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Chapter 19
On the way back after the date, the carriage was quiet for a while.
It hadn’t been a particularly long day, nor was it exceptionally special—but Cedric found himself feeling wistful at its end.
When the carriage stopped, Odellia stood up first. She reached for the door handle with a familiar motion—but then.
“Wait.”
Cedric’s hand covered hers.
When she turned her head, Cedric was looking at her with eyes different from usual. No playfulness, no mischief—in his clear pupils, something was distinctly rippling.
“How was the date today?”
“It was comfortable, thanks to you. Just… not bad.”
Cedric blinked. As if relieved, or perhaps deflated. He slowly let go of her hand and nodded.
“Good. I’m glad.”
“What’s with that. So anticlimactic.”
Odellia lightly tapped his chest for no reason. Only after Cedric returned to his usual grinning face did Odellia finally open the door properly.
“Cedric? Aren’t you coming in?”
Seeing that Cedric had no intention of getting off the carriage, Odellia turned back, holding the door, and looked at him. Cedric gazed at her for a while with a deeply thoughtful expression.
“I’ll head straight to my place today.”
“Why? You haven’t even had dinner yet.”
“Is your house a restaurant or something? You want me to come over for meals every day?”
“I thought you at least considered it a café. You come over for coffee every single day.”
At that, Cedric fell silent again, just staring at Odellia.
“Hey, Cedric. Do you have something on your mind…”
Odellia turned around, as if to approach him, and started to cross the courtyard again—but then. Someone grabbed her wrist with a firm *tug*, and her body jolted.
Startled, Odellia looked back and her eyes widened slightly.
“Your Highness Calix?”
“You left the front gate wide open, yet you weren’t coming inside.”
“Well, Cedric was…”
“Then I’ll head off first! See you later!”
Before she could finish her sentence, a voice close to a shout came from Cedric. Before she could even stop him, the carriage door slammed shut and soon drove away. Odellia watched Cedric’s carriage disappear with a bewildered look on her face.
“Why is he acting like that…?”
Calix, who had a good idea why Cedric was behaving that way, quietly lifted the corner of his mouth.
“He probably needs some time. Let’s go inside, Odellia.”
Calix gently led Odellia by the wrist as she still looked confused. Only then did Odellia realize that her wrist—no, her hand—was held in his. The motion of pulling her wrist had naturally shifted into holding her hand.
Suddenly, Odellia’s face flushed crimson. It was the first time she had ever held a man’s hand like this. It wasn’t a simple greeting or contact—it was a gesture mixed with some kind of emotional current.
“Y-Your Highness. My hand…”
At Odellia’s flustered voice, Calix tilted his head slightly.
“Hm? What?”
His tone was nonchalant, but then he gave a subtle smile as if he’d just realized.
“Ah… Could it be this is your first time holding a man’s hand?”
“…Please don’t tease me. You’re being cruel.”
There was no way Calix didn’t know what was going through the mind of Odellia, whose face had turned beet-red. The sight of her somehow innocent and honest made Calix laugh quietly to himself. Still not letting go of her hand, he continued gently.
“I’ve practiced dancing with you so many times. Were the hands I held back then not hands? Why act shy about it now?”
“Back then I was too busy to even think about it!”
To the indignant Odellia, Calix smiled slyly and, as if following the etiquette at the end of a dance, pretended to kiss the back of her hand.
“Sorry for teasing you. Go inside and rest.”
Odellia stammered as if she’d completely broken down.
“Wh-why do you keep teasing me like this?”
Calix grinned, then finally let go of her hand.
Odellia ran up the stairs as if fleeing, quickly opened the door, and went inside. As soon as she closed the door, she leaned against it and slowly let out a breath.
“Cedric, and His Highness Calix too… Both of them are acting strange today.”
She muttered to herself, pressing her forehead. It was the first time since the war that Cedric had worn such a serious expression. Normally, he would have laughed it off with a relaxed smile—but today he didn’t, and that felt unfamiliar.
And what about His Highness Calix? Since when did he become someone who teases people so easily? Grabbing her hand at every turn, even kissing her hand.
And the problem was…
“Why do I keep reacting like ‘Wah! Wah!’ every time I’m poked… I’m such a mess…”
Odellia flopped onto the sofa, clutching the back of her hand. She reacted too quickly, got flustered too easily. All those emotions rushed over her, unfamiliar and overwhelming.
She approached the mirror and looked at her own face—then unconsciously widened her eyes in shock.
“It’s a bright red tomato, this…”
She touched her cheeks—they were so hot that it wouldn’t be strange if she were used as tomato stew ingredients at this rate.
“Really, at this rate, I’ll cook my own face.”
Self-mocking, Odellia pulled the blanket up over her face and turned on her side. Her heart was growing more and more complicated.
After tossing and turning for a while, Odellia suddenly sat up and opened the wardrobe. She felt that she needed to change clothes, if only to relieve her restlessness.
After changing, she walked down the corridor and encountered an unexpected sight in the first-floor hall. Behind His Highness Calix, the butler stood holding his coat carefully—it looked like he was preparing to go somewhere.
Odellia’s mouth opened naturally.
“Where are you going?”
“I think I need to go comfort Cedric a bit.”
Calix answered briefly as he adjusted his coat. His tone was casual, but a meaningful light flickered in his eyes.
“Comfort? What do you mean?”
Odellia tilted her head. It seemed to carry some context, but she couldn’t easily grasp its meaning.
Calix chuckled.
“Well. You could call it the most practical consideration one can give a friend who’s been rejected.”
“…Rejected?”
“Mmm. Though I’m not sure the other party even realized it.”
With a meaningful smile, he accepted the coat the butler held out and draped it over his shoulders. Just before turning away, he paused briefly, his gaze resting on Odellia.
“Sorry we couldn’t have dinner together, Odellia.”
With that, Calix left a light wave and walked out the mansion’s door.
Left alone in the hall, Odellia stared blankly toward the entrance, then muttered quietly.
“…Rejected? That bastard Cedric…”
So he was secretly pursuing a love life behind my back?
*Ah-ha!* So that’s why His Highness told me to date Cedric. To forget someone, you need someone else! Something like that. And that troubled look on his face earlier… it must have been because he was distraught over not understanding a woman’s heart.
I feel bad for not recognizing it sooner.
Only then did Odellia’s expression lighten.
“I’ll have to say something kind to him next time I see him.”
With a refreshed heart, Odellia put both hands on her hips, nodded to herself, and walked back inside.
—
***
Meanwhile, Cedric’s destination was not his own mansion, but a social club frequented only by noblemen. He had already sunk deep into the leather sofa, having downed several glasses of wine.
Among the men leisurely chatting with drinks in hand, Cedric silently gulped his liquor.
The plush leather sofa seemed to swallow him as it sank. Cedric stared blankly at the ceiling.
“…I’m screwed.”
He hadn’t meant to show that kind of look. He’d wanted to say it playfully, like a joke, as always. But maybe *”How was it today?”* had sounded like *”Is there a chance for me?”* No—it probably had.
Cedric laughed, covering his face with his hand. It was a laugh forced out.
“I just… wanted to do well.”
What he meant by *”do well”* wasn’t just about becoming closer.
Someone who, before he knew it, kept drawing his gaze. Whose voice lingered in his ears. Whose smile kept surfacing in his mind. So it stung that today’s date had only been rated *”not bad.”* No—it felt disappointing.
