Chapter 94
Cedric took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out.
He felt himself calming down a little.
That’s right. He couldn’t act emotionally.
Right now, that would not help him find Aileen.
Cedric looked around at the people watching him carefully. The exhausted soldiers from the marquisate stood out the most.
Finally, his mind began working properly again. No matter what he did, he first needed a detailed report of what happened.
“Who is in command here?”
“That would be me. I’m the commander.”
A man nearing middle age stepped forward. He stood straighter than the others and carried himself with confidence.
Cedric gestured with his chin.
“Follow me. I need a proper report.”
“Yes, sir.”
Even so, the man couldn’t hide his tension under Cedric’s cold demeanor. He seemed anxious that the blame might fall on him.
Cedric wasn’t entirely free of that thought himself.
But it would be pointless.
The Marquis of Ribbonshire wasn’t known for military strength. It was a house famous for scholarship, for raising academics, not soldiers.
And they hadn’t even had a proper head of the family for years. The fact that an escort unit still existed at all was fortunate.
“Kassel, you take care of the remaining troops. Check on the injured as well.”
“Yes. I’ll arrange accommodations.”
It also meant: check if anyone suspicious is among them.
Kassel understood and nodded once.
“And… Jeon.”
The most important person remained. Because he hadn’t spoken at all, Cedric had only just noticed him standing quietly in the corner.
“Y-yes…”
At the moment Cedric called him, Jeon shrank in on himself like a turtle pulling into its shell. The curiosity of the entire ducal castle seemed focused on him.
“The Marquis of Ribbonshire is—”
“I’ll guide him.”
A young voice interrupted from behind.
Blonde hair swayed as Diana passed by Cedric.
“Diana.”
“I’ll show him to the guest room. And introduce him to the castle.”
She added polite honorifics, behaving unusually well-mannered.
“Are you sure?”
“I don’t really have anything else to do.”
Though when Cedric asked directly, her shoulders slumped slightly, half returning to her usual self.
“I’m fine.”
Still, she quickly straightened again. It seemed she wanted to do her part in this crisis.
Cedric regained focus.
If Diana was acting like that, he couldn’t afford to lose himself.
“…Alright.”
As if she was about to hold his hand, Diana briefly stretched her hand toward Jeon—then awkwardly withdrew it. She changed her mind and instead bowed slightly.
“This way, please. My name is Diana.”
“…Ah, okay.”
Jeon had been staring at her since she appeared. Only now did he respond.
There seemed to be an awkward air between them as they walked into the castle.
Then Jeon quietly grabbed the edge of Diana’s short cape. It looked almost unconscious—perhaps because she was walking too fast, or maybe he just needed support.
Noticing, Diana slowed down and turned.
“You can hold my hand instead of my clothes.”
“Is that okay?”
“Yes.”
She answered with a faint frown that only Cedric would recognize.
But she took Jeon’s hand.
And her steps became noticeably slower.
‘They’ll be fine.’
That peaceful sight gave Cedric a bit of reassurance.
At least that much was fortunate.
***
After hearing the full report of what had happened, Cedric headed to the castle’s underground.
The damp air hit him immediately as he entered the dark, sunless area. His footsteps echoed heavily.
“My lord.”
“My lord, you’ve arrived.”
Two guards standing watch saluted stiffly. The underground prison had not been used for a long time, so they were tense.
Cedric simply nodded and descended further.
It was dim inside, but torches placed along the walls gave enough light to see.
“Sir Dane.”
The man locked in the largest and most comfortable cell was none other than Chester Lowell’s former closest aide.
At the sound of his name, the bearded man inside lifted his head.
“Why have you come? I have nothing to say.”
His answer was slow.
Cedric didn’t hold back.
“Was this attack ordered by my uncle?”
Dane narrowed his eyes and answered with silence.
The anger Cedric had tried to suppress flared again.
His voice sharpened.
“I asked you. Was attacking the marquisate carriage and targeting Aileen done under the orders of the man you call your lord?”
“Seems you didn’t succeed in killing her.”
“…What?”
“You seem calm, my lord. So it must mean you failed to kill Aileen Cashier.”
The calmness of the reply was shocking.
Whatever little expectation Cedric had left for his uncle collapsed further.
“Ha… I see.”
When he had first ordered the summons, it wasn’t like this.
There had still been trust.
No hostility—only disappointment.
He had even thought perhaps it would end with stripping his uncle of his baron title and sending him away to the farthest edges of the North as an ordinary knight.
How foolish. How naive.
Cedric Lowell had still clung to a thread of hope for his blood relative.
But that hope shattered when Dane was imprisoned.
The memory came back.
‘My lord. I have something to report. About that maid. It wasn’t an accident. The rat poison wasn’t mixed into the biscuits by mistake.’
‘What? Who ordered it?’
‘That is…’
Aaron, who had been absent when Cedric first returned to the main castle, appeared days later with shocking information.
‘As soon as you left, she packed her things and fled. We tracked her down to a village she had newly settled in. The moment she saw me, she panicked.’
Aaron had followed her several times before without finding anything suspicious. Still, Cedric had left him behind to continue watching.
The situation had been too suspicious to ignore.
‘The reason was the ducal knight uniform I was wearing. My face was partially hidden under the hood, so she mistook me for someone else.’
Similar build. Similar age. A ducal knight.
The young maid believed Aaron had come to kill her.
She said she ran because that knight was no longer in the castle.
‘There’s only one person that could be.’
The description pointed to only one man.
Dane.
The maid begged them not to reveal her location, begged for her life, and handed over a pouch of gold coins Dane had given her as payment. An amount far too large for an ordinary maid.
‘She said she realized, after you spared her life, that she should have been silenced with death instead of gold.’
‘At that time, Dane strongly insisted we kill the maid.’
Now it made sense.
He had pushed too strongly.
If he wanted to eliminate loose ends, it fit.
‘She said she was only ordered to put in a very small amount of poison. He told her not to worry—it wasn’t enough to kill anyone.’
‘You can’t be sure of that.’
They couldn’t.
Diana could have died.
Aileen could have died.
There were too many variables.
But his uncle had been willing to risk all that just to drive a wedge between him and Aileen.
“…Why?”
He knew better than anyone what that would take from Cedric.
Cedric’s voice began to crack.
He gripped the bars tightly and demanded an answer.
“Why did my uncle do that? He should have killed me instead. Wouldn’t that have been simpler?”
“You are still his nephew.”
“That’s not something you say in a situation like this.”
Cedric laughed bitterly.
So he loved his nephew so much that he would take away the person most important to him?
Dane, who had closed his eyes again, suddenly opened them.
“As you are not strong enough, my lord.”
“Who? What? Me?”
But Dane offered no further explanation.
Cedric slammed the bars hard. The ceiling trembled slightly and dust fell.
His anger had nowhere to go.
But when he turned away, what wrapped around him wasn’t anger—it was self-loathing.
‘Why am I…’
Chester Lowell had tried to kill Aileen Cashier.
Was she dead?
Did Ruth kill her?
Should he not have trusted him?
Were both he and Aileen wrong about Ruth?
No. Aileen was never wrong.
Even if he was foolish and naive, Aileen always saw clearly.
“My lord. Are you alright?”
Kassel approached carefully.
Only then did Cedric notice blood running down from his right hand.
He felt no pain.
“She’s not dead.”
“If you mean Lady Aileen, the search around the forest before they left turned up nothing. I also think it’s too soon to lose hope—”
“She’s not dead. Ruth must have taken her and escaped.”
“…Ruth?”
Dane had clearly tried not to give him information.
But Cedric had seen the disappointment on Dane’s face.
What if it wasn’t disappointment at failing to eliminate the target—but disappointment in Ruth?
If Ruth had originally stayed to follow Dane’s orders, but made a different choice?
‘If things go wrong, wait for your chance and eliminate Aileen yourself.’
If that had been the instruction.
Then Ruth’s strange actions reported by the soldiers made sense.
He had killed several attackers. One soldier had seen it clearly.
But after the battle ended, Ruth had vanished.
If that meant Ruth chose to save Aileen—
Then the two of them, Aileen especially, were alive somewhere.
Cedric had to believe that.
