The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 84

Saying they were embracing wasn’t quite accurate. Sheila knew they were simply dancing the blues to the music drifting out from the hall.

But even so, to her eyes, the two of them looked like nothing more than lovers in each other’s arms.

Sheila quickly hid herself behind the wall.

“What did I just see?”

Doubting her own eyes, she cautiously peeked out again to check.

No matter how she looked at it, on the empty terrace, Alfonso and Eloise were dancing the blues with their bodies pressed close together. And between them flowed something that was hard to put into words.

As if she’d witnessed something she wasn’t supposed to see, Sheila was struck with shock. She staggered backward, then turned fully around and returned to the banquet hall.

Even after giving up on finding Sylvia and focusing on serving, the image of the two of them wouldn’t leave Sheila’s mind.

***

The next day, even while cleaning Cedric’s room, the scene she’d seen on the terrace the night before flickered before Sheila’s eyes.

So, Lady Eloise was being discussed as the Young Count’s prospective fiancée, and Young Master Alfonso, the Young Count’s younger brother….

‘No, it’s a party. Dancing a little is normal….’

But did it really have to be on the terrace? And what was with that moist, intimate atmosphere?

Watching Sheila clean with a deeply troubled look on her face, Cedric rose from his seat and prepared to change his clothes on his own.

“Oh, you’re changing? I’ll take them out for you.”

Sheila hadn’t completely lost her focus. She stopped cleaning and approached Cedric.

“If you tell me what kind of meeting it is, I’ll choose something suitable….”

“Just get my everyday clothes.”

“Um… will that really be all right?”

Since the event was still ongoing, Sheila was planning to pick from the new clothes prepared for the ceremony, so she asked again.

Cedric answered, “I’m just going to talk briefly with Lady Vivarini.”

“Miss Eloise?”

Sheila blurted it out, jumping as if she’d been burned.

“Why are you so startled?”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing….”

Sheila couldn’t say what she’d seen. What was she supposed to say? That she saw his future fiancée alone on the terrace with Young Master Alfonso last night? Not just alone, but pressed together, dancing the blues?

Putting on a calm expression, Sheila quickly changed the subject.

“Well, it’s just that since the banquet is still going on, I think it’d be better for you to wear one of the new outfits prepared for the event.”

Because you look better in your usual clothes.

Cedric dressed in an elegant, carefully styled outfit was certainly handsome, but Sheila thought his everyday appearance was even better.

And for some reason, she didn’t want Eloise to see him like that.

That look was something she wanted to keep to herself.

“All right.”

Perhaps because she mentioned the banquet was still ongoing, Cedric accepted her suggestion without any further comment.

Soon, Sheila deliberately chose the outfit she liked the least and handed it to Cedric.

“Isn’t this outfit a bit ridiculous?”

“N-no!”

Startled by Cedric’s words, Sheila widened her eyes and hurried to deny it.

“The color of this fabric is really luminous and beautiful.”

Even under Cedric’s suspicious gaze, Sheila kept talking.

“And this shirt! I’ve never seen a shirt this aristocratic and elegant before.”

Whether her clumsy excuses worked or not, Cedric didn’t say anything more.

Sheila also closed her mouth and helped him change. In the silence, all kinds of thoughts ran wild through her head.

‘What are you going to talk about when you meet her? Are you going to promise her a future?’

She didn’t have any other feelings. She was just a little worried, that was all.

In the end, it was all because she’d seen Alfonso and Eloise together on the terrace the night before.

‘Enough. Since when did I start meddling in other people’s business?’

Sheila shook her head slightly.

Getting involved in men and women’s affairs was absolutely not for her. Getting involved in nobles’ affairs was even more so.

“All done.”

Only after fastening the very last button did Sheila lift her gaze to his face. Their eyes met.

At some point, the man who had been looking down at her was glowing.

‘I definitely picked the ugliest outfit.’

So the problem wasn’t the clothes at all. It was the man’s face, handsome no matter what he wore. And there was nothing she could do about that.

Once he finished changing, right on cue, Eloise’s maid knocked on the door.

“I’ll be back.”

Cedric said it stiffly.

‘Is he angry because of the clothes?’

Sheila thought that on her own. There was no reason he’d be upset because of a beautiful young lady he was meant to marry.

***

Led by the maid, Cedric arrived at the sitting room, where Eloise was already seated in front of a prepared tea table.

Wearing the clothes Sheila had put him in, Cedric approached with a graceful sweep of fabric and took a seat across from her.

Eloise looked quite satisfied to see that he’d come dressed in traditional, formal attire.

After quietly dismissing the maid, Eloise spoke first.

“Why did you want to see me?”

He’d felt it the day before as well, but Eloise was the type to stake her pride in strange places.

“I’d like to talk separately tomorrow.”

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

She was clearly using his answer from yesterday as an excuse to speak like this.

She’d approached him first at the ball and forced him to ask her to dance, and now she was acting as if he’d been the one to request this meeting.

If it was something that wounded her pride, she should’ve avoided it in the first place. If she decided to step forward, then she shouldn’t cling to pointless pride afterward.

Even if she hadn’t approached him, Cedric planned to ask her to dance first. After the dance, he also intended to arrange a private meeting.

Either way, there was a need to talk about the marriage that had been mentioned all this time.

‘Well, whatever.’

Since Cedric also had something to say, instead of embarrassing her, he got straight to the point.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to still be unmarried.”

Whatever his intention, those words pricked Eloise’s pride all the same.

Her face flushed red and pale in turns.

It wasn’t her imagination. Cedric was indifferent to her.

There was no look of desire, not even a trace of fondness or interest, not even the most basic courtesy a lady was owed. He was a man who seemed unable to feel anything even in the face of her beauty.

This was the first time she’d been treated like this. And yet, regrettably, he was still the best possible husband for her.

Suppressing the urge to storm out, Eloise opened her mouth. “I didn’t hold an engagement ceremony, but marriage was discussed within my family, and since there was no conclusion, I simply waited. To nobles, trust is as precious as life itself. Of course, you may have found it strange. There’s been no progress in our marriage discussions. I didn’t want to burden you while you were studying abroad. And while I was refining myself, three years passed quickly.”

As Eloise went on at length, essentially saying there’d been no better match in the meantime, Cedric found himself thinking of the transparent woman who’d dressed him.

Sheila, who acted as if she had no pride at all and lived with excuses constantly on her lips.

Even just earlier, the woman who picked out a ridiculous outfit for him and rattled off excuses echoed in his ears.

“The color of this fabric is really luminous and beautiful.”

The jacket, with its red and blue striped combination, looked at a glance like a clown’s costume.

“And this shirt! I’ve never seen a shirt this aristocratic and elegant before.”

Sure enough, the shirt Sheila chose, despite being men’s wear, had enormous frills decorating the neckline.

Despite the obvious lies, Cedric willingly played along. For a man confident enough to be praised even in rags, wearing a newly tailored outfit was hardly a difficult thing.

Either way, what the two women did was similar enough, yet for some reason one felt endearing while the other felt utterly tedious.

What was more, Eloise was a noble like himself, while Sheila was, in anyone’s eyes, a lowborn, insignificant woman. And yet Cedric’s body reacted only to that “insignificant woman.”

Of course, he was already used to those physical reactions. Still, accustomed or not, for a man about to marry, it was undeniably a flaw.

Whenever Cedric became aware of that flaw, he forced himself to recall his duty as the firstborn son of House Calley.

“If you still intend to uphold that trust, my lady,”

Cedric opened his mouth to make the purpose of meeting Eloise clear.

“Let’s do it. Marriage.”

It wasn’t an impulsive remark.

He’d thought about it for a long time, and meeting her directly this time only strengthened his conviction.

Whether in status or character, Eloise Vivarini was the appropriate choice for the tedious role of daughter-in-law of House Calley.

At Cedric’s words, Eloise failed to hide her delight, if only for a moment.

“All right,” Eloise replied.

Regardless of Cedric’s coldness, what she wanted was the title of future countess.

The anxiety she’d felt over the young lady from Lotas, not knowing Cedric would propose like this, suddenly seemed pointless.

‘It was mine from the beginning, anyway.’

“However, there’s something I need to tell you before the wedding.”

At Cedric’s words, Eloise quickly composed her expression and asked back, “What is it?”

“I don’t intend to have an heir.”

“What?”

Eloise’s bewildered voice rang out, almost like a scream.

Just as one naturally marries rather than becoming a nun, Eloise believed that once married, it was only right to bear children.

“I couldn’t tell you beforehand since it isn’t something to announce everywhere, but I have an issue with my sexual function.”

“Ah….”

At the words “an issue with sexual function,” Eloise’s mouth fell open helplessly.

That seemingly perfect man was impotent…!

“For that reason, the title after mine will go to Alfonso’s firstborn son. Whether that child will simply be named heir or formally adopted by me is something we’ll need to discuss further.”

Listening to Cedric speak so calmly, Eloise wriggled her fingers as she fought the urge to chew her nails.

And hearing that a decision had already been made about the next generation, Eloise began to organize her thoughts coolly.

First of all, according to his words, there was no issue with her taking the position of countess.

And being freed from the obligation of childbirth could even be considered an advantage.

Eloise, who once planned to enter a convent if her marriage to the heir of House Calley fell through, decided that a marriage without a sexual life wasn’t so bad.

And if, as he said, he adopted his nephew, it wouldn’t be a serious flaw. Besides, if it was Alfonso’s child, it somehow seemed acceptable….

“If we draw up a prenuptial agreement clearly stating that the reason for not bearing children isn’t my fault, then there’s no problem at all.”

“As you wish.”

Cedric answered readily at her request for a prenuptial agreement.

“A wedding next spring would be good.”

Since autumn had just begun, there were about seven or eight months until next spring. Cedric gauged the timing and spoke.

“Then I’ll inform my parents and proceed with the necessary arrangements. We both seem busy, so let’s stand now.”

With the conclusion reached, Cedric rose as if there were no reason to remain seated any longer.

‘What’s with that awful personality?’

Ending her brief impression of her future husband, Eloise stood up as well.