Chapter 21
After calling me, he didn’t say anything for a while.
It seemed like everything in the world was asleep and only Raynan and I were awake. The sound of the two people breathing who couldn’t sleep this night filled the room.
I was the one who couldn’t stand the silence. I opened my eyes, but there was no response from Raynan.
Unable to wait, I slowly turned my head. With an awkward movement, as if a creaking sound would be heard at any moment.
Raynan was looking at me with a face as calm and dark as the night surrounding us.
“Now stop holding my hands…”
“Oh, that’s right.”
It was only for a moment that I was happy that I could barely escape.
Even after nodding his head in response, Raynan’s hand still didn’t leave the position it was in a moment ago.
“Duke?”
Only when he heard my call did he barely begin to let go. Slowly, like someone with regrets.
I felt like I wanted to stamp my feet.
As the last finger left my body, cool air settled where it had touched.
It’s cool. That couldn’t have been possible. Because the place where Edwin sleeps shouldn’t be cold.
His large and strong hands suddenly caught my eye.
That’s because that hand left.
As soon as his hand left, the warmth disappeared and a cold energy enveloped me.
It felt cool, but it also felt empty. It felt quite strange, and I forgot about my mental urging for him.
The corners of Raynan’s mouth rose slightly, and he slowly raised his hands. As if to let me know that he had let go.
I came to my senses and quickly got up. My face felt red and hot, but it seemed invisible to Raynan’s eyes.
Because he was looking at something else with the same deep eyes that were looking at me just a moment ago.
What’s on your hands?
Raynan looked down at the two hands that were holding me for a long time.
Is it because I escaped his gaze? Little by little, my mind began to clear.
I felt like this was an opportunity while Raynan was preoccupied with something else. I looked around with minimal movement.
After confirming the fastest way to get out of this place, I began to slowly retreat.
Did he feel me moving even though he still didn’t take his eyes off his hands?
“Renee.”
The call sounded like my boss’s voice calling out to me as I excitedly shut down my computer and stood up.
“… Yes.”
“So you’re saying that Edwin reads like this every day before he goes to sleep?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
What? Why is it good?
Did the word ‘good’ carry such an ominous feeling?
First of all, I had to get off work first. Now my body was moving faster than I thought.
“Then I’ll take my leave. Good night.”
I thought Edwin might wake up, so I greeted him in a low voice and ran out of Edwin’s bedroom as fast as I could.
‘Good night’. Why on earth did you say that?
As soon as I entered the room, I sat down on the floor.
“I bet he didn’t hear it.”
Because I was running to say hello, I had already left Edwin’s bedroom when I said that.
The bed was just a few more steps away, but my body felt weak. I thought about getting up for a moment, but then I just lay down on the floor.
As soon as I touched the cold floor, my heated cheeks seemed to cool down a little.
“Ha…”
Edwin’s bedroom and mine were very close together. But my heart was beating fast, as if I had been sprinting for a long time.
I tried opening and closing my tingling hands, but the tension did not go away.
“Is this….”
Was there a surge of tension because I almost died and then survived?
Fatigue came over me in an instant. But I couldn’t sleep.
And with my heart pounding in my ears and the occasional echo of Raynan’s voice calling my name, it was impossible to sleep.
I desperately fought to get out of work, but I ended up spending the night working more than resting.
*****
Since early morning, before dawn, Roman had been waiting for Renee, right outside her room.
Roman had no other choice.
I tried hard to convince Edwin that I wasn’t bothering Renee and that I just had something to say.
But Edwin didn’t believe Roman’s words at all.
Edwin crossed his short arms with difficulty and only gave him a look of suspicion and wariness.
“I never thought I could be so untrustworthy.”
Roman waited for Renee to come out of her room before Edwin woke up.
How long did I wait? The door opened with a clicking sound.
Had I ever tried so hard to see someone. Roman paced quickly.
“It’s so hard to meet… What’s wrong with your face?”
Roman was speechless when he saw Renee, whose face did not match the refreshing morning at all.
Even though I finally got to meet Renee after waiting so long, I forgot my purpose and asked about her condition first.
“Is it serious?”
It was severe. To the point where his first thought was whether it was okay for her to take care of Edwin today.
Edwin’s startled face was vivid even without me looking at it.
Renee’s face looked so haggard and gloomy that it seemed like she had been up all night for several nights.
It seemed that fatigue wasn’t the only problem.
“Wouldn’t it be better to rest today?”
It seemed like Renee didn’t know what she looked like today. Judging by the way my face fell at Roman’s suggestion.
“It’s not enough to rest.”
Renee sighed for a moment after giving an answer that no one could believe.
“First of all, I’m so anxious today, no, I’m tired…”
It was Roman who had promised himself that he would talk to Rene no matter what.
However, Roman nodded his head calmly at her words as she stumbled with a face that looked as if she would collapse at any moment.
“I see. Instead, later, after tea time with the Duke…”
Roman’s eyes suddenly lit up as he tried to support Renee. It was because of Renee’s visible reaction a moment ago.
“With the Duke.”
Flinch—
“Tea time.”
Unlike before, a wicked smile appeared on Roman’s face as he saw her calm appearance.
“Duke.”
Flinch–
“I mean, the Duke.”
This time, as soon as he flinched, Renee raised her eyes and glared at Roman. Roman was shocked when he received her harsh gaze.
“I apologize. My reaction was too immediate.”
What on earth happened between the two to make Renee react like this?
It would be quicker to ask Renee than Raynan.
However, when he remembered Raynan’s face, who confidently said that she was fearless and liked him, his heart inevitably weakened.
“Yes. Let’s talk after tea time. Don’t think about running away.”
“Yes…”
Roman also turned away when he saw Renee entering Edwin’s bedroom with her shoulders slumped.
“Renee! Your face is weird!”
Roman’s face distorted when Edwin’s surprised voice came from behind him.
Edwin’s reaction was not different from what he expected, but it was because a dizzying thought occurred to him.
“If young master Edwin finds out that I met Renee now….”
It seemed like I wouldn’t be able to see a single strand of Renee’s hair from now on.
Every time she looked at Edwin, she’d feel the sting of his eyes and her whole body would ache.
It wasn’t hard to guess that Edwin wouldn’t believe that Renee was already in that state even before she met Roman.
Rather, it was clear that Roman would be the one who made Renee like that.
“You didn’t tell him, didn’t you?”
I tried to express my hopes out loud, but my anxiety did not go away easily.
It had only been a few days ago that I’d realized I wasn’t the one who’d been talking nonsense to Renee.
It was a relief to have someone to blame if he ever found out about Renee’s misunderstanding.
“No. This is what happened anyway….”
If anything, this might be a good opportunity to ease Edwin’s wariness, to put the blame on her and win back his trust.
A satisfied smile spread across Roman’s face. He headed straight to Raynan’s office.
Roman, who entered Raynan’s office with the most relaxed movements he had recently, opened the door and froze for a moment.
“… Why is your face like that?”
Raynan, who looked even worse than Renee, was processing work at an incredible speed.
Raynan didn’t even look at Roman, let alone answer his question. Although it happened often…
It seemed like he was deliberately trying not to pay attention to everything around him.
In times like this, it was better not to do anything that would bother him even more.
But there were still many things to solve today. Roman approached Raynan with a puzzled look.
He was still buried in documents without even looking at Roman.
I tried clearing my throat to get Raynan’s attention, but it was no use.
At any other time, he would have gotten annoyed with him for being so useless, but today he was completely ignoring him.
“About marriage…”
I guess it was because I had no choice but to start with the most common topic and talk about work. Finally, Raynan turned his head and looked at Roman.
Roman, who faced Raynan’s murderous gaze, spoke politely with a smile on his face.
“It’s not urgent yet, so I’ll tell you again later.”
Raynan’s eyes quickly returned to the documents. As Roman sighed inwardly, the image of Renee he had encountered a moment ago appeared in his mind.
“Renee.”
Raynan’s hands, which had been moving busily since entering the office, stopped in an instant.
“Renee?”
When I saw Raynan slowly tilting his head, a cold sweat broke out.
‘There’s no need to try to answer all my questions.’
Roman quickly shook his head, regretting having rashly mentioned Renee.
“I was wondering if you knew what her favorite snack is, and I was thinking of serving it at tea today.”
“It’s her favorite snack…”
The improvisation that had saved his life several times before seemed to have worked this time too.
“Shall we check it out?”
“Sure.”
As soon as he heard Raynan’s answer, Roman quickly left the office.
*****
Among the things to be resolved today was Renee, but Roman chose to put it off as much as possible.
With that, Roman believed that he had preserved his own peace. Until tea time comes.
I was surprised to see Renee with Edwin, but I decided not to mind since I wasn’t going to be there anyway.
“Roman, how about joining us too?”
Renee, who was actively gathering people today, looked like she would even invite Roman to join her for tea time.
Raynan and Edwin were looking at Roman with similar eyes.
When Roman, who had no intention of receiving those stares throughout tea time, was about to say no, Renee spoke.
“You said you had something else to say.”
With just one word with a bright face, Reene immediately put Roman’s safety in danger.
Before he could even look at her in surprise, he felt the eyes grow even colder.
“Separately?”
“What do you want to say?”
Raynan and Edwin muttered at the same time.
Hearing the similar emotion in their voices, Roman saw his future at tea time.
At the moment when tea time was decided for people who seemed to get along but didn’t get along, Renee was the only one smiling.
