A horse as white as snow galloped down a path lined with towering plane trees.
The gatekeeper, seeing the horse approaching without slowing down, fumbled to open the front gate of the Winston Manor House.
Before the gatekeeper could even bow, the Duke Leopold, accompanied by the powerful sound of hooves, shot past and entered through the golden iron gate.
His gaze was fixed only on what was in front of him.
“You’ve arrived, my lord.”
Johann dismounted and handed the reins to a servant.
The one who greeted Johann upon his return to the Winston Manor House was, as usual, the butler.
“Where’s Olivia?”
Johann asked the butler as he swiftly climbed the entrance stairs.
“She has left.”
Johann, who was unbuttoning his jacket and crossing the central hall with long strides, stopped. His narrowed eyes looked into the air.
‘…Even if I have nowhere to go. …I don’t want… you.’
Olivia’s voice, as clear as the pain spreading from his right shoulder, was tinged with a cold mockery.
Yet he had hoped she would wait. It was a very selfish wish, but he had hoped for it nonetheless.
“When did she leave?”
Johann took off his coat, handed it to the butler, and asked him as he strode up the stairs.
“She left around 1 PM.”
“Where to?”
“She didn’t say, but we’ll know her destination as soon as the carriage driver returns.”
Johann unbuttoned the cuffs of his gloves and recalled Olivia’s schedule for today that he had been briefed on earlier.
A press conference was scheduled at the Lancelot Hotel, wasn’t it?
So, in the end, she went to Edgar?
Why?
Johann, who had now entered the bedroom where Olivia had stayed, slowly scanned the empty space.
The sunset, which had painted the western sky pink, cast a ray of light over the bed. The neatly tied curtains billowed like a convex sail in the breeze blowing through the wide-open window.
His protruding Adam’s apple twitched. Johann roughly pulled down his constricting tie and asked, “The letter.”
“I delivered it.”
“Her reaction?”
Johann clenched and unclenched his bandaged left hand and looked at the butler.
“She didn’t have one, my lord.”
Johann nodded silently and lay down on the sofa.
The butler tiptoed away. As the door quietly opened and closed again, the surroundings became silent.
Johann raised his left arm over his forehead as if to avoid the sunlight that had intruded into the room.
He had gripped the reins so hard while riding that blood had seeped through the bandage. Morris had desperately tried to stop him, saying what would happen if he couldn’t use either of his hands, but he hadn’t listened.
If she had just waited, he would have thrown Anneblyn Grace Britt at her feet.
But why on earth…?
The fact that she went to Edgar, knowing everything he had done to her, left Johann feeling empty.
You found a scumbag who tricked you less terrible than me.
Johann let out a bitter laugh at the cold reality he had just realized.
His only consolation was his calculation that she wouldn’t leave Lytton after confirming the lawsuit.
For now, that was enough to hold onto Olivia.
So, it was time to move on to the next step.
Johann, who had briefly sorted out his thoughts, sat up from the sofa. He summoned the butler.
As he tidied his clothes, the butler came in.
“You called, my lord.”
“Prepare for an outing.”
His voice was as deep and low as the darkening sunset.
Olivia Blanchet, who had disappeared for three days, had a subtly changed atmosphere about her.
Not only Russell Junior, who was sitting next to her, but also the reporters who were looking at her could feel the difference.
Above all, those blue eyes. The way she stared straight at her opponent without hesitation.
“Where on earth was that place?”
Michael Dosset flinched but didn’t back down, pressing Olivia.
“Where on earth was it that you called all these people together and committed such a breach of etiquette-”
“The Lytton Police Station.”
Silence instantly fell over the conference hall. Olivia’s voice, which cut through Dosset’s questioning, was flat and monotonous.
The police station?
The reporters were dumbfounded.
Why on earth would she go there?
Russell Junior was just as puzzled.
First, she had suddenly disappeared during a party, causing concern. Now, she showed up late, making everyone anxious, and then she mentioned the police station out of the blue.
“Why did you go there?”
Michael Dosset asked in an intimidating tone. It was the same tone as a police detective interrogating a criminal.
Olivia met his eyes. At her serene gaze, Michael Dosset unconsciously swallowed hard.
All attention was focused on only one person: Olivia.
Taking a short, deep breath amidst the heightened excitement, Olivia opened her lips.
“I went to file a lawsuit.”
“…”
A lawsuit!
The reporters began to buzz with whispers.
A lawsuit.
That word reached Edgar, who was standing leaning against the connecting room door.
A lawsuit, huh…
Edgar’s brows furrowed slightly.
He hadn’t anticipated this situation. Was she suing him, by any chance?
A smile appeared on his face out of a mixture of amusement and bewilderment.
He straightened his slouching posture, crossed his arms, and thought about Olivia, who must be beyond the closed door.
More specifically, he reflected on the things he had done to her.
He had fabricated a scandal and ruined her reputation, so maybe it was a defamation charge. He had deceived Olivia and gained financial benefits, so that could be fraud.
Thinking back, there was no reason why she couldn’t sue him.
Moreover, since she had ended her relationship with Johann, whom she loved so much, with a clean legal procedure like a divorce, it was perfectly plausible that she would do something like this.
He let out a short, hollow laugh at the ruthless revenge that was so unlike her.
“Who did you sue, exactly?”
As expected, Michael Dosset cut off Edgar’s thoughts. Edgar uncrossed his arms, took a cigarette from his inner pocket, and put it in his mouth.
Just as the match head, which had been struck against the side of the matchbox, burst into flame, Olivia’s voice was heard.
Edgar, who was about to lower his head to the match flame, froze.
“The defendant is…”
With everyone holding their breath, Olivia looked at Michael Dosset with a dry gaze. She slightly pulled up the corners of her lips.
“The Princess of the Britt Kingdom, Anneblyn Grace.”
“…!”
The conference hall fell into a cold silence.
They couldn’t easily understand what they had heard, whose name that woman had just mentioned.
Even though they had heard it clearly, they couldn’t grasp it.
Edgar was just as stunned.
Gerard leaned over and poof, blew out the match that was burning in Edgar’s fingertips. At that moment, Edgar burst into laughter.
As expected, she was a woman who always went against his expectations.
He could see the aristocratic society of Lytton, which was about to become boring with the end of the social season, catching fire once again.
In fact, ever since she set foot in Lytton, there had been no peaceful day, but still.
Just like Edgar was that spring afternoon when their eyes first met on the hotel’s tennis court.
Edgar listened to the voices from beyond the door again.
“What is the charge?”
Surely…
She couldn’t be insane.
To dare to sue the one and only princess of the Britt Kingdom, our princess who is loved by the entire nation.
The reporters, who had been stunned for a while, began to pounce on her fiercely.
“Is the lawsuit against the princess related to the ghost incident? Ms. Blanchet. Answer us!”
“Are the rumors that the princess is behind your foot injury true?”
The reporters who jumped out of their seats seemed ready to rush onto the podium.
“All the truth will be revealed in court. Of course, if the princess agrees to appear in court. Thank you for your time.”
Olivia ended the press conference with a polite bow.
The reporters swarmed toward Olivia as she came down from the podium.
Olivia flinched, as she had already experienced this kind of fear before.
“This way.”
Russell Junior grabbed Olivia’s arm and, following the path the bodyguards were clearing, she walked with difficulty.
She tried to go out through the exit, but the passage was already blocked by reporters, making it impossible to move.
The hotel security guards tried to stop the reporters, asking them to leave, but it was useless. The reporters were relentless.
“Ms. Blanchet? Ms. Blanchet?”
At the outrageous remark of suing a country’s princess, the reporters were more heated than ever as they chased Olivia.
“It’s too difficult to go this way. Let’s go that way.”
“…”
Russell Junior wrapped his arm around Olivia’s shoulder as if to protect her and led her toward the connecting room.
Her steps, as she was being pushed along, slowed down and eventually stopped in front of the door.
‘You were the one who shook me first.’
The man she had gathered the courage to approach for the first time in her life.
His voice felt like sharp shards piercing her heart. To think she didn’t even know she was being fooled…
“Olivia?”
As her thoughts were broken, the noise of reality became loud again.
Russell Junior was looking at her with a worried expression. When she slowly turned her head, the security line was on the verge of collapsing. It was utter chaos.
“I’m sorry, Coach. Let’s go.”
Olivia took a deep breath and stepped forward again. Amidst the flashing lights and commotion, the door to the connecting room opened.
Olivia hesitated and then stepped over the threshold. The door quickly closed, instantly blocking out the light and noise. There was no one left in the space.
Only a hazy smoke lingered in the air.
It was the familiar scent of the cigarettes Edgar enjoyed.
