Chapter 40
“I went to my room in the morning and there were flowers. I don’t put flowers in my room.”
“Chase.”
“Yes. I will bring it.”
Chase quickly left the room and came back with the vase.
“It’s a tulip.”
“Yes. It was at the window. Could it have something to do with it?”
“I guess so.”
“If they come for young master Edwin I understand, but why me?”
“They were probably targeting one of the two. And they put a little more weight on Renee’s side.”
At his words, a chill passed through my entire body.
“Well, if I hadn’t fallen asleep here last night!”
“Calm down, Renee.”
I was about to spew out gibberish when Raynan put his hand on my shoulder and came to my eye level.
“They probably didn’t mean to harm you. If that were the case, it wouldn’t have been safe even if it were in Edwin’s bedroom.”
“To harm…”
As soon as I heard those words, it felt like all the blood was draining from my body.
“Am I going to die?”
I thought I was finally free from the fear of death…. My hands were shaking at another completely unexpected threat.
“Renee.”
An unwavering call reached my ears. As she looked into Raynan’s eyes, she began to calm down little by little.
“That won’t happen. Don’t worry, I will never let anyone do that.”
A small sigh escaped my teeth at Raynan’s firm words.
Even though there was no evidence, his confident voice was enough to reassure me.
However, it took a little more time to stabilize properly.
Until then, Raynan had quietly made eye contact and waited for me with his hand on my shoulder.
“It’s a yellow tulip. It’s a romantic gift that doesn’t suit it.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“I don’t know the person who was wandering around, but I know someone behind it.”
“Who is that?”
Raynan smiled at my question. He then took my hand and kissed my wrist.
As my eyes widened at the sudden contact, Raynan stroked the spot where he had kissed just moments ago with his hand.
“If you’re this nervous about leaving flowers in an empty room, do you think you’ll be able to handle it if you find out who it is?”
That was also correct. I thought it would be better not to know. No, wouldn’t that be scarier?
“That’s enough. Let’s just stop there. I can guess where it is, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Raynan spoke firmly, as if he had read my intention to expand endlessly.
I nodded, but my distraught mind showed no signs of subsiding.
“Why a flower?”
Raynan stroked his chin and spoke to himself. The answer came from Chase.
“The flower language of yellow tulips is vain love.”
Raynan laughed out loud at Chase’s words.
“Vain love.”
“Duke?”
It was clear that he didn’t mean it in a good way, but Raynan looked quite amused.
“I guess he looked like a man in love. To you, Renee.”
“Maybe not. Maybe he’s just trying to get his mind off things.”
Raynan nodded at Chase’s cautious words.
“Maybe so. But I guess doing it this way seems like it would be worth it.”
How does the story progress? I couldn’t possibly keep up.
But there was one thing we knew for sure.
It was clear that Chase knew everything about the situation.
“Chase.”
“Yes, Duke.”
“Tell Roman. I think I should rest today. Don’t forget to tell him to check to see if anything has sneaked in by tomorrow.”
“Taking a break?”
“Yes. I can’t stay away from my woman in danger, not today.”
Chase looked at him blankly, as if at a loss for words. Meanwhile, Raynan wrapped his hands around my waist and guided me.
“Then let’s go have breakfast.”
By the time we left the room, Chase was still standing there, dumbfounded. Before leaving the room, Raynan turned his back and said to Chase.
“For this to happen, I have to repay you.”
“Repay him?”
“Yes. Just as he wished. Chase.”
“Yes, Duke.”
“One more word to Roman. I’ll have Renee’s room moved today.”
He showed a deep smile and added one word.
“The room next to my bedroom just happens to be empty.”
Before I could really understand what that meant, I had to be led by Raynan.
*****
It seemed like what Roman said about Raynan already having breakfast wasn’t a lie. While I was eating breakfast, he just stayed there without touching anything.
I thought it would be easier to eat alone.
Raynan pushed various foods to me whenever I hesitated even a little.
If I lingered, he was ready to feed me, so I quickly shoved food into my mouth. Thanks to this, I ended up eating more than other days.
After eating, I immediately had tea time with him. The tension was noticeable on the servants faces the whole time, even at breakfast or tea time.
In fact, Raynan was leisurely enjoying his time.
In a completely different atmosphere, I didn’t know which way to follow, so I just looked around confused.
“Should I ask them to prepare something else?”
“Yes?”
“You’re not eating well.”
He seemed to be worried that I couldn’t even have tea or dessert.
“I ate too much breakfast.”
“On days like these, you have to eat well.”
“Is it better than that?”
“Better than what?”
“Well, we haven’t found anyone suspicious yet. The flowers were there, so someone must have broken in.”
“They probably won’t find it.”
“Yes?”
I stuttered, letting out my concern, and Raynan was surprisingly adamant that they wouldn’t find it.
“Yes? But you asked Roman to find…?”
“Was there such a person in the first place? By doing this, I’m trying to have a little fun with the rat that came into hiding.”
Rat that came into hiding. In the first place, it didn’t come in from outside, but it sounded like the culprit was among the servants.
Do you know who it is? Or are you confident that you will find it soon?
“Stop worrying and have some tea. If you are so shocked that you can’t even lift a teacup, please tell me as much as I can because I can help you.”
As soon as Raynan finished speaking, he leaned his upper body forward.
I quickly lifted the teacup before his hand touched my teacup.
Raynan smiled and lifted his teacup as if he knew that would happen.
“Anyway, let’s move your room. If you stick with Edwin, It’s easier to target both of you.”
“Then what about young master Edwin?”
“If this happens, Chase will just have to stick around for a while.”
“Then the babysitting…”
Raynan appeared hesitant at my question. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke in a friendly voice as if to comfort me.
“It would be better to stop doing that too.”
“Yes?”
Of course, there had been a hint before, but I had no idea that moment would come so suddenly.
I jumped out of my seat in shock, and Raynan, as if he knew that would happen, got up with me and made me sit down.
“Like I said before, if you get engaged to me, you won’t be able to be Edwin’s nanny.”
“That’s true, but….”
It was so sudden and I couldn’t think of how to explain it to Edwin.
Edwin was probably more disappointed than me, and I didn’t want to see him sad.
I looked down at my teacup in frustration. Is it because of the dark tea?
My face reflected in the teacup was full of melancholy.
“It’s okay, I told you I’ll let you see him as often as you want.”
“Really?”
I looked up at him, surprised by the calmness in his voice.
Raynan paused for a moment as he faced me. He then looked at me with a look on his face that I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
Was I asking too aggressively? Those words were so welcoming that I found myself pressing my body towards him without realizing it.
For a moment, I felt discouraged and was about to slightly lean back and lower my head, but Raynan quickly continued speaking.
“No. That’s not it…”
I tried to explain something, but someone suddenly barged in and I couldn’t hear the rest of what he said.
“Duke!”
It was a rush.
Roman let out a rough breath and spoke as if he was crying.
“You’re taking a break today? Don’t you know how much work is piling up right now?”
“Ah, I can’t believe it’s happening in a situation like this. He’s kind of heartless.”
Roman’s face distorted at Raynan’s sly words.
“We have a lot to deal with right now due to the changes in taxation in the Duchy. Also, what about festival-related work?”
“Yes. This is all something that needs to be dealt with urgently. I’ll take care of everything tomorrow, so get it all sorted out.”
“You also told me to catch that guy.”
“We’ll check that tomorrow too.”
Roman shivered for a moment at the sound of Raynan’s voice speaking so clearly as if giving very simple instructions.
Roman immediately touched his forehead with a depressed face and sighed loudly.
“And we’re moving Renee’s room today, so make sure you finish tidying it up.”
“Duke, I am one person.”
“The salary you receive is not for one person. You think I’m giving you that much money to do just one person’s work?”
Roman seemed a little pitiful at Raynan’s cold words.
I thought maybe I should take Roman’s side, so I tried to open my mouth, but I quickly stopped.
I didn’t have anything to say, and most of all, I wasn’t in a position to do that.
“I have a lot of work to do, so wouldn’t it be better to stop playing and go to work quickly?”
Raynan, who was playing leisurely, said.
Roman lowered his head as if he guessed that no matter what he said, it wouldn’t work.
“All right.”
“Oh, and call Catherine too.”
“… Yes.”
Roman left without looking back, leaving only a short answer.
Although he expressed his dissatisfaction a lot, he seemed to be doing what he was told to do.
Not long after Roman left, Catherine came to visit.
“Did you call me, Duke?”
“Yes. I need you to take care of Edwin for now.”
In a rare display of emotion, Catherine let her emotions show.
Her face couldn’t have been more different from mine, with the same surprised expression.
Catherine, the head maid, already had a lot to do. It was a fact that everyone in Loerian knew that she could not afford to take care of Edwin.
Raynan seemed to understand her confusion and added a few more instructions.
“Let’s increase the number of classes Edwin takes, and let him stay with Chase for a while. There shouldn’t be much for Catherine to do, since Marvin is there.”
“All right.”
“Okay. Catherine will just have to take the empty name of nanny.”
“Can I ask you one thing?”
“What?”
“What are you going to do about Renee?”
In response to Catherine’s question, Raynan’s eyes briefly fell on me.
Raynan gently folded the corners of his eyes when our eyes met, and only after putting refreshments in my hand did he answer Catherine.
“I can’t let her keep working.”
“Then wouldn’t it be better to find a new nanny?”
“Wouldn’t it be more troublesome and noisy if we hired a new nanny for Edwin now? Even without that, there are a lot of things that bother me.”
Raynan’s brows were deeply wrinkled, as if he was displeased just thinking about it. When I looked at his face, I remembered a story Chase once told me.
He said he was quite annoyed by the number of people who kept showing up in front of Raynan and trying to create opportunities. That’s why I feel very uncomfortable these days.
I was puzzled when I heard those words, but now looking at Raynan’s face, I understood what Chase said.
Raynan looked so disgruntled that even I could see it, so there was no way Catherine didn’t know.
“All right.”
Catherine did not ask any more questions or make any suggestions.
“Oh, and now Edwin will be joining us every day at tea time after lunch, so please adjust his class schedule.”
“All right.”
At Raynan’s words, I unconsciously smiled and looked at him. Edwin can be with us at tea time every day.
It was the only positive thing I heard today.
It felt like the two could become closer.
Raynan was also looking at me with a smile. Looking at his deep eyes, it seemed like he was trying to show people what he had been doing all along.
But for some reason, I felt embarrassed and turned my head away.
