Chapter 28
“She asked me that too. Have you ever heard that your father will have a best friend?”
Raynan smiled at Edwin’s words.
That was just for a moment. Soon Raynan, deep in thought, shifted his gaze to Edwin.
Roman stepped forward, feeling the meaningful energy in his eyes as he stared at Edwin. But Raynan was faster than him.
“I see. Renee was particularly fond of Edwin.”
“Yes, but why is she doing this all of a sudden?”
As if he couldn’t hear Roman’s question, Raynan took a step toward Edwin.
“Edwin.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t want Renee to leave?”
“Yes. I want to be with her for a long time.”
Edwin, who had flinched for a moment at Raynan’s call, responded strongly when Renee’s name was mentioned.
Raynan nodded, as if he was satisfied with Edwin’s words.
“Then there is one way… I need your help. How is it?”
“I will do it!”
Edwin clenched his fists and responded to something he didn’t know what it was.
“Duke?”
Roman’s desperate call seemed not to reach the father and son.
The two people suddenly focused on each other and were talking with serious eyes.
“I think Renee was hurt when she heard the rumors about my marriage.”
“Marriage…?”
“Yes. Moreover, it may have been even sadder because Renee saw the woman of those rumors in person.”
No matter how smart he was, Edwin was unable to understand everything about marriage or human emotions.
When Edwin tilted his head with an expression that clearly showed that he did not understand what Raynan said, he spoke in an unexpectedly generous voice.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to figure all that out yet. You just need to take it slow and understand.”
‘No, it’s okay if you don’t know anything at all, young master Edwin.’
Roman’s gaze fell on Edwin, who was thinking in his mind without being able to say it out loud.
Roman asked, noticing the sharp gaze of Raynan, who had not paid any attention to him until now.
“Did I say it out loud?”
“No. But it was clear that you’re thinking something irreverent.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Your facial expressions aren’t what they used to be.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Raynan nodded half-heartedly at Roman, who was answering vaguely, and then focused on Edwin again.
“Good, then…”
“But why does father not want Renee to leave?”
Raynan visibly paused at Edwin’s clear voice.
Looking at Edwin, who was waiting for an answer, Raynan opened his mouth as if he wanted to explain something. But soon he closed up again and lost himself in thoughts.
Edwin waited patiently for Raynan’s answer.
Roman looked at the two of them and remembered his own question, which had been left unfinished by Edwin’s arrival.
Do you like Renee?
This was the question Roman wanted to ask Raynan before Edwin showed up.
But now I could tell without hearing the answer. The answer to Edwin’s question would be the same as the answer to my question.
A low sigh escaped Roman’s mouth. Because until now he had never once thought about his employer’s misbehavior.
“Rather, Duke, young master Edwin.”
Roman’s voice broke the silence, giving up the hope of getting an answer right away.
“First of all, since we are not sure, I think it would be better to approach her a little more cautiously.”
“But I assume she’ll be leaving tomorrow night?”
Roman asked a question back to Edwin, who seemed confident.
“Why do you think it’s tomorrow night?”
“Hmm… It feels exactly like that.”
When he said tomorrow, various plausible possibilities immediately came to Roman’s mind.
But the first thing to do was to calm Edwin down, who seemed ready to run out and grab Renee at any moment.
“But we don’t know for sure…”
“It’s tomorrow night. We don’t have time to take a cautious approach.”
Edwin wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand Roman’s feelings. Roman closed his mouth as Raynan spoke one more word.
It seemed clear that neither Raynan nor Edwin had any intention of listening to Roman.
Roman urgently tried to intervene in their conversation.
However, when he paused for a moment after seeing Edwin with a visibly worried face, Raynan spoke first.
“Okay. It’s true that we don’t have much time, but since she hasn’t left yet, we can catch her.”
Edwin smiled and nodded at Raynan’s words.
“Why don’t we move over and talk?”
The two of them sat down on the couch and talked for a while, their faces serious, forgetting that Roman was there.
*****
The air was so cold, a chill that belied the warm weather.
Maybe it was the chill on Raynan’s face, the smile gone.
Raynan, who was still nearby, caught my eye, but the reason I couldn’t even think of avoiding it was because I couldn’t believe his words.
“… What did you say just now?”
“That’s what I want to ask. What did you say just now?”
Marriage, how could I possibly mishear that word?
Unlike me, who only blinked, Raynan seemed to have quickly grasped the situation. The corners of his mouth twitched upward, and his soft voice came out.
“Save me?”
I must have misheard him, he can’t propose to me with that face!
Raynan’s face, which seemed eerie in the thick darkness, seemed to be because the thin and sharp moonlight reflected his mood.
“Renee?”
Raynan’s eyes seemed to be getting bloodier little by little as he waited for an answer. This was going to happen anyway, so she had to stick to it until the end.
“Please don’t process it! I will live quietly in a place that is out of your sight.”
Raynan laughed out loud at my solemn words. It was a light-hearted laugh, as if he found the situation quite amusing, but that didn’t mean he was in the mood.
Because his expression was clearly more unhappy than before.
Even if I got caught, it might have been better to just run. I tried to sneak away without realizing it, but even that wasn’t easy.
Edwin was still holding on to my skirt, but most of all, Raynan had his hands on my shoulders.
“There is no way I would kill a nanny that my son admires so much.”
Raynan said, shaking his head as if he had heard something nonsense. Was there still disbelief in my eyes?
“It seems like there has been some kind of misunderstanding. Did someone say something useless? What do you mean by processing it?”
His voice, which had become calmer, sounded soothing, but the atmosphere itself was still murderous.
As I took a small step back, Raynan’s eyes became sharp for a moment.
As I flinched without realizing it, he spoke again with a kind smile.
“Shall we explain step by step why there was such a ridiculous misunderstanding?”
… Is that really something that should be solved through a story? And is it really just a ridiculous misunderstanding?
I had this useless thought that even if I got caught, it might have been better to get caught during the day.
That’s because I was so scared to see Raynan in front of me, who was oppressing people even more quietly than on this dark and quiet night.
“Edwin.”
I flinched at the suddenness of Lannon’s call for Edwin.
Unlike me, who was worried that he was trying to stir up trouble, Edwin answered with a calm face.
“Yes.”
“Apparently, you and Renee had a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“Does that mean Renee won’t leave?”
My small question was drowned out by Edwin’s bright voice. I couldn’t say anything as he looked at me, his face even brighter than his voice.
As if to fill in for me, Raynan put a hand on Edwin’s shoulder.
“Yes.”
“Thank god!”
I could only look at them one by one as the father and son were cheering without listening to the opinions of the people involved.
What was going on? Telling Edwin that I wasn’t going to leave was not going to happen.
What the hell is going on here, even though my job is clear, I’m having a hard time keeping up.
“I see.”
Edwin smiled as if relieved, but could hardly let go of his hand holding my skirt.
As I was just awkwardly smiling along with Edwin, I felt Raynan’s gaze on me.
“So don’t worry, just go back to your bedroom. Because Renee won’t leave, right?”
The last question was directed at me. I nodded slowly, not because of the sweetness in his voice, but because of the determination behind it.
It was the pleading look in Edwin’s eyes that begged me to say yes.
“Really?”
“Yes. As the Duke said, there must have been some misunderstanding.”
Only after confirming to Edwin several times did he finally relax his grip.
“Then I will take care of young master Edwin.”
I was once again startled by a voice that suddenly came from the darkness. It seemed like Roman was also there.
“Renee, see you tomorrow. I’ll definitely see you again tomorrow.”
“Yes. See you tomorrow.”
As if nothing had happened, Edwin left the scene with Roman, walking lightly.
“Shall we go talk about the misunderstanding now?”
“……”
It would have been quite funny if someone had noticed me following Raynan, hugging the bag I had worked so hard to pack.
Still, no one was walking by, and I was more worried about what would come out of his mouth right now than what anyone would think.
“Sit down.”
“Yes.”
Even after arriving at his office, Raynan was silent for a while.
At this rate, this place may now be more uncomfortable than it was at first, rather than a familiar space.
Because there were a lot of things to be nervous about here.
“So…”
When I heard a voice breaking the heavy silence, I looked at him without realizing it.
“Shall we start with what it means to spare your life?”
“That is…”
“Did you think I was going to kill you?”
Raynan asked with a small smile.
He’s in a bad mood right now.
Maybe if I had been a little braver I would have answered him that way.
At times like this, there was only one thing I could do. Smiling.
It was obvious even without looking at the facial expression, and even the sound of laughter in my ears was awkward, but there was no other way. Did Raynan also sense something unnatural?
The smile disappeared from his face.
“You probably didn’t really think like that, did you?”
It was a question that was even more difficult to answer than before. The awkwardness in my smile grew bigger and bigger.
Raynan just stared at me, expressionless. Until I can’t smile anymore.
I narrowed my eyes again, feeling his unspoken pressure to answer directly.
“Uh, yeah. I’m sure you did….”
I gave him the direct answer he was hoping for, but Raynan didn’t say anything.
Feeling that the silence that had barely disappeared had descended again, I carefully opened my eyes and looked at him.
His expression didn’t change much, but somehow his mood did.
Looks a little shocked…
Shocked, what a ridiculous word.
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.
Raynan stayed still for a moment, then looked at me and opened his mouth again.
