WHM | Chapter 58

~Chapter 58~

Cedric was tracking the enemy quite easily.
It was not difficult for him to retrace yesterday’s path and reach the open field where the problem began.
Unlike yesterday—when he had only gone out to look around without knowing the terrain—today, he had almost completely memorized the map.

“From here on, there’s only one road. If we go down this way, we should be able to find the trail again.”
Although the snow from last night had covered some of the tracks, it was not as thick as expected.
And since there were fresh footprints clearly visible on top of it, even if they lost direction for a moment, they could quickly find the trail again.

“They must’ve taken a shortcut.”
“They didn’t say anything, so I think that’s what happened.”
“If we take the longer way back, how much difference will there be in time?”
“Not much.”
“Then we’ll continue on our current path.”

Cedric was focusing intensely on the path ahead, his back straight and his lips tightly closed. His face showed determination—almost stubbornness.

‘He’s changed.’

Aaron, who was walking beside him, glanced at Cedric and couldn’t help but think so.
Just a few years ago, the young heir had only been a shadow behind his father, awkwardly imitating him. But now, giving orders came naturally to him.

He no longer had that habit of looking around nervously whenever everyone’s eyes were on him.

“Lord Dane, what do you think?” Cedric asked.
“I agree,” the older knight replied.

The middle-aged knight, whose face bore several scars that told of countless battles, spoke little.
Aaron glanced at him. Honestly, he didn’t feel very comfortable with the man’s presence.
He knew Cedric respected his uncle, and that the man’s abilities were outstanding, and that he was an essential part of the duke’s forces—but Aaron couldn’t help thinking, “Does Cedric still need to depend on him this much?”

Cedric had already grown a lot.
He had always possessed sharp judgment and decisiveness; he only lacked experience.
And that experience was coming with time.

To others, Cedric already looked like a proper head of the family—but he himself didn’t seem to realize it yet.

“My lord,” Aaron said, speeding up a little to walk beside Cedric.
There was something he needed to discuss—someone, in fact, who had recently begun to have a big influence on Cedric’s life.

“Will Lady Eileen be all right?”

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Cedric replied, sounding slightly irritated.

The mature, composed expression from earlier disappeared, replaced by a faintly sulky look.
Aaron knew this reaction well—usually only Diana could make Cedric react like that—but this time, it was different.

With Diana, Cedric never truly opened up emotionally; being comfortable with someone and showing your feelings freely were not the same thing.

“I was just wondering if it’s really fine to leave her with only that short note,” Aaron said.

“…Eileen can handle herself,” Cedric muttered.

For once, he didn’t want to confront the issue directly. Avoiding it wasn’t like him, but he didn’t want to ask Eileen the question that was stuck in his throat: Are you really going to leave?
So instead, he left without facing her.

“She won’t be there when I return anyway,” he said quietly.

Even though he hoped she wouldn’t go, he somehow already knew she would.

“Our relationship… it’s only that much,” he added to himself.

***

But Eileen was doing the complete opposite of what Cedric had expected.
She kept asking Ruth for confirmation.

“So Eden was Lord Chester’s apprentice knight?”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s why the Baron was so heartbroken about the betrayal. He said it was painful to lose such a talented young man he had watched grow up.”

Eileen fell into deep thought.
If she considered both Cedric and Chester Lowell, it was a painful betrayal for them both.

Still, something about it didn’t sit right with her.

‘He risked his life to protect me even though he knew he’d lose the use of one arm forever. He saved my father’s life many times. He was my only remaining family.’

But she didn’t want to doubt Cedric’s certainty.
Even so, a small voice in her head whispered that if her suspicion was right, Cedric would face a pain far worse than Eden’s betrayal.

‘Father always said this—trust my uncle. He’s an honorable man. He’s someone you can rely on.’

Her uncle, who had given up his claim to the northern dukedom and settled quietly in the abandoned land of Demicalon, content with a baron’s title—
Could that really be all there was to him?

Cedric trusted him completely. Maybe she had to be the one to doubt in his place.
And if she did, Cedric might hate her for it.
He could ask, “How could you take away the one person left I could trust—the only family I had?”

“Ruth, do you know where Prince Theo Arwyn is right now?” Eileen asked suddenly.

Because, whatever happened, she didn’t want to lose Cedric.
She wanted to remove every possible danger around him.
The Baron had planted one of his own men near Cedric—so she, too, needed to place someone she could trust by his side.

Something about the escaped prisoner didn’t feel right.

“The prince has already left,” Ruth said.

“What? When?”

“Not long ago. I saw him leaving just before I came in here.”

Eileen froze. That meant something serious must have happened in the Arwyn Kingdom.
If he was in such a hurry to return, something was definitely wrong.

“…Prepare a horse,” she ordered.

“Pardon?”

“I’m going after him.”

No matter what it took, she had to catch Theo before he left completely.
She needed his help—
More precisely, she needed someone capable and reliable, who wasn’t under the Baron’s influence, and who she could trust not to harm Cedric.

***

“Prince Theo!”

Theo Arwyn was deep in thought, planning what to do once he returned to his country to solve its growing problems, when he suddenly heard someone calling his name.
The voice was so familiar that for a moment he thought he was hearing things—but it wasn’t an illusion.

“Lady Cashier.”

“I just wanted to talk to you for a moment,” Eileen said, catching her breath.

She had actually ridden all the way there in a dress. It was impressive—either she was very skilled, or she was desperate. Judging by her short, heavy breaths, it was clearly the latter.

“I actually came to ask you for a favor,” she said.

“I am sorry, but whatever that favor is…” Theo began politely.

“It’s about why you’re returning to the Arwyn Kingdom—because the sacred tree of the goddess in the royal palace is dying, right? It’s withering unnaturally fast.”

Theo froze completely.
There was no way that information could have leaked. How could she possibly know that?
A mere count’s daughter couldn’t know what was happening inside Arwyn.
Did the Lowell family tell her? How much did Cedric know?

“You don’t need to look at me like that,” Eileen said calmly. “Only I know. And I also know how to fix it.”

“What… what do you mean?” Theo asked cautiously.

Eileen had just revealed her most powerful secret.
She had never wanted to use it—never wanted to speak so directly, as if she could see the present and predict the future.
Because doing so came with consequences she didn’t want to face.

‘You always make the right choices,’ someone had once told her when she first decided to help Cedric.

But now, if she wanted to stop Theo from leaving, subtle words wouldn’t work.
She needed an ally—someone who could act alongside her out of mutual need.

So she spoke plainly.

“It means exactly what I said,” Eileen said, meeting his eyes. “I know a lot more than you think.”