“What, are you two that close? Stop pretending to be friendly.”
Roman smiled as he fired off a cold remark. At the rather harsh words, Marvin awkwardly lowered the hand he had raised to greet him.
“Well, that may be true… but who knows what could happen now.”
Marvin quickly lowered himself and showed a sycophantic smile. He looked like he was willing to do anything to please Roman.
Roman openly sneered at him. But Marvin seemed to have expected such treatment and wasn’t shaken at all.
“Let’s sit down for now…”
“Is it something worth that much effort?”
“Ah, then I’ll make it as quick as possible.”
“Before that.”
“Yes, Lord Roman.”
“If you keep summoning me like this, it’s going to be a problem. Don’t you know the Duke isn’t someone to take lightly?”
“Of course I know. That’s why I made sure to avoid people’s eyes as much as possible…”
“Spare me the obvious excuses. Just say what you want and be done with it.”
Though he had started the conversation himself, Roman suddenly cut it off like it was nothing, and this time even Marvin couldn’t hide his emotions.
Only when Roman saw him clenching his teeth and trying to swallow his anger did he smile with satisfaction.
“As I mentioned already…”
Marvin started off cautiously and looked around nervously as if someone might be listening. Then he stepped closer to Roman and lowered his voice.
Of course, to Roman, all of Marvin’s actions were utterly unnecessary.
He didn’t even bother hiding how irritating he found Marvin’s presence.
His face clearly showed it, but Marvin, too busy scanning the surroundings, didn’t notice.
“It won’t fall short compared to what you’re getting now.”
“Right. That sounds good enough.”
As Roman nodded and responded, a wave of relief washed over Marvin’s face—though it disappeared quickly.
“I do like money, sure, but honestly, that amount isn’t all that tempting.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You’re trying to pull me to your side with just not worse than what I currently get?”
Roman crossed his arms and took on a relaxed posture. Marvin couldn’t hide his panic, clearly unprepared for this response.
“You do know the Duke is quite generous, don’t you? You’ll need to go above and beyond that before I’d even think about it.”
With those words, Roman made it clear he wasn’t lacking anything—but also left room for negotiation.
It meant that if they offered significantly more than what he had now, he could join them anytime.
Marvin picked up on what Roman was implying and couldn’t hide his joy.
“Of course. Someone as capable as Lord Roman deserves that kind of treatment. I’ll make sure to explain that clearly.”
“Again? That’s such a bother. Don’t bother coming again.”
At Roman’s words, Marvin flinched and grabbed his arm. Of course, Roman roughly shook off his hand, as if something filthy had touched him.
But Marvin didn’t even show a hint of discomfort. Instead, he tried even harder to win Roman over.
“I’ll definitely bring good news.”
“We’ll see. It’s not easy to impress me.”
“Of course. I’ll make sure to explain it well and come back with something that truly suits your talents.”
“Let’s see how it goes.”
Leaving only those words, Roman exited the warehouse. Only after the spine-chilling creak of the metal door faded did Marvin collapse to the ground in exhaustion.
“Haa… Thank goodness he’s the kind of man who does anything for money.”
Marvin let out a sigh of relief. Right now, Roman was the lifeline he had to cling to, no matter what.
He had only met Schneider once. That one time when he decided to become one of his people, he met Schneider in person.
He hadn’t said a word. They’d only made eye contact, but it gave Marvin chills all over.
Raynan was scary, sure, but Schneider was terrifying in a completely different way.
How had he ended up stuck between these two and suffering like this?
Marvin sighed again. Back when he knew nothing and simply worked as an attendant, life had been easier and more peaceful.
This unstable life where he could die at anyone’s hand at any time— it had all started from a fleeting moment of selfish ambition.
“There’s no point regretting it now.”
At this point, Marvin had no choice but to drag Roman over to Schneider’s side. That was the only way he could survive.
“Renee… how did that even happen…”
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out where it had all gone wrong. He had only carried out an order to make a small threat.
So how had he ended up drinking the poison meant for Renee?
He was sure Raynan knew that whatever he’d suffered wasn’t just a simple stomachache.
He could tell just by how Raynan kept him away from Edwin and wouldn’t let him do anything properly.
But keeping him in the Duke’s estate was what made Marvin even more anxious. And what about Schneider?
Even though Schneider knew Marvin had failed, he hadn’t said anything. No new orders had come since then either.
Marvin’s anxiety grew each day, and it was getting harder and harder to bear.
So he chose Roman. Roman was someone Schneider had wanted for a long time.
Not only was he highly skilled and clever, but he also didn’t shy away from dirty work. He was exactly the kind of person Schneider valued most.
On top of that, Roman was one of Raynan’s closest people. If they could get him, taking down the Loerian family was just a matter of time.
But just approaching Roman was a challenge in itself. He was incredibly sharp, and there was always a risk that word would get back to Raynan.
That’s why Roman—someone Schneider had long desired, but no one had been able to get close to—remained untouched.
“If I can just convince Lord Roman…”
Then Marvin could survive. He figured that if he was going to die anyway, he might as well try something— and maybe that bold move was his one stroke of luck.
Roman responded immediately at the mention of a large sum of money.
“Please… please, let this work…”
Schneider would spend as much as it took to get Roman. Now, it was all up to Roman.
Marvin’s life-risking gamble finally looked like it was going somewhere.
“Thank goodness Roman only cares about profit.”
Now came another long stretch of waiting. What kind of answer would come from Schneider? How would Roman respond next?
At this point, Marvin didn’t care about money or a steady job.
All he wanted—was to stay alive. That alone.
****
Amelia and Cecile didn’t ask me anything and just gave me time when I was feeling confused.
I tried to sleep, but couldn’t fall asleep. Still, spending some quiet time alone helped settle my tangled thoughts a bit.
Of course, the calm that had barely returned started to stir again. It was because of Erin, who barged in without the slightest sense of consideration.
“Oh my, Lady Renee. Are you feeling very unwell? Should I call Austin?”
Cecile and Amelia looked troubled, as if they had tried to stop Erin from entering the room.
Their hands, frozen mid-air, showed exactly how they had been desperately trying to hold Erin back.
“No, I think I was just tired. I feel better now that I’ve rested.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
Erin’s voice was louder than usual, and it made my ears hurt. But I smiled as if nothing was wrong.
Seeing my reaction, Cecile and Amelia cautiously came into the room and looked me over.
“Are you really okay?”
“Yeah. But still, you didn’t even finish cleaning because of me. I’m sorry.”
I suddenly remembered how Amelia and Cecile had dropped everything and followed me.
At my words, they both gave me a similar smile.
“There are plenty of people to handle the cleanup. You’re more important, Lady Renee.”
Amelia said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and I felt awkward for no reason.
“You’ve seemed pretty worn out lately, so I’ll prepare a healthy dinner.”
“That sounds nice. Is there anything in particular you’d like to eat?”
At Cecile’s suggestion, Amelia’s face brightened as if it were a great idea.
“Hmm… I’m not really craving anything specific.”
“Then I’ll have them focus on energy-boosting dishes.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“No need to thank me. It’s my job.”
Cecile’s voice was blunt, but I could feel the emotion behind it now. It seemed she had been really worried about me.
I let out a small sigh without meaning to, and Erin quickly rushed over to fuss over me.
“Are you really okay? Maybe morning sickness…”
No, she wasn’t fussing—Erin was trying to find out if I was pregnant.
Annoyance suddenly surged up inside me.
“Are you that curious about whether I’m pregnant, Erin?”
Unlike Erin, who had lowered her voice as if trying to be discreet, I asked loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear.
Though at this point, only Amelia was still in the room.
“N-no, of course not, Lady Renee.”
Erin looked genuinely flustered, her face red with embarrassment.
It was obvious that not only was she embarrassed, but her pride had taken a hit too.
I didn’t quite understand why, but just as Erin claimed to know me well, I also knew plenty about her.
Saying something like that in front of someone else, even if unintentionally, must have hurt her pride—especially since it happened twice now.
“Come to think of it, what were you talking about with the Duke earlier?”
When I casually brought it up, Erin flinched a little.
She had clearly assumed I wouldn’t ask—or that I’d ask just as quietly as she had.
After that brief flinch, Erin deliberately acted flustered.
It seemed like a performance. Maybe she was too shaken to hide it properly, but even I could clearly see through her.
“Hmm? Why?”
I asked again with a completely calm tone, and for a split second, she frowned. But then she quickly put on a troubled look and answered me.
“He just asked if there were any issues with your health… That’s all I replied to.”
“I see.”
With that, I completely cut off my attention toward Erin. Then, looking restless, she lingered near me as if she didn’t know what to do.
That must’ve been unexpected for her, too.
She had probably planned to continue the conversation somehow, but I’d made that impossible.
As for me, I didn’t want to deal with her anymore. The lie had been far too obvious.
And knowing she’d tell such a shallow lie, why had I even asked?
What had I been trying to confirm?
I kept up a casual smile as I chatted with Amelia about this and that, but I couldn’t remember what we’d talked about.
Just trying to calm the swirl of emotions inside me was hard enough as it was.
