I Was Just Trying To Raise Male Lead

Chapter 15

 

Rustle—

 

It was the sound of leaves rustling. Time stood still, and that small sound set it in motion again.

 

I turned my head towards the sound, but nothing caught my eye right away.

 

Was it the sound of the wind? As I was turning my head again, I noticed the low trees shaking slightly.

 

Soon enough, a gap opened up and familiar faces appeared. It was Chase and Edwin.

 

“Renee?”

 

Edwin’s face showed a mixture of joy and confusion as he peeked his head out from between the trees.

 

And Chase’s face next to him was full of surprise and embarrassment. He may have been trying to stop Edwin, but Chase, who was holding his arm, remained frozen.

 

I was just rolling my eyes at the awkward atmosphere and realized it too late. The fact that I’m so close to Raynan.

 

I couldn’t bring myself to push Raynan away and, like Chase, I also froze.

 

Raynan was the only one among us who showed no signs of agitation.

 

No, I only gave a brief glance to Edwin and Chase who suddenly appeared.

 

He looked at me again and immediately reached out to me and brushed the hair that fell from my face when I turned my head.

 

Raynan’s behavior was so natural that I forgot to avoid it.

 

After fixing her hair, he released her other hand from around her waist and stepped back a little.

 

Thanks to this, a little space was created between me and Raynan. I slowly took a step back, looking at his gaze.

 

While I was distancing myself from him, Raynan’s eyes were fixed on Edwin.

 

Raynan’s expression as he stared at Edwin was somehow familiar. The moment she remembered the last time she had seen a face like that, Raynan opened his mouth.

 

“Young master Edwin!”

 

Raynan stopped what he was saying when he heard my voice burst out loud.

 

Three pairs of eyes focused on me at once. I tried to ignore the stinging feeling on my face and calmed my voice before continuing.

 

“You are already studying enough.”

 

At my words, Raynan clicked his tongue, as if he was disappointed.

 

I knew it. It seemed like a new class was about to be added.

 

Raynan quickly took his gaze away from Edwin and turned his head in the other direction.

 

“Chase!”

 

As expected, Raynan turned to me again at the urgent voice.

 

“He is a very good gardener.”

 

He put his hands in his pants pockets and tilted his head slightly. Something about that look seemed to be telling me to continue, so I tried hard to keep my mouth shut.

 

“Young master Edwin also follows Chase well, and has a more delicate side than Chase…”

 

It felt like I was repeating what I said earlier, but I couldn’t help it.

 

At most, Edwin would have one more class, but there was no way to know what would happen to Chase.

 

“He’s also a gardener who loves trees and flowers…”

 

The more I spoke, the more my voice became quieter as I felt Raynan’s eyes were getting colder.

 

I thought it would be better to just stop talking, but even that didn’t work out the way I wanted.

 

The words continued in gibberish, to the point where I couldn’t even figure out what I wanted to say.

 

“I see. So that means it would be difficult to send it somewhere else, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

When I answered, Raynan nodded. Then he looked at Chase for a moment and then left.

 

It wasn’t until Raynan walked away that Chase took a deep breath. Even then, he continued to take several deep breaths, as if the tension had not subsided.

 

Who wouldn’t be nervous in front of Raynan? It was a bit unexpected to see Chase so visibly nervous.

 

As I looked at him with a new sense of wonder, Chase took a breath and spoke to me.

 

“I’m indebted to you.”

 

“Huh? No, to the extent of saying you’re indebted to me….”

 

I didn’t expect to hear something like this, so I threw up my hand in embarrassment and he looked at me with complicated eyes.

 

“But it would have been better not to say that.”

 

How hard was it to squeeze out praise? Without realizing it, I looked at Chase with resentful eyes.

 

When our eyes met, he quickly looked away and spoke.

 

“Thank you.”

 

And before I could say anything, he turned to Edwin.

 

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, young master Edwin.”

 

“Yes. See you tomorrow.”

 

For a moment, I stared blankly at Chase back, who quickly left the place without even looking back.

 

Raynan looks at the flowers Edwin is tending to and then walks away, and Chase leaves Edwin behind first.

 

Edwin and I, who were left behind, had similar faces. Both he and I seemed equally confused by this situation.

 

*****

 

When Roman visited Raynan’s office, he was unusually absent.

 

He said he would return soon, but it took longer than expected, so he asked the maid, and the answer he received was that he had gone out with Renee.

 

“Ah, did she say she had to visit him today?”

 

I remembered the look of helpless resentment on her face.

 

“Lucky or unlucky?”

 

Roman clicked his tongue and muttered. I guess she’s lucky that she’s still safe after bothering Raynan so much…

 

It also felt like the opposite, seeing as how Roman’s advice hadn’t been enough to keep him away from the office.

 

Now I really needed to find a way to comfort Edwin. I didn’t know if Edwin’s favorite nanny was about to change.

 

Contrary to what people might assume, Roman, who cared a lot for Edwin, was about to start looking for a way to comfort him when Raynan returned to the office.

 

With a pretty upset face.

 

Roman’s opinion was that Renee was unlucky. He went out with her and came back with his face like this.

 

Roman sighed inwardly and began his report with his usual expressionless face.

 

“Is it a compliment to have a delicate personality?”

 

Even while Roman was emphatically talking about important issues, Raynan could hardly concentrate. It was obvious that he was thinking about something else, and then he suddenly asked an unexpected question.

 

“It depends on what you mean, right?”

 

I quickly tried to explain, but it didn’t work. Instead, he glared at me more harshly than usual, and he lowered his head.

 

I had no idea where on earth he had heard this and why he was doing this here.

 

“What if a woman praised a man twice for his delicate personality?”

 

“It’s a compliment, right? Even the Duke said it was a compliment.”

 

“What is a delicate personality?”

 

“I don’t know, could you focus on something else?”

 

“What was that?”

 

“The rumors about you, Edwin, are terrible.”

 

“Leave it alone.”

 

“But so far…”

 

“Wouldn’t these stories have come out someday anyway? What are we going to do about it?”

 

“There’s also talk of the Duke’s marriage, though it’s been buried by Edwin’s rumors.”

 

“Marriage?”

 

His attitude was indifferent, as if he was hearing someone else’s story. Roman also nodded calmly, as if he were telling someone else’s story.

 

“That’s what they say.”

 

“With whom?”

 

“Bella Krause.”

 

“You moved quickly on the Krause family.”

 

“It’s good to keep the Schneider family in check, and Lady Bella is famous for being very greedy.”

 

The Schneider family has had a hostile relationship with the Loerian family for a very long time.

 

The two families, who were at similar levels at first, engaged in friendly competition. But over time, the relationship was very damaged.

 

Competition has turned into a check, and has also developed into a threat. Before we knew it, the two families had become desperate to eliminate each other.

 

As time passed, it now felt like it was natural. Although they had been attacking each other unnoticed, no one in the empire knew that the two families had a bad relationship.

 

Of course, thanks to that, both families were able to grow steadily, but it was also true that there were risks lurking around.

 

“It’s Krause…”

 

“Even though he is a marquis, his wealth and connections are as good as any other Duke’s, so it is not a bad deal.”

 

“Indeed…”

 

Even as he continued to answer, it was clear that Raynan’s mind was somewhere else.

 

Roman, knowing full well that it would be quicker to just get the job done rather than keep him focused, chose to push ahead with the task.

 

Even if it seemed like he wasn’t listening, Roman was the type of person who would point it out right away if he said something wrong.

 

The fact that there are no special words means that there will be no problem if we proceed as is.

 

“Then, I will proceed with marrying Lady Bella.”

 

“No.”

 

“Yes?”

 

When Roman heard the unexpected answer, he asked back in surprise.

 

“Leave it alone.”

 

“Still, in many ways it would be better for you to get married. The story about Edwin will also subside.”

 

“Especially because everyone knows how greedy Bella is, right?”

 

“Yes. Lady Bella will not let Edwin ascend to the throne, in fact.”

 

“Yes. Just because Bella becomes a Loerian, the story about Edwin will come out together.”

 

“Does that bother you?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then why…?”

 

“Isn’t it Krause who is in urgent need, not me?”

 

“Oh, I see.”

 

“I won’t just sit still. It will increase the rumor, and if I don’t respond, they will be even more anxious.”

 

“All right. Let’s check again to see how much we can get.”

 

“Okay.”

 

This was the end of Roman’s report. There was no way Raynan didn’t know that, but the words to leave the place didn’t come out of his mouth.

 

He still seemed to be thinking deeply about something. Even so, he definitely hadn’t forgotten that Roman was there. If that’s the case, then he probably doesn’t want Roman to go out…

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

It was no mistake that he looked like he had to ask. His quick response to Roman’s question was almost as if he’d been waiting for it.

 

“I guess.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Roman tensed at the sound of Raynan’s deeply subdued voice. Seeing as it was more serious than usual, it seemed like there was something Roman had missed.

 

‘What on earth? Has anything better happened to the Krause family these days? There was more to rip out, but I couldn’t figure it out.’

 

No, It wasn’t. I knew this was going to come out of the Krause family, so I checked several times.

 

‘Then it’s Schneider.’

 

That was even more impossible.

 

Missing out on things about the Schneider family while working at the Loerian family was a mistake that should never have been made.

 

No matter how much I thought about it, I had no idea what I was missing. It’s been a long time since I felt this frustrated.

 

Raynan, who had no way of knowing Roman’s frustration, slowly opened his mouth. Roman’s face, who had been listening to Raynan’s story with utmost concentration, slightly distorted.

 

“What did you say?”

 

It was clear that I heard wrong. It wasn’t something Raynan would say this seriously, and it certainly wasn’t something he would be distracted by.

 

I guess my health has suffered because I’ve been working too much these days. The moment he doubted himself, Raynan confirmed that he was wrong.

 

“I think Renee has feelings for me.”