127. Darkness Seeping from Behind
Leonard chuckled, recalling Olivia, who, despite trembling, had not averted her gaze from him. She hadn't added lengthy preambles, was clear, and hadn't asked twice.
She had been like that in the past, but back then, Leonard had treated Olivia as a guest of the Royal Family. The atmosphere was different from today.
Leonard was a man who knew how to manipulate the atmosphere like kneading dough, bending his opponents to his will.
"Impressive. Very impressive."
"Are you thinking of entrusting the congratulatory speech to Duke Rosemond's wife?"
"Who could be more suitable than her? To even write the speech herself. And she wrote it very well. Huh? Exceptionally well, I tell you. Hahaha!"
Leonard's voice, as he answered his secretary's question, grew louder and louder, finally erupting into a hearty laugh.
"So that Herald Beum, who spouts nonsense about the Royal School, can never bring it up again! She wrote exactly what I wanted to say! Hahahaha!"
Usher stared at his father, dumbfounded.
"Then why didn't you treat her more kindly?"
"Hehehe, Olivia is much better than those guys who came to greet me yesterday! Look at her, trembling but saying everything she needs to say! And she even greeted you on the way out! The guys who came yesterday forgot to greet me and ran away!"
"...Noah will throw a fit if he finds out."
At his eldest son's remark, Leonard's laughter ceased abruptly. Judging by the fact that she had handled the congratulatory speech and assessed the political situation all on her own, Noah definitely didn't know about this.
He stroked his chin with a serious expression and muttered.
"Olivia might have to overcome the mountain that is Noah first."
"......"
But for some reason, it seemed Olivia would easily win against his son. He recalled Noah's face, fussing over her to feed her even one more piece of steak.
But that affectionate expression could change as easily as flipping a hand, becoming quite menacing.
"That guy will definitely come barging in tomorrow morning."
The thought of his son's fierce face gave him a headache. He heard that Seymour was likely to be driven out of the capital because of Noah's revenge.
Leonard turned sharply to his aides and ordered.
"All of you, come to my office tomorrow morning as soon as it's light."
"Excuse me? Why should we...?"
The King ignored the aides' expressions of utter dismay, making the sound of shrimp getting crushed in a whale fight.
"Come and testify that I didn't bring it up first. Understand?"
How despicable.
Usher squeezed his eyes shut and sighed.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Returning home from work, when the Prince asked about Olivia's whereabouts, Betty gave a different answer for the first time.
"She has not yet returned from the Royal Palace."
"......"
At that, the Prince nodded lightly and entered the mansion. The sound of his firm boots echoed over the winter-clad garden.
Tap, tap.
The smiles vanished from the faces of the servants who had been cheerfully tending the garden. It felt as if an unknown chill was brushing past them.
The receding sound of the boots seemed to heighten the mansion's silence. Even the laughter that had been emerging was swallowed by the silence.
A gardener who had worked at the mansion for a long time cleared his throat and muttered.
"What did I say? I said the atmosphere would return to how it was before when His Highness wasn't here, didn't I?"
"...Even so. I didn't think it would change this quickly just because he wasn't here..."
"He'll be back soon... Let's get to work."
The gardener quickly turned and began to sweep the fallen leaves.
Meanwhile, Noah went straight to the bathroom to wash up and change his clothes.
The maids who had come in to tidy up the clothes Noah had taken off glanced at the Prince sitting by the window. The Prince, with his handsome appearance, was mesmerizing to look at, but he exuded an atmosphere that was somehow inhuman. The maids felt a chill down their spines and quickly fled.
There was another person who shuddered at Noah's mood today.
It was Methone.
Noah's unique, sharp energy had disappeared at some point, but today he had been exuding that energy all day long, leaving him completely drained.
Noah's green eyes sank deeply. His heart had been beating erratically all along.
It was because of Olivia. She had gone to the Royal Palace today to teach Lucy. It wasn't a social gathering. He had thrown away all the countless invitations, so Olivia probably didn't even know such invitations had arrived. But he was still uneasy.
Noah thought of a small bird dropped alone into the world of predators. When she was in the paradise he had created, she was comfortable, but when she left that paradise, he was unbearably anxious. Even if that paradise was the Royal Palace.
"Hmm..."
He let out a long, slow sigh, looking at the scenery that didn't even register in his eyes, when it happened.
The sound of carriage wheels rolling reached his sensitive ears. Noah sprang up from his seat like a coiled spring and looked out the window. Through the bare branches, he could see the familiar roof decoration of the carriage.
In that instant, his heart thumped loudly.
Olivia had come.
The servants greeted Olivia with unusually welcoming faces.
"Welcome back, Your Highness."
"Have you returned safely?"
Olivia, still catching her breath, received their greetings. She took off the gloves she was wearing and handed them to the maid who had accompanied her, and as she entered the mansion, Betty quickly informed her.
"His Royal Highness the Prince is here."
"Is he?"
At the same time, a languid voice came from the landing.
"Liv."
Turning her head, she saw her husband leaning casually against the stair railing.
"Noah!"
As Olivia rushed to him with a delighted expression, a smile finally appeared on the Prince's face, who had been exuding an inhumanly cold atmosphere until now.
In that instant, the atmosphere of the mansion changed. It was as if the spring sun, silently melting the thin ice, had arrived.
While the servants secretly exchanged glances, Noah very naturally took her bag and put his arm around her waist.
But the expression on Noah's face, as he wrapped his arm around Olivia's waist, cracked. The body in contact with his was intermittently trembling. On closer inspection, her breathing was also unstable.
"What happened?!"
It was a definitive tone.
Olivia quickly shook her head, took his hand, and went up the stairs.
"No, nothing."
But Noah immediately brought his hand to her nape. The throbbing pulse was different from usual.
"What's wrong?"
A fierce energy immediately surged in his green eyes. He felt determined to find out by any means necessary if she didn't tell him properly.
"Let's go to the room."
Noah hardened his expression, took her hand, and strode towards the room. And as soon as he entered the room, he closed the door and asked.
"Tell me properly."
Olivia quickly opened her mouth to calm him down.
"Nothing happened. I had a good lesson with Princess Lucy."
"......"
"I might be giving a congratulatory speech at the Royal School founding anniversary."
At the unexpected words, Noah asked back a beat late.
"...What?"
Olivia smiled and took a notebook out of her bag, handing it to him.
"After the lesson, I went to see His Majesty for a while."
Noah took the notebook in a daze. The neat handwriting was orderly. But none of the contents caught his eye.
Noah frowned slightly and looked up.
"Did His Majesty order you to do this? Did he tell you to do this?"
Olivia met his dark eyes and shook her head slightly.
"No. I said it first."
"Why?"
"I'm sorry I couldn't say it sooner."
"So, why did you say you would do this?"
She was confused by his unexpected reaction. Olivia endured the strange atmosphere and stammered.
"Actually... Princess Lucy and His Majesty, they kind of argued in front of me."
"And."
"I wanted to tell His Majesty on the spot that it would be good to send the Princess to school. But I couldn't bring myself to say it. I need to have done something to be able to say something like that."
Noah's eyes narrowed. None of her words resonated with him.
"So... you're saying you agreed to do this because you wanted to say to send Lucy to school?"
"That's also..."
"That's enough. I'll go to Father right now and tell him to send Lucy to school, so don't bother."
As Noah cut her off, Olivia quickly added.
"I said it because it's something I can do, Noah. I wanted to do something I can do."
More fundamentally, she hoped that by doing so, she wouldn't be ashamed of the crown she wore on her head. She wanted to create her own place and have a voice.
It was Olivia's true feelings. Her black eyes felt more solid than anything else.
So Noah couldn't bring himself to say to her, 'You did something useless.'
He couldn't bring himself to say it. He remembered Olivia crying without even making a sound. He felt like she would cry like that again the moment he said those words.
Noah slowly calmed his breath and suppressed his temper.
"...You want to do it?"
Olivia felt Noah was very unfamiliar. Her pulse was beating strangely. But she had a feeling that she had to answer well now.
Olivia mustered her courage and said.
"I want to do it."
"......"
Noah was silent for a while. After a while, he returned the notebook to Olivia and turned away.
Terrified, Olivia grabbed him.
"Noah, what's wrong?"
Then Noah smiled, raising his red lips. Nevertheless, the reason why she felt a chill was probably because of his sunken eyes, unlike his lips.
He spoke slowly in a dry, parched voice.
"Since you want to do it, you have to try."
"......"
"But tell me anytime if it's hard."
The moment she said it was hard, he felt like he would make this thing never happened. Whether the other party was the King of Herot or God. He felt like he would do it by any means possible.
Noah slowly took Olivia's hand away and left the room. His touch was so cold and ruthless that Olivia couldn't bring herself to grab him.
She felt like she had committed a sin for some reason. At the same time, she felt suffocated, as if someone was tightly choking her neck.
Darkness clung to Olivia's back as she looked at the closed door.
