"Good morning, Miss Blanchett."
Morning sunlight pooled in his curving, gray-blue eyes.
"Good morning."
As Olivia responded briefly, a jet of water shot up from the central fountain in the rose garden.
Olivia, startled by the whooshing sound, raised and lowered her shoulders slightly.
Why did she keep running into this man? Olivia sighed inwardly.
She ignored the man's gaze and stared intently at the hotel's side entrance.
Please, come quickly, Elaine.
The fountain was activated every hour starting at 8 a.m. So, it meant that the time she promised with Elaine was approaching, but she had not yet appeared.
Worried that someone might pass by, she kept glancing around, and the man spoke. Her gaze naturally turned toward him.
"Let's sit and wait together. Mine hasn't arrived yet either."
The man's refreshing smile made Olivia uncomfortable.
He was a strangely unsettling man. His appearance, which drew the attention of others, also played a part.
If she could, she wanted to go back as she was. She would have if it weren't for her appointment with Elaine. After a moment's hesitation, Olivia spoke to Anne.
"Anne, could you go see if something happened to Elaine?"
"Yes, Miss."
Fearing that they might miss each other, Olivia reluctantly sat on the wisteria chair opposite Edgar. An awkward silence flowed as a staff member poured lemonade into a glass.
Olivia looked around again. Fortunately, it was early in the morning.
"Do you like tennis?"
Only after hearing the man's soft voice did her eyes, which had been moving busily like a watchman, capture Edgar.
"I play occasionally when I have time."
"You play well for someone who plays occasionally."
"I'm also a bit athletic."
Olivia felt thirsty for no reason, took a sip of lemonade, and put down the glass.
"Who taught you?"
The man, sitting with his long legs crossed, rested his elbow on the armrest and asked, running his long fingers over his eyes. The scent of the man's skin, carried on the breeze, was refreshing.
Olivia, who was swallowing lemonade, suddenly coughed. Her face turned red as she choked and coughed for a long time.
"...My husband."
Olivia quickly changed her words at the man's reaction, who raised the ends of his thick eyebrows as if surprised.
"He hired a coach for me."
Because the Johann Leopold she knew, and this man knew, was not the kind of man who leisurely played tennis with his wife.
Only then did the man nod slightly.
Relieved, Olivia turned her head toward the garden with the large fountain, avoiding Edgar's gaze. The rose garden, full of the spirit of spring, was beautiful like another world.
"That's nonsense. That coach."
"Nonsense?"
Olivia retorted, flaring up.
"The basic posture is wrong. There's a lot of unnecessary energy consumption. Don't you think so?"
A smile hung on the lips of the man who calmly rattled off his slightly cynical assessment.
"I don't know what you're talking about. The person who taught me was a really great teacher."
Olivia's tone was firm. She stared directly at the man with a resolute look, as if she would not accept any rebuttal.
Suddenly, the sound of cicadas in summer was heard like an auditory hallucination.
She remembered him, tanned and sturdy in the sunlight. The moment he wore a pure white polo shirt with the collar turned up, short pants that revealed his firm calves, and jumped high into the sky.
Unrequited love. That shallow emotion made her life flutter and ache.
How loudly her heart beat at the warmth of her senior's touch as he corrected her posture.
Remembering that time, her cheeks flushed, and her heart pounded.
"Would you like to compete to see how great that teaching is?"
It was the man's playful voice that awakened Olivia from her reverie.
"I don't play games where the outcome is already decided."
Olivia answered in a stiff tone, looking in the direction Anne had disappeared, hoping she would return quickly. It seemed she would have to give up using the free tennis court from today.
"Let's just play one set. If you take just one game, Miss Blanchett wins."
His tone was relaxed, like someone bestowing great generosity, but his expression was quite mischievous.
"You can take one game from me, right? Since your teacher is so great. Or not?"
Olivia, who had been looking at the west wing entrance in the distance, looked at the man. She felt absurd, as if he was watching her from there.
"Is it difficult?"
The man, who had been wearing a refreshing smile, chuckled. At that moment, a spark ignited in Olivia's eyes.
"Three games."
The man sitting in front of her widened his eyes slightly.
"That's only fair."
Olivia smiled brightly.
The woman who had fallen for the provocation stood on the court. Her eyes, filled with competitive spirit, were like the summer sun.
Scary.
He chuckled at her serious appearance.
Edgar took the racket handed to him by a staff member. This racket, with Prince Dumbledin's autograph on the shoulder, was a gift he had received when he turned eight.
Edgar took a few swings with the racket and stood on the court. On the other side, Olivia Blanchett was watching him.
Edgar walked over to her. Standing across the net, the woman asked.
"Why, are you getting scared?"
"No."
He barely suppressed a laugh and continued.
"A match isn't fun without a bet."
"Don't encourage gambling in a healthy game."
"Is that also something your great teacher taught you?"
"I guess you like gambling."
"I suppose. Since I'm a casino operator."
Edgar smiled slyly.
"I have nothing to bet."
"Oh, it's not about betting anything grand. Just... a small wish."
The woman's mind seemed to be working in a complicated way, and her blue eyes wavered.
"Why? Are you not confident?"
"What's the wish?"
"It's no fun if I tell you now. If you're curious, lose."
Edgar pulled up the corners of his lips and turned around. A moment later, the game began with the sound of the racket hitting the ball, pang!
Oh my god! Who is that?
Elaine's eyes widened.
It was the famous Edgar Lancaster Lancelot and Olivia Blanchett.
When Anne visited Elaine's room, she had just finished getting ready. She wasn't the type to rush someone for being ten minutes late, so she wondered what was going on.
"Just a little whiskey in the lemonade. Just enough to smell it."
While telling the staff member who was filling the empty glass her request, her eyes were on the tennis court.
She didn't know when the game started, but it couldn't have been long. Looking at the scoreboard, Edgar was already three games ahead.
Elaine wasn't a tennis expert, but anyone could see that one side was unilaterally giving the other a break.
He could end it quickly, but it felt like he was playing with his prey, as if he was toying with it. But he didn't forget to show his gentlemanly side by giving up points as if he was showing leniency.
"Forty!"
Now the score was 5 to 1. Olivia, who had lost another game, approached the bench.
"What happened?"
Elaine handed her the towel that Anne was holding and asked.
"It's as you see it."
Olivia answered with a bitter smile, her face red. Olivia wiped the sweat from her forehead and drank ice water. As she put down the glass, she began to unbutton her blouse, and Anne grabbed Olivia's hand in horror.
"No, Miss."
Anne quickly buttoned up two buttons and fanned her with both hands. Still, her flushed cheeks were only redder.
"Don't tell me you made a bet?"
"How did you know?"
Olivia asked, surprised, rubbing her cheeks with the glass full of ice.
"It's written all over your face. I won't lose!"
The two looked at each other and chuckled. Then, the whistle signaling the end of the break echoed through the quiet hotel grounds.
"I was wondering where you'd been since morning. You traitor."
The idlers who had been drinking all night at the hotel club strolled over and sat down around Edgar. They, who had not yet gotten rid of the smell of alcohol from the previous day, ordered whiskey soda as a habit.
"Isn't it a bit mean to target a woman?"
Edgar silently looked at Olivia and chuckled. It was his first time playing tennis with a woman.
He regretted not knowing this pleasure until now. It was incomparable to the pleasure in bed.
"Hey, did you get hit in the head with a ball or something?"
In front of him, brown hair tied prettily with a blue ribbon swayed. The woman tended to become cheerful when she held a racket. And that scream...
Edgar couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"We're the ones who lost money, why are you crazy?"
Amid the worried lamentations of the idlers who had squandered their fortunes at the card table yesterday, the whistle blew.
Now, where should I go to make a wish?
Edgar unfolded his crossed long legs and slowly rose, his gaze facing forward.
The hem of her pure white skirt fluttered as she walked out onto the court. Her soft hair swayed in the spring breeze, filled with the scent of flowers. She was like a fairy on the tennis court.
A fairy burning with competitive spirit.
A moment later.
Edgar, who had been playing the game casually with an easygoing attitude, was quite taken aback.
The woman had changed.
Her returns were faster. In addition, she began to throw balls that deviated from Edgar's predictions with aggressive serves.
Ha! The lady who hates gambling is going to gamble with curveballs.
Edgar, who had made a mistake in vain, readjusted the racket he was holding carelessly. He wanted to send applause and praise to her indomitable will to hit the ball sent to the side.
5 to 2, a situation where whoever wins one game first wins. Edgar was planning to end it lightly. But.
Oh no!
The woman, who had been bouncing the ball as usual to serve, suddenly began to unbutton her blouse.
Behind Olivia, he could hear the maid's horrified voice, and behind Edgar, the whistles sent by the idlers were noisy on the green grass.
Ha!
With a rough breath, Edgar exclaimed.
The woman also took off her light pink shoes and threw them out of the court.
Whee! The excited whistles and the maid's desperate cry of "Miss!" were mixed together.
