The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 82

As Eloise walked straight toward Cedric, everyone froze in place as if they’d been nailed to the floor, staring at the two of them.

“Young Count Cedric, your traditional attire is truly impressive.”

Cedric wore a classic-style coat with excessively ornate shoulder decorations. The base fabric was a calm black, but large gold embroidery was stitched across it. On top of that, red embroidery was added between the threads of gold, making it impossibly dazzling.

With this level of splendor, the person wearing it might easily seem swallowed up by the outfit, but Cedric’s sculpted features carried it perfectly.

“Your dress is very beautiful as well, my lady.”

“Thank you.”

They’d exchanged the customary pleasantries, so it was time to invite each other to dance. Yet neither of them moved first.

A taut tension hung between them.

Standing beside Cedric, Alfonso made her feel, absurdly, like she wanted to ask him to dance instead.

Fortunately, before Eloise’s dignity could be bruised after approaching first, Cedric held out his hand.

“Shall we dance?”

Only then did the people watching them with strained eyes finally breathe again. They realized belatedly that they’d been holding their breath.

When Cedric and Eloise stepped into the center of the great hall, several couples lined up around them.

Once the line was formed to some degree, the conductor raised his baton high and brought it down.

The first song to open a festive event was bright, rhythmic music.

The nobles on the floor all showed off the dance skills they’d cultivated.

Cedric and Eloise, too, moved through the social dance they’d learned as part of their upbringing, smooth as flowing water.

“Your dancing is excellent.”

“You flatter me.”

Cedric, who was leading with practiced ease, answered Eloise’s compliment curtly.

‘So he really is arrogant.’

Eloise couldn’t read a trace of emotion in Cedric’s eyes or expression.

She’d felt that from their first meeting yesterday.

Most people showed her basic goodwill. With her distinguished background, her beauty, and the refinement ingrained in her since childhood, she lacked nothing.

But Cedric was different. Even when he praised her dress just now, his expression was neither more nor less than formal courtesy.

If she told herself it was because he was the son of a venerable count’s house, she still couldn’t explain the familiar warmth Alfonso, a man from the same family, had shown her.

What kind of woman does this arrogant man react to, anyway?

Eloise had the vague thought that he might not react to any woman at all.

Since he was a man who would become the next count, she’d assumed it couldn’t be helped even if he later kept a mistress for amusement.

But Cedric didn’t just seem uninterested in most women. He was the kind of man who made it difficult for a woman to approach him first at all.

For Eloise, who intended to become his wife, the fact that other women likely wouldn’t be able to cling to him easily was a benefit she couldn’t ignore.

Of course, she wished he’d at least shown interest in her.

‘This isn’t even a marriage born of love to begin with.’

Easing her disappointment, Eloise thought of her eldest sister, who had married into a formidable family, and her second sister, who had married into a lesser one.

Even though she was from a marquis house, Eloise was the seventh child among five sons and four daughters. Her options weren’t all that wide.

Not long ago, Maximo met privately with Count Bernard when Bernard visited the marquisate, and he told his daughter Eloise that this time, she had to seize Cedric firmly.

Even Eloise, who had once thought it would be better to enter a convent than to marry into some half-baked family, intended to follow her father’s wishes.

“I’d like to talk separately tomorrow.”

“That’s exactly what I was hoping for.”

Exactly what he was hoping for…?

The reply that came from his neat lips was unexpected.

And contrary to his words, Cedric’s face looked as though he had no desire at all to spend time with her, leaving Eloise unable to hide her confusion.

“I see. Then if you tell me a time you’re free, I’ll send my maid.”

“How about around two in the afternoon?”

“That works.”

After setting the necessary appointment, the man firmly closed his mouth.

Growing strangely anxious, Eloise kept biting at her lips during the dance. It was because she couldn’t chew her nails while dancing.

When the song ended, the man and woman who’d danced together exchanged polite bows, then changed partners.

Unlike Eloise, who stepped back from the center after the first dance, Cedric had been caught by Sylvia, who approached him before he knew it.

The second song was also an upbeat dance number.

To keep the energy of the party high, several more lively songs were sure to follow.

「Did you know Pastry Chef Martin is here?」

Sylvia asked as she danced close to him, moving through the steps with ease.

It was already her second day here.

At the banquet hall, Sylvia spotted a familiar dessert and immediately recognized it as the signature creation of the famous pastry chef Martin.

At her question, Cedric replied briefly.

「Yes.」

「That’s it? Just yes?」

At the man’s blunt answer, Sylvia let out an incredulous laugh.

「Since when did you like desserts? You hate anything sweet.」

Bringing in a famous foreign pastry chef wouldn’t have come cheap. Setting aside the cost, Sylvia was curious why he’d spend that kind of money on something that didn’t suit his tastes.

「And it’s not like you’re so sentimental about your family that you’d bring him in just for them either.」

She prided herself on knowing Cedric well. After all, they’d spent years together as friends and partners.

The only family member he ever spoke of with affection was the late former Count Calley. The rest he treated as people who were bothersome but impossible to completely ignore because of blood ties.

「Is that really what matters right now?」

Cedric asked. He didn’t understand why Sylvia was pressing the issue in the middle of a dance, nor did he feel it deserved an answer.

At his question, Sylvia smiled, her eyes curving.

「I guess you’re right. What does it matter? What matters is that you’re in front of me, and we’re dancing together.」

Whatever the reason, Sylvia was in a good mood.

Whether it was for her sake or his family’s, the fact that Cedric couldn’t forget the taste of Lotas’s desserts and even hired a pastry chef because of it pleased her.

And the way he acted so bluntly afterward only made him look cute in Sylvia’s eyes.

Sheila watched Cedric dancing now for the second song in a row.

What kind of feeling was this supposed to be…?

She didn’t feel hurt. From the start, they lived in different worlds.

If he’d chosen another young lady even though Sheila herself could have been a dance partner, she might have felt differently.

But Sheila was nothing more than a maid who had never learned to dance, much less danced before.

So she simply thought he looked wonderful. So wonderful that all the moments she’d shared with him felt like a lie….

“There will be no lessons during the appointment ceremony period. That doesn’t mean you should spend the entire time just playing around. Don’t neglect your reviews so you don’t forget what you’ve learned.”

It was only natural that holding lessons during the appointment ceremony period was unrealistic.

Just the fact that the three-hour punishments, which took about as much time as the lessons held every other day, were gone made Sheila feel as though her time had suddenly become empty.

After living so busily for years, maybe she’d become addicted to work. Whenever she had free time, Sheila couldn’t help feeling anxious.

Lately, she’d been blocked from taking on other work as well, and since she had to conserve oil, there was also a limit to how much knitting she could do during her time alone.

Fortunately, while helping Sylvia, who had come without a maid, with various tasks, she didn’t feel that hollow sense of emptiness.

Serving Sylvia felt enjoyable in a way that was different from attending to Judith.

Sylvia was bright and forthright by nature. And on top of that, she was stunningly beautiful.

Sheila, who often wondered whether there was even a woman suitable for a man as outstanding as Cedric, was once again struck during this appointment ceremony by just how many beautiful young ladies there were.

Sylvia, Cedric’s friend, was one of them, as was Eloise, who had long been mentioned as a prospective fiancée, along with many other noble young ladies of marriageable age. All of them were refined and beautiful.

Sheila couldn’t take her eyes off the man dancing with Sylvia.

Could a man dancing really be this beautiful?

Women who danced lightly were often compared to butterflies, but to Sheila’s eyes, Cedric looked just like that.

He seemed like an arrogant angel who didn’t belong in this world in the first place. For a moment, she had the illusion that he might flutter away like a butterfly.

Fortunately, Sheila’s gaze didn’t draw any special attention. There were plenty of people, nobles and servants alike, who were just as entranced by the sight of Cedric and Sylvia dancing.

And among them was Eloise as well. Of course, rather than being entranced, her face held a subtle mix of hostility and displeasure.

Whenever that woman named Sylvia drew attention, Eloise felt as though she herself, a young lady of a marquis house, was fading into something shabby.

And with Cedric dancing with Sylvia now, people’s gazes were even more focused than when Eloise herself had danced with him earlier.

At that moment, one woman finally tore her eyes away from Cedric and Sylvia and deliberately searched for someone. Her gaze stopped squarely on Eloise’s face. When their eyes met, the woman hid her face behind a fan, but her eyes continued to sweep over Eloise’s expression.

It was an unmistakable look, clearly intended to observe what expression Eloise, the most likely candidate for Cedric’s fiancée, was wearing while he danced with a foreign noblewoman.

Eloise put on a composed, leisurely smile as if nothing were wrong. But as those gazes multiplied one by one, she could no longer endure it. She turned her body and left the great hall.