Chapter 13
“Very often?”
In response to my confused question, Roman nodded with a very serious expression.
I remembered something from just a few days ago. Didn’t Raynan come to the garden and urge me to talk about Edwin?
The dizzying memory of telling a story from midday until dusk made me break into a cold sweat.
I couldn’t believe how often I’d come to visit him. I couldn’t believe how unfair it was.
I didn’t have the courage to tell Roman openly, so I just expressed my resentment with my eyes. Of course, the moment I made eye contact with him, I immediately looked away.
Suddenly, I heard him click his tongue in disappointment. I looked at Roman and he shook his head.
“Roman?”
“I have always lived with the idea that it is beneficial not to interfere in other people’s affairs….”
It was an ominous introduction. It was not difficult to guess that the words that followed could not be good.
“I think it would be good for your reputation to keep out of the Duke’s sight as much as possible.”
“As much as possible?”
“It would be nice if the Duke were completely unaware of your existence.”
Doesn’t that mean that you shouldn’t appear in front of him at all?
My eyes darkened at Roman’s words.
“I was supposed to come visit him today…”
“That’s too bad.”
He seemed to pity me, but his tone of voice and expression did not show that at all. I lost strength in his very dry and insincere words.
I heard this and I have to go see Raynan soon.
“Why did you have to tell me today, today…”
Roman was kind enough to tell me how he heard the words that came out like a sigh.
“If I had known, I would have told you tomorrow, but that’s too bad.”
As usual, there was not the slightest hint of sincerity in his words.
No, I couldn’t figure out why everyone was confusing people like this.
Raynan, who had been making people nervous by giving such cold stares, actually says it’s okay, or Roman, who was giving her a strange look, tells her not to visit Raynan again…?
As I wandered around among these unknown people, I felt like my head or heart would explode.
I really wanted to leave and find a stable job.
I never once in my life thought that my life would become unstable.
“By the way, Roman.”
“Yes?”
“What do you think would happen… if I got out of the Duke’s sight?”
“Hmm.”
Roman stroked his chin after hearing my hesitant question. He stared at me for a moment and then answered with a meaningful smile.
“It will be moved to a suitable place.”
“a-a suitable place?”
“Yes.”
What a suitable place. Where is it!
I wanted to ask in detail. But at the same time, I didn’t want to hear it.
I wanted to be sure, but I was also afraid that an explanation more horrifying and terrifying than I could have imagined would follow.
“Is there a big difference between what I think is appropriate and what Roman thinks is appropriate?”
Roman laughed softly at my question. But in the end, I couldn’t hear the answer to that question.
For no reason, the uncomfortable feeling only grew. I thought about pressing for an answer one more time, but it didn’t seem like Roman would give me a clear answer.
Instead, I looked at his thoughts and asked another question.
“Why are you telling me this?”
It took a lot of courage, but I couldn’t help but ask. There was no way he would do something that didn’t benefit him.
But even if I was out of Raynan’s sight, he had nothing to lose.
On the other hand, I couldn’t see what he had to gain.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at him, and Roman snorted in disbelief.
When I flinched, wondering if I was looking hateful to not only Raynan but also Roman, he opened his mouth.
“Young master Edwin likes you more than I thought, so I did something I didn’t do before.”
He was strangely kind and gentle. Was he really like this?
Roman showed a faint smile, perhaps knowing that I was confused.
The smile on his pale and gaunt face made the shadow on his face even darker.
It’s a trap. This is clearly a trap.
I got goosebumps as I saw a mysterious smile in front of me, as if it had a deep, insidious plan hidden in it.
As if reading my thoughts, his smile grew bigger and bigger.
“Then let’s go out.”
“Yes. Be sure to listen to my advice.”
Roman did not forget to add threats or even advice until the end.
I couldn’t relax until the moment I closed the door to his office, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I was completely out of Roman’s sight.
“So should I believe it or not?”
If there was a machine that could read people’s minds, I wanted to buy it with all my money. Why are there no such machines or magic in this world?
If I was going to be possessed anyway, why not give me special powers?
As I was complaining about my worldview, I ended up in front of Edwin’s bedroom. I sighed as I opened Edwin’s bedroom door.
In the room where I thought no one would be, someone was walking back and forth nervously.
“Marvin?”
Marvin was startled when he heard my voice, probably not knowing I had come in.
“Re, Renee?”
“Are you back already? Where is Edwin?”
Edwin, who was obviously supposed to be with him, was nowhere to be seen. He answered my question with a puzzled expression.
“Chase said he would take him, so I came first. I didn’t know you would come so soon.”
It seemed to be to prepare for the need to wash immediately upon returning from the garden.
“Are you okay?”
Marvin asked, looking at me with concern.
I tilted my head because it felt like he was trying to find an answer to something.
“What do you mean, are you okay?”
“Oh, no, I was just wondering if there was something Roman needed you to do.”
“Oh, I see….”
When I remembered the conversation with Roman, my mood sank in an instant.
“Why? What did he say?”
“I don’t know what Roman is thinking. Why would he say that?”
“Yes?”
Marvin was taken aback by the question asked without any content. She wasn’t really looking for an answer, so she sighed and shook her head.
Marvin must have felt sorry for me, so he carefully placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Isn’t the Duke the only one who can know what Roman is thinking?”
“… I guess so.”
“More than that, what did Roman say that made you feel so weak?”
His voice as he asked the question subtly sounded more meaningful than other times.
Is it because I have become more sensitive? Yes, it was worth it. Because I talked to Roman alone and even heard those words.
I glanced back at him for a moment, and I realized I was staring at Marvin.
It was a meaningless glance, but somehow he interpreted it, and Marvin threw up his hands in exasperation.
“No. Maybe I can help you, can’t I?”
“Help?”
“Yeah, tell me anything.”
“Anything?”
“Sure. Anything you’re comfortable with.”
“Well, then…”
After hesitating for a moment, I opened my mouth, and a smile slowly appeared on Marvin’s face.
“Is life always this tiring? Is there no easy way to live?”
Just in case, I grabbed Marvin and asked him a bunch of questions. He just blinked with a dazed look on his face.
I see. There’s no way you would know. If you knew that, would you be here like this?
The anticipation that burned for a very short moment cooled down even less quickly.
*****
At some point, things started to go differently than planned. If she made even the slightest mistake, Marvin’s life would fall off the cliff.
The good news was that the timing was only slightly different and did not seem to have much of an impact on the results.
Still, it wasn’t easy to care about Renee, who kept bouncing off in unpredictable directions.
It’s better to worry about Renee.
It was none other than Erin who tormented Marvin day after day.
As things progressed in a better direction, Erin’s hysterics became more and more severe. Every time that happened, Erin would come to Marvin and harass him for a long time.
I am so sick of her selfishness and not even thinking about the risk of being noticed by someone just to vent her anger.
Since Roman found Renee, Erin might come to visit again tonight.
Just trying to guess why Roman had called Renee was confusing in my mind.
Meanwhile, when I remembered her nervousness, I became irritated.
“For being that greedy.”
“Marvin?”
Marvin was so busy swearing at Erin that he didn’t even hear Renee enter the bedroom.
Marvin’s body bounced upward at Renee’s call. At that moment, I thought, Oops.
Anyone could see that it was an unnatural movement.
Anyway, Erin wasn’t of any help.
Marvin cursed Erin once again in his mind and looked at Renee’s face.
I checked to see if she had heard me talking to myself, or if she was looking at me strangely because I had been so shocked a moment ago.
Fortunately, Renee didn’t have any doubts and was just blinking in confusion.
Maybe Erin had done something right.
Renee was quite oblivious.
Of course, I didn’t think Erin would have thought about this and chose Renee.
However, as Erin’s nerves increased, she began to appreciate Renee’s dull personality.
Even if Erin, who is nervous, says something revealing, Renee won’t notice.
Of course, because of Renee’s personality, Marvin sometimes misses the tension, which is why he makes small mistakes like talking to himself.
Perhaps this was why many people were not wary of Renee.
In fact, Renee becoming Edwin’s nanny was beyond everyone’s expectations.
It had to be much later that she caught Raynan’s eye.
Everyone was perplexed, but the reason they weren’t too worried was because it was obvious that Raynan wouldn’t pay attention to Edwin’s nanny.
It was probably natural since he didn’t even pay attention to Edwin.
But Edwin was changing little by little. The child who had always been discouraged began to smile from his heart.
Raynan naturally and indifferently gave Edwin a tutor.
Was it because of his indifferent attitude like other times? It was after Edwin had already received various educations that people began to feel strange.
Marvin, who never took his eyes off Edwin, noticed something strange before anyone else.
Both Raynan and Edwin looked a little different than before.
As rumors arose about Edwin, various stories arose about Renee as well.
What was still confusing was Renee’s presence.
It wasn’t that she didn’t affect them, but was she that powerful?
“Then I’ll prepare the bath to wash young master Edwin as soon as he comes back.”
Renee, who was spitting out an unknown story, soon slumped her shoulders and went into the bathroom.
“Could it be that Erin spread the rumor about Renee?”
It might have been overthinking. But it was a different story if Erin was the target.
In Marvin’s opinion, Raynan didn’t feel anything special about Renee. He had a bit of a generous side to his, but it wasn’t enough to be noticeable.
But Erin consistently suspected that something special had developed between Raynan and Renee.
They all seemed to think I was living under a rock.
Erin also had a strange knack for seeing only what she wanted to see and hearing only what she wanted to hear.
There was no way she was going to listen to Marvin’s story, no matter how many times I told her otherwise.
“It’s just innocent Renee who is having a hard time. Well, even if it’s not Erin, I’m going to use it anyway, so she must be suffering the same way.”
Still, it might have been a little more comfortable if it wasn’t Erin.
“I don’t think it’s time to ask about easy ways to live.”
Leaving this mansion might be the only way to make the rest of her life easier. But he had no intention of telling Renee.
Although Renee was a small part of what they wanted to achieve, she was a person who should never be left out.
No, she was no longer a small part of what they were trying to accomplish. She must not leave the ducal residence.
“No, more than that, what did you hear from Roman?”
I realized that I hadn’t really heard something important from Renee about her situation.
Roman wasn’t the type of person to make time for someone without a reason. If so, he must have been talking about Raynan.
One of Marvin’s missions was to gather every little bit of information regarding Raynan.
He’d forgotten to ask Renee, who was the easiest person to talk to.
It was time for Marvin to blame his nervousness, which had once again been disrupted by Renee’s pace.
