Chapter – 15
Cedric was standing in front of her, sweat gathered on his forehead as if he had run all the way there.
He looked quite disheveled, as if he had searched for her in great haste.
It was strange to see him like this. He had always appeared neat and composed.
Seeing Cedric in such a messy state because of her was something Rafine had never even dreamed of.
His messy hair and crooked clothes showed just how urgently he had rushed there.
Cedric’s sudden appearance drew everyone’s attention.
After all, the nobles of Roisha Street had already been talking about Rafine’s supposed suicide incident.
Now that the two people at the center of that rumor had appeared in person, people looked at them with great interest.
“So it was you.”
Cedric looked at the red-haired knight, Rayen, with a very wary gaze.
He was making a huge misunderstanding.
Although Bayern was known as Rafine’s childhood friend, Cedric had never actually met him before.
After their engagement, Rafine rarely arranged private meetings with Bayern, and she had also tried to avoid meeting other men so Cedric would not feel uncomfortable.
She never imagined that this would lead to such a big misunderstanding.
“No, that’s not—”
Rafine was just about to explain.
Then—
Thud!
A shocking sound broke through the air.
“Are you crazy?!”
Cedric had suddenly thrown a punch at Rayen.
It was completely unlike him. He had always behaved with elegant composure.
“What are you doing?!”
Rafine shouted angrily, but Cedric refused to listen.
“I didn’t like you from the beginning.”
“Cedric!”
Shocked by the sudden turn of events, Rafine quickly moved to stop him.
She could not understand why Cedric was so obsessed with Bayern. She had already told him many times that Bayern was only her childhood friend.
Meanwhile, Cedric himself met Elizabeth freely without any problem.
“Stop it!”
Rafine grabbed Cedric’s arm and shouted.
Only then did Cedric lower the fist he had raised and look at Rafine holding him back.
Although the fight ended quickly, a disturbance like this naturally attracted attention in Roisha Street, a place mostly filled with nobles.
The last thing Rafine wanted was another scandal when people were already talking about the suicide incident.
She looked straight at Cedric and spoke.
“Stop it.”
Cedric’s face turned even redder, as if he thought she was standing in his way.
He looked hurt that Rafine was no longer giving him attention.
With a miserable expression that was rare for him, he asked quietly,
“Is that man more important than me?”
For a moment, Rafine was speechless.
How could someone think like that?
Then suddenly she realized something.
Ah.
People tend to see others through their own behavior.
Perhaps he was projecting what he himself did with Elizabeth onto Rafine and Bayern.
That would explain it.
“I didn’t understand why you were acting like this… but now I do.”
“What?”
“You meet another woman, so you assume I’m the same as you. Is that it?”
Cedric froze at her words.
His expression hardened as if her words had caught him by the ankle.
In an instant, his eyes became cold.
“What are you talking about?”
“Not everyone in this world is like you.”
Rafine said firmly.
She could clearly feel people around them secretly watching.
She wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
“This man is not Bayern. He is His Majesty’s knight.”
When she explained the situation, Cedric looked embarrassed.
Only then did he realize his misunderstanding and the situation around him.
His brows tightened with shame.
But at the same time, another thought made him uneasy.
The fact that Rafine was meeting someone connected to the Emperor.
“Why…”
“…?”
“Why are you meeting His Majesty’s knight?”
Although he spoke to Rafine, strangely his gaze was fixed somewhere else.
“I told you earlier. I have an appointment with His Majesty. You really don’t listen to what I say, do you?”
“You were supposed to cling to me… so why…”
Cedric seemed unaware of what he was even saying.
“You’re saying I should cling to you?”
Rafine asked in disbelief.
“Stop this.”
The one who stepped in between them was unexpectedly Rayen.
“A mere knight dares to interrupt here?”
Cedric spoke in a threatening tone.
But Rayen did not step back.
“His Majesty ordered me to serve Lady Robru as if she were His Majesty himself. I cannot tolerate you treating her rudely.”
“What?”
The moment Rayen mentioned “His Majesty,” Cedric’s face stiffened.
Thinking that he had to fix the situation somehow—
Cedric suddenly knelt down.
Pushing past Rayen, he knelt directly in front of Rafine in the middle of Roisha Street.
The nobles who had been secretly watching gasped in surprise.
They had always seen Rafine desperately clinging to Cedric.
Seeing the situation reversed like this was shocking.
Even Rafine herself was surprised.
After she had talked about breaking the engagement, Cedric had continued acting proud and distant.
Seeing him like this—even if it was just an act—was unexpected.
But it meant nothing to her.
Her decision was not so weak that something like this could shake it.
She quietly looked down at Cedric kneeling before her.
It was an action that did not suit him at all.
Even so, it still felt like an act.
“I’m sorry, truly. I know everything is my fault… I won’t do anything you hate anymore.”
Rafine’s eyes widened slightly.
She had never seen Cedric like this before.
For a moment she froze, but quickly forced herself to remain calm.
She could not let her emotions take control.
Why was it that people always tried to change things only after it was too late?
Only after everything had already burned to ashes.
Even if they tried to gather the pieces again, what was already broken could not return.
If only people understood that regret always comes too late.
Because the street was normally quiet, the disturbance began to attract more people.
Rafine did not like that at all, so she avoided Cedric’s gaze.
“Get up, Cedric. Nothing will change even if you do this.”
“I won’t move until you forgive me.”
Surprisingly, Cedric showed stubborn determination in this strange situation.
“You were the one who always said not to behave without dignity. What you’re doing now is exactly that.”
Cedric looked sad and spoke slowly.
“Now you are more important to me than dignity.”
Even if his words sounded sweet, her heart did not move anymore.
Instead, she only wanted to leave this place quickly.
The countless eyes watching them…
The thought of becoming gossip again…
She wanted none of it.
She only wanted to break off the engagement peacefully and leave to live her own life.
“Please… I was wrong. Everything was my fault.”
In a voice that sounded almost like crying, he begged.
Rafine spoke calmly.
“Even if you do this, I will never forgive you.”
The image of Cedric kissing Elizabeth was still vivid in her mind.
She had no intention of forgiving them.
And she did not want to become a spectacle for others here.
She turned around immediately.
“Rafine! Rafine!”
Many eyes followed her as she walked away quickly.
Rayen politely bowed to her and followed.
In Roisha Street, only Cedric’s desperate voice calling her name continued to echo.
The nobles who witnessed everything immediately began whispering again.
“Their positions have completely reversed.”
“My goodness, what in the world happened?”
And so, the story about the two of them began spreading further and further—
far beyond what Rafine had ever wanted.
