79
“How can you not do even that one thing properly!”
This was when Cedric had just turned 9 years old. At that time, getting scolded by his father was a daily occurrence for Cedric.
“Cedric. You’re 9 years old now. It’s only natural that you should be able to accomplish that much. How long are you going to bring shame to our family like this?”
Whether it was something he was doing for the first time or something too burdensome for a 9-year-old, the Grand Duke of Soliwen always told Cedric to achieve it.
This time was no different.
The moment he was caught off guard and knocked down during his first sparring session with the swordsmanship instructor, the Grand Duke’s sharp reprimand flew at him without fail.
He always demanded too much from Cedric. Looking back, it seemed there was no particular reason for it. Simple venting of anger… he just needed a trash can to dump his emotions into.
“I’m sorry, Father.”
Cedric, who had barely managed to get up from his dirt-covered state, bowed his head and apologized. The places scraped by the dirt hurt, but he didn’t show it outwardly.
Even in the humiliating situation of being publicly scolded by the Grand Duke of Soliwen in front of the swordsmanship instructor, Cedric didn’t show much disturbance.
Because it was always like this. Because he knew that crying like a child here would only make his father’s shouting louder.
The Grand Duke of Soliwen roughly exhaled through his nose and left the scene. Only then did Cedric brush the dirt off his clothes, and the swordsmanship instructor, who had been restless, cautiously asked.
“Young master, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“Oh my. You’re truly admirable.”
Though the instructor praised him like that, Cedric wasn’t particularly happy. He just picked up the wooden sword that had fallen to the ground, like the ‘admirable child’ that those around him called him.
Cedric continued his swordsmanship lessons until that evening, then washed up and went down to the dining room for dinner.
It was a meal shared with the Grand Duke of Soliwen, but there was no affectionate conversation between father and son.
Clank, clank. Only the sound of cutlery clashing filled the heavy silence between the two.
After eating like that for a while, the Grand Duke of Soliwen wiped his mouth and stood up without a word of farewell, going somewhere as he always did.
And Cedric knew where his father was headed. He would be going to see his mother, who spent most of her time lying down due to poor health.
Though she would fortunately recover later, at that time what was making his mother weak was said to be close to an incurable disease.
His father worked day and night searching for a cure to save his wife, and his mother’s waking hours were short, so she rarely met with Cedric.
Moreover, because he was the only heir to the Grand Duke’s family, there was no one in the mansion who could treat him casually, so Cedric had neither someone to act spoiled with as befitted his age nor a confidant to pour his heart out to.
He was… always alone.
Then one day, Cedric was introduced to a girl who was said to be the Prime Minister’s daughter through his parents.
“Hello, my name is Riette!”
The Prime Minister, who loved his daughter too much, made quite a fuss from the moment he entered the mansion entrance, so Cedric had noticed. And sure enough.
She was a child with an atmosphere completely different from Cedric’s, one that clearly showed she had been raised with her parents’ love.
“…Hello.”
“And you? What’s your name?”
“…Cedric.”
“Hmm, Cedric?”
Riette, who still had baby fat and chubby cheeks that she lifted into bright smiles, looked Cedric up and down.
Finding this burdensome, he was only watching her actions with his eyes when suddenly Riette burst into laughter.
“You’re really taciturn, aren’t you?”
“……”
“You look like you don’t have any friends!”
She was rudely blunt as naturally as breathing.
This was the first time anyone had shown such rude behavior to the only son of the Grand Duke’s family, so Cedric felt a novel sensation… no, he was just a bit annoyed.
“I’ll be your friend from now on! How about it?”
But that childish rudeness of hers wasn’t so unpleasant. Since she was also the first person to approach him without hesitation, Cedric didn’t want to refuse her proposal.
“…Alright. Let’s be friends.”
That’s how Cedric became friends with Riette.
After that, Riette frequently visited the Soliwen mansion. Whether she felt responsible for declaring she would be his friend or whether she thought Cedric was a lonely child and took extra care of him, she would visit to an almost tiresome degree.
“Cedy! I’m here!”
The sound of a door being flung open without permission, along with Riette’s now-familiar voice, came flying in.
Cedric, who had been playing piano in the piano practice room, replied without even looking toward the entrance.
“You’re being loud, so please be quiet, Ret.”
“I said I’m here! When a friend comes, you should at least turn around as a courtesy! …But were you practicing piano?”
Riette stopped being angry and scurried over to hang around the piano.
When Cedric resumed the performance that had been briefly interrupted by Riette’s intrusion, Riette listened while nodding her head and then said.
“Cedy, what song is this?”
“…It’s a beginner sonatina. You don’t even know this?”
“Heh, I’m not good at this kind of thing. I’m not interested either. Come to think of it, I have a friend who’s really good at piano among my friends… Ah! More importantly, let’s go out and do sword training together! Dad and the sword instructor always go easy on me, so it’s boring. You can practice piano later!”
Riette, whose eyes sparkled as if she remembered her original purpose for barging in, pulled at Cedric’s arm and interfered.
Though irritation rose slightly, he ultimately just sighed deeply and got up from his seat.
But there was something that drew Cedric’s interest more than that.
‘Another friend…’
Come to think of it, he realized he still didn’t know much about the people around Riette. Cedric asked as he went down to the training ground with her.
“Who was that friend you mentioned earlier?”
“Ah, the friend who’s good at piano?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s a friend the same age as you and me! His name is Edgar, and he’s the only son of the Lowell Count family. That’s an incredibly rich family! Father said they have more money than we could ever imagine.”
The Lowell Count family.
Since it was one of the famous noble families following the Soliwen Grand Duke family and the Rosman Count family where the Prime Minister belonged, Cedric had naturally heard the name before. But he hadn’t had much interest in it until now.
“I see.”
“Should I introduce him to you too?”
“…I wonder.”
Though he was curious since the boy knew Riette, he didn’t even know what kind of person he was, and there was a vague fear of new connections, so he couldn’t readily answer yes.
He had already become too accustomed to solitude, and even the occasional loneliness had mostly disappeared lately because of this noisy friend. Was there really a reason to accept any more changes than this?
“Geez, you timid thing.”
“……”
“That’s why you only have me as a friend.”
“…Do you want to get beaten up with a wooden sword?”
“Go ahead and try if you can.”
Since she told him to try, he really gave her a thrashing. When the fallen Riette cried like a child, he went easy on her after that, and she quickly became arrogant.
Riding the momentum, she struck at a gap Cedric had deliberately created and finally succeeded in knocking him down.
“Yahoo! I won!”
Cedric, who glanced at Riette jumping around innocently with joy, silently got up and brushed the dirt off his clothes. Riette, who had been staring at him intently while celebrating, asked.
“How do you never cry even once?”
“Do I have to cry?”
“When you lose, you get frustrated and tears come out!”
“But crying doesn’t solve anything.”
“……”
Riette, whose father would come running with wide eyes when she cried and whose mother would hug her, lived in a different environment and circumstances from Cedric.
“Still, when you want to cry, you should just cry.”
“…Forget it. Don’t interfere with me.”
“What? I said that thinking of you!”
The two, who were still young, couldn’t understand each other like that. Both were stubborn, so such minor differences of opinion led to arguments, and thanks to the head butler who came running late to mediate, it didn’t escalate to the level of pulling each other’s hair.
“Miss, please calm down.”
“But he!”
Cedric half-ignored Riette, who was grumbling and pouring out all her hurt feelings despite the head butler’s soothing. Then he returned the wooden sword to its stand and went back to the mansion.
Riette was following behind, muttering complaints, and the head butler was also entering the mansion while comforting her. They happened to encounter the Grand Duke of Soliwen coming down the stairs.
“What’s all this commotion?”
His sharp gaze swept over the children. Especially the look directed at Cedric was very indifferent and cold. Though those eyes weren’t even looking at her, Riette was frightened.
“Your Grace, it’s nothing serious. There was just a slight argument that commonly occurs between children…”
“Did you bring shame to the family again?”
The Grand Duke of Soliwen cut off the head butler’s words and snapped at Cedric.
Cedric gave no response to this, and the atmosphere grew even more rigid. Immediately after, the Grand Duke of Soliwen raised his hand high and struck Cedric’s cheek directly.
Smack!
A sharp sound that seemed to tear flesh rang out.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
