WFMW 65

Chapter 65

Cedar’s Past

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2024.04.26

In the corridor designed like a gallery, Cedar came face-to-face with Princess Aristella and immediately lowered his gaze.

Even at his young age, he knew what he meant to her, and so he dared not lift his head.

He thought that if he kept his head bowed, she might pass by as if he weren’t there. But the pearl-adorned shoes in front of him refused to move.

Resigned, Cedar bowed even lower and greeted her.

“Good day, Your Grace.”

The moment he spoke, the maid standing by Princess Aristella shouted sharply.

“You insolent brat! How dare you speak first?”

“……”

Regardless of the circumstances, Cedar was formally recognized as the legitimate son of the Duke’s family, so there was no rule preventing him from greeting her first.

The maid’s harsh words were, in reality, a form of venting—treating Cedar as if he were a mere illegitimate child.

‘There’s nothing I can do about this kind of harassment.’

Cedar forced a bitter smile.

Even if it wasn’t his choice, being born out of wedlock meant he would never be fully blessed.

He would inevitably draw the disdain of the official Duchess.

A soft voice rang above his bowed head.

Unexpectedly, someone spoke in his favor.

“Enough. What crime has the child committed?”

“But, my lady!”

Calming the indignant maids, Princess Aristella met Cedar’s eyes.

Her deep blue eyes were as striking as a wide ocean.

“You’re Cedar, right?”

“……Yes.”

“You take after the Duke remarkably.”

“……”

Cedar sealed his lips tightly at her words, unsure how to respond.

In ordinary noble families, illegitimate children could not be recognized, and would leave their mothers with some money.

But Cedar was different.

There was a strong opinion that he should be prepared as a potential heir in case Princess Aristella could not bear a son.

And this was reinforced by the fact that Cedar bore such a striking resemblance to the Duke.

‘Is she testing me? Or mocking me with noble words?’

Princess Aristella’s blue eyes revealed no particular emotion.

She gently asked the hesitant Cedar in a calm tone.

“Do you like sweets?”

“Yes. I enjoy them with black tea.”

“Do you have time?”

“My lady!”

The maids were aghast at Princess Aristella offering tea to an illegitimate child. But she remained unfazed.

“I was feeling lonely anyway. Come, follow me.”

Their tea time was quiet and peaceful.

Although Cedar’s Imperial language had become much more natural, her unique intonation made her voice feel soft and gentle to him.

What had begun as a one-off tea time soon became a regular routine.

Once a week, they shared tea together.

With little else to discuss, their conversations naturally centered around Grisha.

“Grisha likes you.”

“I like Grisha too.”

“You mustn’t let that feeling change.”

When Princess Aristella emphasized this, Cedar realized the true purpose of their peculiar tea times:

She was worried Cedar might harm Grisha.

“I promise.”

Cedar swore to her.

And as if she had been waiting for that promise, Princess Aristella soon collapsed.

“My lady! My lady!”

Everything felt surreal.

The slender woman crumbling, the maids screaming as they tried to catch her…

The sunlight felt piercing.

Was his dizziness due to the heat, or the thick scent of death before him?

He had never seen someone stagger like this.

Overcome with fear, Cedar turned pale and ran to his mother.

“M-Mother! The Duchess!”

Yet Lady Briar’s reaction was strange. She sipped tea gracefully, smiling serenely.

“Finally, that woman is gone, isn’t she?”

The Duchess had collapsed during tea with Cedar, so there was no way Lady Briar could have known.

Yet she spoke of the Duchess as if it were expected.

“……Mother?”

“She was truly disgusting. So suspicious—drinking only water, eating raw vegetables.”

Lady Briar’s delicate hand brushed Cedar’s chin.

Words flowing from her angelic face were venomous.

“She must have really hated you. How could she not? Whenever I see Master Grisha, I want to pull at that hair and crush that tiny body underfoot.”

“G-Grisha is kind. He treats me like an older brother… and the Duchess was kind to me too…”

“Do you believe the false benevolence that her petty pride created?”

Lady Briar dismissed the time Aristella spent with Cedar as a product of shallow pride.

She chuckled softly, sipping her tea with apparent delight.

“She wanted to boast of her magnanimity by not taking out her anger on an innocent child—so she even had tea with you. Such a foolish woman.”

“Mother… could it be…”

Her words pointed to one undeniable fact.

‘Mother is the culprit?’

Cedar’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck.

Staring at the composed Lady Briar, he turned and ran somewhere.

Straight to the Duchess’s chamber.

The attending physician was leaving, face dark, explaining the Duchess’s condition to Grisha.

“The poison is bitter; if mixed in food, it would be noticeable. It seems she had been taking it for a long time.”

“Bitter food?”

“Tea, for example…”

Grisha’s sharp blue eyes turned to Cedar. The mention of tea made Cedar feel his throat tighten.

According to Lady Briar, the Duchess had been extremely cautious of poisoning, rarely drinking tea.

Except, of course, during her weekly time with Cedar Grenite.

As if reaching the same conclusion, Grisha turned his back to Cedar.

Cedar called to him, desperate, and ran after him.

“Grisha!”

“Don’t call my name so freely.”

Grisha struck Cedar’s hand away. Cedar clasped his throbbing hand.

There was a significant age difference between them; the boy before him seemed much younger.

Yet the betrayal and reproach in Grisha’s eyes pierced Cedar like needles.

Cedar trembled as he tried to explain.

“I-I didn’t know! If I had, I wouldn’t have had tea with her!”

“You weren’t brave because the poison didn’t affect you?”

“Grisha!”

He truly hadn’t known. And he still didn’t.

All he had was suspicion; he didn’t know what poison the Duchess had used or whether he had ingested an antidote.

Perhaps there was no antidote at all.

If Lady Briar truly cared for her son, she wouldn’t have poisoned the tea in the first place.

Cedar had no time for such pitiful excuses. He clung desperately to his much younger brother.

“It’s really not true. Please, believe me.”

“Then will you be a witness?”

“What?”

“I’ll put your mother on trial. I want you to testify.”

“You want me to accuse my own mother?”

Grisha’s icy blue eyes pierced him. Cedar hesitated. Grisha seemed to expect it and snorted.

“……So your apology was empty words after all.”

Cedar hesitated not to protect himself or shield Lady Briar.

Even as a witness, he had almost nothing to testify. Everything was circumstantial.

“I haven’t seen the poison or know what it is! But someone must have followed my mother’s orders! I’ll find them!”

‘It must be the maid who obeyed Mother.’

At first, Cedar thought finding a witness or culprit would be easy.

But Daisy, Lady Briar’s maid, was nowhere in the mansion.

He even checked her room, biting his nails in anxiety.

“Where’s Daisy?”

At that moment, a deep voice sounded from behind.

“Why do you need to find that?”

“Father!”

The Duke of Grenite had somehow come to the servants’ quarters.

‘Shouldn’t he be with the Duchess instead?’

It was not Grisha, but the Duke, who should hear of the Duchess’s condition.

Feeling this oddity, Cedar bowed obediently.

“I came to ask Daisy something.”

“Cedar.”

A large, firm hand rested on Cedar’s shoulder. Though warm, he felt no comfort.

The Duke’s silver-gray eyes mirrored Cedar’s face.

“You are my eldest son. Your mother is the Duchess now.”

“W-What do you mean? The Duchess is still alive…”

The image overlapped with Lady Briar, asking if the woman had finally died during tea.

Surely not…

Cedar summoned his courage and spoke.

“……Father?”

The Duke, as if confirming Cedar’s suspicion, spoke in a grave tone.

“Then stay quietly by your mother’s side.”

Behind Lady Briar’s wickedness, the Duke had been holding the line.