Chapter 10

“So you've already started using such affectionate terms. I suppose there'll be no problem once she becomes the Duchess. That's quite reassuring.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

It would have been easy to say that he and Eileen were not close—that they were merely engaged in name only.

No matter what the man said, it had nothing to do with the Cassier family. There was no reason to drag House Lowell into their affairs.

And yet, for some reason, Cedric found himself strangely unwilling to say those words aloud.

In the end, he changed the subject.

“Is there something you want from me?”

Count Cassier maintained his pleasant smile as he replied smoothly.

“Nothing major. I simply hoped you might arrange a position in the Lowell Knights for the son of a close acquaintance of mine.”

“I didn't hear that.”

It was a trivial request.

Cedric frowned and was about to dismiss it outright, but the Count quickly stopped him.

“Didn't Eileen mention it to you?”

“...Eileen?”

What exactly had Eileen supposedly told him?

The Count's words carried the implication that she was somehow involved in this request.

“She probably didn't.”

The Count chuckled awkwardly, though the expression was so natural that Cedric couldn't tell whether the man was lying or speaking sincerely.

“What do you mean?”

“When Eileen eventually becomes the Duchess and moves to your territory, she said it would be comforting to have someone trustworthy by her side. This was simply the solution I came up with.”

Cedric stared at him in silence, trying to determine whether there was any truth in his words.

“If she had an escort knight with a reliable background, wouldn't Eileen feel much more secure?”

The Count's expression remained warm and sympathetic until the very end, as though he were genuinely acting out of concern for his niece.

“...Eileen said that?”

No.

At least, not the Eileen Cedric knew.

Such a request didn't suit her at all, nor did it fit the nature of their engagement.

“She told me not to say anything and spoil the mood, but I couldn't help worrying.”

The Count's smile never faltered.

As Cedric looked at him, a realization suddenly surfaced.

Eileen had rarely spoken about her family—especially House Cassier.

“She talked about House Lowell, though...”

“...Very well. I'll consider it.”

He decided he would ask Eileen about it personally later.

That was why he didn't reject the request outright, though his answer could hardly be called sincere.

He didn't sense any hidden scheme behind it.

Still, something felt unpleasantly off.

“Please don't tell anyone I brought this up. It would only make her worry unnecessarily.”

Leaving behind a formal farewell, Cedric departed.

Though he had picked up two glasses of wine, his thoughts remained tangled.

Why had she never spoken about her family?

There are complicated circumstances. House Cassier doesn't discuss it openly, but everyone knows the current Count Cassier is an illegitimate child. It's a stain on the family's history.

When Cedric had first arrived in the capital, he hadn't paid much attention to House Cassier.

He had known only the surface-level information Cassel had given him.

"Hello. What you just said to your fiancée was extremely rude. However, I'll let it slide this once."

Now he found himself remembering Eileen on the day she had visited the ducal estate.

Why had she walked there herself instead of riding in a carriage?

Even knowing her dress would be ruined.

What if it wasn't that she didn't want to ride...

What if she couldn't?

Was it possible she hadn't even been treated properly in her own home?

The thought of Eileen enduring such treatment felt impossible to imagine.

Maybe she'd already lost everything.

And yet...

Those bitter smiles she occasionally wore.

Had they been her way of enduring that reality?

What if all those casual remarks were only half-truths meant to conceal the rest?

His grip tightened around the wineglass.

If Count Cassier had simply been honest and said, "I have no standing within the family, and I want you to help Eileen," everything would have been much simpler.

Was that really so difficult to say?

"...What are you doing out here? Why aren't you coming inside?”

A voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

It was Eileen.

Only then did Cedric realize he had been standing absentmindedly against the wall beside the balcony door.

“Eileen.”

He handed her a drink.

Almost immediately, she seemed to notice that something was wrong.

Her emerald eyes swept over him sharply.

Unable to suppress his unease, Cedric asked directly.

“You aren't hiding anything from me... are you?”

“What kind of question is that all of a sudden? Who did you meet, and what did they tell you?”

Eileen's expression instantly cooled.

Even the air seemed to freeze.

But Cedric's emotions had already begun to boil.

Who did you meet?

That question alone told him that Eileen Cassier already knew what this was about.

And yet she showed no intention of explaining anything first.

“Eileen, don't avoid the question. That's not like you. I'm asking whether you're hiding something from me.”

“...No. Why would I be?”

Her green eyes briefly shifted away before returning to his.

The confidence that usually filled her voice wavered ever so slightly.

“...I see.”

He caught that tiny change.

And with it came a wave of frustration mixed with bitter disappointment.

Did she truly believe Count Cassier's words?

Did she think he would simply turn his back on her?

Even if their engagement was destined to end someday, Cedric trusted his own judgment when it came to people.

Just what was he to Eileen Cassier?

Why couldn't she even tell him when she was hurting?

He had believed they were building a relationship where they could trust one another and offer advice freely.

Perhaps that had been nothing more than his own delusion.

You're not hiding anything from me?

The question had come out of nowhere.

Moments earlier, the atmosphere had been lighthearted.

She could have brushed it off.

She could have answered casually and moved on.

Yet strangely, Eileen hesitated.

Perhaps it was because she was looking directly into his eyes.

Faced with that gaze, lying and pretending she knew nothing felt difficult.

After all, she was already hiding far too much.

In a way, she was deceiving him.

“...No. Why would I be?”

That was why her answer came so slowly.

The truth was that she had known about this engagement for a very long time.

She had also known that his future might end in ruin.

Yet she had never actively stepped forward to change it.

Instead, she had chosen the path her grandmother wished for her—a quiet observer, living on the sidelines.

How could she possibly explain any of that?

Mom. Dad. Could you stay home today? Just this once?

There had been a time when Eileen tried to change fate using her memories of the novel.

One scene from the original story had remained etched in her mind:

"Count and Countess Cassier die in an accident shortly before their daughter's birthday."

Every year, when that season arrived, she did everything she could to keep her parents from leaving the house.

She believed she could save them.

But a few years ago, she had finally received the terrible news.

The carriage accident had happened.

They had died instantly.

No one had been able to help them.

Ironically, the accident occurred shortly after her birthday had passed.

Because of that, she had let her guard down.

"Hello, Sadina. Mia. I'm Eileen. You can just call me Sister Eileen."

After that, the current Cassier family took control of the household.

She had even tried treating them kindly, hoping she could change them, even a little.

But those efforts meant nothing to people who had already decided to push her away.

At every turning point in her life, she had become increasingly powerless.

And this engagement was no different.

No matter how hard she struggled, she could never be certain she could change anything.

Sometimes she couldn't help wondering—

Perhaps everything had already been decided from the beginning.