A large plate covered with a silver dome sat on the round table. Yohan opened the dome.
Whether by chance or not, it was Olivia Blanchett's favorite, sea bass fillet.
The smell of basil pesto mixed with the savory butter made him feel hungry.
He realized he hadn't eaten anything since last night.
"Come and sit down."
"...I'm just going to leave."
He was hungry, but the thought of Princess Krantz made his appetite disappear. He didn't think he could swallow any food.
He couldn't bring himself to calmly cut into sea bass in his ex-husband's room. He would definitely get indigestion.
"You can't. I told you."
"I can dress as a man and go out the back door. If you just get me some clothes."
Olivia's eyes looked quite determined.
"Eat first."
"It's not right to do this."
Was she always this stubborn? Yohan stared silently at Olivia, who stood her ground.
The summer sunlight streaming through the wide glass window softly colored her face.
He wanted to grab her shoulders and make her sit down.
"If you're curious about who's behind the incident."
Only then did Olivia react, her eyes widening.
"Sit down."
Yohan sat down first, but Olivia still hesitated.
"If you're worried about my fiancée, you don't have to be. She went back to Britt Palace yesterday. Now, sit down."
Hesitantly, Olivia sat across from him, clutching the lapels of her large Mac coat.
"Did you find out who's behind it?"
Instead of touching the tableware, Yohan picked up the cutlery and cut the sea bass into small pieces, saying,
"Anne Boleyn Grace Britt."
"......"
A gentle breeze blew, slowly swelling the light purple silk curtains.
Olivia was stunned by the name carried on the breeze.
Could a princess of a nation really have done such a reckless thing?
"That's ridiculous."
Why?
Why would she go that far?
Olivia frowned and let out a hollow laugh.
Because of Edgar?
Her fist clenched on the table. Yohan watched her silently.
The House McDowell's coachman had been bribed by the princess.
He was adamantly denying it, but it was only a matter of time before they got a confession.
Since Angela Birkin had already confessed.
The coachman handed Olivia, who had been knocked unconscious with an anesthetic, over to a grocery store clerk. The store had a supply contract with the Leopold Hotel.
The clerk brought a sack of potatoes late, saying he had forgotten it, and handed it over to a hotel employee.
The employee bribed by the princess went to room 3016 with a pre-obtained room key.
He put the sack under the trolley, covered it with a white cloth, and then the reporters and shills bribed by the princess drove people to room 3016.
It was almost a perfect kidnapping.
"...That's too much."
Just imagining the situation Yohan was telling her made her head spin.
If she had woken up in that room and been caught with him...
A chill ran down her spine.
"We'll handle it according to the law, so you don't have to worry."
Yohan said, placing the plate of neatly sliced sea bass fillet in front of Olivia.
"No."
Yohan's gaze, which had been on the plate, moved up and stopped on her face.
"Please don't."
Her voice was firm.
It had been a full day since Olivia had disappeared.
She hadn't shown up at Riverside or the Dumblin Club. She must be at the Leopold Hotel.
Edgar stood with his arms crossed, staring out the window at Yohan's hotel.
His eyes, having spent a sleepless night, were red.
"Olivia is..."
Edgar asked Gerald.
"The upper floors are restricted areas, so we haven't been able to confirm yet."
She was probably there.
With Yohan.
Golden sunlight was brilliantly breaking on the top floor of the Leopold Hotel, where she would be.
What would it be like to reunite with her divorced ex-husband?
It was an area he couldn't fathom.
Edgar placed his hand on his dry eyes and pressed them gently, saying,
"Go out."
Gerald, who had been looking at Edgar's back with concern, finally remembered the reason for his visit.
"Marquess McDowell has arrived."
Edgar slowly turned around.
"Show him in."
A moment later, Henry McDowell appeared.
Henry's expression was not good, as he was in a difficult situation due to his well-intentioned consideration.
He never imagined that the coachman he had provided for Olivia's convenience would do such a thing. Henry sighed as soon as he saw Edgar.
"You've arrived."
Edgar bowed politely.
"Sit down. No tea, thank you."
Gerald stepped back, and an uncomfortable silence flowed between them. After a moment, Henry opened his heavily closed lips.
"I'm coming from seeing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Yes."
He had expected it. And the topic Henry was about to bring up.
"He wants to cover up this incident."
Henry's expression was stern.
Of course. Edgar swallowed the laughter that was rising up.
What else would the Crown Prince, who was so obsessed with his sister that he would do anything for her, do? But what a pity.
"I'm afraid that's not possible."
Edgar stated with a sneer.
He was not in the mood to compromise with anyone right now. Even if the other party was the Crown Prince of Britt, it would not change anything.
He would return what he had received. That was all.
"Do you understand what that woman has done to you?"
Yohan stared at Olivia with displeasure.
"I know. That's why I'm saying let's postpone it for a while."
She sat up straight, her eyes lowered quietly.
He couldn't find the excited, screaming look she used to have.
Now that he knew that the disgustingly annoying, maddening behavior was due to the drugs Diane Brooke had given her, he had to exert extreme patience to maintain his composure.
"Why?"
Yohan's voice, having calmed his anger, was heavy.
"I want to compete with her."
Yohan's brow furrowed at her calm declaration.
The unfamiliar expression on the woman's face, which he had never seen before, and her clear eyes irritated Yohan.
Olivia opened her lips again.
"The princess."
In this place where the social order was firmly established, the only place where she could face a princess of a nation on equal footing was the tennis court.
Olivia decided to deal with the princess in her own way.
"I want to beat her on the court."
Participating in the Dumblin Championship was only a condition for guaranteeing her identity.
Although Edgar wanted her to be the owner of the trophy, she didn't want any more attention.
At least until just now.
"The law comes after that."
Her blue eyes, which had been so cold, burned hotly. Olivia finally began to crave victory.
Yohan looked at the woman without a word. Slowly, as if exploring.
"Tennis."
His quiet voice was eerie.
"Did you play?"
"......"
At that moment, Olivia's body stiffened. Her heart rate accelerated abnormally.
"Since when?"
His sharp gaze tightened around her heart.
"I'm asking you."
Each word flew and pierced her like an arrow. Her lips wouldn't open.
Olivia froze, her gaze fleeing from the man's gaze.
Did he notice?
The other party was Olivia Blanchett's husband. Only for three years, but a man who knew as much about her as he needed to.
"Olivia."
Her heart began to beat with anxiety. She had to come up with an answer. Before his suspicion deepened.
"...A long time ago. Sometimes."
"A long time ago. When?"
Silence fell again. The man's eyes, urging her to answer, were too persistent.
"...Before I married you."
The words she spat out were too pathetic even for her to think.
A lie that would be easily exposed if he checked with the House Blanchett.
But once he returned to Rondos, she wouldn't have to face him again, and this would soon be forgotten.
Olivia, who had been anxious, tried to appear calm and slowly raised her head. Their eyes met.
His suspicious gaze seemed to scrutinize her, making it hard to breathe.
His gaze, which clung to her and wouldn't let go, was too much to bear.
She wanted to run away.
"I should go now."
"In that outfit?"
Olivia, who had been hesitatingly getting up, bit her dry lips.
"Sit down first."
Yohan said, filling a clear glass of water.
"I'll bring you the clothes after you finish eating."
She felt like she was going to get indigestion.
Yohan raised his eyes. As if resigned, Olivia began to move the tableware.
Her pink lips moved. Every time the thin strands of hair fluttering in the wind touched her white cheeks and fell away, she smelled roses.
The way she ate without enthusiasm seemed no different than before or now.
Before they got married.
A man like Count Blanchett would never have taught his granddaughter, whom he had kept locked up until she was sixteen, how to play tennis.
Maybe how to pretend to be a clumsy lady, or how to seduce a man. So Olivia's words were nonsense.
Why? Why was she lying?
Olivia Blanchett playing tennis. It didn't make sense no matter how he thought about it.
Yohan stared silently at the woman who had once been his wife. People changed when they died and came back to life, but Olivia was going too far.
What happened that day? You. Have you become a different person?
Diane Brooke, what the hell did that bitch do to you?
Even with Diane Brooke's death, this terrible anger was not easily resolved.
As curiosity about the truth of that day was added, his lips, which had been silently closed, moved.
"About that day."
Yohan's eyes trembled slightly.
Olivia, who had been pushing a piece of fish with her fork, raised her head.
"By the lake-"
'If there's anyone who should fall into hell for this, it's not me, it's you. Duke yourself.'
Diane Brooke's voice clung to his mind like an unpleasant intoxication.
At that moment, Yohan was swept up in a strange sensation.
Her seemingly innocent blue eyes blinked slowly, as if waiting for his words.
'The young lady took more medicine than usual that day. She had an argument with that woman... and she even drank alcohol because the medicine wasn't working. Maybe she went to the lake because she was frustrated and lost her footing...'
The maid's confession came to mind.
