The faces of those watching the two endlessly showering praise on Amelia’s painting were lit with similar smiles. Of course, Raynan was among them.
Watching the two look more alike than ever, Raynan smiled warmly for a moment—then let out a sigh, his face clouding over.
Renee’s attitude toward him had been unusually cold today. It wasn’t like the frightened way she had acted when they first met.
Her change, for reasons he couldn’t understand, made him uneasy. And he couldn’t even explain why he felt so anxious.
He just missed her bright eyes, her cheerful voice—more than usual, for some reason.
With a troubled expression, Raynan quietly watched Renee as she spoke with Amelia. Then, seeing a moment of pause, he walked over to Edwin.
He reached out and gently rested a hand on Edwin’s head. After a very light stroke, his hand was gone just as quickly.
When Edwin looked up at Raynan, Raynan looked off into the distance and said casually,
“Well done.”
It was a brief, contextless compliment, but Edwin immediately understood what he meant.
Breaking up the tedious moment with Erin, lifting Renee’s mood—Raynan was praising him for that.
Now, with no trace of awkwardness, Edwin looked up at Raynan and beamed.
A faint smile formed on Raynan’s face too as he looked at Edwin. But the smile didn’t last long.
As soon as his gaze shifted back to Renee, his expression darkened again. Edwin, who could read his feelings perfectly, lifted up onto his toes.
Raynan leaned down slightly, realizing Edwin wanted to say something, and Edwin whispered in a very small voice,
“If you let Mother go… I’m going with her.”
It was an adorably gentle kind of threat. Raynan let out a quiet laugh at Edwin’s words.
He had always known Edwin was fond of Renee, but he hadn’t expected the boy to give her his heart so completely.
Edwin had said it playfully, but Raynan knew at least half of it was sincere.
Of course, what Edwin was worried about must never come to pass.
“Right. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”
At Raynan’s reply, Edwin nodded with a satisfied look. It was clear he’d gotten the answer he was hoping for.
He hadn’t said it out loud, but with all the rumors going around, and with Renee clearly in an unusual mood, Edwin must have been truly worried.
The moment Edwin left, the lively energy around them faded at once. Raynan’s gaze still lingered on Renee.
After a short hesitation, Raynan cautiously approached her.
“Renee, is something really going on? You just don’t look like yourself today—your face looks much more down than usual.”
“Me? Oh, it’s probably just the weather today…”
“The weather?”
That didn’t make much sense. He looked up at the sky, but nothing seemed unusual.
When he lowered his head again, Renee had already left.
She had vanished in an instant, and seeing the empty spot where she had stood, Raynan let out a heavy sigh.
****
At my completely random excuse, Raynan looked up at the sky with a baffled expression. As if wondering what a clear, cloudless sky had to do with my pale face.
“Well… on such a sunny day, people’s faces can look kind of washed out, I guess…”
Yeah, this wasn’t going to work. I could tell that if I kept talking, I’d just say more and more nonsense.
So I chose to run.
“No need to worry. I’ll be going now.”
My body moved before my words were even finished. I left in such a hurry, I wasn’t even sure if he heard the rest.
As I stumbled away, Amelia and Cecile quickly followed after me.
“Lady Renee?”
“Your face looks so pale…”
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just the weather… No, let’s just head back.”
I almost started spouting nonsense again as Amelia and Cecile looked at me with concern, but I barely managed to shut my mouth.
They exchanged puzzled glances but didn’t say anything more, simply walking with me all the way back to my room.
“Lady Renee?”
Even after we entered the room, Amelia called out to me, concerned by how dazed I seemed.
Only then did I register that both of them were still with me, and I let out a small sigh.
“I don’t know. What’s wrong with me?”
At my honest words, Amelia smiled gently and patted my shoulder, looking oddly pleased.
“Why don’t you rest for a bit? It seems like you need some time to sort through your thoughts. Cecile and I will wait outside.”
Something about Amelia’s words made a pang shoot through me, as if she knew exactly what was going on.
But I pretended not to notice and did as she suggested, lying down on the bed and deciding to forget everything—for just a little while.
****
Even though Renee was no longer in sight, Raynan couldn’t take his eyes off the direction she had gone for a while.
Roman was growing anxious about the time slipping by, but Raynan wasn’t the type to consider such feelings.
Normally, Roman would have hurried him along, but he couldn’t this time—Raynan’s expression was far too serious.
He knew better than to poke the bear when things looked like this. For now, the priority was getting him to the office.
Putting on his most polite smile, Roman addressed Raynan gently.
“Shall we head to the office for now, Your Grace?”
Thankfully, Raynan began walking without a word. As they made their way to the office, Roman’s thoughts were in turmoil.
This was no doubt about Renee. Sure, she had seemed a little different today, but was it really enough to make Raynan look that grave?
Roman was starting to regret leaving the two of them alone, worrying that he might’ve caused more trouble between them by getting in the way.
What exactly had happened?
Should he ask Raynan directly, or go find Renee to check on her himself? He was still pondering when the office came into view.
Choosing to play it cool, Roman spoke in his usual voice once they entered the office.
“You’ve been away from your desk quite a while, so if you could focus and get through today’s work…”
Raynan, now seated, glanced at Roman. He didn’t look angry, exactly—but Roman knew.
This was the time to tread even more carefully.
“I’ll be stepping out for a bit to take care of something.”
He would’ve preferred to disappear from Raynan’s line of sight entirely, but that plan was foiled immediately.
Raynan let out a dry chuckle and stared right at him.
“Sigh… So what exactly is the problem here?”
“Well, I’m frustrated too, since I don’t know.”
“Then I suppose you’re not much help.”
“Wasn’t planning on solving it for you anyway, so don’t worry.”
At Raynan’s cold reply, Roman grumbled inwardly.
Then why the ominous atmosphere, making him feel like he was about to be executed?
And after all the advice he’d given about Renee, too.
“You sure do have a lot of complaints.”
Raynan smirked, as if Roman had said that out loud, cutting off his thoughts.
“Complaints? Me? I’m the ever-loyal retainer, ready to work day and night for Your Grace.”
“Retainer? Day and night?”
Raynan let out a small laugh at Roman’s line. Admittedly, it was a funny thing to say, even to Roman.
For all Roman’s talk of hard work, Raynan paid him more than fairly—more than enough to justify his efforts. Otherwise, Roman wouldn’t have worked as hard as he did.
Both of them knew that perfectly well.
Instead of laughing awkwardly, Roman just flashed a well-practiced grin. Shamelessness was one of his finest qualities, after all.
“Well, joking aside… I suppose we don’t need to bother with Erin anymore.”
“Understood. She only proved to be a nuisance, after all.”
“She was so blatant it became suspicious.”
They had both already suspected that Erin had nothing useful to offer.
But the way she so obviously threw herself at Raynan had raised eyebrows for both of them.
They’d wondered if Schneider had some ulterior motive in sending her—perhaps her approach had been intentional. But it turned out to be just as they expected.
“Then I guess she’s worthless to Schneider, too.”
“Yes. She’s too greedy and careless to be entrusted with anything. Knowing Schneider’s cautious nature, I doubt he ever intended to use her seriously.”
“Right. Let’s get rid of Erin soon. And while we’re at it, let’s deal with Marvin as well.”
“Marvin?”
“Yes. He’s already been exposed to our side. And let’s not forget—he tried to feed Renee a drug that he ended up taking himself. What’s the point of keeping someone that useless around?”
Instead of replying right away, Roman fell into thought. His reaction was uncharacteristically slow, causing Raynan to raise an eyebrow.
“Let’s wait a little longer with Marvin.”
That was unexpected. Roman almost never disagreed with Raynan on things like this.
In fact, when it came to Erin or Marvin, it was usually Roman who first suggested kicking them out of Roerianje.
After all, once they were gone, it meant less work for Roman too.
“Why?”
“Marvin isn’t working directly with Lord Edwin right now, nor is he doing any meaningful tasks.”
“So?”
“Because of that, it might actually be easier for him to move—and for Schneider to use him. The current setup is pretty ideal for that.”
“Hm…”
Raynan made a strange expression. Roman’s point sounded valid, but it was unlike him.
Even if Marvin might be useful to Schneider after being kicked out, the usual Roman would argue there was no need to give him that chance.
“Besides, if Marvin does make a move, it’ll be easy to track. There’s no real risk. Wouldn’t it be better to just keep an eye on him for now?”
Sure enough, this wasn’t typical Roman. Usually, if Raynan didn’t speak, Roman stayed silent too. He rarely pushed further once Raynan’s opinion was clear.
Especially in a situation that didn’t seem all that beneficial.
Raynan didn’t completely shake his suspicions, but he accepted Roman’s reasoning.
“Fine. Let’s watch for now. If he makes a move, report it immediately—especially if he has contact with anyone else.”
“Understood.”
Roman bowed with a satisfied expression.
“Then I’ll step out for a bit. In the meantime, please try to get through as much work as possible.”
“Where are you going?”
Raynan had never asked this kind of question before when Roman left the room.
That’s why Roman flinched for just a moment.
“Well, since Your Grace has left things unattended, someone has to take care of it, right? I’ll be off, then.”
But he quickly regained his usual demeanor, flashing his typical sly smile.
With a light-hearted step, Roman left the office, and Raynan didn’t take his eyes off him. Resting his chin in both hands, he replayed Roman’s words in his mind.
“Marvin, huh… When did he ever become someone of value?”
Raynan let out a soft chuckle—then turned his focus back to the work in front of him.
****
Meanwhile, Roman, who had left his office, moved quickly with hurried steps.
It even looked like he was trying to leave the impression in people’s minds that he was extremely busy right now.
Of course, Roman was always busy,
so it wasn’t something he needed to try so hard to prove.
In fact, if someone said he had free time, everyone in Roerianje would be shocked.
After walking briskly for a while, Roman’s steps slowly began to slow down.
By the time he reached a deserted area, he looked rather relaxed.
Roman stood in front of a secluded warehouse where few people came by even during the day.
He glanced around, then opened the door.
Creeeak—the sound of the metal door moving was so eerie it gave chills.
But Roman didn’t care at all.
Once the door closed, darkness settled in, and a faint light shone from the corner of the warehouse.
Roman walked toward it like it was a familiar place.
“You’re here.”
Marvin, who had just been mentioned by Raynan and Roman, was waiting for him.
When Marvin spotted Roman, he quickly stood up and greeted him with a happy expression.
