Chapter 97
#097. Unstoppable Misfortunes
"H-How dare you! Lady, no, Young Lady! Are you daring to laugh in my presence right now?"
The Princess shouted, her face flushed red with anger.
But Olivia couldn't stop laughing.
How could a mother and daughter be so alike? No, if it was about making her laugh like this, all three of them, including the Crown Prince, were the same.
Suddenly, Olivia stopped laughing. And she slowly faced the Princess.
Those eyes looking down on her, those short and arrogant commands.
"...How can you not change?"
Olivia said quietly. All the memories she thought she had shaken off began to creep up through the cracks in an instant.
"The situation is completely different now from when Your Highness the Princess gave me my first order."
"The situation is different! I'm telling you to hand over the White Crystal Mine, why are you talking so much nonsense!"
Every minute was precious, but Olivia kept saying incomprehensible things. The Princess shouted anxiously.
A faint smile appeared on Olivia's face.
"You're too late, Your Highness."
"...What?"
The Princess was a beat late in understanding the meaning of the words in that gentle voice.
The Princess immediately glared at Olivia with eyes sharpened to a blue edge. If she could kill with her gaze, the Princess would have killed Olivia right then and there. Her panting breaths grew increasingly rough.
But Olivia shrugged with an attitude more relaxed than anyone else.
"Hand it over? That was something I received as compensation for a trade."
"Compensation? For the Imperial Family's treasure, what impudence...!"
The Princess, who had been denying Olivia's words unconditionally, suddenly gasped. Come to think of it, she had forgotten the reason she had given the White Crystal Mine in the first place, because she was so focused on getting it back.
Numerous thoughts flickered in the Princess's eyes. Olivia smiled brightly.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"..."
"I received the White Crystal Mine in exchange for my silence regarding Your Highness's affairs, and Your Highness pledged to keep my secret."
The pronunciation of the word "secret" echoed with a particularly chilling tone.
The Princess's fingertips trembled. She noticed her disheveled fingertips, but she didn't care.
"But if you keep telling me to hand over the White Crystal Mine, should I go outside right now and announce to all the nobles and delegations that I was the one who restored the Famine Season Retail Territory?"
Her gentle voice echoed over the balcony. The startled Princess quickly looked around, then screamed as if to cover Olivia's voice.
"How dare you, you insolent thing!"
"Your Highness. You were the one who taught me that that's not how you make a request."
"Me, asking a favor of someone like you!"
"Should you make a request from such a high place, Your Highness?"
The Princess's steps, which had been faltering backward in horror, stopped abruptly. The words contained in Olivia's quiet voice were clearly the words she had said on a clear day.
"Should you make a request so loftily, Lady?"
Olivia's requests were usually similar.
To keep her promise to ask the Crown Prince to dance with her on her behalf, or to give her a little more information about the territory, things like that.
The Princess had always resented Olivia, who, despite being a commoner, observed etiquette more perfectly than anyone else. To bring up the words she had used to make her lower her head now!
"Are you taking revenge on me now...!"
The Princess, who had been shouting fiercely, stopped speaking without realizing it. Green eyes were looking at her indifferently.
Was Olivia's gaze a test for her?
Cold sweat dripped down her back. Before the sweat reached her lower back, the Princess closed her eyes tightly.
She only had one option to choose.
"Please!"
The noble Princess's lofty pride knelt. She bowed her head to Olivia.
"Please return that precious White Crystal Mine to me, Lady."
So ashamed that she couldn't open her eyes, the Princess begged Olivia, not even knowing what words were coming out of her mouth.
Olivia didn't answer. The Princess said whatever came to mind.
"If it's the price for that White Crystal Mine, I'll pay anything."
"Anything, all?"
A voice mixed with laughter came from above her head. The Princess brightened and raised her head. And she hurriedly continued.
"Y-Yes! Now that it seems my brother's heart is leaning towards you anyway, and if you want my property, Count Yubler is always waiting for my orders."
Olivia listened to the Princess's words with a smile. It was only a moment before the plea turned into appeasement.
And what was contained in those coaxing words was what Olivia had been expecting her whole life.
"Once I return from this matter, I will definitely ask my brother to have his first dance with you."
The first dance with the Crown Prince, which she always mentioned as a habit.
"If I decorate the banquet properly, wouldn't I even bring up the idea of you and my brother renewing your engagement there?"
The engagement ceremony where she wanted to stand properly by the Crown Prince's side.
"If you can't even resolve this matter, what reason do I have to support you? There are many noble people who can ascend to the position of Crown Princess Consort, even if it's not you."
And the childish vow to stand by the Crown Prince's side for the Madeleine Dukedom.
"...So, just return the White Crystal Mine to me. I will support you in ascending to the position of Crown Princess Consort no matter what. I really need that White Crystal Mine. I believe you know that too."
The sweeter the Princess's words became, the colder the smile on Olivia's lips grew.
The Princess's pattern of coaxing, appeasing, and cajoling her like this, and ultimately getting what she wanted even by threatening her, had not changed at all.
That same appearance, that repeated appeasement, continued to stimulate her.
It made her, who had thrown everything away and been disgusted when she left the capital, want to retaliate even once.
It wasn't that she didn't worry about becoming the same person.
Even so.
Just once. She had to give a clear warning. So that she would never look down on her again.
So Olivia said, pressing down on each word.
"I will never give that precious White Crystal Mine to Your Highness."
"...What?"
For a moment, the Princess doubted her ears. The face that had been willing to listen to her request just a moment ago had already turned hard.
Looking at Olivia, who seemed as if a needle couldn't enter, the Princess trembled, her face flushed red.
"How dare you!"
"..."
"How dare you, make a fool of me?"
"Has Your Highness been making a fool of me every time? Not because you had circumstances?"
"Stop with the wordplay!"
The Princess shouted sharply and raised her hand towards Olivia. She felt like she would feel a little better if she slapped that white cheek even once.
The hand cutting through the air was fierce.
But.
Clack.
The Princess couldn't believe it. How dare, how dare Olivia block her hand. The grip on her wrist was quite painful.
"L-Let go of this, won't you?"
The Princess's voice trembled unsightly. Green eyes stared at the Princess without answering.
In that moment, the Princess's back turned cold.
She couldn't properly face the dignified eyes that were looking down on her. Her caught wrist throbbed, and her throat felt scratchy as if stomach acid was rising up.
It was a moment when even her breathing sounded loud.
Olivia, who had thrown the Princess's wrist away as it was, looked at the Princess sharply.
The Princess closed her eyes tightly without realizing it. But even after several seconds, no pain rushed to her body.
When the Princess opened her eyes slightly, her eyes met Olivia's, who was quietly watching her.
Shame covered her whole body. Olivia, who had been watching her motionless, smiled and said.
"I will not lay a hand on Your Highness."
"...You're saying something obvious, Lady. If you did, you'd be charged with regicide...!"
"Slapping Your Highness's cheek. This glove is really precious, you see."
"...What?"
The Princess's breathing became rapid again, as if she was flustered.
Now was the right time. Olivia said with sincerity.
"But. If Your Highness continues to be rude to me."
"..."
"I will, at any cost, request a duel with Your Highness in order to protect my honor."
A duel. The Princess moved her lips. No lady in society had ever directly uttered the word "duel."
So the Princess couldn't even guess what Olivia was talking about when she said "duel."
Looking at her blank face, Olivia explained kindly.
"This glove is more precious than any of Your Highness's jewels. If the day comes when I throw this glove at Your Highness, I will certainly not receive compensation for it haphazardly."
The Princess desperately looked into Olivia's eyes, searching for a gap. But such a thing did not exist, and her expectations continued to turn into despair.
That was really not the Olivia of the past. The Princess gritted her teeth.
In contrast, Olivia smiled softly.
"So, if you're prepared, then try to slap my cheek again then."
A strong atmosphere that could not be easily touched enveloped Olivia and the Princess. The Princess glared at Olivia, breathing heavily.
"Then."
Even in this situation, Olivia paid her respects to the Princess.
The Princess glared at Olivia with eyes full of hatred at the perfect etiquette without a single flaw.
Who. Who did she think she was, expecting her to accept her respects!
But Olivia stood up as if to show off. And she walked towards the curtain with her back to the Princess. A clear moon had already risen above the darkened darkness.
The cold silver light poured down on her as if to protect Olivia.
"How dare you, when I didn't even accept your respects!"
The Princess shouted shrilly, but Olivia didn't look back. When her elegant steps reached the end of the balcony, the curtain was drawn as if she had been waiting.
The Grand Duke's smile, which seemed to be waiting as a matter of course, was briefly visible, and then the curtain closed again.
The Princess was seized with unbearable shame and humiliation. Anger greater than the White Crystal Mine and the Emperor's wrath covered the Princess.
In the midst of her vision turning red, the Princess burst out of the curtain with a tearing scream.
"Olivia! You insolent thing-!"
"Your Highness!"
It was then. A voice calling the Princess was heard above the Princess's piercing scream. The figures of two awkward people came into the Princess's sight, which had been heaving with sharp breaths.
"We finally meet Your Highness!"
What was going on? The Princess glared at the two people who had come close. Among them, the husband bowed his head with a flustered face. Unlike his embarrassed face, his loud voice echoed loudly in the banquet hall.
"...Don't you remember us, the couple who served Your Highness in Katangta last month?"
Katangta...! The blood drained from the Princess's face.
In that moment, the quiet words of the Knight came to the Princess's mind.
"Your Highness will face three crises."
Was this all. Was this the Grand Duke's doing?
In the midst of her vision blurring, the Princess hurriedly looked around. The gazes of the surrounding nobles were stinging. In the midst of all this, her eyes met the Grand Duke's eyes, which were looking at her with red eyes as if he was enjoying it.
"You, you dare"
Words trembling from between her teeth burst out. It was a small word that no one could hear.
