RVFOP 10

Chapter 10

A Walk

When I was alone, I didn’t dwell on thoughts of Rachel for long. I had very little information about her, and meeting her directly would be a better way to confirm her intentions.

I was walking alone in the rear garden of the ducal residence after sending the maids away. Beside a flowering tree in the garden, I tilted my head back and inhaled its scent. Yes, this is a flower I know.

A cool, strong gust of wind blew from behind me. The hat lightly secured with a ribbon was carried away by the wind. The pale pink hat with a sky-blue ribbon cut across the air above the garden.

I lifted the skirt of my dress with both hands and chased after it. I didn’t run, but I felt anxious in case it flew away again.

The hat landed softly on a shaded patch of ground in the garden. It didn’t seem to be dirty, so I brushed it off gently and placed it back on my head—then I felt a gaze.

I looked up.

It was Cedric.

I had ended up near the window of his office again. It was close enough that ten steps would have brought me right there.

I considered simply waving and passing by, but Cedric opened the window. With the glass barrier gone, his cherry-colored eyes became even clearer. I walked toward him.

“Good morning, Your Grace!”

“Yes. Good morning, Princess.”

Still a little too far for conversation? I stepped one pace closer.

The first-floor windows of the manor were much higher than the garden. I had to tilt my head back to meet Cedric’s eyes. He, in turn, slightly bent his waist.

“I was out for a walk.”

“I see.”

“Then the wind blew and my hat flew away.”

“Yes, I saw.”

“I’m glad I found it. It’s a pretty hat, so it would’ve been a shame if it got ruined.”

“I see.”

His replies were consistently the same. The pleasant weather lifted my mood, and I smiled, bringing my fingertips together.

“The weather is very nice today. The garden is sparkling in the spring sunlight.”

“That is correct.”

Cedric’s gaze briefly shifted past me, then returned.

While I was wondering whether he was alone in his office or if Lord Hudson was with him, I stood slightly on my toes. It was not very ladylike, but since the height difference was so large, I thought he might not notice. I tried lifting my heels just a little to peek inside—but it didn’t really work.

“Were you working?”

“I have finished now.”

“It’s still morning.”

“There was not much.”

In the Kingdom of Lundra, I had not often seen dukes. But whenever they did appear at court, they and their clerks always seemed rushed and buried in work. I thought, once again, that Owen was different.

“Princess, do you have a question?”

While I was thinking, Cedric spoke. So he did ask questions too. A small laugh escaped me.

I could have asked about his steward, but I chose something else.

“Since you’re not busy anymore, could you take a walk with me?”

It might also be good to spend time getting to know the owner of this place. I had spent very little time with him despite living under the same roof.

“Now?”

“Yes. Would that be inconvenient, Your Grace?”

“It would not be difficult.”

As he agreed, Cedric met my eyes again—and kept them there. He didn’t look away. It was proper for a gentleman to maintain eye contact while speaking, but still.

“Are you coming out through the window? I can catch you.”

If he only looked at me through the window, how could we go for a walk? I said it lightly as a joke.

“I do not wish to harm you, Princess.”

“How do you know I’m not surprisingly sturdy? Look at me.”

I spun once on the spot. My dress skirt flared out and settled again. The ribbonless hat started to slip, so I held it with one hand.

“I might be a very strong woman.”

Cedric’s indifferent gaze briefly dropped to my hand, then returned.

“I will reserve that for a more dramatic moment.”

“That’s a very gentlemanly refusal.”

It was rather underwhelming. A standard polite way to decline.

Cedric asked me to wait and disappeared back inside the window.

Soon after, he appeared in the garden.

He walked over with neat, measured steps and stood in front of me. I placed my hand in his outstretched one. Cedric matched my pace.

The walk with the owner of the house began lightly. When I pointed at something, he explained it to me. He didn’t know much about the garden statues, but he seemed familiar with the names of trees and flowers.

I tried to memorize the names he told me. When we passed butterflies resting on flowers, I walked carefully so as not to disturb them. When a pleasant breeze blew, I held my hat and smiled.

After the walk, I said goodbye to Cedric and returned to the third floor of the manor. Leaning by the corridor window, I looked down at the garden.

Mm. Thanks to the owner’s guidance, I now understood the layout. That area was directly in front of Cedric’s office; that one was the section hidden behind the large tree; beyond there might be something else. And over there was the part where autumn foliage would likely fall heavily. At the far end of the garden stood tall trees like a boundary.

I liked the cozy structure of the garden. From tomorrow, I could have picnics in the places Cedric had suggested.

Half of the garden was bathed in sunlight, while the other half was in the manor’s shadow. The grass shifted between light green, deep green, and bluish tones depending on where the light fell. When the wind blew, it rippled like waves, and the garden’s colors changed again.

Sunlight reflected off the leaves and stung my eyes. I closed them briefly, then opened them again. It didn’t hurt.

That spring, when I was eighteen—it was a weekend. I was getting ready for a walk in my room.

My hair was still being arranged when someone knocked. I asked who it was, and it was Shade.

Since he was busy, I didn’t want to make him wait elsewhere while I finished my hair, so I let him in.

“Shall we go for a walk today?”

So I told him to come in, and he said he wanted to go for a walk.

“I like walks. But I still need to fix my hair.”

Shade walked over to me sitting in front of the mirror. The maids bowed to him.

“Can I do it?”

“You know how to tie ribbons?”

“I learned.”

“From whom?”

In the mirror, Shade met my eyes and smiled. The end of his brow tilted slightly.

“A past connection.”

I knew he had such a connection. Years ago, he had broken off an engagement. Since then, the twenty-eight-year-old crown prince remaining unmarried, without romance or engagement, had become a source of concern in the kingdom.

As Shade stepped closer, the maids stepped back.

He took the ribbon from a maid and tied it with surprising skill. When a pearl hairpin was handed to him, he tilted his head in thought before placing it carefully. After examining my hair, he dismissed the maids.

“So today it’s not Crown Prince Shade, but big brother Shade?”

Once the maids left, his expression softened. He smiled without answering, then spoke.

“Daisy, don’t let anyone else touch your hair outside.”

“Why?”

“Because your hair is too beautiful.”

I laughed.

“There are probably not many people allowed to touch a princess’s hair anyway.”

“What else should you be cautious about?”

“Don’t follow anyone even if they buy you something delicious.”

“Who says that to an eighteen-year-old?”

“No museums either.”

“There’s an exhibition hall in the palace.”

“And don’t go dress-shopping with anyone.”

I already liked buying dresses, but I didn’t think I’d go dress-shopping with a gentleman anyway. I just giggled, and Shade focused again on fixing my hair.

He let go of my hair and offered me his arm in a formal gesture. I took it, and we walked along the small garden fence of my palace.

Butterflies fluttered around us. I reached out, but one didn’t land on my finger. Still, it didn’t fly away—it kept circling nearby. I watched it.

“If someone asks you to go for a walk, don’t go with them.”

“Ha… so walks are forbidden too?”

“They might fall for you.”

I turned toward him.

“No one at all?”

Shade smiled.

“Anyone is fine. But it would be better if they were the right kind of person.”

“What kind of person is the right kind?”

He led me under the shade of a tree and we sat on a bench.

“Someone who walks in step with you.”

“Hm?”

“Someone who understands your difficulties and knows what makes you happy.”

Shade smiled.

“And someone who knows what you like.”

I smiled too.

“And someone who treats even your hair as something precious.”

I ended up laughing out loud.

“That sounds like something everyone already knows about love.”

“Daisy, even if you know it, it’s not easy to do.”

He smiled and pressed lightly on the ribbon in my hair.

“It has to be sincere.”

“So if I ever want to do that, does that mean I’m sincere?”

“It could.”

Shade gave a small laugh.