* * *
It was the price of my own arrogance.
“Sorry.”
Embarrassed, I clutched my burning nose and quickly straightened up.
Cedric gave me a light smile.
“It’s fine. You’re doing way better than I expected.”
…Ugh. Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?
We were already off-beat and the music kept playing.
We rewound it and started from the top, trying to catch the rhythm again, and he gave me extra pointers for the difficult parts.
We spent quite a while like that.
Still struggling to keep pace, I ended up bumping into Cedric’s chest again.
With a sigh of frustration—and a little exhaustion—I stayed there a moment, breathing out.
That’s when I felt it.
His hand, supporting my lower back, tightened.
I could feel the warmth and size of it pressing firmly against me.
And then, I caught Cedric’s scent.
A clean, crisp fragrance that lightly chilled the tip of my nose.
It reminded me of a forest at night, deep and dark.
A rich, blue sort of scent.
Mixed in was the earthy smell of damp soil and a faint, cold trace of roses.
It blended naturally, subtly filling the space between us.
That was Cedric’s pheromone.
It probably slipped out unconsciously.
Alphas and Omegas usually have control over their pheromones, but there are moments where they leak for no clear reason. Liette’s had this happen too, not just Cedric.
So normally, I wouldn’t think twice about it.
But today, something felt off.
Suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to get away, I tried to push Cedric’s arm aside.
Because of his firm hold on my back, all I managed to do was tilt my head back a little.
“Ce-Cedy That’s enough. Back off a bit.”
“…Why?”
‘Why,’ he says?
His question only made me more flustered.
Why is this bothering me so much right now?
“…You’re too close. Just back off a little.”
I awkwardly tapped his chest, trying to seem annoyed.
Finally, Cedric let go of my waist without a word.
I started feeling sheepish.
I’d overreacted to something small.
Feeling a little guilty, I glanced up at him and said,
“Let’s call it a day? I’m tired.”
“……”
“You’re okay with that, right?”
Maybe I was just imagining it, but Cedric’s gaze felt like it was trying to peel back my thoughts, and it made me feel self-conscious.
As I fidgeted in silence, the music came to an end.
Then Cedric finally spoke, breaking the heavy stillness.
“Sure. Let’s do that.”
His eyes softened into their usual faint crescent shape.
The next day.
Cedric, Liette, and I packed our things into the carriage from early in the morning and prepared to head for the Imperial Palace.
A coachman to drive the carriage and a porter to carry our luggage were coming with us.
Our mother and father helped with the preparations and even came out to see us off.
“Cedy, Lett, Eddy Travel safely.”
“Take good care of Eddy .”
“Of course. Don’t worry. We’ll be back soon.”
“See you later!”
We climbed into the backseat of the carriage, waving until our parents disappeared from sight.
It would take a few days to reach the Imperial Palace, so we planned to stop by a few territories along the way.
Our short journey together had begun.
“Which territory are we stopping at first?”
“Glis Territory,” Liette replied as she looked at the map.
I cheerfully looked out the carriage window.
It had been a while since I traveled this far.
Climbing Mount Burden with Cedric didn’t count since it wasn’t for fun.
“Let, have you ever been to Glis before?”
“Yup! It’s a famous tourist spot. My dad said even foreigners visit it often, and the taxes Glis brings in are huge.”
“Oh, really.”
For the record, Liette’s father is the Chancellor of the Nemard Empire.
She’s his only daughter, and Cedric is the sole heir of the Empire’s only Duke family.
It was Liette who introduced Cedric to me—they had known each other long before I came into the picture.
Guess this is what people mean when they say, “birds of a feather flock together.”
Not that my family was any less—we’re one of the most powerful noble houses in the Empire too.
That’s probably why I met them.
“So what’s Glis famous for?”
“Hot springs and the businesses around them.”
“Hot springs?”
“Yup. If you dig into the ground, water just starts pouring out.”
Liette laughed brightly as she answered.
I tried to recall what I’d learned—hot springs are heated groundwater that rises due to geothermal energy, right?
That’s when Cedric, who had been silently listening next to me, suddenly spoke.
“There are hot springs in most of the inns in Glis.”
“Then we won’t have to go looking for one separately.”
“Yeah. The inn we’re staying at should have one too.”
“Oh, I’m looking forward to it.”
Liette was visibly excited.
Since she said she’d been to Glis before, she must’ve experienced the hot springs herself.
“You’ve been to a hot spring? How was it?”
“It was amazing! Eddy, you’ll be blown away too.”
They kept chatting cheerfully like that, until suddenly, Liette’s eyes went wide as if something just occurred to her.
“Come to think of it, Cedy—your rut’s coming up soon, isn’t it?”
…Rut.
At that, I turned to look at Cedric.
I knew from what I’d learned that Omegas have regular heat cycles, and Alphas go through periodic ruts.
And that most nobles—who tend to be fixed types—typically manage those awkward cycles with medication.
“Yeah. It’s probably coming up soon.”
“Kind of awkward timing. Did you bring your meds?”
“I did. But it shouldn’t happen during the ball.”
“Still, you never know.”
If I remember right, Liette’s heat cycle came once every three months.
Cedric’s… when was it again?
Hmm. I couldn’t quite recall.
Not wanting to say something wrong and end up embarrassed, I subtly turned my gaze to the window.
Liette’s nagging about not forgetting his medication and Cedric retorting with “I’m not like you” echoed in my ears.
It was fine up until that point, but somewhere along the conversation, things took a childish turn and voices were raised.
Listening from the sidelines, it was obvious that the argument was Cedric’s fault.
“Ugh! Even when I’m genuinely worried, he acts like that. I don’t get why other Omegas are all over someone with such a crappy personality.”
As Liette fumed, Cedric gave a short, scoffing laugh.
Maybe because they were close, Cedric had a way of being unusually blunt and shameless with Liette.
But watching them bicker like this while still getting along somehow made me think—maybe they really were a good match.
Even if Cedric was acting a bit differently from how he did in the original story… they were still the officially paired couple.
“See? Eddy, don’t you agree?”
Out of nowhere, the fire jumped to me.
I had been quietly watching their argument from the side and snapped my head toward Liette.
Cedric immediately frowned and shot her a glare.
“Who are you calling the one with the bad personality?”
“What? Did I lie?”
“You only asked because you knew Eddy would take your side.”
“That’s not why I asked…”
Ah. A rebuttal slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
A beat of silence.
As if they’d heard something they weren’t supposed to, both of their surprised gazes snapped to me.
I awkwardly avoided their eyes and mumbled,
“I mean… I wasn’t purposely taking sides or anything.”
Honestly, in the past, I probably would’ve automatically sided with Liette, agreeing that Cedric had a terrible personality—whether it was true or not. But not anymore.
“Then what is it?”
Cedric’s gentle voice broke the silence.
I glanced at him.
“Huh?”
“What kind of person do you think I am?”
…Is he really asking that so directly?
“Uh…”
This is awkward.
If I answer honestly, it’ll be kind of embarrassing.
I sent Liette a silent SOS with my eyes, but she had zipped her lips shut, watching with a face full of curiosity.
I gave a sheepish laugh.
“Well, I mean… Even if you talk like that, you’re still kind, right?”
“I’m kind?”
“Um, yeah.”
Even when we didn’t know each other that well, Cedric had shown a surprisingly playful, affectionate side behind that cold exterior.
He never acted arrogant just because he was the Grand Duke’s son—in fact, he was pretty considerate.
Sure, he and Liette argued from time to time, but honestly, he always looked out for her in his own way.
There’s a reason he was so famously popular in high society.
Even if he had a few flaws, his face made up for all of them.
No—eight out of ten people probably liked him just because of that ridiculously handsome face.
‘I mean, he is really good-looking…’
Just as I was shaking myself out of that thought—
‘Ah.’
Our eyes met.
Cedric smiled with those perfectly sculpted features, his gaze curving softly.
“So you’re on my side, huh?”
Without realizing it, I stared blankly at that face—until the weight of the earlier conversation suddenly pulled me back.
* * *
Aaaaaaah 😍