I Pretended To Be Dead And Ran Away - Chapter 38

Reniel realized that her shirt was gone. She clearly remembered draping it over her shoulders before falling asleep.

It must have fallen off while she was sleeping or Felix must have put it away.

Without realizing it, she hugged Felix’s face.

And she reached out her hand to get the ring.

Seeing this, Ianathas clicked his tongue and found the ring first.

“Give it to me…!”

At her words, Ianathas rolled his eyes in annoyance.

If he just left it like this until his lord woke up, he would immediately know that she was the maiden of Nuremberg.

His lord was a bit dazed in the mornings, but he was still someone who could make that kind of judgment. Moreover, he was known for being shrewd and cruel.

So if he found out that Reniel in front of his eyes had infiltrated the Le Pelique ducal house and deceived Felix, he would never forgive her.

He would finish her off.

Then this damned curse would end, and if her power was absorbed by his lord, he could become a powerful ability user who could become emperor, not just stay as a duke.

That’s what Ianathas was hoping for.

“Why are you taking someone else’s thing without permission?”

But Ianathas’s body was handing over the ring without him realizing it when she frowned.

He was dumbfounded by this strange sight. And yet, looking at her not properly dressed seemed to make it difficult for him to think.

His face felt hot and the pulsation felt when breathing was strange.

“Am I really broken?”

Ianathas thought he must be broken.

“My ring?”

Reniel quickly put on the ring. Wearing the ring while tense, she sighed in relief as her hair instantly shortened.

In that brief moment, she was afraid of what excuse she would have to make to Felix if the ring really broke and she had to live as a woman from now on.

She knew Felix quite well.

He was a cruel person, a person without any warmth. He was also someone who would never forgive her if he found out she had deceived him.

She knew that Felix was being kind to her because of sleep.

“What strange thing did you say? What exactly is broken?”

Reniel asked, perhaps because it was morning and she wasn’t fully awake.

If it were her usual self, she would have pretended to be polite, but now, perhaps because she wasn’t fully awake, she was asking a bit rudely.

“I come to see my lord at this time every day. But because of you, the time I’m supposed to report has changed. What do you think about this?”

Ianathas couldn’t control his emotions strangely.

He had just seen a beautiful woman’s body until a moment ago. And for him, a woman’s body wasn’t such a rare sight that he could see every dawn.

He just thought that if it was aesthetically beautiful, he would feel great satisfaction, but in the end, it was all the same.

But why was he like this?

“…Are you angry?”

He couldn’t understand if his face was hot as if he was angry.

He thought this must be another ability of a purification ability user. He thought he must have been captivated by Reniel.

How infuriating it was that Reniel was looking at him with an innocent expression and not giving a proper answer.

“Because of whom my work has been disrupted. How will you take responsibility?”

When Ianathas sharply retorted, Felix’s breathing deepened.

“Ianathas.”

“Yes, my lord…”

Ianathas was startled, finally remembering that Felix was also present.

Coming to his senses, he was ashamed of emotionally confronting Reniel. He was always the one who taught his assassins not to show their emotions.

“Leave. You’re annoying.”

“But… it’s morning now. Didn’t you tell me to report in the morning?”

“Disappear.”

At those words, Ianathas felt both disappointed and somehow more upset seeing Reniel’s round eyes.

“…Yes.”

With that, he turned his body to leave the room.

But then he unconsciously looked back and saw Felix’s firm arm pulling her back, embracing her to his chest.

“Don’t talk back to her. You’ll wake me up.”

Felix said that and hugged Reniel as if binding her.

“Ah… wait a moment.”

“Be quiet.”

“It tickles.”

“Shh.”

She trembled at the ticklish feeling of Felix’s lips touching her chest, then soon became docile.

Ianathas had to go out, clenching his fists at this bitterness of feeling like a complete outsider.

****

“Is the office perhaps uncomfortable?”

“Why?”

Reniel said that when she saw Felix working at the desk around the time she woke up late.

She wasn’t so surprised, perhaps because she had experienced this sight once before.

“The room is such a mess, but you’re working here.”

Reniel rubbed her eyes and looked around. The surroundings were just as Felix had left them in a mess.

She looked at the corner where the huge sword he had roughly discarded was. Looking closely, she noticed that the floor was sunken in.

It would take a while just to clean this up and repair the floor.

Fortunately, the area near the bed was very clean. Even the curtains on the canopy were not damaged.

Thinking it was fortunate, but seeing the expensive mahogany wardrobe in the distance split in two and spread out to the sides, she thought it wouldn’t be easy.

“You sleep here.”

“Because of me?”

“Originally, I was going to take you to the office, but I didn’t.”

She felt a strange feeling as he talked about her like an object.

“You’re still here without cleaning up, considering me?”

“Yes.”

Understanding his intention, she laughed.

“Thank you for considering me.”

“Bring in the meal.”

Felix said that to the assistant standing near the door. Then Reniel waved her hand and said,

“I have to go to the bank.”

“Eat and go.”

“I’ll eat after I come back. There are only a few hours left until the bank closes.”

“Should I go with you?”

Felix put down the fountain pen he was holding and asked.

Reniel thought for a bit and said,

“If I go with you, I think I’ll get audited.”

“Haha.”

That wasn’t a joke. The Le Pelique ducal house had many enemies as they were the emperor’s watchdog.

Felix had a very friendly relationship with the emperor, but not with the empress.

The empress had killed his mother, and he had also kidnapped Thanasis to take revenge on such an empress.

If such Felix appeared at the bank with Reniel?

Then it would be a perfect excuse to harass them. Moreover, the bank employees would surely be afraid of Felix.

No, not just the bank employees.

Felix had a huge body that anyone would fear, an overwhelming voice, and bright red eyes that seemed to read people’s hearts.

And she was going to prepare to leave.

If she took him, he might think about this someday and find her after she ran away.

So she quickly shook her head.

“I have to go alone to be quick. And you have a lot of work to do, right?”

“I can spare enough time to go to the bank with you.”

“I’m not okay with that.”

At Reniel’s refusal, Felix had a strange expression.

“Why? Do you perhaps want to run away?”

Reniel thought his intuition was eerie, hid her embarrassment, and spoke with a smile as usual.

“What? Me? Why would I? Leaving such a good job?”

“Your job? Is that all?”

Even though she spoke with her best effort, Felix was frowning strangely.

“And there’s a good master too.”

She hurriedly continued, flustered. Then she saw the corners of his eyes go down.

“Let’s have a meal together when you come back.”

“Yes, I’d like that.”

Reniel got out of bed now. Then she approached near Felix.

“I guess it’s morning for you now.”

“That’s right.”

Felix tapped his cheek as if telling her to give him a morning kiss.

Reniel hesitated for a moment, then thinking it was the last time anyway, kissed his cheek as he wanted.

“When you come back, I’ll pierce your ears.”

“What?”

“I have earrings. Ones that will suit you.”

Reniel smiled happily, wondering if she would get earrings as her retirement payment.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

The earrings Reniel would wear had location tracking ability.

“They have citrines that will look great on you.”

It was possible because of the magic stones that looked like citrines.