For Better or For Worse

Chapter 9

* * *

A woman had run from the dance floor in the middle of a dance, and all the guests turned their gazes toward Cedric. Left with no other choice, Cedric followed Dillon, who was heading toward the garden.

“Lady Dillon,” he called out, walking along the neatly manicured pathway. He eventually found her sitting on a bench.

Hearing Cedric’s voice, Dillon raised her head and heaved a deep sigh. “You don’t have to apologize. Let’s just say both of us made a mistake and move on.” It was quite an audacious thing for the person who had just stomped on a man’s foot in front of everyone to say.

Cedric shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to her. “But you said it was on purpose,” he said.

“That was because you—” She stopped herself. “Never mind.”

Crickets chirped noisily while they sat. After a brief silence, Dillon spoke again.

“Listen to me. I’m sure you have no idea why I’m acting like this. I probably seem very strange, and you might even think I’m getting in the way of you proposing to Emily out of jealousy. I understand where you’re coming from, even if it makes me uncomfortable. But it’s really not like that,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. “I’m only trying to look out for my little sister. Really. I’m not saying that you’re a bad person, my lord. I know you’ll make a wonderful husband. I simply wish for your partner to be someone other than Emily.”

“Then would it be fine if it were you?”

“Pardon me?” Dillon said, raising her head at the unexpected response.

“Would you be fine with it if I proposed to you instead of Lady Emily?” Cedric reiterated.

Dillon frowned at his nonchalance. “You won’t do that.”

“You don’t know that for certain.”

“It’s ridiculous. There’s no reason you would propose to me instead of Emily,” Dillon countered, scoffing.

She spoke as if she were stating the obvious, but to Cedric’s ears, it almost seemed like she was asking, Why would you be interested in me when Emily is right there? He wondered why she was devaluing herself, and it bothered him.

Dillon may not have had Emily’s striking beauty, but nothing about her justified being put down like that. Yet for some reason, she treated herself like old milk or a hand-me-down. Cedric didn’t like it, and he wanted to prove her wrong.

“Why wouldn’t there be a reason?” he asked.

“I mean, I’ve been nothing but rude to you, my lord.”

“Maybe daring and provocative women are my type.”

“Um... I’m also not as beautiful as Emily,” Dillon argued.

“I don’t really like blondes,” Cedric said. “I actually like dark-haired women. Like yourself.”

“I’m also older than her.”

“You’re younger than me.”

As all of Dillon’s arguments were shot down one by one, her face grew more and more perplexed. Cedric gave her a half-smile.

“Is making fun of me entertaining to you?” Dillon asked.

Only then did Cedric realize that what she said was true: Seeing such a recklessly fiery woman squirm in discomfort was, in fact, immensely entertaining. He felt a twisted sense of triumph at seeing her so embarrassed, and he was definitely enjoying keeping her off-balance.

But Cedric disguised his epiphany and shrugged. “Well, I’m not making fun of you, but if I were, maybe it would be because I find your aggressive, unyielding, outspoken attitude amusing.”

“Please stop joking around,” Dillon insisted, appalled at Cedric’s affected sweetness. Her look of astonishment was also very amusing. Cedric leaned harder into teasing her.

“Maybe even the way you order me around is charming,” he went on. “And the way that your feet repeatedly stepped on mine was absolutely electrify—”

“I told you I didn’t mean to do that!” Dillon protested.

Cedric didn’t listen. “When I was chasing you out here, it’s possible I could have thought that the moon was beautiful, that it’s just the two of us here, and that’s why I suddenly wanted to say this,” he said.

“You’re really making my skin crawl, so if you would just stop—” Dillon started, but Cedric interrupted her.

“Lady Dillon Langton, will you marry m—”

“I knew it!” came a voice, which did not belong to Dillon.

Dillon and Cedric looked toward the foliage where the voice came from, and there, peeking out from between the well-tended trees was Emily’s flushed face.

“I told you!” she exclaimed, addressing her older sister. “He was aiming for you! I knew the two of you would end up together! Eee!”

“Wait a second, Emily. That’s not what—” Dillon tried to explain, but Emily was too fast. Gathering up the skirts of her dress, Emily made a mad dash to the ballroom.

“Daaad!!! Haleyyy!!! Lord Cedric has proposed to Dillon!!!”

“Wait, Emily! W-wait up!” Dillon called out, chasing after her, but Emily had already disappeared into the manor. For someone whose anemia was aggravated when she took more than thirty steps, she was quite nimble.

The ballroom hummed with hushed murmurs as Emily rushed in. The crowd covered their faces with their fans or drinks, but it did nothing to muffle their chattering.

“What did you say, Emily?” Viscount Langton asked.

“Just now, the Marquess of Northerland proposed to Dillon in the garden, Father! Goodness, it was so romantic,” Emily gushed.

Viscount Langton’s eyes hardened.

“‘You’re so provocative, it’s both exhilarating and charming. I wanted to propose to you under the beautiful moonlight.’ That was what he said!” Emily recalled, imitating Cedric’s low voice. Gasps could be heard among the guests as they listened to Emily’s grossly distorted version of the conversation.

No, that’s not true! Dillon heaved air into her lungs. You’re fast, Emily. Too fast. When had her little sister—who was born prematurely and had always been weak—suddenly learned to run like a gazelle?

Dillon wanted to scream out that it wasn’t what Emily thought, but she was so out of breath that nothing aside from gasping pants could escape her throat. Dillon grabbed at the stitch in her side and dragged herself to where Emily was regaling their father. Everything was going wrong in the worst way possible.

“I’m right, aren’t I, Dillon?” Emily asked.

“No, that’s… hah… not… hah… it,” Dillon gasped, trying to catch her breath.

Emily’s eyes were practically sparkling, but Dillon shook her head vehemently. Her cute little sister had horribly misunderstood the situation. Come to think of it, Emily had been acting pretty suspicious at the beverage table, but Dillon never expected her to follow them out to the garden.

Every single gaze in the small ballroom was now fixed on Dillon, who slowly caught her breath. She hated attention. It was better to hide between her handsome twin brother and her beautiful younger sister. That was how she had lived up until this point. She wasn’t used to a large group of people hanging on her every word.

“But I’m not lying, Da— Father,” Emily insisted. She looked bewildered as she said, “I heard it clearly, with my own two ears.”

“Emily,” Dillon sighed, waving her hand dismissively. “You did hear that, but it was just a big joke.”

“A joke? He proposed to you as a joke?” Viscount Langton demanded, his voice dropping an octave.

Oh no, I shouldn’t have said that. Dillon realized too late that she had chosen the wrong word. Robert’s face had already hardened irreversibly. An honorable man would never ask for a woman’s hand in marriage so lightly, even if she was a country bumpkin. And if she was the daughter of Robert Langton, then all the more so.

“Th-that’s not it—” Dillon tried to rectify.

“Then what made him say all that?” Robert asked.

Dillon’s mouth slammed shut as she thought, I asked him not to propose to Emily. There was no way she could tell her father the truth, lest she unleash the chaos of making it seem like a scandal where two sisters were fighting over a single man.

“Are you going to give me an answer?” Robert asked. “Well if you won’t tell me, why don’t you explain yourself, Cedric.”

Oh no. Damn it. At Robert’s words, Dillon whirled around to find Cedric looking cool and composed. Leaning against the entryway, he... looked every bit the part of the handsome male lead.

Why did handsome guys always look so unshaken even amid a disastrous situation? Unlike Dillon, who was still clutching at her side in pain, Cedric looked as relaxed as could be. His lips were even quirked into a placid smile—

Wait, hold on.

He was smiling?