CHAPTER 7 – Innocence, Corruption (Part 6)

“…Pardon?”

Lillian, who had been gazing at the portrait with ecstatic eyes, glanced back at him.

“Portraits of me painted without my consent are my property. I can dispose of them however I please.”

Her face paled gradually as his voice turned icy. She must have realized he wasn’t kidding and finally came to her senses.

“You… you’re going to dispose of them? Are you serious?”

“I am.”

Cedric had seen countless cases of people falling into desperate greed, worshipping idols just like the devotees in the palace. It wasn’t something distant. Nobles did it, even his own family did it. They used the name of the Lord as a weapon, engraving it on the family crest.

Idolatry was a biblical sin. It was a betrayal of God.

Cedric didn’t understand the difference between having God in your heart and having a wooden statue of God in your house, or why it was a sin to have a statue in His image out of overflowing love.

Now he understood. It was a clear betrayal, a ridiculous act. He didn’t care what believers did, but he couldn’t tolerate seeing Lillian hanging on to those paintings any longer.

Cedric, after ordering the servants inside, issued a cold command.

“Take them all to the underground storage.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

As the paintings were being carried away by the servants, Lillian couldn’t bear to watch. She wanted to protest, saying they couldn’t be stored away in some warehouse, but she knew Cedric was right.

She had commissioned them, but all those paintings were portraits of Cedric. They were done in secret, without his permission. It would have been one thing if she hadn’t been found out, but now that she was…… she had no choice.

“No… No, my Cedric…!”

Unconsciously reaching out her hand, Lillian was stopped by Cedric beside her.

“You have me, don’t you? Forget about those paintings.”

There was something uncharacteristically resentful in his smile, but Lillian didn’t have time to dwell on it.

The sparkle vanished from her downcast eyes.

* * *

Lillian and Cedric did not share a marital relationship, so they each used different bedrooms.

This was Cedric’s consideration, as he had not yet undergone the formal succession ceremony and she did not wish to be addressed as “Your Grace”.

Lilian didn’t necessarily want to share a bedroom with Cedric in the eyes of the many observant people in the ducal residence.

However, spending the unfamiliar night alone in this unfamiliar place full of unfamiliar people was simply unsettling, especially without her Cedrics.

Out of habit, she turned to Cedric’s portrait to calm her nerves.

With nowhere else to turn to, Lillian felt uneasy and afraid of everything.

Even the atmosphere in the ducal residence was strange. She didn’t know what had happened to the funeral, whether the Duchess had come to the memorial service or not. She had no idea where the rest of Cedric’s family had gone.

The servants were extremely tight-lipped. It wasn’t just a matter of being discreet; the fear of mentioning something so terrible was palpable in their faces.

‘Should I ask once? We didn’t get to talk about the funeral.’

Cedric was currently praying in the private chapel of the mansion. The mansion was large and spacious, and even the closest bedrooms were some distance apart.

After much deliberation, Lillian threw off her blanket and stepped out. She wandered down the corridor, not knowing exactly where she was going.

“…So that’s why the Duchess left for the Verde family immediately after the funeral’s first day.”

“Even I wouldn’t consider Lord Cedric as my son if I had witnessed that scene up close. After all, the jousting match at Edelgard’s jousting arena wasn’t supposed to be such a vicious game. It was only meant to be a ceremony for the selection of the heir, so how could he do such a cruel thing…….”

“Did you witness the match yourselves?”

Lillian’s steps abruptly halted.

She had unwittingly overheard the whispers of the maids. She knew she had to leave, but her legs refused to move.

She wondered what had happened during the selection of the heir for the Edelgard duchy. Part of her wanted to turn a blind eye to the things she didn’t know, but another part of her wanted to know the truth.

Lillian leaned in closer to the door crack, through which a faint light seeped.

“…So Lord Caitlin abstained immediately. And when it was Lord Colin’s turn, the moment they faced each other, blood spurted like a fountain…! I heard screams, and oh, dear God. Lord Colin’s left leg was…”

“Oh my god…… it’s so horrible!”

There were gasps of surprise here and there. The voices in the conversation grew even more hushed.

“And the Duchess fell unconscious there too! They’re supposed to be true blood brothers, how could he do such a thing. Heavens……!”

“And that’s not all, there’s also the matter of the former Duke. How could someone who was once in the Imperial Court commit such an atrocity?”

“Shh! Bella, you shouldn’t mention that…”

There was a short silence, followed by a series of sighs this time.

“What will become of the ducal family now?”

“I doubt if the new Duke is even worthy of being a m*mber of the noble Order of the Silver Cross.”

“It’s all because of that woman. She crawled into this house with delusions of grandeur, seduced the Lord, and destroyed the relationship between parents and child.”

“Yes, even if he hadn’t declared his intention to marry that woman, the relationship between the wealthy family wouldn’t have deteriorated to that extent…”

Having heard enough, Lillian took off down the corridor like she was running away. It was only after she had nearly run down the stairs and leaned her back against the wall that she caught her breath.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha…….”

Colin Edelgard, the heir apparent, was dead.

The untimely death of Duke Edelgard.

A completely shattered matrimonial relationship.

The questions she had been pondering all came into sharp focus. The truth she had tried so hard to ignore was so cruel.

Cedric had caused those terrible events.

‘It’s all because of me.’

Her heart felt like it might burst out of her chest.

No one seemed to criticize him for showing no enthusiasm at his father’s funeral. It was also strange that there wasn’t a household m*mber. They had all left the mansion.

‘All because of me…….’

The duchess refused to acknowledge Lillian as the lady of the house, causing friction with Cedric. Cedric seized the position of heir in the easiest way possible, ultimately forcing the duchess to leave the mansion.

She could have stayed, even if it meant swallowing her pride, but the duchess didn’t. Especially now that her husband, the former Duke Edelgard, had died.

‘How could Cedric do such a thing…….’

It was horrible, but she couldn’t really blame him. The only reason Cedric had committed such a crime, as everyone in this mansion knew, was for Lillian’s sake.

And so, the arrows of blame should be pointed at her.

Even her presence in the ducal household, although she hadn’t come in willingly, there was enough reason for them to misunderstand.

Her trembling legs naturally descended the stairs.

‘I have to leave.’

She could endure being blamed and judged. If having Cedric meant facing blame, so be it. She was prepared to withstand it even if the whole world threw stones at her.

But she couldn’t bear to see Cedric insulted because of her presence.

He was a nobleman. He had devoted almost his entire life to the imperial court and was part of the Holy Order of the clergy who fought and risked his life on the battlefield for the glory of the Lord and the empire.

It was so unjust that Cedric’s life, his entire honorable past, should be denied and condemned by her mere presence.

Above all, Lillian did not want to be the only blemish on an otherwise flawless man.

‘Let’s leave this house right now. Let’s disappear forever so he can never find us again.’

Farewell was the only path for everyone.