Obsession Beyond the Wall of Courtesy - Chapter 95

I felt tight inside. Seeing this side of things, I thought it wouldn’t be right to keep my mouth shut. But my lips wouldn’t move easily.

I wasn’t in a position to ask Cedric for anything. Besides, Cedric had already made his decision, so if I interfered, it might be disrespectful to him.

More than anything, I still held a grudge against Herder. She hadn’t even sent a letter until now. Of course, I didn’t want to receive her letter, but I had hoped she might feel some remorse. But now, seeing her come with the child, I thought maybe she was very desperate.

“She told me she was from such a noble and great family…”

When I looked at her without changing my expression, Herder quickly wiped her tears away.

“Revril, I…”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you met Cedric directly instead of me? That might be faster.”

Herder’s eyes widened, then she shook her head.

“No. That won’t work. The Duke has already made his decision. You know his personality. Once he decides, he never looks back.”

I remembered when he burned his mother’s wardrobe. The servants all said that once Cedric threw something away, he never looked at it again.

When I stayed silent, Herder quickly spoke again.

“So, Revril, I really came shamelessly.”

Herder looked very desperate. It reminded me of when I used to cling to Cedric like that.

At that moment, Yurjen grabbed Herder’s arm and cried. The mood around us became heavy, and Herder’s tears seemed full of emotion. But she didn’t care about Yurjen and looked at me instead. Yurjen kept crying, holding Herder’s arm.

Seeing that, I couldn’t just stay quiet. I said,

“I’ll talk to Cedric. I don’t know if it will help, though.”

If Cedric firmly said no, I wouldn’t say anything more. Herder wiped her tears at once and looked at me.

“Thank you, Revril. You’re the only one. And I’m sorry again. I wasn’t in my right mind back then. I didn’t understand what was going on.”

Meanwhile, Yurjen kept crying loudly, as if he had no end. I told Herder that Yurjen was crying, and only then did she hurriedly comfort him.

My head felt like it was pounding, so I stood up. Herder also got up quickly and looked at me.

“Revril, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’ll go upstairs now.”

Herder gave an awkward smile and nodded. I left the seeing-off to a maid and went up to my room. I had been strangely tired since earlier. On the way up, a maid came down and hurriedly approached me.

“I’ll rest in my room for a bit. Please tell me when Cedric comes back.”

The maid nodded kindly. I planned to tell Cedric about Herder as soon as he returned. Herder’s situation looked very urgent anyway.

Back in my room, I thought maybe a short sleep, like the doctor said, would help. So I tried to rest for a while.

“Ma’am?”

When I opened my eyes, the maid was looking at me. I looked around. The lamp was lit.

“What time is it now?”

“It’s almost 6 p.m. And your master just arrived.”

Cedric had been coming at the same time, 6 p.m., these days. It was a bit early for dinner, but he always came at this time.

I got up at once and put on a robe. Since I said I would talk to Herder, it seemed better to finish it quickly.

While I waited, Cedric came in expressionless, then smiled brightly as he approached.

“Revril, what’s the matter?”

He looked genuinely happy. I hesitated for a moment and then said,

“I have something to say about Herder.”

Cedric’s face tightened a little.

“Herder came to see you?”

His voice was quite low. It sounded cold, as if something was bothering him. I told Herder I would talk to Cedric, but seeing his reaction, I wondered if I shouldn’t have said anything.

At that moment, I thought of Yurjen, who was next to Herder. His loud crying seemed very sad and worried me. Since it was Herder and Batis’s problem and the child was innocent, my lips slowly moved.

“She just came for a moment. To ask for a favor.”

“Did she ask you for help? To get her brother out of prison?”

Cedric’s face was serious. I hesitated, then nodded.

“Revril, Batis tried to kill me. He even let wolves loose in the mine.”

Hearing that, I had no words. I just blinked as his bright blue eyes stared at me.

“Still, if you ask, I’ll listen.”

“…”

“Because I want to hear everything you say.”

My heart trembled a little. He had been selfish before, but now he was totally ready to do things my way.

“You said Batis tried to kill you?”

My voice shook. Cedric smiled slightly and calmly placed his hand on my cheek.

“Is that a big deal? He’s done things like that before.”

Hearing that, I felt selfish for asking for help. Anyway, Herder was still someone I disliked, and Batis had done that to Cedric. But now, I was asking for Cedric’s help because of their child, Yurjen. I thought the child didn’t deserve this.

Cedric still looked at me with a smile. Unlike me, who was full of thoughts, he seemed very relaxed. His calmness made me curious, and I said without thinking,

“Aren’t you bothered? You put Batis in prison, then you want to free him again.”

“I’ll make sure he never sets foot in this empire again. I’ll exile him.”

His bold words made me hesitate a bit before asking,

“What would you have done if I hadn’t asked?”

“He was going to kill him because of the crimes with the Crown Prince.”

Cedric smiled and stared at me.

“But since you asked like that, exile doesn’t sound so bad.”

Exile seemed to fit their crimes, at least. And Yurjen was there, too. Suddenly, I remembered what Herder said.

“…The Duke has already made his decision. You know his personality. Once he decides, he never looks back.”

Anyway, Cedric would have given a fitting punishment if it weren’t for me. But since he did it my way, I couldn’t help but speak.

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t expect you to thank me for this.”

Cedric chuckled and looked at me closely.

“If you’re thankful, want to give me a kiss?”

“…”

“You came all this way to see me, and I’m excited.”

His words were so straightforward I didn’t know what to say. The servants glanced at us as they passed by.

The thick air slowly faded. It was so quiet I could hear my own breath as if his hot gaze was reaching me.

At the moment when our lips might touch any second—

“Dad!”

Cedric turned his head and saw Vincent approaching. He smiled and naturally hugged Vincent. Vincent, held in Cedric’s arms, waved at me. Cedric kissed Vincent’s cheek and looked back at me.

“Revril, let’s go have dinner.”

It was a perfect family scene. Vincent smiled happily, and Cedric hugged him naturally. It was the family Cedric and I once dreamed of. I felt a lump rise in my throat and lowered my head.

“Revril.”

His voice was unusually low compared to before. I didn’t raise my head and walked toward the dining room. Cedric followed, stopped me by holding my hand. Vincent wasn’t in sight, probably left with the nanny.

He looked at me with a slightly serious face.

“Did I do something wrong again?”

“No.”

Cedric looked at me for a long time, then said,

“I’m going to stay at the manor on the estate for a while.”

I raised my head at his unexpected words.

“Is something wrong?”

Cedric looked at me with deep eyes.

“When I see you like this, it feels like you’re worried about me.”

He didn’t look away. His eyes even held a faint hope. Just looking at his eyes made my heart complex, so I looked away. Then Cedric gently touched my cheek and quietly said,

“Do you really want to know what’s going on with me?”

Without thinking, I looked at him and met his bright blue eyes.

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