Lucille had known that Cedar would thank her for her gift if he promised that, but she hadn't expected that it would be the very next day. She had woken up early, only for Cedar to invite her to a picnic in the afternoon. She had lain down after that to get a bit more sleep but had barely been able to close her eyes.
When she thought about a picnic, she always imagined it like the ones she had read about in books. A young couple would find a beautiful meadow and sit down in the midst of flowers to exchange a kiss. Depending on what age the book was for, this either ended with countless romantic gestures and them feeding each other or much more intimate things.
Lucille hated herself for it, but she wouldn't be averse to the picnic of the first kind. Sitting there with Cedar all alone and talking seemed intimate enough. This wasn't anything special, but it made her stomach tingle when she thought about it, and she could barely contain her excitement.
When it was time for lunch, she only ate a little bit and then got ready. She still insisted on not needing a maid, but she did accept some help from Darlene, who seemed to have found out what was going on somehow. The maid made the other woman's hair and then helped her put on the dress.
Lucille had chosen a dark green gown with light green decorations and then put on a little necklace and a headpiece. In the end, she feared that it was too much and took the necklace off again to make her attire seem a bit more simple. She wanted to look elegant and as good as she could, but she didn't want to make it obvious that she was this nervous because of a simple picnic.
Yet, it was quite clear that she was nervous. Lucille stood in front of her mirror for minutes at a time and worried about whether her attire was fine before nodding, only to keep judging herself. She didn't want to seem desperate, but she would also like to be complimented again. Maybe she should have put on the light blue ornament she had bought a while ago instead of choosing a green dress. But Fiona had always said that green fit her well, so she had trusted her friend.
Now that it was time to leave, she was skeptical though. Maybe that was just because it was still Lucille's reflection in the mirror, and she tended to judge herself quite harshly. In the end, she had no choice but to leave unless she wanted to risk being late though. She still had half an hour, but she wanted to make sure.
So, Lucille climbed down the stairs and looked around while being careful not to walk too quickly. Her wound had almost had a month to heal by now, but she didn't want to risk reopening it. The bandages should protect her, but she was still worried, especially since she would walk for a while now.
When Lucille reached the entrance hall, she was surprised to find Cedar there. Her heart skipped a beat, and she wasn't sure whether to call out to him or whether to wait for him to notice her. Thankfully, that issue resolved itself quickly.
Cedar looked at her and showed her a bright smile, which made her come over to him. “Good afternoon. Isn't it a bit early? I wanted to pick you up, but it seems like you were faster. Are you prepared to depart already?”
Lucille nodded at that while trying to hide her nervousness. This was the first time she had dressed up when they met. She had hoped that Cedar would say something nice before, but by now, she just wanted him not to laugh at her. She didn't want to make it seem like she had strange thoughts, even though she had them. “Good afternoon. Yes. I...didn't want to be late, so I made sure to be here punctually. If you still need some time, that's perfectly fine.”
Cedar glanced at the exit before replying. “I am ready too. The meal is already prepared as well. It depends on whether the coach is ready. I don't think it will take much longer either way. We can go check up on them if you'd like.” With that, he turned toward her and opened his mouth to say something else too, but he was already cut off.
“I can see the parallels now. She comes, and you immediately end the conversation. I assume this is the young lady you are in a relationship with?”
Lucille whipped her head to the side and met the servant's gaze as blood rose to her cheeks. She had seen that small brown-haired man once, but she didn't know anything about him. Not that that was necessary when her heart almost exploded just because of the comment that man had made.
Cedar let out a sigh. “I apologize for that man. That is Harris. Usually, he flatters every powerful person until they fall in love with him, but he likes being a sarcastic idiot around me. Ignore his comments. He often says stupid things.” He turned to the other man again before speaking. “You know, I don't think you should talk about this. You should be aware of what rumors in the palace mean. So, how about you ask before just assuming things? You just offended Lady Valerian, who is an esteemed guest of Her Majesty. You should apologize and hold back from now on.”
Harris glanced at Lucille, who still hid her red cheeks behind her hands, before he looked back at Cedar. “The sarcastic idiot here isn't stupid. I know that addressing rumors isn't polite, but this here is much greater than a rumor. Didn't you spend the night together already? And you hugged in public. Isn't that enough proof?”
The prince beamed at him with a wide smile. “I am quite interested in who told you such things. After all, I would claim that no such thing happened. I am serious. So, stop making Lady Valerian uncomfortable.”
Harris crossed his arms. He stayed quiet for a moment. “So, you two really aren't-” He looked at Lucille. “Ah. I see. You're going to play that game too. I apologize.” He turned to Cedar again. “You should be more careful if you don't want that woman to notice.” He didn't even say anything else and just spun around to leave.
Lucille could only stare after him while trying to keep her embarrassment veiled. Did she and Cedar truly look like a couple to others? They hadn't done too many things that would support that theory, right?
They had just spent a lot of time together. He had hugged her in front of others. And he had left her room in the middle of the night.
Now that she thought about it, maybe that did seem incriminating.
Lucille pressed her lips together while doing her best to push those thoughts away. She shouldn't think about that. That would only make her ruin the picnic. But no matter how much she wanted to hide it, her embarrassment was painfully obvious.
Cedar even tried to comfort her a bit with a smile. “I sincerely apologize for him. Harris has an...interesting connection to me. He didn't mean to offend you. He probably assumed that you would have a similar personality to mine, so he was this direct. It will not happen again. I will remind him to pay attention in the future.”
Lucille quickly raised her hands to make a rejecting motion. “It's...fine.” Her voice was too uncertain for her liking, so she cleared her throat before continuing. “There is no need for you to worry about this. It was just a little comment. I'm not offended nor do I think that he was trying to anger us. Just...ignore it.” She didn't mind this being said much. After all, Cedar was probably the only person that was offended by such remarks. To her, being called his lover was more of a compliment.
The prince replied with a soft smile. “I see. Then we can go to our carriage already. We will leave as soon as they are done. Last time, I had a rather unpleasant situation with the coachman, but it should be fine now.” He offered her his hand. “Would you allow me to bring you to our destination?”
Lucille felt her heart skip a beat. How could Cedar just demolish her composure with one little gesture? And why did she think that taking his hand was a good choice when this would cause more rumors? Surely, it was normal for a man to escort a woman when he brought her somewhere, but in their case, it would only emphasize what the servants thought about them. If she kept an eye on her chances for marriage, she would have to refuse.
But Lucille didn't think about doing that for even a moment. Instead, she quickly put her hand on top of his. “It would be an honor.” She was almost out of breath while she said that. So, she averted her eyes when he led her toward a side entrance.
When they left the building, Lucille only saw a handful of servants, but all of them seemed to watch them. Cedar didn't care, so she did her best to ignore it too. That was hard when it felt like the stares were piercing her, but it quickly became better when she saw the carriage in front of them.
She had seen the coaches of the royal palace a few times. From up close, they were even more beautiful though.
So, Lucille was busy admiring the coach while she climbed inside with her partner's help. Cedar followed her and sat on the bench next to her. When they began moving, her attention was drawn to their surroundings instead.
The royal estate was much bigger than the palace and the garden were. She had never seen most of the parts of the whole property, so she was excited to look around while they traveled into the forest. The meadows outside of the walls were wide and full of different plants. They reached as far as the eye could see, which was impressive in itself. But Lucille couldn't help but admire the forest even more, with all the different plants that surrounded the path the carriage moved on.
The carriage stopped at a less dense part of the forest, where only a few trees lined the pathways. The couple left the vehicle there. Two servants spread out a blanket and prepared the food almost immediately to start the picnic.
In the meantime, Lucille looked around and enjoyed the fresh air and the soft chirping of the birds. It was a peaceful area, and she liked being here. After having been inside for a long time, this felt nice. She even closed her eyes and enjoyed the breeze shortly, but then her attention was pulled back to her partner.
Cedar joined her after a moment and smiled at her as usual. “I would have liked to go further away from the palace, but I didn't want to risk getting close to the outer walls. It would be more dangerous there, so we have to stay here. I think this is fine though.”
Lucille nodded and returned the smile. “I am more than fine with staying here. Thank you for bringing me out. It's been a while since I went to an actual forest.”
“I'm glad that you like it. But you don't have to thank me. After all, this is my way to show my gratitude for your present.” Cedar led her toward the blanket and slowly helped her sit down. He scanned her expression with utmost care as if he were searching for traces of a specific emotion, which almost made her want to turn away. “Is it alright for you to do that with your injuries, or does it hurt?”
Stolen novel; please report.
She weakly shook her head. “It doesn't hurt. It's perfectly fine.” It felt a bit weird since she had barely moved during the past weeks, and sitting on the floor was almost new to her right now. But it didn't hurt nor did her wounds complain in general.
“Good.” Cedar sat down next to her and waved the servants away. The two people hurried off to the carriage and sat on their own blanket there while still staring at the couple. The prince glanced at them before speaking up. “I wish I could send them away, but we need attendants. Especially the guards over there. They can't just leave. I would like to convince them that I can defend us, but I don't think that will work.”
Lucille scanned the staff members for a moment before replying. “I don't think that's an issue though. They can just sit over there. I mean...isn't them being here safer?” It would be better to pay attention to make sure that no one could attack them at all times. After all, the dowager empress was still targeting them.
Cedar opened the basket while responding. “Definitely. That's why I'm not trying to convince them. I doubt that anything will happen since we are quite close to the palace, but we need to be prepared.” He pulled out a small container, which he put in the center of the blanket. Then he positioned a plate in front of Lucille and one in front of him. “Let's not worry about that though. We should enjoy today. I brought something that might make our picnic even more pleasant.” He opened the container and showed her a big slice of the cake she had made for him.
Lucille was taken aback by that. He had really brought her old cake? It couldn't have been that good. To her, it had tasted fine, but that might just be because she had made it. Why would a prince be willing to eat this during the second day as well?
Cedar seemed to guess what she was thinking when he made eye contact with her. “It was delicious, so I thought it would be a shame to let it sit in my room. We can eat another piece today. I am not sure whether the cake survived being transported here, but it looks like it's fine. I will cut off a slice for you.” He picked up the knife and looked far too elegant while he was cutting a cake on the floor in a forest.
Lucille couldn't take her eyes off him and only managed to stop staring when he made eye contact. “Ah. Thank you.” She picked up his plate to let him put a slice on top before giving her plate to him as well. Then she handed him a fork before they began eating. The cake was as good as it had been yesterday, even if the strawberries had lost some of their original taste.
For a while, the both of them just finished their cake while chatting about random things.
Lucille was glad that she didn't feel as strange as before anymore. She had managed to ban all thoughts about comparing this to a romance novel in the back of her mind. She would enjoy this as a meal with a friend instead of making it awkward by suddenly acting embarrassed. That mindset worked out rather well. She listened to Cedar, told him some things about herself and looked around for a while during the short pauses in between their conversations. She didn't have much to reveal when he already knew most about her daily life by now, but he still managed to find new topics for them every few minutes.
So, time passed quicker than she would have thought. In the end, they ate so much that they were full, and yet, they still sat there and finished the last remaining piece of the part of the cake that Cedar had brought along. At least Cedar did.
Lucille had wanted to finish her piece too, but she had to give up with only two bites being left. It was frustrating that she couldn't eat this anymore, but she was much too full to consume anything. She had already struggled with the last bites already, and this was too much. She considered waiting a few minutes before finishing, but she didn't want to force the servants, who had reminded them that they had to depart soon thrice already, to wait even longer. So, she stared at the cake and thought about whether she could force herself to eat this anyway. In the end, the response stayed the same though.
Cedar didn't take long to notice. “What is it? You can't eat it anymore?”
She bashfully shook her head. “I can't.” She almost expected to be scolded for taking more slices than she could eat, but nothing like that happened.
The prince just smiled at her. “I see. Should I finish it quickly then? We can leave afterward. You can also put it back and take it to your room as if you'd like that more.”
Lucille stared at the cake for a moment before quickly coming to a conclusion. “No. It would be great if you could finish it. It's only a little bit, but I don't think I will be able to eat cake during the next few days.” She acted without thinking after that. She just picked up a small piece of cake with her fork and lifted it while holding her other hand below it.
Just like this, she had already moved the fork in Cedar's reaction before realizing it. She only froze mid-way when she had messed up already. Her posture obviously showed that she had intended to feed him. What was wrong with her?
Lucille had only wanted him to eat it quickly, but she hadn't thought about doing something like this. She could already feel how the people around them stared at the couple while even Cedar blinked at her in confusion. She barely dared to make eye contact with him. “I'm...sorry.” She knew that this didn't make it much better. Wasn't she insulting the royal family with this right now? She definitely was. There was no way that Cedar wouldn't be upset now. She prepared to lower the fork in an attempt to hide her humiliating movement, only to be stopped.
Cedar carefully caught the fork and led it back up to put the cake piece in his mouth. He gave Lucille, who was paralyzed, a little smile before focusing on eating. She could only watch him in absolute shock. What had made him decide to do that? Had he wanted to hide her strange behavior to avoid her feeling embarrassed? If so, he was the kindest person she had ever met in her entire life.
She stared at him for a moment before letting out a weak response. “Thank you.”
Cedar finished this bite and still smiled at her. “Actually, you helped me. I need to thank you. Come on. Give me the second piece too. I think the servants will get annoyed otherwise.”
Lucille looked down at her plate before looking up at him again. Did he want her to feed him again? She wasn't sure, so she hesitantly put the last remaining piece of cake on her fork before carefully bringing it over to Cedar, who ate it too.
And even though this would only make the situation more strange, Lucille couldn't help but feel more bashful than before. Her heart beat so fast that she felt like it might jump out of her chest in a short while. At the same time, her face was so warm that she could easily simulate a fever in her current state. Blushing now was the worst thing that could happen.
Theoretically, she knew that this was dumb, but the fact that Cedar had done this just now made her overthink. Hadn't they kissed indirectly with this? No, wasn't it even more? He had used the fork that she had used before that. So...
Lucille shook her head as she pushed these thoughts away and jumped to her feet. She only wanted to pour cold water over her face to calm herself down. Being this nervous now was stupid. There had been nothing special, so she shouldn't feel like something meaningful had happened.
Cedar stood up a moment later too. “Wait. Be careful not to move too fast. You're still injured.” He picked up the basket and followed her. When he reached her, he scanned her face for traces of pain.
But once again, Lucille had been lucky. Her wound didn't hurt. Or she didn't notice it because she was too excited for that. That might have been it too. “I'm...fine. Really. I was just a bit too eager to move around again.” She couldn't even meet his gaze because she was still way too embarrassed. She just wanted to sit in the carriage and calm down a bit again. Everything would be fine with some rest. Surely, she would be able to pull herself together as soon as she looked at this from another angle. As long as Cedar didn't make a big deal out of it, she didn't have to do it either.
Cedar looked at her with skepticism but let it go anyway. “Alright. Please be more careful in the near future though. We don't want you getting hurt again. The threads have to be pulled out soon, and the wound might be a bit more painful after that. So, try to move your muscles in that area as little as possible.”
Lucille gave him a weak nod in response. “I will be careful.”
“Good.” Cedar offered her his hand, which only made it even more likely that her stupid heart would quicken its pace again. But of course, Lucille let him take her hand anyway and allowed him to lead her toward the carriage. He was even more careful while helping her inside this time.
They were quiet during the whole way back, which made the atmosphere a bit uncomfortable. But that was mostly because Lucille wasn't sure what Cedar really thought about what just happened. In the end, she had no way of knowing because she wouldn't ask him to explain it to her. She was too worried about him saying that he found it unpleasant to spend time with her when she acted so strangely. So, she just hoped that the ride would pass without them needing to think about what she had done again. She wanted to forget it and continue seeing him like before.
When they reached the palace again, the sun was already setting. Lucille would have liked to run off, but Cedar insisted on bringing her to her room, which shouldn't be a surprise because she lived directly across from him.
As they walked up the stairs, the soft flickering of the candles illuminated the hallways and cast their shadows onto the walls. For a while, they were silent before Cedar spoke up. “I enjoyed eating with you a lot. We should have another picnic in the future. There are a lot of beautiful spots in the royal estate.” He still wanted to see her. That was relieving.
Lucille couldn't help but beam at that and met his gaze for a second before looking away again. “The royal estate is really beautiful, so it would be wonderful if I could see more. And...I liked eating with you as well. So, please feel free to invite me whenever you want to.” She didn't have anything to do either way. To be honest, Cedar was the highlight of her day, so she would be overjoyed if she spent such pleasant times with him soon again. Of course, she wouldn't attempt to feed him in the future though.
Cedar glanced at her as they reached the third floor. “It's good that we are on the same page. We should have enough free time too. I'll try to pick some nice places in the royal estate. Maybe you could make another cake for that day.”
Lucille quickly nodded. If Cedar enjoyed eating what she had made, she would be happy to bring him food again and again. “I will... If I manage to do it again, that is.” She was dependent on Blanche's help after all. “But I will definitely bring something nice when we meet again.”
Cedar slowed his pace when they reached her door and turned to her as a wide grin formed on his face. “Then you should just bring yourself along. That will be the most pleasant surprise.” She could swear that he had known exactly how she would react when she said that. He kept his eyes on her the whole time while watching her reaction after all.
Lucille cursed herself, but her heart had skipped a beat again. She opened her mouth to respond but closed it again without saying anything. After that, she stared at the floor and muttered a small reply. “Thank you.” He had said that she was a nice surprise after all, right? She didn't even know anymore. Lucille felt like retreating now might be for the best unless she wanted to embarrass herself even more. So, she forced herself to speak up while still avoiding eye contact. “I...wanted to tell you that I really liked our picnic today. Thank you for inviting me. But it's gotten rather late, so I should go to bed. Goodbye.”
Cedar still smiled at her. “Of course. It's been a while since you were outside for so long. We don't want you to over-exhaust yourself. Have a good night's sleep and rest well. We will see each other tomorrow, right?”
Lucille slowly lifted her head to nod. “That would be nice. Until tomorrow. I hope you'll sleep well too.” With that, she turned to the door and opened it. She stepped into her room and wanted to wave before closing the door.
Cedar stopped her at the last moment. He had come a bit closer to the door and was directly in front of her now. Her breathing hitched, but he only seemed to smile more at that. “I didn't tell you what I think yet, did I? You look wonderful. You always do, but today, you were especially enchanting. That dress fits you perfectly, so it just underlines your natural beauty. Good night.”
Lucille felt like her heart stopped working for a moment before it quickened its pace. She opened her mouth but didn't have a response this time. The well-known, traitorous blush came back to her cheeks, and she took a step back. “Good...night.” For the first time in a while, she had stuttered while speaking. That only made her even more embarrassed. She quickly waved toward Cedar, who mirrored the motion with a bright smile. Then she closed the door behind herself.
She waited there for a few seconds before she turned around and leaned her back against the door. This wasn't good. She had always just thought that Cedar was a good friend, whom she cared about so much that she reacted strangely to him. But by now, she was almost sure that this title was wrong. She didn't react like this when Fiona told her that she looked pretty.
Cedar wasn't just a friend to her.
Was Lucille really so foolish? Would she ask for more than a friendship when she knew that she should be content with what she had? This had no chance of success.
Cedar was the prince of Artias. He was a confident person. He was ambitious, intelligent and did what it took to change his life. He was decisive.
And then there was Lucille. She was a viscount's daughter. She was unremarkable, had no special traits and self-confidence that was barely there. And yet, being with Cedar made her want to believe.
He was so kind to her. Was that normal to him? Was he used to speaking to everyone so nicely? Or was she really special to him? He had told her a lot about himself, so he probably trusted her to some extent. Or was she just imagining it? Lucille had no idea.
She slowly slid down the door and wanted to sit, but her stomach ached and made her stop. She stood upright again and just stared into her room. Her strange reactions made so much more sense when she looked at it from this angle. This wasn't good.
She might be on the right track to falling in love with Cedar. And she wasn't sure whether she could still change that.