Could it really be something he’d tell me so easily?
More than that—Erin and Marvin?
After floundering through all this uncertainty, now that I’d finally grasped one solid fact, the shock hit me hard.
“Erin and Marvin? Duke, did you know?”
I had just said it, and yet I immediately turned to Raynan and asked again.
He looked at me with a worried expression.
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I don’t think I am. Erin and Marvin, that means…”
Saying it out loud again only made the shock worse.
“Schneider told you that himself?”
“There are a lot of eyes watching you. Erin and Marvin aren’t the only ones.”
I mimicked Schneider’s tone and expression as best I could.
Watching me, Raynan let out a small laugh, amused.
“So that’s what he said.”
“Do you think it’s true?”
“Yeah. It’s likely. That’s what we’ve gathered, too.”
“Is that… okay?”
“There are people you can trust around you and Edwin. You don’t need to worry.”
“But if it is true, then why did he tell me that?”
It just didn’t make sense.
If Raynan was confident enough to say they had confirmed it, then the evidence must be solid.
Did Schneider realize Raynan had figured it out and decide to tell me on purpose?
But judging by how flustered he looked later, it might’ve just been a slip.
“Maybe he misunderstood something. That panicked face couldn’t have been an act, right?”
“If he looked panicked to you, then probably not.”
“By the way, what was that about your brother?”
“Hmm… who knows. Nothing that important, really. He just said my brother asked him to look after me before he passed.”
“He had to bring that up now, of all times?”
“He probably just knew how much I mourned him and was trying to be cautious.”
It sounded strange to me, too.
But Raynan seemed to take it differently.
Now, of all times? After all this time?
Raynan’s brother had passed away a long time ago.
Why did Schneider feel the need to suddenly and secretly bring up a message like that?
Could Schneider showing up like that and spouting some vague secret really be a coincidence?
But I couldn’t bring myself to voice those doubts to Raynan.
Because I had seen it with my own eyes—how much he cared for Tanavern.
All I could do was drown in more complicated thoughts.
And judging from Raynan’s face, he wasn’t much different.
“Looks like even Schneider got tangled up with you. This might get a little more interesting… but maybe dangerous, too.”
His words included something that made my ears perk up.
“Dangerous? For who? Not me, right?”
I pointed to myself with a trembling finger, and he gently lowered my hand.
“Amelia will protect you.”
“So… yes, me.”
I really wanted to cry.
Why did the word “danger” keep finding its way to me?
And what exactly did Schneider get tangled up in with me?
“I want to go back.”
“Yeah. You’ve seen His Majesty now, so there’s no reason to stay. Let’s go.”
“Yes. Let’s go back quickly.”
I never wanted to set foot in this place again.
The Loerian estate, which I once tried so hard to escape, now felt like the safest place in the world.
****
“Why do you look like that?”
Bella asked quietly, leaning subtly against Schneider.
Normally, Schneider would have shown clear disgust, as if looking at something vile, but now he was deep in thought.
Seeing him like that seemed to give Bella confidence, and she rested her upper body against his arm.
But even with her efforts, Schneider hardly seemed to notice her.
Only when she followed his gaze did she let out a small laugh.
“I told you she’s no pushover. She’s got such a sweet and innocent face, but her words? Sharp as knives.”
“Is that so.”
Schneider didn’t blink as he stared at Renee.
When Bella brought her up, hoping to grab his attention, he finally responded with a disinterested tone.
Biting her lip in wounded pride, Bella quickly replaced it with a seductive smile and gave her body a little shake.
When her body bumped against Schneider’s arm, he finally broke his gaze from Renee.
Seeing that she’d finally gotten his attention, Bella raised her arms as if to wrap them around his neck.
Then came the harsh sound of friction.
Schneider coldly slapped her hand away, and brushed off the spot she’d touched—
as if brushing off dust.
“I can’t tell. Does she really not know anything, or…”
“Don’t tell me even you fell for that adorable maid? I told you, she’s not just anyone.”
Bella pouted as she spoke, and Schneider cupped her cheek with one hand.
She smiled in satisfaction at his touch—until her expression quickly changed.
“I thought I warned you to watch that mouth of yours.”
He gripped her chin roughly as he spoke.
The pain was enough to keep her from speaking, but she nodded quickly, giving him the answer he wanted.
“You must’ve thought I’d treat you differently in a place like this, with so many people around.”
“I didn’t think that at all.”
Bella answered, rubbing her reddened chin.
“A proud lady from House Krause must’ve really been humiliated by Raynan, huh.”
Schneider looked at her with amusement.
“That’s why I keep a foolish, naïve thing like you by my side.
You clinging to me even after being treated like that—
It’s kind of cute, honestly.”
Schneider, as if to console the smiling-through-the-pain Bella, suddenly pulled her waist tightly against him.
Bella bit her lip hard but leaned her face against his chest.
“So what did you talk about with Renee?”
“I’m not sure. But what I do know—”
“What is it?”
When Schneider stopped mid-sentence, Bella couldn’t hold back and urged him to continue.
Normally, he would have snapped at her for it.
But perhaps he was pleased that she’d swallowed her pride to lean on him, because he kept talking.
“Looks like some people took my money without doing their job properly.”
At that, Bella let out a laugh and ran her hand across Schneider’s chest.
“Then you need to get rid of the useless ones quickly.”
Schneider mocked her with a scornful look.
“Idiot.”
Bella had no idea how hard it was to plant someone inside the Loeherian estate.
She’d grown up spoiled, thinking throwing a tantrum was enough to get whatever she wanted—just like that careless comment.
If it were that easy to dispose of people and replace them, he wouldn’t be having such a hard time now.
Schneider’s mind was spinning, looking for a way to make use of what little he had.
And once again, his gaze fell on Renee.
She’d supposedly been placed there by Erin to get close to Raynan.
But her face really looked like someone who didn’t know a thing.
Could Bella be right—that she’s just not your average woman?
If she’d managed to lure Raynan, she couldn’t be just a little clever.
And yet Schneider’s gut kept tugging in another direction.
No way Raynan would fall for a fake like that.
So maybe the plan was to use some shallow, vain woman to bring down Edwin first—
and then Raynan.
“Yeah. She’s not ordinary, that one.”
He himself had ended up saying things he shouldn’t to that innocent-looking face.
Though she seemed completely unaware of it.
“Still… I need to wrap this up soon.”
“Wrap what up?”
Bella asked playfully, reacting to Schneider’s cold mutter.
“I told you. I don’t need your brains.
The deal was just your body.”
“And you know you have to give me my price in return, right?”
“The fall of Raynan.
Isn’t that exactly what I want more than anyone?
In that sense… you came to the right person.”
Schneider didn’t take his eyes off Raynan and Renee’s retreating figures until they were completely out of sight.
Only then did he turn, as if there was nothing left for him there, and left the room with Bella in tow.
****
After the Founding Festival party, a peaceful routine returned to me.
No—on the surface, it looked peaceful.
But inside, it was a chaotic, confused mess.
There were two things that still bothered me deeply.
One was Tanabern, who showed up at just the right moment to pull Raynan away from me.
The other was Schneider’s cryptic words.
The only thing I could be sure of was that, just as I thought, Erin and Marvin were Schneider’s people.
“There’s no progress at all.”
I messed up my hair and buried my head in the sofa.
As I writhed in frustration, I heard Cecil ask carefully,
“Lady Renee? Are you alright?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine… Should I call Sir Carlson or Sir Austin?”
“Oh. Right, there was that too.”
I had completely forgotten I’d decided to get checked out by Austin.
I still felt strange whenever I saw Raynan, but it wasn’t as suffocating as it had been that day.
Besides, my head was so full of thoughts lately that I hadn’t had a proper conversation with Raynan even when I did see him.
“Who’s been looking after Edwin these days?”
“Lady Catherine has taken responsibility for the more serious matters,
and most of the time, Chase has been with him.”
“Chase? Then what about Marvin?”
“You didn’t know? Marvin’s been sick for quite a while and is resting.”
“Really? Since when?”
“He was already sick when he came back from vacation.”
“So he got sick during his time off?”
“Yes. It’s not life-threatening, but it’s not something mild either,
so he won’t be serving Master Edwin for a while.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“I’m not sure. Some say he ate something bad and got sick.”
Cecil seemed surprised that I hadn’t heard about Marvin’s absence,
but she told me everything she knew.
“He got sick from something he ate on vacation?”
I was sure that when I saw Marvin shortly before he returned, he had seemed perfectly fine.
The moment I thought that, something suddenly clicked.
There had been a reason for Raynan and Amelia acting so strangely, as if overly concerned about my health.
Because that happened right after I met Marvin.
He had handed me a drink, and somehow, we’d ended up switching glasses…
Was I the one who was originally supposed to fall ill?
“Sigh…”
Maybe there was never a single moment when I was truly safe.
If even Raynan, who had always said things were fine, now thought there could be danger…
Then next time, I might not get off with just being sick.
“Are you okay? Your face looks very pale.”
Long and thin—
This life, where I had to survive without ever letting my guard down, suddenly felt unbearably hard.
I wanted to grab someone—anyone—and vent.
But there wasn’t a single person I could do that with, and that made me incredibly sad.
“Now that I think about it, Erin hasn’t been around much lately either.”
I asked in a gloomy voice,
and Cecil, seeming to understand how I felt, answered with an awkward expression.
