Olivia, mixed among the excited spectators, watched the man for a moment.
The man's forearm, gripping the racket, was firm. It was impossible not to look.
A servant took the racket from the man as he walked to the bench, exhaling hot breaths, and handed him a towel. The man wiped the sweat from his forehead with the towel.
As the man sat on the bench, a gentleman, who seemed to be a friend, offered him a glass.
A drop of water fell from the glass, which contained lemon slices and clear ice. At that moment, a man who had been lounging on the opposite court approached, grumbling.
"I can't seem to hit the ball right today."
"Just today?"
Other gentlemen sitting on the bench snickered.
The men began to smoke cigars and talk about trivial matters, while the ladies, with expectant eyes, casually strolled around, pretending to take a walk, circling around them with elegant steps.
Olivia turned her steps toward the main building.
"Yohan's ex-wife. I heard she's in Litten?"
"That woman?"
The sudden sound stopped Olivia in her tracks.
"My mother saw her on the ship. My mother said she didn't recognize her at first because she was so plain, but when she got closer, she realized it was the Duchess. It seems she came with only a maid."
"Yohan's wife was stunningly beautiful. Should I go meet her?"
"You're crazy."
The giggling sound spread with the cigar smoke to where Olivia was standing. The unfamiliar scent was a blend of burning wood and sweet chocolate.
"You have to admit, she's a rare beauty for a brunette."
"More of a delicate, fawn-like style than overtly voluptuous."
Edgar, uninterested in the unnecessarily long topic, leisurely admired the surrounding scenery with a listless gaze, sipping his whiskey soda.
As he passed over the green grass court, past the group of ladies dressed in dresses of various colors like spring flowers, and reached the green hedge at the entrance to the riverside road, Edgar's gaze suddenly stopped.
"Her eyes are pretty. The blue is more striking because her skin is so white, like that woman. Wait? That woman..."
"That woman? Who?"
The eyes of the noisy group, as if they had also discovered the woman, were all focused on one place. Someone whistled.
"Bingo!"
Unbelievably, it was that woman, Olivia Blanchett.
Edgar Lancaster Lancelot's eyes narrowed.
Under the shade of a large tree, where light and shadow unrealistically intersected. The woman stood neatly. The woman who had caused so much talk. The woman who had been Yohan's wife.
The idle men chattered again.
"Isn't it just a woman who looks like her?"
"Well, I guess so. If she knew about the relationship between Yohan and Edgar, she wouldn't have come to this hotel. Absolutely. There's loyalty."
"Why look for loyalty when they're divorced? Maybe she's trying to screw Yohan over."
The idlers giggled again.
They lightly raised their glasses toward the woman, as if proposing a toast.
When they showed a reaction from this side, the surprised woman hurriedly turned around with her maid. The hem of her flared skirt rippled as she hurried away.
***
"I've confirmed the guest list. It's Olivia Blanchett."
"I see."
Edgar said in a soft voice, without taking his eyes off the documents he was reviewing.
Olivia.
Edgar repeated the resonant name, twirling his pen.
Was Yohan's wife like that?
The woman was still beautiful. But the troublesome appearance of the outcast of the Rondos Kingdom was nowhere to be found.
Above all, the woman he had seen before did not have those eyes.
The woman had a face so beautiful that it would remain clearly in your memory even if you saw her for the first time.
If there was anything among the conditions of marriage that was equal to Yohan's level, it was that face, that pretty face.
Had he seen her two or three times?
Even in the brief encounters that were hardly worth calling meetings, what had left a strong impression was not her drunken appearance, but the woman's face visible through her disheveled dark brown hair.
Among them, her blue eyes, as if covered with gray clouds.
"What do you think her intention is?"
Edgar asked his aide, Gerald.
He had a refreshing smile for someone who had been drinking and playing tennis since midday. The refreshing scent of skin lotion added to the freshness, as if he had just taken a shower.
"Isn't it revenge on her ex-husband?"
"Revenge, huh..."
"I suspect she came to trade confidential documents with you, young master. To stab her ex-husband in the back and make a fortune."
"Do you think so?"
Edgar signed the report with an elegant hand, put the fountain pen in the pen holder, and raised his eyes.
"Why else would she come here?"
Edgar raised the corners of his mouth silently.
Such cunning methods did not suit the woman. There seemed to be no room for greed in her eyes, which seemed to have many stories to tell.
Whatever the reason, he didn't dislike the woman who had brought a thrilling stimulus to his boring life.
"Send an invitation. To Lady Blanchett."
It didn't matter if the card she held was a confidential document from Leopold or not.
A one-night stand wouldn't be bad either. The woman was beautiful.
Moreover, it would be even better if he could disrupt Yohan's composure.
***
"Those people, they seemed to know the Duke, didn't they?"
"The maids at Greathill said that the Duke studied in Britz. They must have had some contact."
Anne replied, tying the ribbon on Olivia's nightgown.
"I see."
She tried to answer calmly, but her voice trembled slightly.
The narrator of the novel was the heroine, Clara.
Therefore, she had no knowledge of things that were not of interest to Clara.
The heroine's only interest was Crown Prince Christian. Of course, it was Johann Leopold who ultimately won her love.
"He seemed popular with the ladies. Do you know any of them, Anne?"
"I'm ignorant about that kind of thing..."
There was nothing that maids talked about more than high society gossip, but it was a story far removed from Anne. For Anne, reading newspapers or gossip magazines was a luxury.
Anne, who always followed her mistress like a shadow, could not take her eyes off Olivia for a moment.
She was always a precarious lady. The time when she had a seizure, was given a sedative, and finally fell asleep was the time when Anne was free.
At such times, Anne had to silently clean up the mess Olivia had made on her own. The servants of the Duke's residence were always like midwinter to Olivia.
Anne now brushed Olivia's luscious hair. The brush slid down the smooth hair.
Olivia sat quietly like a good child, entrusting her head to Anne, lost in thought.
The fact that she had opened her eyes in the world of the novel at the moment of death was no longer important. What was important was how to live.
Even though she was wearing Olivia's shell, she didn't want to live as Olivia Blanchett for the rest of her life.
Moreover, it was even more right to avoid the life of a woman who was accused of murder and sentenced to death for being jealous of her husband's woman.
So she divorced without hesitation. She didn't want to be entangled with anything related to Yohan.
To a place where Yohan Leopold's hands could not reach, to a place where no one knew Olivia Blanchett.
She had crossed the ocean, leaving behind many countries on the continent, for that reason, but one of them had already gone wrong.
What should she do?
Should she confront it, run away, or ignore it?
The tips of her clasped fingers trembled slightly. She couldn't come to a clear conclusion.
She just wanted to live quietly and peacefully.
"There, all done, miss."
Olivia shook off her unanswered worries at Anne's voice and got up with a bright smile.
"Thank you, Anne."
As Olivia headed to the bed, there was a knock. Looking at the clock on the bedside table, it was nine o'clock in the evening. It was time for the evening tea provided by the hotel.
Anne opened the door and received the tray from the room attendant.
On the silver tray, along with the tea set, was a luxurious envelope tied with a gold ribbon. The attendant, who added a kind explanation that it was a ball invitation, politely bowed and stepped back.
"Shall we open it?"
At Anne's question, Olivia, sitting at the table, nodded slightly.
She grabbed the gold ribbon, which seemed to be the symbol of the Lancelot Hotel and was used throughout the interior decoration, and tore off the red sealing wax, revealing an invitation with a gold border inside.
Rose Ball. The wording was neat, saying that it was an honor to invite her to the traditional event of the Lancelot Hotel, which is held every May in the rose garden.
"This Saturday."
Olivia silently read the invitation. The dress code was written below the time and place.
"You are a rose?"
To come dressed like a rose in a space full of roses. She couldn't help but laugh, thinking it was too much. It seemed like it would be hard to tell who was a person and who was a flower.
"...Are you going to attend?"
Anne asked cautiously. It was because she remembered what had happened in the cafeteria.
"No."
Olivia's answer was short and cheerful. With a smile that made even the person watching feel good, Olivia picked up her teacup.
She knew that sending the invitation was a vile prank.
To remind the woman who had once risen to a noble position that did not suit her of her current position. In addition, they would need a laughing stock so that the ball would not be boring.
Olivia didn't want to walk in and become a sacrifice of her own accord.
Whether it was the women who were desperate to humiliate her, or the men who exchanged vulgar jokes about her. It was best to avoid the hotbed of ugly rumors.
***
Yohan Leopold went to the riding club for the first time in a long time.
He had intended to refrain from going out except for the company until the aftermath of the divorce subsided, but as always, life does not go as planned.
Well, when had it ever gone as he wanted?
Their divorce was as hot a topic as their marriage.
Three weeks had passed, but sensational articles that had not yet been confirmed were still decorating the front page of the newspaper. In particular, the content about Olivia Blanchett's lovers, which had resurfaced, was like that.
「Olivia Blanchett, Spotted with Second Lover in the Argent Kingdom」
「Duchess Leopold, Eloping with Painter Lover」
The idle aristocratic sons gathered in groups of three or five, gossiping, and when Yohan appeared, they pretended to greet him and looked at his expression.
Pitiful bastards.
Yohan crossed the lounge and came outside, lightly jumping onto the saddle.
Unlike Yohan, the horse, excited because it had not been able to run for a long time, began to run vigorously, snorting. On the galloping horse, Yohan frowned as the sun hanging far above the treetops was dazzling.
'Please divorce me.'
His wife's calm voice echoed in his head.
