CFLBF CH 07

Cedric’s eyelids trembled. Her words had struck the bullseye, making his heart sink.

But at the same time, this was something he had expected to some extent. Lavinia was hardly a fool, and when such strange things kept happening only in connection with one particular man, there was no way she could fail to notice the connection.

Cedric forced himself to put on the shameless smile he had practiced so diligently.

“What exactly do you mean?”

“……”

“Of course, I admit that strange things have been happening lately whenever I’m with you, Lady Lavinia. But I don’t understand how you could possibly mistake me for the cause. You know that magic is prohibited in the capital.”

“Then are you saying all of this is nothing more than an incredible coincidence?”

Lavinia raised an eyebrow as though she found the idea absurd. Cedric stepped closer and smiled.

“That’s precisely what makes it so remarkable. Don’t you think it’s almost as if this strange fate is desperately trying to bring us together? I find it rather special.”

He then reached out as if offering to carry the book in Lavinia’s hands. Lavinia let out a short, disbelieving laugh but merely stared at him. Her sharp gaze seemed to be trying to figure out exactly what Cedric was up to.

‘Haha, I feel like I’m going to die.’

Cedric thought this quite cheerfully.

The longer her silence continued, the more his mind went blank and the faster his heart pounded. His palms were sweating, his insides felt twisted into knots, his stomach hurt, and his legs were almost giving out. Naturally placing a hand against the bookshelf, Cedric desperately tried to change the subject.

“My carriage is waiting outside again today. Since we’re both headed to the same destination, would you care to ride with me?”

His voice trembled slightly as he asked. Lavinia frowned faintly and asked,

“Are you going to the royal palace as well, Your Highness?”

“Yes. Of course. The hunting competition will be held soon, after all. Shouldn’t we inspect the mountain paths of the hunting grounds? You haven’t inspected them yet either, have you, Lady Lavinia?”

Lavinia nodded.

She had recently seen groups of nobles going up and down the mountain behind the royal palace under the pretext of familiarizing themselves with the terrain. However, she had already made plans to climb those mountain paths with Prince Philip tomorrow.

“I’m going with His Highness Philip tomorrow.”

Cedric merely nodded and gave a faint smile.

“Is that so? But that fellow must be busy.”

There was a meaningful implication behind his words.

It wasn’t as though the prince, who had been leisurely spending his nights hopping from one social club to another with his friends until yesterday, would suddenly become busy for no reason. Lavinia looked at Cedric suspiciously, but he only shrugged with an innocent smile.

“Why don’t you come back with me instead? As you know, there are many visitors at the moment, so the lines at the entrance are quite long. If you come with me, you’ll be able to get inside much faster.”

What he said was true. During the preparations for the hunting competition, the royal palace was several times more crowded than usual. Even Lavinia, who was staying in the detached palace, had to wait in those long security lines.

But Cedric’s carriage, as a member of the royal family, could always enter through the fastest route. Since wasting time was not exactly one of her hobbies, Lavinia nodded, saying that she would accept his offer.

At her positive response, Cedric clenched the fist behind his back, secretly savoring his triumph.

Throughout the carriage ride, it seemed as though Cedric was the only one doing any talking, but he didn’t particularly mind.

Even if she merely gave a short, exasperated laugh as though he was impossible, or blinked ever so slightly, that reaction alone was enough for him.

When the carriage stopped in front of the detached palace, Lavinia politely said goodbye and stepped down.

But at that moment, a man who appeared to be one of Philip’s attendants came rushing toward Lavinia as soon as he saw her. In his hand was a short letter bearing the royal seal.

Even while Lavinia unfolded the letter and read it, Cedric deliberately did not order the carriage to depart. He simply sat there quietly and obediently, as though waiting for the right moment.

After reading the brief letter, Lavinia naturally turned her head toward Cedric.

“His Highness Philip says that he suddenly has too much work and won’t be able to spare any time tomorrow. He says he’ll ask Your Excellency Cedric to guide me instead and that he’ll urgently write you a letter. Have you already received that letter?”

“No.”

“Then did Your Excellency make His Highness Philip busy?”

Lavinia had always struck him as an exceptionally intelligent and perceptive woman. It wasn’t because she was such a person that he had fallen for her, but once he had discovered just how sharp she was, he found himself liking her even more.

Cedric smiled once again.

“Lady Lavinia, you overestimate me. How could I possibly make a prince of the kingdom busy? It’s just that… perhaps the pile of documents sitting in Philip’s study finally reached the point where they had to be approved today. Of course, it seems my father gave His Majesty a few words of advice regarding royal discipline, but that too must simply be another coincidence.”

It was Lavinia who ended up dumbfounded by his answer.

Rather than believing that Cedric Valmont had used his father to advise the King and then used that advice to keep Philip occupied, all simply so he could inspect the hunting grounds with Lavinia, it seemed more reasonable to believe that all of it really was a coincidence.

Unable to figure out what to say, Lavinia merely opened and closed her mouth. Cedric stepped down from the carriage and politely extended his arm toward her.

“Just as we happen to be supposed to go to the hunting grounds together, I just happen to be here. I happen to be free, too. If you don’t have any other plans, Lady Lavinia, why don’t we go to the hunting grounds right now?”

Lavinia smiled with a sigh.

She wondered whether refusing would even have any meaning.

Even if she refused him now, she would only happen to meet him again tomorrow, and then happen to see him again the day after that.

In the end, Lavinia placed her hand on his forearm.

She didn’t need to look to know that the corners of Cedric’s mouth had risen into a smooth smile.

The forest paths of the royal hunting grounds boasted an overwhelming landscape worthy of proving the kingdom’s grandeur. Above their heads, centuries-old trees formed a dense canopy of greenery that blocked out the sunlight, while fine soil and moss covered the ground like a carpet.

Cedric led the way with the skill of a guide who had walked this path tens of thousands of times. Yet his manner of walking was quite different from his usual arrogant stride. Every few steps, he would hesitate as he checked Lavinia’s pace, and whenever he spotted a branch sticking out onto the path or a rough stone, he was quick to kick it out of her way before she could step on it.

“This path has a gentle slope, so it should be comfortable for you to walk. If we go a little farther up, we’ll reach the valley that will serve as the finish line for the hunting competition. The scenery there is said to be the finest in the kingdom.”

Lavinia followed silently behind him, observing the surrounding terrain. The path Cedric had chosen was indeed excellent, both strategically and aesthetically.

But she couldn’t fully concentrate on the beautiful scenery of the forest.

That was because of Cedric.

He kept awkwardly clasping his hands behind his back in front of her, only to wave them around again a moment later. Every now and then, he would even secretly clutch the area around his heart.

‘He’s definitely in pain somewhere. Why is he pushing himself like that?’

When Lavinia frowned, the man in front of her became even more flustered.

“Are your feet hurting?”

“Pardon?”

“I heard that people in Barkazar prefer to climb mountains barefoot. You don’t need to worry about maintaining appearances in front of me, so you can take off your shoes.”

Lavinia smiled faintly.

“Are you teasing me for being a barbarian?”

She knew there was no way a man who became so flustered every time she spoke would actually say something like that. Still, she had impulsively wanted to say it.

As expected, Cedric’s face went deathly pale.

“I would never dare.”

“People from Nordiel do that whenever they get the chance. When I first arrived, they stared at me for quite a while while I was eating. As though they were expecting me to eat with my hands.”

“Who did that?”

“There are actually tribes where eating food with one’s hands is perfectly normal.”

Cedric fell silent.

He had no idea whether he should scold the nobles who had treated her like a barbarian, or defend the practice by saying that eating with one’s hands was perfectly natural.

As though she had noticed his complicated thoughts, Lavinia smiled.

“You’re not actually all that interested in it, are you?”

“Pardon?”

Cedric’s voice sounded almost as though he were being strangled. Lavinia shrugged.

“Whether I eat with my hands or climb a mountain barefoot. Rather than worrying about whether those things are barbaric, aren’t you simply thinking about how you can praise me without making me feel offended, Cedric?”

Her words struck directly at the truth, and Cedric drew in a sharp breath.

“That’s…”

Just as Cedric moved his lips, trying to come up with an excuse, it happened.

Lavinia, who was following behind him, stepped onto a patch of muddy ground. The edge of what had appeared to be a perfectly solid dirt path suddenly crumbled beneath her weight.

“Ah…!”

With a short cry, Lavinia’s body lurched violently to the side. She lost her balance and stumbled, and the heel of her shoe became caught between a gap in the sharp rocks.

A distinctly unpleasant crack echoed through the air.

“Be careful!”

If Cedric had not caught her by the waist, she surely would have badly injured her ankle.

In one swift movement, he wrapped his arms around Lavinia and pulled her forcefully against his chest.

For a moment, the scent of wet earth brushing against the tip of her nose mingled with the cool fragrance of Cedric’s cologne.