Chapter 70
It Might Be a Happy Ending
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. It was an unexpected name—one I hadn’t heard in a very long time, and one I never imagined I would hear at this moment.
“You mean the Imperial Princess used this place?”
“She didn’t use it. She only decorated it.”
I had asked half out of habit, and Cedric’s reply was simple and clear.
Imperial Princess Rachel freely came and went to a place outside the imperial palace and decorated it entirely to her own taste. That place was the Dayerton Ducal House’s annex.
That’s what you mean, isn’t it?
Cedric said it plainly, yet I wanted to ask again.
The room we were in was bright with sunlight. It was a reception room furnished with fine sofas and exquisite ornaments. And it had been Rachel’s space.
Something inside my chest hardened coldly.
Scenes in which I had thought Rachel and Cedric were interested in each other flashed rapidly through my mind.
Their natural physical closeness, calling each other by name despite being an imperial princess and a duke, the fact that they had known each other for a long time, how well they understood each other’s tastes and thoughts—things like that.
I had seen all of that.
There had been moments when Cedric’s actions made my heart pound. In truth, there had been quite a lot of those moments.
Really, even the slightest look in Cedric’s eyes had made my heart flutter.
I told myself I was practicing accepting things as they were, so I let it be. Just as I had accepted a new season, I believed I was accepting new emotions.
I traced things back from today, when I had already grown accustomed to Cedric.
There had been days when some part of my heart felt ticklish. There were times when I thought about him alone, and times when I searched his words for traces that he was thinking of me.
There were moments when my emotions rose and fell with a single word from him, and the time when I first realized my own feelings. There were instants when I would think of him over the smallest things, and when merely seeing him made me happy.
There were days when I wondered when things had grown this deep.
Now, I thought that the word “when” didn’t suit these feelings at all.
Perhaps accepting my feelings had been foolish. It was the first time I had ever liked someone, so I didn’t know what would happen if those feelings grew.
Even though I wasn’t hungry, it felt as if something were bubbling at the pit of my stomach. I swallowed breath and saliva to force those bubbling sensations down.
As I remained still, Cedric waited for me in silence. From the sofa opposite me, Cedric’s cherry-colored eyes were fixed on me.
“I was thinking about something else for a moment.”
“Yes, Princess.”
I didn’t ask anything about Rachel.
There was no way I could. Whatever answer I might hear would mean nothing to me.
Saying that we had already spent too much time today and that we would see the third floor another time, we returned to the main residence.
I didn’t know what state of mind I was in as I walked back. When I finally sat on the sofa in my bedroom, it felt as if I had toured several fairy tales and returned. There had been too many stories today.
How many emotions had I gone through today? I tried counting them on my fingers, but that was impossible.
How often had my emotions changed today? Of course, I couldn’t know.
The last emotion remained vivid.
Once, Cedric had said that not every story could have a happy ending.
Today, it wasn’t the rear garden—it was the main garden.
Under a large tree in the ducal garden, a picnic mat had been spread out. After sending the maids away, I was alone.
Wrapped in a soft blanket, I placed a cup of milk tea on the low table. The sweet aroma of milk tea. I drank the tea, enjoyed the scent of autumn, leaned back, and inhaled the air.
It was refreshing. I loosened the ribbon of my hat and found myself pleased, watching the lace ties sway gently.
This level of happiness was enough for me.
From where I sat, I could see the knights’ quarters. For some time now, I had been watching that area from an angle where my body was half hidden by the tree.
At a spot just beyond the entrance—hidden from view inside the knights’ quarters, but clearly visible to me—two people were standing.
Sir Matisse was talking with a woman. She wasn’t wearing a uniform. She didn’t seem to be a servant of the ducal house.
The woman spoke cheerfully, and Sir Matisse smiled and replied. The scene repeated itself.
I took a sip of milk tea, my gaze fixed firmly on the two of them.
Sir Matisse—the knight among knights, who would draw his sword and charge without hesitation if a villain appeared, always precise and textbook-perfect in his actions—was bending forward awkwardly and scratching the back of his head.
The woman burst into laughter and lightly smacked one of Sir Matisse’s arms. Even after being hit, the knight looked pleased.
I chuckled softly to myself.
“Princess.”
“Duke?”
“I saw you here in the garden.”
“Good afternoon, Duke.”
“Good afternoon, Princess.”
Then I brought my index finger to my lips and raised my other arm, gesturing downward toward the ground. Cedric watched me with his composed expression, then bowed his head. His neat black hair filled my view.
“No—not the top of your head.”
I covered my mouth and laughed.
Ah, the reason I had avoided the rear garden and come here was because of Cedric. And yet, I still laughed.
“Could you lower yourself and come over here?”
When I pointed to the spot beside me, Cedric sat down on the mat. I turned my body and pointed in the direction where Sir Matisse and the woman stood.
Cedric’s seat was farther from the knights’ quarters than mine, so I shifted slightly to give him a better view. Even then, Cedric said nothing, so I turned my head toward him.
And then I swallowed a breath—Cedric was very close.
Was the mat a bit narrow? Thinking it would be rude to look flustered, I carefully controlled my expression as I spoke.
“If a superior officer and a princess ruin the mood, that wouldn’t do.”
“I understand.”
I deliberately lowered my voice, whispering. Cedric replied neatly, his expression still composed.
I turned my head back again. Sir Matisse and the woman were still laughing together.
Then a strong gust of wind blew. The sound of leaves rustling spread through the garden. At the same time, my hat nearly flew off, and I reached up with one hand to grab it.
From my seated position, my body tilted. I tensed to keep from falling backward.
I let out a small squeak, and Cedric caught my back with one hand. The lace ties of my hat fluttered wildly in the direction of the wind.
“Princess, are you all right?”
Sir Matisse shouted as he ran toward us. I could see the woman running after him as well. It seemed they had recognized us after hearing my voice. Oh no!
“I tried to grab my hat when the gust came—it was about to fly away. I’m fine.”
Sir Matisse, his face full of alarm, kept his eyes on me alone. When I reassured him once more that I was fine, he finally greeted Cedric. The woman standing a short distance away looked flustered when her eyes met mine.
“I don’t want to interrupt your pleasant conversation. Please, go on.”
Sir Matisse hesitated, then answered.
“That lady is the daughter of a shop owner who supplies ingredients to the kitchens. We were talking about horses—how important it is for a knight to ride well, how much hay a horse eats in a day, things like that.”
“I see. I understand.”
I smiled as I replied. It didn’t sound like the kind of conversation that involved smacking someone’s arm or bending over laughing—much less one where getting hit would be fine.
Sir Matisse tried to explain more, then scratched the back of his head. He bowed.
“We’ll be going now.”
Sir Matisse saluted in proper knightly fashion, and the woman behind him, clearly unsure of herself, also bowed. The two turned and walked away.
After they had moved some distance away from us, laughter rose between them again. Watching the two of them, I smiled once more and spoke to Cedric.
“My eldest brother will be getting married soon.”
“Crown Prince Shade’s wedding will be magnificent.”
“The entire kingdom will put its heart into it.”
I laughed softly and continued.
“Sir Matisse and Sir Diego are the same age as my eldest brother. They attended the same academy.”
“Is that so?”
“So I find myself thinking that Sir Matisse has reached the age for marriage as well.”
“Indeed.”
As we spoke, Cedric, who had been maintaining eye contact with me, turned his gaze toward the knights’ quarters. Then he looked back at me and continued.
“Sir Matisse turned thirty this year.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Do you think thirty is an appropriate age for marriage, Princess?”
I had never really thought about an age for marriage. I hadn’t deeply considered marriage itself. I had only thought that one should meet the right person.
“I’ve never thought about age, but both of my brothers are still unmarried. I suppose I’ll marry around the same time they do.”
“Is that so.”
Cedric said quietly, his gaze resting on my eyes. Then he continued to speak.
