When You Turned Your Back On Me, We Became Strangers [EN]: Chapter 26

Turning Around, He’s Just Another Guy (25)

“Hasn’t it been long enough?”

Reilly felt uneasy when she couldn’t see the boxes stacked in one corner.

It wasn’t because of the window she had broken earlier. For some reason, she felt like she couldn’t leave Ren alone, so she sent him to the warehouse.

‘Well, what could go wrong?’

Reilly had to bring the items for delivery from the warehouse as well, so she waited for Ren.

“Is he really thinking of working here?”

Ren grumbled as he approached the warehouse. He was already annoyed with the guy, and seeing him messing around in front of him made him even more on edge.

The moment he opened the warehouse door, he saw the boxes neatly arranged in rows.

“Why did you come? I took care of everything.”

“Doesn’t the Imperial Palace have any work these days?”

“Do you think I’m the kind of person who would abandon my own work to come here?”

Ren didn’t bother to answer. That’s exactly what it looked like.

Pleased with the better-than-expected organization, he shrugged and looked around the warehouse. But the items that should have been there were missing.

“……What did you do with the stuff that was here?”

Kaver, who was leaning against the door watching Ren, tilted his head. Even when he tried to recall, there was nothing else. He had simply aligned the same types of colors and products in a row to organize them.

“I don’t know what items you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about the products that were placed next to the door here.”

Ren looked inside the well-organized warehouse, half in disbelief. Kaver raised his chin and wore a proud expression.

“Ah, that? I took care of organizing it all.”

“……Tell me the truth. Did you come here to ruin this place?”

Kaver narrowed his brows, and Ren sighed, placing a hand on his forehead.

‘Should I kill that bastard, or spare him?’

Ren explained to Kaver, who wore an expression of injustice, what he had done wrong.

The items that Kaver had organized together were the products that needed to be delivered. And that too, today.

In the end, Ren and Kaver had to rummage through the reorganized warehouse again to find the products.

It was literally double the trouble.

Before the morning work was even over, Ren ran to Reilly and had a serious conversation. The topic was Kaver’s employment.

And the result was obvious without even seeing it.

“What should we do? Um……. I don’t think it will be possible to hire him.”

Reilly felt a little sorry for no reason.

But it was a decision she really couldn’t help making.

‘I asked him to hammer a nail, and he broke the wall…. If I hire him, the store will probably go bankrupt.’

Ren crossed his arms sternly and was silently cursing Kaver with his eyes. More than anything, Reilly felt that Kaver didn’t get along well with Ren, and if she hired him, she would be stuck between them and get tired.

“I’m really, really sorry.”

“What are you sorry about? The damage that guy did to our store today alone would be worth three months’ salary.”

Kaver couldn’t bring himself to look up at Ren’s words and sighed.

‘……Haban, that guy must have known.’

That he would be fired before even a day was over. Strangely enough, even though he worked hard, he ended up causing accidents with everything he did.

Even he himself was too embarrassed to ask to be hired, so he kept his mouth shut.

“I’ll compensate you. I’ll stop by next time I come to buy a gift.”

“Oh? No, it’s okay. It’s okay. Ren fixed everything, so there’s no loss.”

Reilly waved her hand, trying to dissuade him.

However, Kaver was already so disappointed in himself that he couldn’t hear anything. Ren put his hand on Kaver’s shoulder and led him out of the store.

“Hehe, who told His Highness the Crown Prince to do such trivial things?”

“……Shut up.”

His face flushed red with the shame that washed over him. What on earth had he done in front of Reilly?

“I applied to see her face……. Damn it.”

He only saw her shocked face because he kept causing accidents with the trivial work Ren mentioned. It was an inevitable retreat.

* * *

“You’re back early.”

“……You knew, didn’t you?”

“Well, everyone except Your Highness probably knew without me saying anything.”

Kaver sat in a chair and leaned his head back. He really felt like he wanted to die.

“So, did you confirm it?”

“She’s the one.”

“Really! Then now!”

Haban shouted and cheered. He was finally able to escape this hellish graveyard of work. Haban urged Kaver to bring her right away.

“No way.”

“Why not!”

“Ren, that guy still has no intention of coming back.”

“Shall we just push them all out of the way?”

Kaver chuckled at Haban’s uncharacteristically ignorant words. He seemed to be under a lot of stress these days.

But he knew Ren’s personality well, so he couldn’t move rashly.

‘Reilly might still hate me, and I’m not sure if she’ll come with me.’

Kaver, who had been lost in thought, suddenly opened his eyes and stood up from his seat.

“Yes, that’s the only way.”

Haban was inwardly uneasy about his sparkling eyes, but he tried to reassure himself that it would be okay.

* * *

Clang-

Kaver took a deep breath and entered the store. Seeing Reilly staring at him with wide eyes, he said as if to reassure her.

“The person who received the gift last time liked it so much that I came to get another recommendation. Would it be okay if I asked for one more?”

Reilly let out a sigh of relief and nodded readily.

‘Thank goodness, I thought he couldn’t give up and was going to ask to be hired again.’

Ren glared at Kaver, and Reilly tugged at Ren’s sleeve, giving him a subtle look.

‘What’s wrong with you, really.’

Ren had no choice but to step back and watch, yielding to Reilly’s urging. He was bothered by Kaver, who still couldn’t take his eyes off Reilly, but he couldn’t openly tell him to leave.

‘……I knew he wouldn’t give up, but was it impossible to stop him from the start?’

What Reilly and he had maintained so far was an incomplete contract.

If mana that was contrary to his continued to clash, the contract would break due to the unstable mana.

If that happened, Reilly would eventually have no choice but to make a proper contract.

He wanted to prevent that at all costs.

The thought of seeing her suffer again already made his chest feel heavy.

‘I have to see that again? She’s forgotten everything and is doing well now.’

If he wasn’t the Crown Prince, he would have killed him right away. No, all he could do, with the contract he had with the Imperial Family, was to protect her by Reilly’s side.

Ren gritted his teeth.

He hadn’t done anything wrong, but he didn’t like it.

Of course, he had sent a letter to the Imperial Family to force Theo to sign the divorce petition, but it wasn’t something he wanted to do.

“Hmm……. Or how about coming with that person? I can recommend something that suits them better if I see them in person.”

“……Would that be alright?”

Ren shook his head at Kaver. But he wore an expression that he couldn’t delay any longer.

He couldn’t leave Leta and Reilly thinking of each other as dead and living their lives.

“Well, it’s better for me to recommend something that suits the person wearing it. But a gift…….”

“That doesn’t matter. They wanted to come in person anyway……. I’ll stop by with them tomorrow.”

Reilly nodded at Kaver’s words.

From a seller’s perspective, it was easier to recommend something that suited the person wearing it after seeing them. It was much better to actually see them and try it on than to imagine the image.

“Then I’ll expect you to come together tomorrow.”

Kaver clenched his handkerchief tightly, bowed slightly, and left the store. For some reason, Reilly kept worrying about Kaver.

“Hmm, he’s still a strange person. Right, Ren?”

“I don’t like him.”

“What? He was a bit bad at his job, but……. He was the one who bought the expensive stuff. Why are you so on edge when you can’t even like him? Ren, you’re weird.”

Reilly crossed her arms and narrowed her brows.

Ren’s attitude was not to her liking at all. Treating a customer with such a sullen expression, growling as if he would eat them alive, was like saying he wouldn’t sell anything.

“Reilly, I’m saying this for your sake.”

“Huh? What are you going to say again?”

Reilly looked at Ren with anxious eyes. He was someone she couldn’t grasp because he often said things she couldn’t understand. Ren, who noticed her feelings, sighed and shook his head.

“You’re just going to say, ‘Be careful of all men. Everyone but me is a wolf.’ Is that what you’re going to say?”

“No.”

Ren smirked at Reilly’s words. He saw Kaver standing outside, unable to leave and looking at Reilly.

Ren put his hand around Reilly’s waist, pulled her towards him, leaned down, and whispered in her ear.

“I’m canceling the ‘Everyone but me is a wolf’ thing. From now on, be careful of me too.”

Ren’s loosely tied hair flowed down, tickling Reilly’s face. Reilly’s eyes widened at Ren’s sudden action.