Chapter 74
I Just… Could Tell by Looking
In truth, it might have been my own gaze that had been clinging to the relationship between Cedric and Rachel.
I saw only what I wanted to see, and perhaps used the two of them as an excuse to suppress my own feelings. After all, the more reasons I had not to approach Cedric, the better.
My face felt hot. I was embarrassed by how I had misunderstood things on my own. More than that, I felt dizzy at the thought that my worries about Cedric and Rachel might have been exposed.
“I made a mistake.”
“I don’t consider it a mistake.”
“I misunderstood.”
“Yes, you did misunderstand.”
Hearing the word misunderstanding come from Cedric’s mouth made me feel awkward. I wondered if my ears had turned bright red. And yet, I truly realized then that I had been mistaken.
“I have never once in my life thought of Rachel as a romantic partner.”
I knew he wasn’t lying. I hadn’t expected to know it so easily.
There had been many nights when I lay awake, tormented by thoughts of Cedric and Rachel. Now, those nights felt as though they were scattering away inside my heart like powdered sugar. I didn’t dislike the feeling.
“I’m sorry for thinking so selfishly. Judging someone else’s heart just by appearances—it wasn’t very ladylike of me.”
I looked at Cedric as I apologized. Regardless of the chaos in my heart, my apology was sincere.
It was an apology for seeing Cedric and Rachel’s relationship only as I wanted to see it, and misunderstanding them.
My feelings for Cedric had led me to forget the most basic principle: that I shouldn’t presume things about other people. That wasn’t the conduct of a refined lady. At least now, I was able to regain a small measure of reason.
“I didn’t require an apology from Your Highness.”
Cedric’s gaze shifted toward the window, then returned to me.
“I am curious, though—why did Your Highness come to such a misunderstanding?”
I looked at the hand he was holding. My hand rested atop his, and his fingers had curled around mine, holding it firmly. If I bent my fingers just a little more, our hands would be fully entwined.
Cedric had once told me that all I needed to do was take a single step. Instinctively, I knew tonight was the same.
And yet, I stepped back.
“There’s no particular reason. Without any deeper meaning… I just thought about the two of you.”
“Is that so.”
Cedric spoke without letting go of my hand. Over his shoulder, I could see the stars outside the window.
The white indoor dress I wore was light. There was no wind in the closed room. Even without a fire lit in the fireplace, the room wasn’t cold.
When we left the annex, Cedric escorted me with elegance and courtesy. He was always neat, always gentle.
We passed through the garden damp with dew, went by the fork in the path leading to Daisy’s flower garden, brushed past the shrubs at the rear garden entrance, followed along the duke’s residence wall, passed the main entrance, and climbed the stairs—more than twenty steps per floor—up to the third floor.
During that time, I couldn’t help but think about Shade.
Shade’s broken engagement had been a shocking incident. He had never once disappointed the expectations of the kingdom—a prince straight out of a fairy tale—and it was his first deviation.
His fiancée had been flawless as a future crown princess. A prestigious family, admirable parents, noble character, innate intelligence, and natural elegance.
Just one thing.
She was someone who knew freedom too well—a dreamer.
The Regent Palace garden of the crown prince had many apple trees. In autumn, she picked all the apples herself. I’d eaten several of the apples she wiped on her trousers and handed to me. They were sweet.
Her dream was to become a wandering knight. She had once swung a real sword in front of me, showing off her sword dance, and had even been chased by palace knights. She was the only person in the palace who ran.
But no matter which country’s history one searched, a crown princess had never wandered, nor become a knight.
Shade hadn’t even fully grown his own wings, yet he didn’t clip another’s. He let go of the woman who would have become his wife simply by staying still. He even lied, saying that he loved someone else.
The entire country was thrown into turmoil.
“A crown prince who doesn’t marry until such a late age. If he doesn’t marry or have children, what will become of our kingdom?”
“Shouldn’t Prince Daymond at least get married?”
Amid all that, what Shade did was reform old laws, adjust tax rates, and personally travel to inspect locations suitable for building new reservoirs.
When rumors spilled beyond Shade’s Regent Palace, I went to see him. It was a star-filled night like tonight.
When I knocked on his door, Shade opened it. His hair was neat, his pajamas unwrinkled. Despite the late hour, there was no sign he had been sleeping.
“Princess. Even inside the palace, you shouldn’t walk around alone at this hour.”
“I came to sleep with you, big brother.”
Shade laughed softly. His smile didn’t look like a smile—it looked like cracked porcelain.
I grabbed his wrist and pulled him onto the bed.
“When was the last time you slept?”
There was no answer. Papers were scattered across the desk near the bed.
“Did you love her?”
“I did.”
This time, Shade answered without hesitation.
“Then why did you let her go?”
“So she could grow up well.”
That night, I placed my palm against the corner of Shade’s eyes—eyes that never shed tears—and vowed to become something unchanging for my brother.
When Shade carried the weight of the world, I would crouch in his shadow, at least holding onto his legs so he wouldn’t fall.
“I’m curious why Your Highness came to such a misunderstanding.”
At that question, I wanted to look at Cedric and answer that it was because I misunderstood.
What if I said I liked him too much? What if I said there was a feeling I didn’t even know when or how it had grown?
The sentences lingered at my lips, but I couldn’t speak them.
“Your Highness.”
“Yes?”
“I will wait until the day you choose to tell me more about your heart.”
To him as he spoke, I wished him a good evening.
I am a princess of the kingdom named after a dragon.
I loved my country and my family, and lived well in my own way. Inside the palace, there was no lack of anything. Even I believed my life was sufficient—by anyone’s standards, an admirable one.
It was only a brief outing.
And during that outing, I was caught in the monsoon.
I will return to the Kingdom of Rundra. And once I do, nothing will feel sufficient anymore.
Princess Daisy, living a moderate life. Shade’s shadow, uninterested in politics or society. An ordinary royal with no real role. I knew that all the descriptions that once felt full would turn into insufficiency.
I knew I would spend my life longing for nights when the starlight was too beautiful.
A daisy flower that had been drenched in monsoon rain—drying while yearning for rain it could never feel again.
Leaving him behind, on this star-filled night.
Today, I met Dandelion again. He brought up the topic of a magitech shop.
He said there weren’t many people who could explain magitech as well as he could. I recalled that Daymond’s delegation had visited a magitech shop last time.
The magitech shop consisted of two large five-story buildings, connected by a sky bridge on the third floor.
Many of the items sold there looked similar to ordinary goods at first glance.
Whenever something caught my interest, Dandelion explained what it was, how it worked, and what made it special.
There was a magical freezer.
“The Kingdom of Lorneis is hotter in summer than Owen. The magical freezer was developed quite early.”
Magitech lamps were the most common.
“Producing a small light with magic isn’t very difficult. You just press a button, and it lights up.”
There were glasses, too?
“These are recently developed magitech glasses. They don’t fog up when you move from cold to warm places. They also block light to prevent glare when the sun is strong.”
“May I touch them?”
The merchant gladly handed them over. They looked exactly like ordinary glasses. There were no magic crystals attached.
I fiddled with the temples of the glasses, wondering if they were a bit heavy after all.
“Does the Duke of Dayerton wear glasses?”
“How did you know?”
“I just… could tell by looking.”
Dandelion smiled, dimples showing, and guided me to a café located on the third floor sky bridge.
“I was born the fifth child of the Grand Duke of the Ten Duchy. I have two older sisters, two older brothers, and one younger sister.”
Though he had suggested the café, Dandelion said today he wanted to tell me something else.
It seemed to be his own story.
“Among my siblings, I’m the only child born to both the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess. However, His Grace does not believe that only the Grand Duchess’s child must inherit the title. In fact, the position of heir held by my eldest sister—born of the first consort—remains firm regardless of my existence.
Even so, the position of a legitimate heir seemed to draw a great deal of attention. My eldest and second sisters, children of the first consort, were wary of me, while my grandfather sought to use me.
In the castle, I was alone. My sisters replaced everyone around me, and my grandfather forced an overwhelming education schedule upon me.”
Dandelion continued speaking calmly, a faint smile still on his face.
