CH 32

Chapter 32 : Unfavorable Character

“First of all, I apologize. Rembrandt-sama.”

After the discussion, Marquez bowed deeply.

“No need to apologize. I’m the one who sent you on this mission without telling you what was going on.”

“No, but still, you had your reasons for not telling me. If I had been informed first, I might have refused the assignment.”

“Well, my father wouldn’t have lent me the shadow guard in the first place.”

Noyce also laughed at these words.

“But, Rembrandt. I can’t believe that you believed Trice’s story. Well, to tell you the truth, I still have a hard time believing it. But it’s a fact that she was able to guess the movements of the Reyes Trading Company. I have to admit that.”

“…I just thought it would be nice if the medicine would be ready in time, that’s all.  I guess it’s just wishful thinking. If you can just say that we can start all over, then we will.”

“Ha, that’s quite a dream for you.”

Rembrandt shrugged his shoulders in agreement.

“That’s all right. In fact, it looks like we’ll make it this time.”

“I see… that’s right.”

“Edgar is doing his best at his own risk. He’s desperate to keep Trice alive too.”

Rembrandt’s eyes narrow slightly, then become serious again.

He took off his hand from his cheek and stared straight at his father, Noyce.

“That’s why I want to do everything, so I can keep Trice from being killed this time. We want to get everything done while his eyes are looking somewhere else entirely. We don’t know when Alejandro will turn his attention to Trice, so we don’t have time to sit on our laurels in peace!”

Noyce tapped his fingers on the armrest of his office desk chair and nodded thoughtfully.

“…if what you said earlier about your sister being killed is true, then you may be right.”

Marquez also nodded in agreement.

“I see, so you had a good reason for ordering me to be her escort… my deepest apologies, Rembrandt-sama.”

“That’s enough. It’s too much.”

Marquez was very apologetic for questioning this assignment.

After being apologized to over and over again, Rembrandt, who was getting annoyed and tired of it, interrupted him with a wry smile.

Then, Noyce once again raised a question.

“So? Is it your idea to have Leopoldo stay in his house now?”

“No, it’s someone else in the Reinalpha residence. He is in training at a certain place.”

“…in training at a certain place…?”

“Yes”

As both of them looked at each other, Rembrandt nodded his head, biting back his sigh of relief.

It was already around midnight. Rembrandt, who has been busy giving instructions to the shadow guards and compiling reports everyday recently, has indeed begun to feel sleepy.

Still, he did not have the disrespect to leave the room in the middle of a conversation. His tone became a little slower, but he still continued his report.

“We have to make sure that he will never bother the Marquise of Strydom again. Since he is the next head of the Marquise of Reinalpha, he should be able to pay for the sparks of fire that fall on him, or else they will be in trouble.”

Noyce nodded his head nonchalantly at these words.

“Well, that’s true. This time, with what happened with Trice, and the fact that it looks like we’re getting a fair return, I’m willing to go ahead with it.”

“So I wanted to make sure they learned that there are two sides to every story.”

Rembrandt gave a dark smile.

“I told him to go gather his own evidence then tossed him in.”

Where, may I ask? The two, who had a slightly ominous premonition, hesitated to ask a word.

But Rembrandt was quick to speak up there.

“By now, he should be working for Alejandro as a slave.”

“…wah?”

Maybe because of his lack of sleep. He didn’t add his usual logical explanation.

Therefore…

“…what do you mean? Report a little more properly.”

In the end, further explanations were required, and Rembrandt’s long night still to continue.

…

“…I see what you mean.”

Noyce Strydom muttered, holding his temples after hearing Rembrandt’s explanation.

“Of course, there’s also Thoman… does the Marquis of Reinalpha know?”

“Yes. Leo went directly to the Marquis of Reinalpha. In exchange for the evidence, he asked him to approve his engagement to Natalia when all was said and done.”

Rembrandt continued, “Leo put conditions on the solution, even though his love for Natalia was the reason the business was going down the drain.”

“And Thomas…”

“He agreed. As long as they can get out of this situation.”

A loud sigh spilled from Noyce’s mouth.

“He has a soft spot for Leopold, too.”

“Well, I think they will do well for themselves at best. For him, it’s a desperate situation.”

Rembrandt then tells him aloofly, while Noyce still looks uneasy.

“Leopold is not incapable, but he’s just a simple man… he’s going to get ripped apart pretty quickly.”

“I’ve let the show guards sneak in, but… well, if something happens, that’s it, right? I’ve given them instructions, and as long as they follow them, there should be no problem. I can’t take care of him any more than that.”

“…indeed. Probably Thomas would have let some of them slip through the cracks.”

Noyce then fell silent for a few moments and let his words slip out in an unintentional manner.

“It must have been very hard for you to arrange all these by yourself, Ren. I’m sorry for your hard work.”

With a mouth full of absentmindedness, Rembrandt shook his head and said it was nothing.

“I don’t have a choice. It’s more convenient for us to take him out before he turns his attention to Trice. Well, I’ll let Leopoldo do the rest while I give instructions from a safe distance.”

Noyce chuckled at his son, who only speaks in a twisted way.

“Absolutely… Although it’s a detrimental personality, you don’t have to go out of your way to be hateful. Leopold would have been grateful for your help in letting him infiltrate them as a slave.”

“I can’t fix my personality at this point, and I didn’t do what I did because I wanted to be thanked in the first place.”

Nonetheless, Rembrandt was unable to return anything but this and said, “I’m going to bed, I’m at my limit,” and got up from his seat.