HOFRS 10

Chapter 10

“Chris?”

At the sound of that voice, Vendia sat up and pulled the shawl from the nearby table around her shoulders.

She had been sleeping when a knock at the door startled her awake—Chris had announced himself.

Coming at this hour? Relying on the faint light of the lamp beside the bed, she trudged to the door.

Thinking it might be urgent, she opened it without hesitation to find Chris standing there, visibly nervous.

“Ah, L-Lady.”

“What is it?”

“T-There’s an intruder.”

As Vendia hesitated at the unexpected news, Chris quickly added,

“D-Do you have any idea who it might be?”

He fidgeted restlessly, unable to keep his hands still, yet his eyes remained fixed on her face.

‘Huh? What’s this?’

Wouldn’t most people ask, “Should I call the guards? What should we do?” first?

And if there was really an intruder, shouldn’t they have been taken care of first? Why did he come to wake me?

As she was sensing something strange, Chris, still gauging her reaction, quickly spoke again.

“I-It happened so suddenly… I wasn’t sure what to do…”

Looking troubled, he lowered his gaze, stealing glances at her as if trying to gauge her expression.

In that moment, something clicked in Vendia’s mind.

‘Ah, this is it!’

The classic romance episode where the male lead finally reveals his true strength, which he’d hidden behind a clumsy façade.

Despite the female lead’s concern, the male lead effortlessly defeats the intruders, showing off his hidden cool side.

And considering she had been muttering to herself earlier this afternoon after observing Ron’s strange behavior, the timing was perfect.

So that’s why he woke me up. I have to witness his moment of glory.

Such a cunning little kitten.

“Where are the intruders?”

“U-Upstairs! They went to the second floor.”

“Let’s go.”

“N-No! It’s too dangerous—I’ll go alone!”

Chris hurriedly blocked her path, trying to stop her.

But Vendia, who had already seen through everything, barely managed to stifle a laugh and slipped past him into the hallway.

“We’ll go together. Just in case, let’s grab a weapon on the way.”

On their way, Vendia picked up a long, sturdy broom from the cleaning closet.

Of course, she wouldn’t actually need a weapon. Chris would handle everything just fine with his bare hands.

‘I guess I should act surprised, right?’

She climbed the stairs, wondering just how shocked she should act to make the story spread.

“You bastard. Do you even know how much this face is worth?”

Ron slammed the last guy he had taken down onto the top of the human pile.

The final attacker’s face was a bloody mess—worse than the rest.

That guy, jealous of Ron’s good looks, had aimed only for his face.

The late-night intruders hadn’t even made it inside Ron’s house. They were all stacked up neatly like a grave in the hallway in front of the second-floor entrance.

They were the same group that had surrounded him on the café terrace earlier that day.

Apparently still bitter after having to run from the guards, they’d stalked him all the way home.

If they’d stopped there, he might’ve gone easy on them. But no—they had the audacity to come directly to his home.

And at night, when no one would be watching.

At least they had come for him.

If they’d misunderstood and taken her hostage after seeing them talk earlier that day, things would’ve gotten really annoying.

“Damn, there are a lot of them.”

He glanced at the human pile before casually opening a large leather bag beside them.

“Well, would you look at that?”

Inside the bag the group had brought were all sorts of tools.

Hammers, saws, knives—you name it.

“Are you guys carpenters or something?”

He snorted and kicked the bag, causing the tools to spill out and crash loudly against the hallway wall.

There was no need to call the authorities. By morning, this mess would be taken care of.

“Well, there goes my night’s sleep. Damn it.”

He rotated his stiff shoulders and punched them lightly with his fists before turning to head back inside.

“There’s a sound upstairs.”

Just then, he heard voices and footsteps coming up the stairs.

“That sounds like the tenant! Is it dangerous? Oh no!”

There was a note of anticipation in the voice, but Ron brushed it off as his imagination and turned around quickly.

Only one person would call him “tenant,” so he already knew who it was.

But it was too late.

Vendia had already reached the top of the stairs and was staring at the pile of bodies in the hallway.

“Shit. Listen, this is just—!”

“…Huh?”

A flicker of dismay passed over Vendia’s face.

“Where’s my episode? Where’s the male lead’s big moment…?”

Then she started muttering nonsense like a crazy person before glaring at him with terrifying intensity.

Did she not see the pile of bodies? Was she too shocked?

“S-SCREAAAM!”

As Ron expected, she finally let out a shriek after looking at a specific spot.

A sharp, piercing scream that matched her dainty appearance.

“H-Hold on! I-I’ll call the authorities!”

Before he could stop him, the twig-like guy beside her sprinted down the stairs.

Only then did Ron realize his mistake.

He’d forgotten that the building owner lived on the first floor, and there was a new security guard—meaning the second floor could be inspected at any time.

Now that they’d been discovered, things were going to get annoying.

He shook his head in frustration and muttered,

“Why the hell did you come up here unannounced?”

“My wall… There’s a crack in my wall!”

She flung the broom she was holding and dashed toward the hallway wall with the window.

Her dainty hand clutched the knife lodged in the wall, trembling.

It must’ve flown out of the tool bag he kicked earlier and ended up there.

There were two five-centimeter cracks on either side of the knife. The white wall made the damage especially visible in the moonlight.

“You screamed… because of that?”

Ron was speechless.

She had seen the pile of unconscious men, had seen him standing there unharmed—and yet she was screaming over a wall crack?

“Oh no… there are already so many repairs to make… and now this…”

Her voice rang through the hallway, deliberately loud yet sharply enunciated, clearly meant for him to hear.

“I’m going to go bankrupt…”

Then, as if in despair, she even banged her head lightly against the wall.

Her blue eyes, glistening with tears and moonlight, glanced from the wall to him. Her lips parted into a dramatic sigh.

“I’m going to starve to death fixing this mansion…”

“Hey.”

“I’ll probably spend my entire life just fixing it…”

“….”

“When I die, bury me in the front yard of this mansion. It’s my mansion after all. I should stay with it until I turn to dust…”

“Oh shut it already! I’ll pay for it! I’ll fix it! Happy now?!”

“Oh dear. Are you hurt, dear tenant?”

The moment he shouted at her to shut up, she stood up as if nothing happened and checked his condition.

Gone was the dying expression—replaced with a beaming smile.

She looked so genuinely happy that her fair face glowed under the moonlight.

This crazy woman…

“Be serious.”

“Did you really take down all these people by yourself?”

“Only just now wondering?”

She averted her gaze and scratched her cheek with a finger. Clearly, she didn’t actually care.

This woman said all kinds of things she didn’t mean. Like calling him “our tenant.”

Her eyes spat curses at him, yet her mouth called him dear tenant.

“Should I act impressed?”

“Don’t bother.”

“Right? You’re the tenant, I’m the landlord. All we need is to exchange rent. Let’s not dig into each other’s personal affairs.”

Even as she spoke reasonably, she subtly warned him not to pry into her business either.

“Who said I wanted to know your business?!”

Ron snapped.

He didn’t want to be involved with her in the first place!

“Exactly! So let’s leave it at that. Um… can I report these guys now?”

Still smiling, she pointed at the heap of bodies.

“What do you mean?”

He eyed her suspiciously.

“I’m just worried that reporting them might cause you trouble. I’m on your side, after all—more than I’m on theirs.”

“You’re on the rent’s side.”

“….”

She stared at him with wide, stunned eyes like he was some kind of ghost. Her look said, How did you know?

“Pfft. You really thought you could hide that?”

Ron clicked his tongue in exasperation.

She had practically drooled over the monthly rent amount the first time they met—it was impossible to miss.

And the reason she kept calling him “our tenant”? Obvious.

“Go catch that twig who ran off to call the authorities. I’ll take care of this mess by morning.”

“Got it. But… will this kind of thing happen again? As the landlord, I’d really prefer fewer life-threatening situations.”

“It won’t.”

“Of course, dear tenant. Sleep tight!”

Flashing two enthusiastic thumbs up, she practically skipped down the stairs.

Her long hair bounced side to side with each joyous step.

“Ha… seriously.”

Left alone, Ron ran a hand through his red hair, looking utterly drained.

What a ridiculous woman.