“… Finally found you.”

Cedric, as if reciting poetry, leaped from under the giant black horse in a single bound.

Then, like a wild beast with no interest other than its prey, he fiercely narrowed his eyes and began to approach me directly.

One step, another step.

With each narrowing of the distance, an unknown pressure wrapped around my entire body.

“Cedric, how did you… get here?”

At the moment when our distance finally closed enough.

Cedric’s large hand firmly gripped my shoulder.

In his blue eyes, there was a faint sense of relief as he looked down at my held shoulder.

But it was a very brief moment, and his eyes looking at me turned stern again.

“Rebecca.”

As his hand holding me gained a bit more strength.

“If you leave like that, did you think I would just let you go?”

His voice, flowing out like a winter wind, was husky.

Under his eyes, which were darkened due to whatever happened overnight, and his black hair, usually neatly arranged, was disheveled without any grooming.

His once clear blue eyes also showed signs of fatigue.

In addition, words that became increasingly difficult to understand.

I blinked my eyes, looking up at him with surprise due to his very different appearance from usual.

“Leaving like this, what’s the meaning of that…?”

To my question, Cedric roughly ran his fingers through his black hair and let out a deep sigh.

“Answer me.”

Up to that point, his stern gaze gradually softened with a slightly sad expression.

“Did you really try to run away with another man?”

Cedric’s jaw, which had been firm until he stopped speaking, showed thickened muscles.

Chewing on his own words, anger seemed to rise again with his stern expression.

“If you did that to punish me, I could endure it as much as you want.”

I just stared at him, who kept spewing incomprehensible words.

To have a proper conversation, it seemed necessary to calm down the highly excited Cedric first.

So, for now, I tried to withdraw my shoulder from Cedric’s grip.

However, Cedric, noticing my attempt, instead began to restrain me even more forcefully.

His grip, which held me, became even stronger, and his gaze turned colder again.

“… No, actually, no matter what answer you give, nothing will change.”

As he finished speaking, the corners of his lips curled up bitterly.

“Even if you say you’re leaving, I don’t have any intention of seeing you off nicely anymore.”

As his words continued, my mind only became more complicated.

Blinking my eyes slowly, I barely parted my lips.

“Cedric, seriously… why did you come here?”

“…”

“And what’s the meaning of me leaving with another man?”

Upon hearing that, Cedric exhaled a breath mixed with fatigue.

“Stop pretending not to know, Rebecca. Then, from dawn in this attire, carrying so much luggage, where on earth were you planning to go?”

Cedric asked once again, lowering his voice.
Finally, having roughly grasped the situation, I quickly looked around.

‘…This.’

The numerous eyes of the villagers were all directed towards us.

Even if the misunderstanding could be resolved later, it was a priority to stop him before a more embarrassing situation arose.

“Cedric, it seems like there’s some misunderstanding right now, but let’s take our time to…”

However, Cedric showed no sign of stopping.

“Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not, it doesn’t matter now. If you just come back with me, I won’t ask about the reasons for running away.”

No, when someone is talking, at least listen!

I opened my eyes at Cedric with an irritated expression.

At that moment, he sighed deeply with a rapidly saddened expression and spoke again.

“…Fine, I get it.”

“…?”

“When you’ve treated me so coldly until now, it’s probably confusing that I’m acting like this all of a sudden. But, Rebecca…”
“……Haah.”

At this rate, it seemed like this awkward conversation would never end.

I forcefully pulled away from Cedric’s hand that was grabbing my shoulder and gestured to the surroundings.

“Cedric, do you know where this is?”

In response to my question, Cedric slowly rolled his eyes.

“…Huh?”

It seemed like my vague expectation was correct.

Cedric had no idea where we were or how many people were around.

Cedric, who absentmindedly looked around, eventually locked eyes with Village Chief Deven and blinked slowly.

“Deven? Why are you here…”

Cedric, who said that, started to look around carefully.

All the villagers were alternately looking at Cedric and me with expressions that seemed hard to believe, and my maids were smiling happily while looking at them.

Just as the embarrassing situation was getting worse for everyone.

At that moment, the sound of horses running towards the entrance of the village could be heard again.

Consecutively, a carriage from the Twins family appeared.

Outside the window, someone was vigorously waving a small hand.

“Milady Vi! Over here, here! Bianca has come!”

…Bianca too?

Except for Cedric, everyone’s eyes simultaneously widened.

‘Why… why did the entire Twins family come out all of a sudden?’