CHAPTER 7 – Innocence, Corruption (Part 1)

Early in the morning, Felix hurriedly went with a few maidservants to Lillian’s bedroom.

“Lillian! Lillian! Please wake up!”

‘It seemed she had fallen asleep early last night. So, she might not even realize that I visited her last night.

I must make sure to speak with her definitively before Cedric appears at the breakfast table.

Lillian and I are already engaged.’

He planned to wait until she was fully dressed, then take her hand and enter the breakfast room together.

One maid prepared water for washing up, while another held a dress for the grand breakfast table. It had been prepared by the Lord’s wife.

Lillian hadn’t agreed to his plan yet, but it didn’t matter. Felix was prepared to seat her next to him, even if he had to force her.

‘I didn’t mean to give it to her like this, but…….’

Felix pulled out the women’s engagement ring he had brought with him. The man’s ring was already on his left ring finger.

When a man and a woman wear matching rings, entering the breakfast room with their hands interlocked, it would look as if they had spent the night together.

It was a very frivolous thing to do, considering the honor of the Knights of the Holy Silver Cross that preceded his name, but Felix was in a hurry.

Cedric’s mood after their encounter yesterday had been unnerving. And the hostile way he’d looked at him.

Felix could tell for sure.

Those were the eyes of a man whose woman had been stolen. The eyes of a beast who would do anything to reclaim what’s his. Raw… fierce anger.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

As he anxiously knocked with his head bowed, the door suddenly opened.

“Lillian, wake up early…!”

Felix, who was about to urge her to at least make a pretense of helping the Lord and Lady prepare the breakfast table, looked up and froze.

“What’s going on, this early in the morning?”

It was Cedric.

He stood in the doorway, his shapely upper torso exposed in nothing more than a pair of trousers.

Even the maids recoiled in surprise at the sight of Cedric emerging so casually from Priestess Lillian’s private bedroom. And yet they stared at him in ecstasy.

Felix gritted his teeth at the maidservants’ indolence. It had always been that way. More than the prestige of the Edelgard family, Cedric was known for his excellent swordsmanship and the ability to bring down flying birds. Felix felt a strong sense of deprivation due to his unrealistic appearance.

“What is it?”

“This, this, I mean, this bedroom is…… Lillian’s…….” 

“She’s still asleep.”

With his arms crossed, Cedric leaned against the doorframe and gestured toward the inside of the room.

“I must have tired my fiancée too much, she shows no sign of waking up.”

‘Fiancée?

They hadn’t even said hello to each other until yesterday, and suddenly, overnight, she was his fiancée.’

The look on Cedric’s face as he said it was serene. It was confident as if their relationship was already public knowledge.

Felix cursed inwardly. Cedric Edelgard even looked impressive standing casually by the door. If he appeared like a Sun God from a fairy tale in his eyes, what more in the eyes of women? The maidservants were already swooning.

“Do you have something to say?”

“….”

“If not, then please take your leave. I’m tired too.”

He never would have imagined Cedric Edelgard to be such an audacious man. It was truly unbelievable. Felix, at a loss for words, clenched the jewelry case so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

For a moment, Cedric’s gaze moved as swiftly as a snake. When he saw Felix’s trembling fist, the corners of his mouth twitched upward in amus*ment.

“Well then, see you at breakfast.”

Cedric chuckled and began to close the door but then paused.

“Oh.”

As if he’d forgotten, he looked back at the three bewildered people and added casually.

“I apologize to your Ladyship, but please tell her that my fiancée will not be able to attend the breakfast.”

“…….”

“She couldn’t sleep last night. I’ll have to let her rest more until she’s ready to ride the carriage. It’s going to be a long journey.”

And with that, the door closed before Felix’s dumbfounded eyes.

Felix, staring at Cedric with wide eyes, only snapped out of his daze at the sound of the door closing.

‘My fiancée? Ha, didn’t let her sleep all night?’

Was this really coming from Cedric Edelgard, who was known as the manifestation of chastity? The man who had been so stoic and reserved was now spouting such passionate words without blinking an eye… Good Lord.

He who had planned to politely exchange rings and enter the breakfast room together seemed rather dignified now.

Had Cedric Edelgard forgotten that he represented the Knights of the Silver Cross? What on earth had happened to him since leaving the Holy Court? How could he boast so proudly, almost as if he were raising a toast, about spending the night alone with an unmarried woman…! He was truly shameless.

“Um, Lord, what should we do about the washbasin?”

“Get rid of it!”

With a flick of his hand, the basin the maid was carrying flipped over and flew away. Startled by the loud noise, the maids quickly retreated, casting nervous glances around.

‘Lillian, without even saying a word to me… … !’

Apparently, she was returning to the capital with Cedric today, and it was grossly disrespectful of her to not inform the Lord or him of such a momentous decision. Of course, Felix would have opposed it vehemently if he had known.

“Tell my aunt that I am unwell and will not be attending the breakfast either!”

There was no way he was going to make it through breakfast looking at Cedric’s gleaming eyes.

‘Lillian must have fallen for that face…….’

Although Cedric had called her his fiancée, their relationship was one that could never lead to marriage.

Was Cedric’s face enough that she’d be willing to become a mistress for a lifetime? Was she really that foolish?

Felix was furious at the betrayal of Lillian, forgetting how many times she had rejected him as if the woman he had promised to be his wife had cheated on him.

With just one door between them, Cedric heard Felix’s footsteps descending the stairs.

‘I could just kill him…’

It irked him. While Cedric had come to Turin to take Lillian away, there was also a sense of vengeance, a desire to slit Felix’s throat.

Having spent the night with Lillian, confirming her feelings and agreeing to leave together, Cedric felt no further need for restraint. Yet, silently, he contemplated…

He didn’t want to see another man in love with her with his own eyes. Not a single one.

Even if it meant taking half the world’s lives with his own hands, even if it meant being branded as a devil of slaughter, an utterly ruthless obsession surged within him.

In a fit of rage, Cedric stared at the wall with a calm stare that seemed to pierce through it. All he could think about was how to deal with Felix as quietly as possible.

“Ugh, Cedric… you’re so handsome… mine… M-Marianne… hehehe…”

The murmurs from the bed jolted Cedric awake.

Lillian was calling for him.