The Original Work Got Ruined After I Quit Being the Sub Male 16

16

The next day we got up early, diligently packed our luggage, and boarded the carriage.

Cedric and Castian, who had a small quarrel yesterday, were treating each other as if the other barely existed.

More precisely, Cedric was doing that, while Castian just seemed uninterested in Cedric.

Today too, I subtly glanced at Cedric who had claimed the seat next to me. Since he was resting his chin on his hand and only staring out the window, I could only see his sharp jawline.

‘Hmm.’

Somehow… was it my imagination that he seemed dispirited?

I looked at Castian and Riette who were chattering as usual.

Last night, after confirming from Riette that she had no feelings for Cedric at all, I was more worried about Cedric’s unrequited love, so even that everyday scene made me anxious that it might hurt Cedric.

After pondering, I poked Cedric’s thigh.

He quietly turned to look at me.

I lowered my voice and asked.

“What are you thinking about? Why are you so quiet?”

He stared intently at me as if observing me carefully, then narrowed his eyes.

“Are you curious about what I’m thinking?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“How unusual. You’re actually taking interest in me.”

I glared at him with my eyes flattened.

“I promised I’d take more interest from now on.”

“…Right, you did say that.”

When Cedric’s eyes curved prettily, his eye corners drew lazy curves. It was the first smile I’d seen from Cedric today.

But that smile quickly disappeared.

“I was just spacing out. Wondering when we’d arrive.”

…He really does seem to have less energy than usual.

‘Is it because of what happened yesterday?’

I wanted to ask what had happened with Castian yesterday. But since the person in question was right in front of us, it was awkward to bring it up.

‘I’ll have to find a chance to casually ask him later when we’re alone.’

But even when we briefly stopped in small towns to look around, the four of us mostly stuck together, so it seemed unlikely we’d have time alone together.

In that flow of time, Cedric gradually seemed to return to his usual self, but… I kept worrying about it.

Was this a side effect of recently trying to pay more attention to Cedric? I kept getting drawn to Cedric’s minor changes.

Meanwhile, we steadily approached the Imperial Palace. When we were about to cross another territorial boundary, the porter sitting with the coachman knocked on the rear window where we were sitting. When we opened the window, he slightly pulled back the curtain and said.

“Young masters, miss. The road is blocked by a landslide, so we’ll need to take a detour. But this area nearby is a dangerous region where monsters frequently appear. Just in case, please don’t let your guard down.”

“We will.”

Riette, who had been reading a book to pass time, answered. At that, Castian, who had been dozing, also seemed to wake up and leaned toward the window with a drowsy face.

“Ah… here, huh. We’re almost there.”

“Will monsters appear?”

“Mm. Since it’s still daylight, the probability is extremely low, but lately the monsters around here have become more vicious. It’s not bad to be careful. It’s quite a rugged area, so the roads are dangerous too.”

He added that while the carriage roads were maintained for smooth travel between territories, there were many steep slopes and cliffs, plus trees densely packed in all directions, so you never knew when or where monsters might jump out.

It made me nervous for no reason.

Everyone watched outside the windows. The atmosphere that had been lazily relaxed until just moments ago suddenly changed. A strange tension filled the air.

Fortunately, the carriage exited the forest before seeing any shadow of monsters. The tension that had been circulating inside the carriage gradually subsided.

‘Phew.’

I also relaxed with relief and comfortably leaned back against the backrest.

If a major problem like a landslide had occurred, we’d have to pass through this forest on the way back too… I hoped nothing would happen then either.

* * *

The carriage that had been diligently traveling finally arrived in front of the Imperial Palace. It was exactly at the three-day mark we had expected.

Since it was already evening and the ball would proceed from the afternoon of the very next day, today we planned to rest well in our assigned rooms.

And Castian…

〈Fox, if only I were three years younger, I would have asked you to dance. What a shame. I’m thinking of going to watch on the day of the ball too, so let’s meet again then.〉

…he said that and left first.

‘Ugh.’

What’s so special about someone like me that he’d say that much…

Does he have some other ulterior motive? Or…

‘Maybe it’s something like love at first sight.’

Hmm. Considering the words and actions he’d directed at me from the day we first met, that possibility wasn’t entirely out of the question.

“Wow, there are so many people.”

We looked around various parts of the Imperial Palace as we went up to our assigned rooms.

Besides the knights and attendants working in the Imperial Palace and the nobles staying there, there were also young-looking children our age gathered in groups of two or three having conversations.

All of them would be young people who had turned twenty this year and come to attend the New Year’s ball.

“Oh, who is this? Isn’t it the famous trio?”

That’s when it happened.

Someone with a plump build who spotted us in the corridor approached us in a swaggering manner. Looking at that face, it was quite familiar.

Was the name Lubrella or Lobinel?

I couldn’t remember, but anyway… when you attend several parties, you start to recognize one or two people, and this was one of them.

“Ruby, you’re here. Have you decided on a partner?”

Riette, who had the widest network among our ‘trio,’ immediately recognized him and welcomed him.

As we were exchanging greetings, more people approached us pretending to know us. Eventually we ended up surrounded by people.

This wasn’t a very pleasant situation for me. Some people I only vaguely remembered their faces, and some I didn’t remember at all.

“It’s been a while, Master Cedric, Master Edgar. How have you two been?”

And the lady who just spoke to us was one of those whose face I only dimly remembered.

I couldn’t recall her name and was smiling awkwardly when Cedric naturally received her greeting on my behalf.

“Yes. How have you been, Miss Laura?”

Thanks to that, I was saved.

The lady called ‘Laura’ showed a shy smile.

“I’ve been well. I recently went to play at a villa on an eastern island too. Come to think of it, you two must have already decided on partners…?”

She cutely rolled her eyes before shifting her gaze to me. Meeting her eyes, I reflexively softened my expression and opened my mouth.

“Yes. Barely.”

We really did barely decide.

But Laura seemed to think I was joking and burst into laughter. Then she carefully continued.

“If it’s okay to ask, who did you decide on as your dance partner this time? Did one of you partner with Miss Riette?”

So that’s what she was curious about.

Just as we were famous for sticking together as a trio, who we would choose as partners would have been a matter of great interest. It was obvious without even looking.

“Um, well…”

I trailed off and inconspicuously glanced at the silent Cedric.

Since Laura had openly mentioned Riette’s name, I was a bit troubled about how to explain our situation.

If I said we ended up partnering with each other because we were the leftover people who couldn’t find partners until the end, it might look a bit ridiculous.

Saying “Since Riette is partnering with Gareth, we just decided to do it among ourselves…” would be a somewhat dangerous answer.

It could lead to questions about why we hadn’t tried proposing to other people earlier, and might even create a misunderstanding that Riette had made us lose opportunities by taking time to weigh between us two.

But it’s not like Cedric and I really wanted each other as partners either, so it was extremely awkward to explain.

Suddenly Cedric turned his head toward me. I had been lost in thought when our eyes met directly, pulling me back to reality.

“I got to partner with the person I wanted to.”

That was a statement that came from Cedric’s mouth.

And it was considerably distorted from our actual situation. In short, he was lying.

I opened my eyes wide in surprise when the guy grabbed and pulled my hand. Then he gently bent his waist… and pressed his lips to the back of my hand with a soft kiss.

“……??”

I wasn’t seeing things wrong. Cedric had really kissed my hand. As if showing a respectful attitude toward a beloved.

The moment the soft, tender texture of my friend’s lips touched the back of my hand, I froze from shock.

Rather than feeling bad about it, it was more like I felt some kind of embarrassed emotion. I could feel my face heating up hotly.

‘Wh, what.’

While I was just blinking, not knowing how to react, Cedric’s lapis lazuli eyes that had been hidden behind his long eyelashes slowly opened.

Soon the guy moved his lips.

“This person is my partner.”

…He was probably showing a plausible appearance to avoid looking ridiculous, but I unconsciously felt my mouth going dry.

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus