CHAPTER~23
Negotiation
Even with countless people around her, Yvonne could only see Cedric.
She had already been caught doing more than enough to arouse suspicion in him.
Visiting the detective office, knowing about the poisonous herbs in the forest.
She had already been caught doing more than enough to arouse suspicion in him.
Visiting the detective office, knowing about the poisonous herbs in the forest.
The distance between them had somehow narrowed to three steps.
Running away now would only draw his attention even more.
Yvonne decided to stay put and act natural.
At that moment, a man’s voice came from inside the ward.
“Hey, newspaper boy!”
Everyone’s gaze turned to the man, then gathered upon Yvonne, whom he was staring at.
Even Cedric, passing by, looked toward her.
Their eyes met at the same time.
She quickly bowed her head, but anxiety washed over her as if her loudly pounding heart would be heard.
Please.
With her gaze lowered, Yvonne looked at his passing hand, his shoes.
It felt as if those shoes would stop right in front of her.
As if that hand would soon grab her.
As if he would ask what she was doing here and who she really was.
…Her heart felt like it would burst from beating so fast.
Fortunately, Cedric walked past her.
No—so she thought.
“I’d like to buy a newspaper.”
Until the moment he seized her wrist.
Instinctively lifting her head, Yvonne met Cedric’s eyes.
Those blue eyes looked deeply into her, as if piercing through her.
As if he had been certain of her identity from the very beginning, without a trace of doubt.
She tried to bow her head again, but his voice reached her ears first.
“Lady Yvonne.”
***
“This area houses the surgical instruments, Your Highness.”
After Cedric purchased the newspaper, the hospital inspection continued with Crown Prince Arthur.
But Cedric’s thoughts lingered on the moment he caught Yvonne.
What on earth was she plotting?
She trembled even when merely making eye contact, yet went around doing things no timid noble lady would ever attempt.
That was why she was bothersome—and why she was interesting.
Yvonne Leroy was.
“Sir.”
He had been replaying the frightened green eyes that had looked up at him when Blan’s quiet whisper came from behind.
He had just finished investigating the very ward Yvonne had been in.
Seeing hospital staff enthusiastically explaining things to Arthur, Cedric leaned slightly toward Blan.
Blan, who had also quickly assessed the situation, began reporting in a voice only Cedric could hear.
“I checked what you mentioned earlier.
According to the patients who spoke with that kid, he came looking for his mother.”
“…His mother?”
“Yes.
But the woman presumed to be his ‘mother’ was discharged just yesterday.
The patients said the woman talked about her daughter so much they assumed she only had a daughter.
But since a son showed up looking for her, they think there might be some kind of family circumstance she didn’t talk about.”
Cedric’s lowered gaze grew deeper.
Hearing that made him roughly understand why the girl’s eyes had seemed teary.
“Is that all?”
“Yes.
…Ah!
They also said the boy resembled his mother—pretty enough to be mistaken for a girl.”
“Ah.”
“By the way, do you know that kid?”
Cedric simply looked at Blan instead of answering.
A silent question—what are you talking about?
“The newspaper boy.
Didn’t you recognize him because you knew him?”
“You thought that was a newspaper boy too?”
A newspaper boy is a newspaper boy—if not, then what?
Blan’s eyes seemed to say as much.
Cedric chuckled softly as Yvonne’s appearance came to mind.
Her small, slender frame, her fair and clean skin, her slightly flushed lips—everything about her was unmistakably feminine, and yet it was incredible no one suspected her.
Their conversation was interrupted by the Crown Prince.
“You dump the troublesome work on me, the Crown Prince, and enjoy a pleasant chat by yourself, I see.”
Arthur had finished looking at the surgical equipment and was returning.
Cedric straightened himself and approached him.
“I would never dare to push work onto Your Highness.
You misunderstand.
I am merely a businessman who seeks maximum profit with minimal investment, while Your Highness is a benevolent ruler who cherishes his people.
Naturally, our perspectives differ, so I stepped back accordingly.”
“Your tongue is as slippery as ever.”
Arthur clicked his tongue, though he didn’t seem displeased.
Cedric gave him a relaxed smile and shifted the topic.
After finishing their discussion about additional support needs, Cedric and Arthur stepped into the corridor.
Cherry blossoms fluttered beyond the hallway window.
Spring was fading.
Arthur was the first to break the peaceful scenery.
“The blossoms are already falling.
A flower’s blooming season lasts less than a month in a year… how sad and beautiful a truth that is.
Isn’t that right?”
Cedric looked at the cherry tree outside, ignoring Arthur’s poetic remark.
The tree already had fresh green leaves budding.
For the next eleven months, it would endure not as flowers, but as leaves.
But was that truly something to mourn?
It was a sentiment he could not understand.
“Then, please take care, Your Highness.”
After escorting Arthur, who boarded the carriage first, Cedric stepped back politely.
Blan had vanished somewhere—likely to fetch the coachman.
A spring breeze carrying petals brushed past Cedric.
The newspaper in his hand fluttered.
At that moment, the face of the newspaper “boy” flashed through his mind.
‘Will she try to run again?’
But he no longer intended to wait patiently.
The observation was over.
Now it was time to enter the game properly.
When Cedric lifted his head, he saw a young boy—no, a young woman—approaching him.
Yvonne Leroy.
She was approaching him.
Not running away.
As Cedric narrowed his brows in mild surprise, she opened her mouth.
“I want to negotiate.”
Still frightened, yet looking up at him with unwavering green eyes.
Only then did Cedric realize.
Why her eyes resembled leaves.
***
Silence hung in the carriage.
Yvonne swallowed dryly as she sat across from the man staring straight at her.
She had suggested the negotiation because she didn’t want to run anymore, but facing Cedric—whose thoughts were unreadable—made her mind go blank and her tongue stiffen.
‘Still… I have to speak.’
She had thought immediately after he discovered her identity.
If she ran away, she would spend every moment terrified of when he might reveal her secret.
Rather than that, she decided she must propose a negotiation first.
A gamble placing both her and her mother’s safety on the line.
And the die had already been cast.
There was no turning back now.
After steadying herself with a deep breath, Yvonne finally opened her mouth—but Cedric spoke first.
“Where exactly did you get those clothes?”
“…I borrowed them.
From the detective office.”
“Here I thought the Duke’s household had fallen so far you needed to sell newspapers.”
Answering instinctively, Yvonne blinked in confusion, then frowned faintly.
She couldn’t understand why he was asking something so irrelevant at a moment like this.
Setting aside his frivolous question, Yvonne went straight to the point.
“I infiltrated the hospital because there’s a problem I absolutely need to solve.”
“So did you solve that problem?”
“…Not yet.
But I will soon.”
She hid everything—being a fake noble lady, searching for her mother.
Revealing unnecessary weaknesses in front of a man who excelled in calculations and profit would be foolish.
“Once I resolve it, I’ll leave Lucerne immediately.
Before the marriage goes through.”
“…Leave?”
The ocean-blue eyes staring at her deepened even more.
“Yes.
So could you pretend you saw nothing today?”
“And what benefit does that give me?”
“If I marry Sir Derrick, it will disadvantage you in becoming the next Glaston heir.”
“So you think my position is weak enough to be shaken by something as trivial as a marriage.
Is that how the world looks to you, my lady?”
Yvonne flinched at his sharp remark.
She hadn’t fully considered how offensive it might sound to him.
“That’s not what I meant—”
“This ‘problem’—is it finding your mother?”
Yvonne’s eyes shook violently.
‘He knows about my mother…?’
He knew.
The weakness she had tried to hide.
