Chapter 11
Black Cat
“Black cat.”
That was how Renar felt to me in that moment.
A cat. The stray cats I used to take care of in the real world.
When those cats sometimes rubbed their heads against my ankles, the feeling was exactly the same as the sensation of Renar’s hair now.
“Um…”
“Just a moment. Let me stay like this for a moment.”
“……”
“It’s nice… being able to lean on someone like this.”
Someone pitiful leaning on me.
The power that feeling held was strong.
I couldn’t push Renar away.
Why did he have to bring up those old memories…
Even in the original story, Renar had tried his best to forget the memories from his days in the arena.
Thinking of that Renar, I gently patted his shoulder.
Wouldn’t it be better if he just stopped seeking revenge? Dragging out memories he doesn’t want to remember… forcing himself into unwanted contact like this…
Then that thought made me suddenly realize that our bodies were touching.
He’s probably enduring something he hates right now too, isn’t he?
Thinking I was being considerate, I pushed him away.
Renar, pushed back, stared at me blankly for a moment.
Then he suddenly said,
“Please be my friend.”
* * *
“Friends? Friends—?”
From behind the stack of documents Renar was holding, Douglas repeated the word with exaggerated surprise.
One of Renar’s eyebrows crooked upward as he looked at Douglas.
“How many more times do I have to say it? What’s wrong with your ears? Want me to cut them off?”
“And what did the young lady say?”
“She agreed. Though I had to say all sorts of things to get that one answer—like I couldn’t be greedy and covet the crown prince’s fiancée, that I’d be happy even just staying friends.”
“Young master, your combat power seems to have weakened a lot. You’ve already lowered your goal.”
At Douglas’s sympathetic remark, Renar lowered the document folder he’d been reading.
His face looked as crumpled as the papers stuffed inside the folder.
“Who says I lowered my goal?”
“Didn’t you? You said you’re becoming friends.”
“Douglas, do you think men and women can really be just friends?”
Douglas blinked innocently at the sudden question.
“Men and women… can’t be friends…?”
“Of course not.”
“Then why did you ask her to be friends?”
“Obviously it’s a trick.”
Renar clicked his tongue irritably.
In truth, he had never intended to become just friends.
But when Elose stayed silent after hearing his confession about his first love… when she pushed him away as he leaned on her…
Renar had realized something.
This woman has no intention of becoming lovers with me.
He found that irritating.
The uncomfortable feeling he’d felt earlier that day could now be named precisely.
Betrayal.
It was betrayal.
I even saved her life once.
Was it wrong to expect love just because he had saved her life?
Besides, women were supposed to be weak to confessions about first love. But apparently not this duchess whose colors—from head to toe—reminded him of ice.
Having to bring up his arena days just to make it harder for her to reject him had been humiliating.
Which only made him more determined.
He would seduce Elose no matter what.
He’d stay friends with her, treat her incredibly well, stick close to her—
Until she fell head over heels for him.
“Why are these papers so crumpled? Are they protesting because I’m making them work too hard?”
Renar waved the wrinkled papers clipped together and frowned.
Douglas puffed out his lower lip.
“What do you expect me to do when you only invest in deals full of illegal activities? I nearly had my funeral today bringing those documents!”
Douglas showed Renar the small cut on his cheek in protest.
It looked like he’d been grazed by a thrown dagger.
“That’s why I pay you well.”
“What’s the point of earning money quickly if I die suddenly?”
“Still, good job. If they’d taken the goods, you really would’ve been visiting your late grandfather today.”
Renar grinned as he gestured toward several wooden crates stacked in the corner of the office.
Douglas covered his neck in horror.
In truth, no fool in the Greysiana Empire’s black market was bold enough to steal Douglas’s goods.
That was thanks to Renar’s reputation.
There had once been a fierce battle with the faction that previously dominated the area.
Thinking about that brutal winter night still made Douglas’s hair stand on end.
Snow falling like garbage from the sky.
Crimson blood staining everything before his eyes.
That was how Douglas remembered the day.
And the head rolling at my feet…
The fight had started because the owner of that head had tried to steal Douglas’s goods—and his life.
Since then, Douglas might get small injuries, but his life was never truly threatened in the black market.
Even so, more than anyone, Douglas hoped Renar would leave that world soon.
He’s already earned more than enough… why won’t he quit?
It seemed his young master wanted to become perfect.
In strength, wealth, and power.
In terms of strength, his magic already made him nearly perfect.
So he only needed to grow in wealth and power.
Wealth was rapidly increasing through the black market.
But power… was still lacking.
Friends, huh.
Surely he didn’t go on a midnight walk just to become friends…
At that moment, the flickering lamp scattered warm light across Renar’s face.
It almost seemed to sparkle.
And the Grand Duke’s daughter only wants to be friends with a man who looks like a sculpture?
Is she perhaps fond of women? Douglas wondered suddenly.
“It’s late. How about calling it a day?” Douglas suggested.
“Still have a lot to read. If you want me to sleep, read them for me.”
“I risked my life bringing the goods. Isn’t my job done?”
“That was something you obviously had to do.”
Douglas puffed up his cheeks at the cold response.
Renar smirked.
“Don’t do that. It’s not cute at all.”
But Renar really was tired.
He had too much to do lately.
As Oriendo’s bodyguard, he had to watch over Oriendo’s safety at another estate.
As captain of the knights, he oversaw training.
He was also trying to seduce Elose.
And he continued expanding his wealth.
Even ten bodies wouldn’t have been enough.
So Renar compensated for the lack of time by sleeping less.
And even the little sleep he got wasn’t proper sleep.
“You should sleep anyway. If you sleep too little, the nightmares will keep you awake again,” Douglas said.
Nightmares.
The nightmares Renar had every night.
“When… will those nightmares finally disappear…?” Douglas asked with a frown.
Renar snorted.
“Why ask now?”
He turned the page calmly, as if it were nothing.
But dreaming nightmares every night was far from normal.
Anyone who had experienced a true nightmare—even once—could imagine the suffering of someone who had to endure them every day.
But there was no clear solution.
Renar had long given up on trying.
He couldn’t exactly split his head open with an axe just because he had nightmares.
“You’ll collapse before you even finish your revenge.”
“Don’t worry. I’m tired, but I’m fine.”
“But that revenge… do you really have to do it? Sometimes I wonder whether it’s truly what you want… or if the duchess simply convinced you that it is.”
“There you go again.”
Their conversations about revenge always ended like that.
Douglas was fairly certain of his suspicion.
After all, he had grown up watching Ellie Roosevelt whisper revenge to Renar like a lullaby, her eyes full of madness.
But he also knew Renar had repeated revenge as his life’s goal just to calm his mother.
By now, revenge had become Renar’s identity.
So Douglas couldn’t stop him.
Not the man who lived solely to avenge his father after his mother died.
“Oh right—did that arrive? From the imperial palace?”
Renar suddenly asked.
Though vague, the capable butler Douglas understood immediately.
“It will arrive tomorrow morning.”
“Good. Perfect timing. Since we’re friends now, I should make good use of it.”
Renar smiled lazily as if the news itself were rest.
The white moon shone into the office piled with documents.
* * *
Golden spring sunlight poured into the lemon-colored room.
Fresh from a bath, I sat at my dressing table with half-closed eyes.
The maids busily dried and brushed my hair with towels.
The scented oil in my hair smelled wonderful.
It reminded me of fresh yellow flowers.
As I inhaled, the fragrance mixed with the golden sunlight and tickled my lungs like a gentle breeze.
It was a day that made me feel drowsy.
In other words, a good day.
Maybe it was better because my mind felt peaceful.
I didn’t expect him to ask to be friends…
Unexpected, but the relationship Renar seemed to want from me was probably similar to the one he had with Mirette.
In the original story, Renar had expanded his network through Mirette.
He probably wanted to do the same through me.
The unfortunate thing was that I wasn’t as well connected as Mirette.
I haven’t even debuted yet… and I barely have any friends…
That was because the Grand Duke and my brothers had managed my social circle far too strictly.
Thinking about that made me feel oddly sorry for Renar.
Just then—
“Ah!”
“Oh my, miss! Are you alright?! I’m so sorry!”
A maid had accidentally pulled my hair too hard while brushing.
“It’s fine.”
But when I said I was fine, the maid looked puzzled.
What…?
At that moment, loud voices came from outside.
After getting dressed, I went out to see what the noise was about.
Large packages wrapped in kraft paper were being carried into the mansion through the entrance.
As I looked around curiously, a warm, ticklish breath brushed my ear.
Then something moist grazed my earlobe.
Startled, I turned around—
“What are you doing here?”
Renar stood there, gently holding my wrist as I tried to step back.
Spring sunlight scattered rainbow colors around him.
