… isn’t she?”
“I don’t know why everyone is so obsessed with other people’s love lives.”
Cedric’s gaze turned cold, completely different from before, and his friends, subdued, lowered their voices.
“Well, we just want you to be the Glaston heir…”
“…”
“Are you afraid you might lose to him if it’s not marriage?”
“…N-No, of course not.”
“Then it’s settled. Nothing to worry about, right?”
By his logic, it was clear: whoever would inherit the Glaston estate was uncertain. But losing to anyone? Unthinkable.
Just as everyone concluded worrying about Cedric Glaston was pointless, someone approached the gentlemen’s balcony.
The gentlemen looked surprised to see her.
“Lady Lopez?”
“May I come in for a moment? Just briefly.”
Nadia’s gaze swept over the men and finally landed on Cedric in the center.
The men guided her inside the balcony with hand gestures, then discreetly stepped aside.
Cedric looked at the woman fearlessly entering the space alone with him.
For a young, unmarried lady to be alone with a man was potentially damaging to her image.
Although some had secret affairs in private, this was a public banquet. Her coming openly suggested she had planned this.
Cedric chuckled lightly at her boldness and put down his cigar. Then he offered a polite greeting.
“Your hand seems better.”
“Thanks for your concern. I wanted to properly apologize for that day, so I dared to come here.”
“It wasn’t necessary to apologize.”
“But my heart isn’t at ease. I regret leaving that day due to my mistake. I’m truly sorry.”
Nadia fiddled nervously with her clasped hands despite her bold approach to the balcony.
Someone might have been moved by her shyness, but Cedric felt nothing.
“I hope to have a chance to make up for that mistake someday.”
A chance. Yes, a chance.
A good thought came to him. A chance for the earnest young lady, and a way to use the opportunity.
“How about next week?”
Startled by the unexpected proposal, Nadia blinked.
“There’s an opera I’ve been wanting to see.”
The man’s face was irresistibly charming, leaving her no choice but to take his hand.
The next day, a letter from Derrick arrived.
It simply said he would come to pick her up on the day of the opera at the opera house.
Only then did Cindy, realizing Yvonne would go with Derrick to the opera house, become more excited.
“Wow, I’m so jealous, Miss. That opera is supposed to be amazing!”
“Really?”
“Yes! I happened to see the male lead recently, his voice and looks were great. Of course, you see the Glaston young masters every week, so maybe it won’t impress you.”
Cindy’s eyes sparkled like a typical girl her age when mentioning the male lead.
Yvonne found her cute and set aside her uneasy feelings to smile.
“Then Cindy, do you want to come along? Getting a seat shouldn’t be hard.”
“Oh no, I can’t. You’re going with your fiancé, so I shouldn’t be in the way.”
Cindy waved her hands, but Yvonne genuinely wanted to send her in her place if possible.
‘But I can’t skip this time…’
Derrick Glaston noticed Yvonne’s thoughts.
Though she had no intention of marrying him, she needed to maintain a good relationship until she found her mother. Frequent outings like this would also loosen Logan’s supervision.
While Yvonne was lost in thought, Cindy stopped brushing her hair.
“How about your meal, Miss?”
“I’ll come down soon. Prepare it.”
Yvonne, having sent Cindy ahead, lightly fixed her skin and went down to the first floor where the dining room was.
At the same time, she encountered an unexpected person. Yvonne’s pupils trembled slightly.
