He leisurely cast his gaze out the left window, taking a cigarette from its case and placing it between his lips. Between the tall and short hotels, the Leopold Hotel, with its construction in its final stages, was visible.
So it’s opening soon.
Its figure, soaring proudly towards the sky, resembled none other than Johann Leopold. Utterly arrogant.
Edgar chuckled, and just as he was about to open the lighter, the door, which had been rudely closed earlier, now cautiously opened a crack. Edgar turned around.
As if trying to make up for her earlier mistake, the woman, dressed in a neat blouse buttoned up to her neck and a flared skirt, looked like a prim and proper lady.
“Please forget my rudeness from before. I was expecting a guest.”
Her desperate voice, as if trying to eliminate any unnecessary misunderstandings, was rather amusing. Weren’t they already halfway past seeing everything?
“A very special guest, I presume.”
Edgar asked, smiling nonchalantly.
“A lady I met here.”
The woman, emphasizing the word ‘lady,’ blushed crimson on her earlobes and glared with wide eyes.
“What brings you here?”
The woman didn’t seem to have any intention of letting Edgar inside. She acted as if she had been given a sacred mission to steadfastly guard the small gap in the door.
“Let’s talk inside.”
Edgar smiled gently and slipped his gleaming, well-polished black shoe through the doorway. The tip of Edgar’s shoe touched the tip of the woman’s slipper. The woman gasped and stepped back.
Just this much.
Where had the woman who had presented such a shocking sight earlier gone? Edgar suppressed a laugh and lifted his gaze from her small feet. He met the blue eyes sharpened with wariness.
“Here. Please tell me here.”
Olivia, hastily averting her gaze before, met his eyes again and said firmly. Even so, she was anxious that someone might pass by and see this absurd situation. Especially those noble ladies.
Edgar wore a troubled expression.
“It’s about internal hotel matters.”
As if it were an important requirement, he lowered his voice, and the woman hesitated.
Her sapphire-like eyes became serious, as if discerning the truth of his obvious words. Her eyelashes slowly lowered and rose several times. Finally, the woman parted her lips.
“Then, would you mind coming back later? My maid is currently-.”
Olivia, who was politely asking for his understanding, was startled when the elevator arrival chime rang out in the hallway.
Familiar voices echoed down the long corridor. It was Elaine’s friends.
“…C-Come in.”
The flustered Olivia grabbed Edgar’s arm without thinking.
She wasn’t even aware of what she was doing. She only thought of how terrible the rumors they would spread after witnessing this situation would be.
Edgar, whose wrist was grabbed, swallowed a laugh. She had been building a wall as impenetrable as could be.
“Are you really sure you’re alright with this?”
Now that it had come to this, he didn’t want to be dragged in so easily. He put strength into his resisting legs.
A scandal with the woman who had been Yohan’s wife. The corners of Edgar’s lips quirked mischievously as the chattering noise grew closer.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
Her blue eyes, filled with tension and confusion, were a sight to behold.
“Quickly.”
The woman frowned slightly and pulled harder on his wrist. Of course, her strength was far from enough to move Edgar. Edgar allowed himself to be dragged along at this point.
Bang! The door closed.
Even her heart was pounding at the narrow escape. The noise passed by the room and subsided.
Still holding the doorknob, Olivia, with her forehead against the firmly closed door, let out a sigh of relief.
Olivia, having calmed herself, slowly turned around. The man, who had momentarily disappeared from her mind, was standing before her.
Alone in the room without Anne. Just the two of them.
She suddenly felt like she was running out of oxygen.
She wasn’t trying to do anything dishonest, but she became conscious of the man as if they had met secretly to do something bad.
She braced herself against the tension and discomfort that accompanied being with a strange man.
Olivia cautiously stepped back behind the sofa and placed her hands on the backrest.
As if the sofa would protect her. Or as if she could lift it up and throw it in case of an emergency.
Edgar found the woman amusing and absurd. Where did she look like a femme fatale? He questioned the photo of her and Yohan embracing on the sofa in the banquet hall lounge.
“Please speak.”
There was no invitation to sit. Well, not with her acting like that.
“I heard you sent our employee away. I hope there wasn’t any discourtesy to Lady Blanchett.”
“No. I should apologize for that. I appreciate the kindness of the Lancelot Hotel. But I prefer things as they are. It’s enough.”
It was the most cliché thank you he had expected.
“The employee seems to be quite shocked. I heard she shed tears in front of the general manager.”
It was a lie.
“Yes?”
But the woman’s eyes widened in surprise.
The woman bit her lip tightly and asked.
“She cried?”
Her face was definitely more serious than when she was wary of him. That sight was also amusing, but he regretted not being able to laugh.
“She’s a veteran employee who has worked here for thirty years. She’s a woman who takes great pride in her job of providing service. She’s having trouble controlling her emotions after experiencing something like this for the first time.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“There’s no evaluation as accurate as a customer’s rejection.”
“I wasn’t evaluating her.”
The woman looked embarrassed and apologetic.
“She said she was going to resign. She said she couldn’t face her juniors. For our hotel, losing such a capable employee would be a great loss.”
“Resign?”
The woman asked back as if she hadn’t expected it at all. If he pushed her any further, she would reverse her decision.
Looking down at her, Edgar recalled Gerald’s words.
‘There weren’t any particular peculiarities. However, the bottom of the suitcase had a double structure, so I couldn’t check inside. There wasn’t enough time either.’
What could be inside?
What was the probability that it was confidential documents from Leopold?
Edgar wasn’t one to suppress his curiosity. Furthermore, he wanted to attach a maid by packaging a very unkind intention as consideration in order to get what he wanted. Who knew planting a spy would be more difficult than a competing company.
“She was perfect.”
“Is that so? Then why.”
Edgar tilted his head slightly, wearing a seemingly serious expression.
“It’s just that I’m uncomfortable with strangers coming and going. So if someone has to leave this hotel because of that issue, I’ll leave.”
The conclusion reached by the woman hiding behind the sofa backrest was clear. Edgar felt like an idiot at the woman’s insight.
He was being gentlemanly threatening her that if she didn’t shut up and quietly receive the service, an innocent maid might quit her job. Stimulating her guilt.
But now it was as if he was being threatened in reverse.
“That doesn’t seem like a wise method. A maid who kicks out a guest. That’s the worst.”
Unlike her calm demeanor, the woman’s blue eyes were turbulent with conflict.
“What do you think will happen if that fact becomes known?”
Edgar looked down at the woman with an interested gaze.
Below her round, fair forehead, the dark brown eyelashes, densely arranged beneath her neatly shaped eyebrows, blinked slowly.
He felt like the scent of roses grew stronger each time her eyelashes fluttered.
“Would there be any place that would accept her?”
Edgar relied on the woman’s benevolence. Olivia Blanchett was kind and gentle. Enough to sleep in the same bed as her maid.
“…Please let me meet the employee. I want to clear up the misunderstanding.”
The woman, who had broken the long silence, said calmly. The corners of Edgar’s lips rose slightly.
“You are truly kind, Lady Blanchett. It is also an honor to have you stay at our hotel.”
With a polite smile, Edgar bowed and stood up, extending his hand.
The woman, visibly hesitating, slowly took his hand. Not missing the moment, he pressed his lips to the back of her hand. The series of movements was quick and concise.
The sensation of his lips touching her hand was soft and cool.
Suddenly, Olivia’s memories were stirred.
The time when she first met her husband.
From some day on, Olivia’s memories suddenly invaded Jian’s mind even in unintended moments.
Some were vivid, and others were faint.
The moment she fell in love with Johann Leopold at first sight was particularly clear. As if it were yesterday.
Olivia Blanchett made her debut into society in the year she turned eighteen.
The Blanchett Count family, which had once dominated the political circles of Rondos, was on the path to ruin due to Elena Blanchett’s affair scandal.
Due to a series of business failures, the Count family had nothing left to sell, only the shell remained. Now, all that was left was the illegitimate granddaughter Elena left behind when she died, the shame of the family.
Olivia Blanchett. That was how she was thrown into the marriage market.
And when she was about to be caught up in a scandal with the Crown Prince due to the Count’s scheme, her savior appeared, and that was Johann Leopold.
Yohan proposed, and his lips touched her hand. Her heart fluttered at that moment.
Olivia firmly believed that it was love. Because otherwise, there was no hope for her to live any longer.
So it had to be love.
As the man who reminded her of Olivia’s husband straightened up, their eyes met closely.
‘As I thought… he resembles him.’
Something about that clear and concise conclusion made her uncomfortable.
Was it because the man’s gray eyes resembled Yohan? The two people’s appearances were clearly different, and the only overlapping aspect was that small part. Why did she feel this way?
“Oh, I happened to see you playing tennis.”
As the man who was turning around suddenly turned back as if he had just remembered, Olivia, who had been lost in thought, looked at the man in surprise.
“You seem to have been playing for quite a while.”
“Not for long. Just occasionally.”
Olivia looked at the door, hoping that this man would leave soon. She wished Anne would come quickly.
“Want to play a game?”
“I’m not that skilled.”
Olivia conveyed her firm intention without a second thought.
“You were playing well.”
“Not skilled enough to compete with you.”
“I see. That’s a shame.”
If he continued the conversation any further, she was about to politely ask him to leave. At that moment, fortunately, the door opened. It was Anne.
