Cedric's behavior began to change.
At first, it was so subtle that Aileen barely noticed.
But as the days passed, she could no longer ignore how often she caught him looking at her.
"Cedric."
Whenever she called out, wondering if something was bothering him, he would flinch, quickly avert his gaze, and awkwardly pretend to brush a hand through his hair.
"...Don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Yeah. I was just about to go."
Yet even after Aileen started walking away first, she noticed there were no footsteps following behind her.
When she turned around, Cedric was still standing there, quietly watching her.
The moment their eyes met, he jerked his head away as though he'd been caught doing something embarrassing.
"If you have something to say, just say it."
"No... it's nothing."
Even when Aileen sat alone reading in the drawing room or the library, she could often feel someone's gaze resting on her.
And every time she looked up...
Cedric was there.
Several more days passed before it became obvious that he wasn't merely watching her.
He was following her.
It's not exactly annoying...
Still, she couldn't understand why.
Surely he had plenty to do besides training.
"Cedric. I know you're there. Come out."
Without looking up from her book, Aileen calmly turned another page.
"I was just passing by. That's all."
"I was going to invite you to sit. But if you're only passing by, then you should keep going."
Cedric hesitated.
Hiding behind a bookshelf wasn't exactly dignified.
"Are you bored?"
Feeling his presence nearby, Aileen smiled faintly.
"No."
Cedric finally gave up and dropped heavily onto the sofa, sinking deep into the cushions.
In truth, ever since the assassination attempt, he'd been unable to shake the feeling that Aileen wasn't safe wandering around the mansion alone.
That was why he kept staying close to her.
I could simply assign her a bodyguard...
But for some reason...
He didn't like that idea.
"Cedric."
"Hm?"
"The book I wanted to read... it's underneath the cushion you're sitting on."
"Oh. Here."
Aileen simply accepted the book without asking any further questions.
Cedric, who had tensed the moment she'd called his name, quietly relaxed and leaned farther back into the sofa.
The crackling fire cast a warm glow across Aileen's face.
Cedric stole a glance at her...
Before long, his eyelids began drooping.
Did he come here because he was tired and wanted a nap?
A little while later, Aileen looked up and realized he had fallen asleep.
Though Cedric always seemed comfortable whenever he was around her, she knew that outside these moments, he was constantly on guard no matter where he was.
Perhaps...
He simply didn't feel the need to keep up appearances in front of her.
To him, she was an outsider—someone he didn't have to impress.
Just as Aileen was about to close her book, the faint sound it made caused Cedric's eyes to snap open.
He immediately scanned the room with sharp vigilance.
The sight made something click in Aileen's mind.
"So ever since the assassination attempt... you've been following me because I seemed unsafe?"
"Following you? No."
"Then why don't you assign me a temporary escort? You brought plenty of knights with you."
As the memory of that incident resurfaced, another lingering question came to her.
Aileen decided to probe a little further.
"There's a knight around your age, isn't there? I've seen him once or twice. He seems quite capable, and someone close to your age would probably be easier to get along with."
Instead of answering, Cedric's expression darkened.
What's wrong with him?
"Do you want Eden?"
"The young knight with brown hair and a cheerful personality. His name was Eden, wasn't it?"
She remembered seeing him frequently during swordsmanship practice.
He had always seemed friendly and sociable.
"You know him?"
"We've talked a few times."
Cedric frowned as though pointing out an obvious flaw.
"Brother Eden isn't a good choice. He's not suited to being anyone's guard. He's too restless and never stays in one place."
"...You call him 'Brother Eden'? Then you two are close?"
"We learned swordsmanship together when we were kids. I got into the habit of calling him that before we became official knights... and it still slips out sometimes."
Only after finishing did Cedric realize he'd said more than he intended.
Meanwhile, Aileen sighed inwardly.
She was almost certain now.
Eden...
He was the knight destined to betray the ducal family.
And he was probably the mastermind behind the previous assassination attempt as well.
"...In the end, one of the duke's own knights had been the spy. For Cedric Lowell, who had barely survived, it became the cruelest betrayal imaginable. In the end, he was forced to execute with his own hands the person he had trusted all his life."
The problem was that the original novel had been frustratingly vague.
It never revealed who the spy was.
Nor did it say who he had been working for.
Still...
There had always been something about that passage that lingered in her mind.
"All his life."
"Trusted."
Other than Cassel, Eden seemed to be the only person Cedric genuinely considered a friend.
Cedric noticed her studying him.
"Why are you so interested?"
"It's nothing. I was just curious. The two of you looked close."
Leaning back in her chair, Aileen casually picked up her book again.
Cedric, however, still wore a troubled expression.
Why does she seem so concerned about him?
He had a feeling he couldn't just let it go.
Sure enough...
"Why don't you just learn swordsmanship instead?"
"...What?"
"You're always watching the knights train. If you're not watching because you like swordsmanship, then what exactly are you looking at?"
Aileen blinked in disbelief.
He sounded genuinely irritated.
So what answer is he hoping to hear?
Deliberately, she decided to give him an unexpected one.
"I was watching you."
"...Me?"
"Yes."
Apparently...
That was exactly what he'd wanted to hear.
His head shot up immediately as he looked straight at her.
As Cedric stepped closer, Aileen caught the scent of dust clinging to his clothes, mixed with the crisp chill of winter.
"So... you were sitting there just to watch me?"
"That's right."
It wasn't entirely true.
She had been observing the knights in hopes of figuring out which one would betray them.
Yet somehow...
Her eyes had wandered back to Cedric again and again.
"I don't know much about swordsmanship, but I think I understand why everyone calls you a genius."
"Of course they do. I'm one of the best."
"Yes."
That wasn't flattery.
It was simply the truth.
What surprised Aileen wasn't his confidence.
It was the fact that someone who had surely been praised since childhood still seemed to crave words of approval.
From that day onward, Aileen kept a close eye on Eden.
It was far better than relying on the original novel's vague statement that one of the duke's knights would betray him.
Now she had an actual suspect.
Finding suspicious behavior wasn't difficult.
Is he simply careless?
Or is he certain no one would ever suspect him?
Probably both.
After Cassel, Eden was the most influential knight in the order.
He even issued commands to the other knights from time to time.
His position within the ducal household was firmly established.
By creating several seemingly accidental encounters, Aileen gradually discovered an unusual pattern in his routine.
"Heading somewhere?"
"Ah... yes. I have something to take care of."
One day, she ran into him in the hallway.
He wasn't wearing his knight's uniform.
He was dressed in ordinary clothes.
Something to take care of? At this strange time in the middle of the day...?
Once every ten days, he would leave the estate dressed as a civilian.
And he always returned late.
When that same day came around again, Aileen quietly gave Mary an instruction.
"Follow the brown-haired knight. Don't get too close—just find out which direction he's heading."
"...You only want me to see where he's goes?"
Mary looked puzzled but nodded obediently.
"I saw him enter one of the back alleys. There wasn't anyone else around, so I didn't dare follow him any farther. I was afraid he'd notice me."
"Did he seem suspicious? Nervous, perhaps?"
"He kept stopping to look around him. It felt... a little strange."
Aileen fell into thought.
If he really is the spy... then he'd have to meet someone outside on a regular basis.
That was probably exactly what he was doing.
But it still wasn't enough.
He could deny everything.
Without undeniable proof, she couldn't accuse him based solely on intuition.
I need more.
Something certain.
Something I can be absolutely sure of... and something I can tell Cedric.
For now...
All she had was suspicion.
And suspicion alone wasn't enough to tell Cedric anything yet.
