Evan sat right beside Rashak, regardless of whether I was sitting across from them, and kept touching various parts of his face.
“Your eyes look so tired. Have you even been eating properly?”
“…I told you. That cook was up to something strange.”
“Ah, that bastard. I should’ve broken every bone in his body.”
It was an odd thing to hear from a man with such slender wrists.
Rather than pointing that out, Rashak simply chuckled.
“Exactly. If he’d fallen into your hands, he would’ve begged you to kill him.”
A smile spread across Evan’s lips.
It felt as though the two of them were the only people in the room.
…But once again, I felt no sense of exclusion or resentment whatsoever.
Instead, I was too busy studying the man in front of me.
So this is what Rashak’s older brother actually looks like.
Come to think of it, he looked exactly as the original novel had described him.
Golden hair that differed from Rashak’s. A height of around 170 centimeters.
…And a complexion like that of a sick person.
He was ill, wasn’t he? He developed heart disease when he was fifteen, or something like that…
But the incident in which he would die this summer wasn’t caused by his chronic illness.
“Have you introduced yourself to Hiel?”
Hearing my name while I was lost in thought, I abruptly raised my head.
Evan didn’t answer right away. He narrowed his eyes, folded his arms, and began examining me from head to toe.
Uncomfortable under his gaze, I raised the teacup in my hand to my lips.
“I was asking where she’s from. Next, I was planning to ask about her family, where she went to school, and whether she has any illnesses.”
“Why ask all that? What’s the point of investigating her?”
“Because she’s going to be your wife, of course.”
I nearly spat out my drink.
I almost spewed it right back out.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes… I’m fine.”
I hurriedly wiped my mouth with the handkerchief I was carrying. Rashak, who had been watching me, shook his head.
“No.”
“No?”
“She really is just my secretary. I hired her because of some unavoidable circumstances.”
Evan’s olive-green eyes began scrutinizing me from head to toe.
Leaning forward, he stared intently at me and asked,
“Are you sure?”
I nodded so vigorously that it was practically headbanging.
Evan clicked his tongue and leaned back into his seat.
“Aw, what a shame. I got my hopes up for nothing.”
“What do you mean, hope?”
“Well, my dying wish is to see you get married before I die.”
Those words finally stopped my frantic head-shaking.
The atmosphere grew heavy in an instant.
It was a statement that left me unable to move or speak.
And Rashak’s gaze… began to turn icy. It was the first time I’d seen him like this.
I’d never seen him look genuinely angry before.
“Hiel.”
“Y-yes.”
“Go to work first. Fidel should be waiting for you on the first floor.”
It was an instruction I could only interpret as a distress signal. I quickly grabbed my bag and headed for the front door.
Just before leaving, I glanced back at Evan. His expression was positively peaceful. He even leisurely lifted his teacup to his lips and took a sip.
As if to say, Did I say anything wrong?
So this is what their relationship is like.
As I opened the front door and stepped outside, I reviewed what I knew from the original novel.
Evan never appeared in the original story.
The events took place after he had already died.
According to the novel’s narration… after Evan’s death, Rashak became a completely different person.
He barely smiled or even changed his expression. Unless there was a reason to do so, he wouldn’t speak to others, either.
And when he did speak, it was almost always to make sarcastic remarks.
Picking fights and provoking people to uncover their true intentions and get what he wanted—that was how Rashak operated in the original novel.
Even the secretary in the original story wasn’t named Pierce… Maybe the members of the organization left because they couldn’t stand the changes in Rashak.
And Mr. Fidel, the head of the assassination squad who stood before me now, hadn’t appeared in the original story, either.
“Please get in. I’ll escort you.”
“Thank you…”
I climbed into the carriage and looked out the window.
We passed through the alleys and reached the main road, but none of the scenery passing by registered with me.
My mind remained occupied by the Evan I’d seen just moments ago.
And by the way Rashak had looked at him so affectionately.
Haah, what am I supposed to do about this…?
The original novel called it the worst incident of Rashak’s life.
Evan’s death.
That wasn’t… caused by his illness.
It was murder.
And the female lead of the original novel, Nadia, was the murderer’s daughter.
That was how the central antagonistic relationship in The Leash Around Your Arrogant Neck came into being.
Rashak accepted the daughter of a man who was practically his sworn enemy as his wife, while Nadia was trapped in a marriage with a husband who clearly hated her.
Their miserable relationship was the very heart of the original story.
But if I told Rashak about Evan’s death…
There’s no guarantee the original story won’t still happen, and there are too many variables.
And, most importantly, I knew that Evan would be murdered, but I didn’t know how he would be killed.
The novel had never explained it.
That made it difficult to bring up. Who would believe me if I suddenly said, Your older brother is going to die this summer?
To make matters worse, the murderer was currently a well-respected noble.
Well, his relationship with Rashak’s family wasn’t exactly good, either.
If I reveal what I know, things will get incredibly complicated. I’d be saving someone’s life, but… this could grow into something far beyond what I can handle.
As an ordinary person who lived from one paycheck to the next, this would require an enormous amount of courage.
Rashak was treating me well now, but who knew what would happen? The moment he heard my story, he might suspect that I was an accomplice.
That’s entirely possible. This is a man who even changes where he sleeps every night because of his suspicions.
When should I tell him, and how?
It was an awfully heavy and difficult problem to be pondering on my way to work in the morning.
Late that afternoon, I returned after submitting the complaint against Patrick Rohan to the Central Court. Rashak was already sitting at his desk in the office.
“Oh, Hiel. You’re back. How did it go?”
“I submitted it without any problems.”
After answering Pierce, I awkwardly greeted Rashak.
“Oh… you’re here, Boss.”
“Yeah.”
I cautiously walked past him toward my desk, and the strong scent of cigar smoke reached me.
His slightly furrowed brows made his irritation painfully obvious. Even the usually talkative Pierce refrained from saying anything more in the face of the atmosphere surrounding him.
I returned to my desk and picked up my pen again.
At times like this, the best thing to do was focus on work.
Rashak had told me that yesterday, hadn’t he?
That I should just do my job and leave everything else to him.
“Hiel.”
“…Yes?”
“Come with me.”
He’s… asking me to do some work, right?
But before I could even ask, Rashak had already left the office.
As I hesitantly got up, Pierce lightly caught my arm.
“I don’t know why, but the boss is in a bad mood today. Be careful.”
I know.
I know exactly why, which makes it even scarier…
“…Yes, I will.”
I reluctantly followed him into the hallway, where I found Rashak leaning against the wall.
The atmosphere was downright murderous.
I cautiously approached him. His gaze shifted toward me, but… he didn’t say anything.
He simply stared at me in silence.
His expression was almost completely blank, making it difficult to figure out what he was thinking.
Just as I was beginning to miss that lunatic Pierce—
Rashak suddenly spoke.
“I explained things to my brother. There won’t be any more misunderstandings like that.”
His words were completely unexpected.
I’d thought he might interrogate me about what I’d discussed with his brother or complain that bringing Evan here had put him in a bad mood first thing in the morning.
…My parents used to do things like that.
“Yes, understood.”
“My brother’s way of speaking can be a little strange, but he’s not a bad person. I’ve talked to him, so he won’t try to test you anymore.”
Rashak hesitated slightly before speaking again.
“And what my brother said…”
“I-I’ll forget about it.”
I gathered my courage and looked him straight in the eyes.
At least regarding this matter, I wanted to make it clear that he could trust me.
What Evan had said a few hours ago… before I die.
Perhaps Evan himself had only meant to reassure his younger brother that he was fine, but to a family member listening to those words, they must have felt like a knife to the heart.
It was only natural that Rashak was uncomfortable. He probably didn’t like the fact that an outsider like me had heard it, either.
“I won’t tell anyone about it.”
I repeated myself firmly and sincerely, and at last, his expression relaxed a little.
“Good. Thank you.”
The relief in his eyes finally allowed me to breathe comfortably again.
“Shall we get back to work now?”
“Yes, let’s.”
After we’d walked for a while, I asked,
“…By the way, what works?”
I poked my head through the curtain and asked,
“Um… Boss…”
“What is it?”
Rashak replied from the sofa.
His gaze remained fixed on the clothing catalog resting on his lap.
There was probably a picture of the outfit I was wearing somewhere in there.
“Do I really… have to do this?”
The current time was around four in the late afternoon.
Our current location was… an upscale clothing boutique frequented exclusively by nobles.
And my current appearance was—
“What’s wrong? It looks lovely on you!”
Marian Veloz, the owner of the boutique, beamed as she pulled the curtain aside.
I hesitantly stepped out, and Rashak raised his head to look at me.
He stroked his chin as he examined me, wearing an expression like that of someone evaluating a work of art.
“I told you. We’re going to the Grand Theater today to meet someone. Nobles frequent the place, so you need to dress properly, too.”
“But I’m not a noble…”
“You’re my secretary.”
There he went again, leaving me with nothing to say.
“Although, now that I look at it, the outfit you’re wearing is a bit…”
After examining me more closely, he curled up one corner of his mouth.
“You look like a strawberry-topped cream puff cake. A very badly made one, at that.”
His tone was unmistakably teasing. I spun around and marched straight back behind the curtain.
“I’ll go change!”
I desperately ignored Rashak’s laughter coming from the other side of the curtain.
Comments (0)