Chapter 28

Jack Rogers’s shoulders trembled.

Crushed dignity, reduced compensation.

Either one would have been devastating, but to have to deal with both? He never expected it.

But what can he do?

‘Then why did you touch him? He’s such a good man if you just leave him alone.’

If he hadn’t touched Roche, there would have been no commotion, no kneeling, and no pay cut.

I looked at Roche out of the corner of my eye.

Roche was staring back at me. I smiled at him and he quickly ducked his head.

‘Oh, he’s so cute.’

‘I really don’t get it. If he’s so cute, how can he get so angry if you touch him? ‘

Did they really insult him so much that he’s this upset?

I couldn’t help but look at Roche with a serious expression. Roche’s expression suddenly became a little more serious as well.

I leaned in close to him.

“Roche.”

“Yes,” Roche replied in a small voice, his earlier cheerfulness melting away like snow on a spring day.

Seeing him be so kind worries me.

What if commanding these guys becomes a burden for Roche? I’m not sure exactly what happened when I wasn’t around, but it might have been so terrible that he doesn’t even want to see their faces anymore.

“Did they say something harsh to you? Is that it? Are you uncomfortable seeing their faces? “

If that’s the case, I should have cut them off immediately.

My impression crumpled at the thought that I might have been too self-centered to understand Roche’s feelings.

Roche stared at Jack, still on his knees, for a moment, then shook his head gently.

“No. Please let me command them.”

“Really?”

Doubt crept into my eyes.

“You’re not just saying that because that’s what you think I want to hear? “

“No.”

Roche whispered in his characteristically low, sweet voice.

“I’m actually glad that I can firmly imprint in their minds whose place is just a half step behind Countess. It pleases me.”

What was that supposed to mean?

I didn’t understand the context, but I decided not to ask.

Roche was wearing a rare expression of pure joy and I didn’t want to break the mood.

“Then…….”

I decided to leave Roche in charge of the guards and bodyguards scattered around the garden.

“Train them well and make them useful.”

“Yes.”

Roche’s eyes burned with the determination to prove his usefulness.

Meanwhile, Dylan, the butler who had hired Jack Rogers, stared at me anxiously.

His impatience was understandable, as he’d just been hired to serve the new Countess Balthus in the capital and was eager to do a good job, but he’d gotten off on the wrong foot.

I smirked and patted him on the shoulder.

“Do better from now on.”

Dylan shouted, his voice filled with excitement.

“Yes, My Lady!”

As a perfectionist like Dylan, he couldn’t tolerate making mistakes on his own. Now, he would light up his eyes and behave like a tiger, determined not to make the same mistake twice.

And just like that, a sequence that neither I nor Dylan had intended was over.

Roche has solidified his position, Dylan’s eagerness has risen, and the countess’s spending is down.

It was a satisfactory outcome.

* * *
That evening.

A carriage belonging to the Redron, which had been circling a certain alleyway again and again, waited until no one was passing before it stopped.

A tall man stepped out of the halted carriage.

He was a striking enough figure to turn anyone’s head, but he had no intention of flaunting his good looks.

Rather, he walked quickly, as if scurrying through the gutter like a rat wandering in the sewer, avoiding the gaze of anyone who might see him.

He was Oscar Crestwell.

A man who had no business in these alleys.

He ruffled the collar of his coat and knocked on the door of a small house. He heard light footsteps inside, and soon the door swung open.

A neat, slender woman looked up at Oscar. Her face, a mixture of delight and horror, always stirred Oscar’s sadism.

Her presence always unpleasantly paralyzed his reason. Even when she wanted to resist, she was drawn to it.

But today, he came here voluntarily because he wanted exactly that. He wanted to forget his worries while tormenting Serwen.

Marlena annoyed him.

Ever since he’d announced her divorce, his daily life had started to go awry.

Things didn’t go as smoothly as they used to. There were always annoying incidents happening.

And the “mess” almost always involved Marlena Crestwell…… No, I mean Countess Marlena Balthus.

She stuck in his mind and wouldn’t let go. Feeling disgusted, he wanted to distract himself somewhere else.

Oscar lunged at Serwen without greeting her.

For a moment, Serwen rebelled against him, but then she embraced him with ease. She wrapped her thin arms around him and whispered.

“It’s been a long time since you’ve been here…….”

They hadn’t seen each other for only a few days, but even that was a “long time” by the standards of the two adulterers.

Oscar had been dropping by Serwen’s house whenever he could.

And he did it without anyone noticing.

Except for one person, ……Marlena.

Damn, he found himself remembering Marlena’s name again.

Oscar snapped back, annoyed.

“You’re foolish. I told you I had some business to take care of.”

Serwen shrank back. It wasn’t every day that Oscar was verbally abusive and irritating to her, but somehow today felt a little different.

His tone was annoying.

Serwen’s mouth went dry as she felt the discomfort.

‘No, there’s no reason for you to find me annoying.’

She soothed herself with that thought.

The Oscar she knew was always on fire. Despite the noble blood of the royal family, he had always lunged like an animal at the lowly woman who had fallen in love with him.

She believed she was the only one who could see that fire.

That she, a lowly slave girl, was more special than anyone else in the world, at least in Oscar’s eyes.

‘The Duke wants me. Not some pompous noble lady, but me.’

‘So I am special.’

‘Speaking of which…….’

Oscar’s fingertips flexed lightly as she held him.

He said that he and the Duchess had separated.

Did he divorce her because of her?

A little hope sprouted.

‘I wonder if he’ll take me under his wing now.’

Maybe he will.

“Your Excellency…….”

Serwen was beautiful, foolish, and pitiful.

But soon, greater anxiety than hope began to grow. Oscar, who always dealt with Serwen with a difficult-to-handle intensity, seemed oddly lukewarm today.

Even though his body was pressed against hers, he seemed unable to focus on her.

There was no tension in the air.

‘Why? Even though I’m right here…’

Serwen was confused.

Torn, she pushed Oscar harder.

And then, in a tone much harsher than her usual self, she uttered the spell that had always ignited Oscar’s flames even more fiercely.

“Stop it!”

But it was a mistake.

Oscar, who would normally have chewed up and spat out something along the lines of ‘I told you not to provoke me with this behavior’ and pursued Serwen with even more ferocity, suddenly became impassive.

“Stop it?”

Serwen nodded, shivering. Alarm bells were going off in her head.

Oscar glared at her coldly, then grabbed his coat and stormed out of the house.

“Uh……. Uh.”

Serwen watched Oscar’s departing figure with wide eyes, staring endlessly at the closing door.

Something was really wrong.

“Oscar Crestwell is crazy about Serwen.”

Little by little, the one truth that held her world together was crumbling.

* * *
Meanwhile, out on the street, Oscar chewed his lip and scowled at his arrogance.

The look on Serwen’s face was enough to make him forget everything else.

Even with her body in his arms, which he always coveted, he couldn’t get the other woman’s face out of his head today.

Red hair, upturned eyebrows, and golden eyes. That smile is so confident and mesmerizing.

Just thinking about it made his mouth dry and his shoulders tense.

“Ha…….”

He sighed heavily.

She bothered him so much.

Lately, Marlena’s presence has been weighing heavily on Oscar’s mind.

He’d forgotten about Serwen for days after their encounter in the lounge of the Luces Club.

‘Yes, that woman holds my weakness.’

Serwen was his weakness.

In that moment, Oscar entertained the thought of killing Serwen to rid himself of his weakness. It was a thought he had never entertained before.

Until now.

He imagined killing Serwen.

Even in that moment, the dominant thought in his mind was not regretting losing Serwen but rather how Marlena would perceive the act.