“…”
“…”
An awkward silence flowed between me and Rene, separated by the door.
Neither of us spoke first, we just stood there in silence.
Awkward.
It was incredibly awkward.
Why did Rene open the door as if she wasn’t there when she was clearly inside the room?
There had to be a reason, but no one would be stupid enough to ask that question in this kind of atmosphere.
“Why, why won’t you open the door?”
There was actually someone that stupid.
Kyle was looking back and forth between me and the door with curious eyes.
His instincts, honed as a spy, seemed to sense that the current situation was unusual, prompting his intense curiosity.
Sigh.
I let out a sigh.
‘What should I do?’
One thing was for sure.
Rene didn’t want to see me right now.
I wondered if she had completely lost interest in me, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
If she had, she wouldn’t have been eavesdropping on my conversation with Kyle at the door.
Then,
Why was she acting like this?
No matter how much I thought about it, the answer wouldn’t come to me. But I couldn’t just stand here forever.
Taking a deep breath, I finally spoke.
“My lady, if it’s inconvenient for you to see me today, I’ll come back another time.”
“…”
But Rene still didn’t answer.
It wasn’t like I didn’t want to talk to her.
In fact, there were a lot of things I wanted to ask her because her recent behavior had been so strange.
Of course, it was unclear how she would react if I asked her about it, but…
While I was facing off against Rene at the door, an idea came to me.
‘…Should I try one last time?’
I took a deep breath and spoke to Rene.
“If you don’t want to talk to me today, knock twice. If you do, don’t knock.”
“…”
The door didn’t budge.
So I decided to just open the door and go in.
I told her not to knock if she wanted to talk, so it was practically the same as her agreeing.
Well, it was a bit of a stretch.
But it was necessary.
‘…I don’t know what Crete will do to me.’
For some reason, Crete had overheard Rene crying because of me and had even come out to greet me personally.
But if Rene continued to act like this, there was no way I would be able to escape Crete’s wrath.
So I needed to open the door to Rene’s room, even if it meant forcing it.
Creak-.
With a determined look, I turned the doorknob of the tightly closed door.
However,
“…?”
The door was open.
I thought Rene had closed it tightly, but it wasn’t. It opened with a slight turn of the doorknob.
…What was going on?
Did Rene want to talk to me, or was she trying to avoid me?
The more I thought about it, the more puzzled I became by her attitude.
Just as I was about to open Rene’s door.
“Ah, Sir Kyle, please go somewhere else for the time being.”
“Yeah, go have a nice chat.”
At my words, Kyle looked relieved and hurriedly fled the scene.
It seemed like he was very uncomfortable with the thought of having to talk to the daughter of House Bares.
It was true that there was no need for Kyle to talk to Rene, but if I were to go inside the room, Kyle would have to make eye contact with her.
Since that would be quite uncomfortable for him, I was being considerate.
Of course, it was also because I wanted to talk to Rene alone.
Creak-.
“Excuse me.”
Only after Kyle was out of sight did I open the door.
As I had confirmed, Rene’s door opened without any lock.
As I took a step inside, I spoke.
“Greetings, my lady.”
“…”
Rene, who had been standing by the door.
The moment I entered, she covered herself completely with her blanket.
…Why was she acting like this?
But I couldn’t just force her to remove the blanket.
If I did, Crete’s hellfire magic might erupt.
Scoot-.
For the time being, I put on a friendly smile and sat on Rene’s bed, with my back to her.
“Did the servants treat you rudely while I was away?”
“…”
Rene didn’t answer me again.
I asked her several other questions, but she only remained silent.
Scoot-.
Feeling puzzled, I moved my ear closer to Rene’s face.
It was possible that I was mistaken and she wasn’t actually Rene, so I had to make sure.
Wheezing-.
As I listened to the occasional sound of her breathing, I became certain that she was Rene.
The breathing was so faint and delicate that only Rene could have made such a sound, and it was impossible for me, her escort, to not recognize it.
Then,
Why wouldn’t she even show her face, let alone speak?
I couldn’t figure it out.
In the end, I started to mumble to myself.
“Come to think of it, the Lord said you were crying. Did something happen?”
Flinch.
Rene reacted to my question.
But that was all.
She didn’t remove the blanket that was covering her face, so all I could tell was that her shoulders were shaking.
If I could see her expression, I would know how she was feeling.
“…Hmm.”
Eventually, I had no choice but to scratch the back of my head and give up on the conversation.
Rene was either giving vague responses or not speaking at all, so I couldn’t continue the conversation.
It couldn’t be helped.
It seemed like the only thing I could do was come back when Rene felt like talking to me.
“…It seems like I’ve disturbed your rest. Please call me again when you have time to talk.”
As I got up to leave Rene’s room.
Scoot-.
“…!”
Rene grabbed the hem of my sleeve.
It was a very weak grip, one that I could have easily shaken off.
…But it wasn’t easy to shake off.
Her gesture had a magical power that made me sit back down.
Scoot-.
In the end, I sat down on the bed again.
As I looked down, I saw that Rene had removed the blanket and revealed her face.
…And I couldn’t help but be flustered.
Rene had really been crying.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and her usually shiny black hair had lost its luster and turned dull.
At the sight of her, I spoke in a bewildered voice.
“What happened?”
“…Something bad happened.”
Finally, Rene spoke.
Something bad,
What kind of bad thing had happened?
According to the rumors spreading through the Bares mansion, Kyle had said that Rene was crying because of me.
Could this be related to those rumors?
If that was true, I wouldn’t be able to say a word even if Crete tore me to shreds.
As I was trembling in fear,
“It’s not, because of you.”
“I, I see.”
Whew.
Only then was I able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Since the person involved said it wasn’t my fault, I felt like I could finally breathe again.
I was glad that the first problem was solved immediately, but the fundamental problem wasn’t solved yet.
“Then, why were you crying? If there’s anyone who’s bothering you, I’ll teach them a lesson.”
I smiled, vowing to teach them a lesson.
However,
The words that came out of Rene’s mouth were beyond my ability to handle.
“Dad.”
“…?”
“He made me cry, Dad did.”
“…”
I chose to remain silent.
Oh, I see.
Crete made Rene cry?
Aha.
I see.
Hmm…
“Can I take that back?”
“…You’re pathetic.”
“I have always been like that.”
“You’re terrible.”
Rene’s words were harsh.
I drooped my shoulders sadly.
There was no need to be so harsh.
Whether my feelings were hurt or not, Rene chuckled softly.
Well, it seemed like her mood had improved a little.
More importantly,
“Then, why did the Lord make you cry?”
I took the opportunity to ask what I was curious about.
I didn’t understand.
I couldn’t figure out why that daughter-obsessed man would make Rene cry.
I was even more curious about how he had made her cry.
And the moment I asked that question.
“…”
Rene’s expression darkened.
She lowered her head as if she was about to burst into tears again.
“He’s leaving, this place.”
“Leaving? You mean he’s moving from the Bares estate to another location?”
“No.”
“Then, could you explain where he’s leaving to?”
“…”
Rene closed her mouth again.
Looking at her, I realized that she wouldn’t answer even if I asked her more.
In the end, I had to figure it out myself or ignore it.
…Besides, it seemed like it would be better not to ask her any more questions right now.
Rene looked so precarious as if she would crumble at any moment.
I had a strong feeling that if I stressed her out anymore, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.
…But there was nothing I could do for her.
All I could do was this.
Scoot-.
I gently stroked Rene’s hair and spoke.
“Even if the Lord leaves, I’ll be by your side. Take comfort in that.”
“…You, you won’t leave me?”
“Of course. Didn’t I make an eternal vow to you?”
I gave her a reassuring smile.
Rene smiled softly.
“I know it’s, a lie.”
“…”
My shoulders trembled at her words.
As I was about to say something, Rene smiled again.
“But still.”
Her voice was as delicate as it was precarious—.
“So don’t leave, because I’m going to pretend to believe you.”
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