Chapter 83
Chapter 83. Match Point
2023.12.22.
The moment Yohan identified him, Edgar vanished like an arrow before his eyes. It was then that Yohan kicked open the carriage door and got out.
“Sir?”
A flustered Maurice got out, bewildered.
“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”
Ignoring Maurice’s concern, Yohan strode towards the coachman’s seat.
The coachman, who should have been inside the carriage with the Duke, was equally surprised.
“Unharness the horse.”
“Pardon?”
The coachman, taken aback by Yohan’s command, asked again.
“This horse. I need to ride it.”
Maurice stared at Yohan’s pathetic figure with a dumbfounded expression.
“Have you really lost your mind? Absolutely not.”
His right arm, splinted and bandaged, was hanging from the armrest.
To think he would ride a horse, holding the reins with one hand, was out of the question.
“Unless you’re planning to enter a stunt show, get back in the carriage at once.”
Maurice blocked Yohan’s path, saying.
“Move.”
Despite Yohan’s sharp warning, Maurice didn’t budge.
If anything were to happen to his precious master, Dowager Margaret Wellington would never leave him alone.
“I’m telling you, it’s not going to happen.”
“Do I look like I’m asking for permission?”
His icy gray eyes were chilling.
“Then, step over me. Before that, it’s absolutely out of the question.”
Maurice stood his ground, unyielding. He lay flat on the ground in front of the horse and squeezed his eyes shut. He had never done anything like this in his life.
“Don’t regret it.”
A dry, low voice was heard. Maurice felt a chill down his spine.
Opening his eyes slightly, Yohan’s bloodless face looked like a ghost. Overwhelmed by the psychological pressure, the coachman quietly removed the harness.
Yohan, having slipped his foot into the stirrup, mounted the horse without a saddle.
“…S, Sir?”
It seemed he was really going to step over him.
Yohan, poised like a god of war on the white horse, struck the reins.
At that moment, the white horse carrying Yohan kicked into the air and shot forward.
“Aaaagh!”
Maurice curled up like a cocoon.
The White Horse, leaping with its legs wide as if in a steeplechase, jumped over Maurice and sped through the space between the carriages.
“Are you really out of your mind?!”
Maurice shouted, jumping up from the dirt ground.
Maurice’s desperate cry scattered in the wind behind Yohan.
The sound of powerful hooves echoed across the congested road.
\*
Edgar had arrived.
The hope she had been clinging to like a thread seemed to snap at the sight she didn’t want to believe.
‘The Marquess won’t come. Just focus on the game, Anne.’
Alex had clearly said that in the waiting room…
Anneblin, stunned by the blow as if she had been slapped, bit her lip as she blankly stared at the man.
The man holding a bouquet of red flowers in one hand was leisurely walking down the stairs.
The handsome smile towards Olivia Blanchett shone dazzlingly in the silver sunlight pouring down on a summer day.
Just like the days when all of that had been Anneblin’s.
The tide had turned in an instant.
Set score 1:1
Anneblin, whose initial momentum had been impressive, was slowly sinking.
Olivia scored points in succession, eventually taking the first game of the final set.
“Why so late?”
“I had some business.”
Edgar’s gaze, vaguely answering Henry’s question, was fixed on Anneblin’s left hand.
“She must have been quite flustered.”
“It’s the first time I’ve been this nervous at my age. It’s bad for my heart.”
Even as he said that, the old gentleman seemed quite excited.
His gaze, which had been fixed on Anneblin with narrowed eyes, turned to Olivia, who was getting up after her break.
She had neatly tied her shoulder-length hair into a single ponytail and was wearing a white lace headband instead of the light blue headband he had given her.
He knew it was the rule, but he didn’t like it.
Whether she knew his feelings or not, Olivia gave him a faint smile and walked towards the court.
Edgar, watching her with a smile, frowned slightly.
Her gait seemed somewhat unnatural.
“Play!”
At the umpire’s call, Olivia, serving for the second game of the third set, calmly tossed the ball into the air.
Her sleek legs, clad in white shorts under the fresh summer sunlight, pushed off the ground.
Olivia, who specialized in powerful serves that she slammed down after a high jump, jumped lower than usual and landed on her right foot alone.
Edgar’s eyes immediately turned cold.
“She seems to have injured her leg. How did they manage the player like this?”
Henry clicked his tongue, displeased, but Edgar didn’t hear a word.
Edgar crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.
His gaze, fixed on Olivia and Anneblin exchanging the small ball on the bright green grass, grew heavy.
Anneblin Grace Britt.
Edgar’s gaze, which had been fixed on Olivia’s leg with a menacing look, slowly turned to the Princess. Olivia had been perfectly fine when he had taken her to her room yesterday.
The woman’s left-handed shot, returning Olivia’s serve, felt desperate.
The Princess was in a corner, enough to choose her left hand, which was taboo in this country.
So it wouldn’t be strange if she did something so despicable.
He grinned crookedly and glared at the Princess.
Game score 2 to 1
They fiercely defended their service games, engaging in a fierce battle.
Anneblin had become desperate before she knew it. She had long abandoned the elegance of her noble birth.
The swan that had been gracefully swimming in the calm lake was no more.
“Forty, Thirty!”
A huge cheer erupted from the stands the moment Olivia scored.
Anneblin felt dizzy. Sweat trickled down her forehead and dripped from her chin.
Gasping for breath in suffocating pain, Anneblin stared at the scoreboard with narrowed eyes.
Set score 1 to 1, game score 5 to 4
This can’t be happening.
Anneblin gnawed at her fingernails.
Olivia’s match point.
If she scored first, a new empress would be born.
Anneblin’s hand, clutching the ball to serve, trembled.
In the stifling heat with no breeze, the venue was as silent as a graveyard.
Only the sound of dry saliva being swallowed could be heard from the hushed stands. All eyes were on the Princess.
Anneblin couldn’t serve easily and endlessly dragged out the time.
Each minute and second passed as slowly as hours. Her blood ran dry.
Olivia waited patiently.
Anneblin, exhaling a long breath, inhaled deeply until her chest swelled and stopped.
Finally, the ball soared high into the sky.
Bang! With a powerful striking sound, the ball flew at a terrifying speed.
Olivia, tracking the ball with hawk-like skill, began to sprint.
In one go.
Olivia, with a scream, gripped the racket with both hands and hit the ball with all her might.
I’m going to end it!
Ah…
At the same time, her left foot slipped, and her wrist twisted slightly with a flash of pain before her eyes.
Please!
The ball flew across the hot sun.
In a breathtaking sight, people’s eyes followed the arc of the ball as it crossed the net.
Please!
Anneblin, standing near the right line, ran towards the landing point.
But before the Princess’s racket could touch the ball, the ball, which had been falling precariously towards the left line, slammed into the ground and bounced out of bounds.
“……”
Breaking the momentary silence, the audience began to stir.
Out? Or in?
With everyone’s attention focused, the umpire shouted.
“Out!”
As joy and sorrow crossed paths, a sigh of relief erupted from the VIP seats at the chief umpire's declaration. Edgar’s brow furrowed fiercely.
“Deuce!”
Olivia limped towards the umpire.
“It clearly landed on the line.”
She looked up at the umpire and protested.
“From my position, it landed clearly outside the line.”
“You’ll see if you check the ball.”
“Return to your position if you wish to continue the match, Ms. Blanchett.”
Her cheeks, already flushed with heat, turned even redder. It was a clear misjudgment.
Olivia swept back her sweaty forehead and looked up.
Dazzled, she raised her hand to her eyes and politely asked again.
“Please check the ball. There should be a mark if it landed on the line. Please.”
“I may order you to leave for disputing the judgment.”
The umpire’s eyes were utterly cold.
“This is your final warning. Return.”
Feeling as if she was facing a huge, unyielding ice wall, Olivia turned away.
The cloudless weather was truly the worst.
With her foot getting more and more painful, a biased umpire, and the scorching sun, Olivia closed her eyes for a moment.
‘One thing at a time.’
‘It’s simple, Han Ji-an.’
His voice, which she missed especially today, was carried on the wind with the hot air.
She released the lip she had been biting tightly with her white teeth. Olivia slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes met Anneblin’s.
I can do it.
Because the Princess was just as exhausted.
Deuce.
If Olivia scored two points first, the match would end with a set score of 2 to 1.
But if Anneblin scored first, the situation would continue tediously if she was unlucky.
Olivia looked down at her severely swollen left instep.
It was impossible with this foot.
She stopped taking the ice pack off her instep.
The swelling was still there, but the heat had subsided temporarily.
Olivia wiped off the moisture with a towel, put on her socks, and slipped her foot back into her sneakers.
Olivia, who had neatly tied her laces and taken a sip of water, finally got up from the bench.
Her eyes met Edgar’s for a long time.
Win.
A smile spread across his neat face.
The knuckles stood out on the back of her hand holding the racket.
Under the hot midday sun, Olivia and Anneblin stood facing each other again.
“Play!”
At the umpire’s call, Olivia leaped.
The way she bent her knees slightly and bounced up looked like a sleek, glossy black panther.
Bang! The taut racket powerfully struck the ball.
The ball went back and forth on the bright green grass, and a long rally continued due to the caution not to make mistakes.
With a loud shout, Olivia’s returned ball cut through the air.
Anneblin ran at full speed and hit the ball, but the ball, which had climbed onto the net, wobbled and finally fell to the ground.
“Oho!”
Regretful sighs and joyful exclamations cautiously erupted from here and there.
The Crown Prince, looking down at his sister, found his palms were already wet.
Anneblin gnawed at her lip. Blood finally seeped from her lip, which had been chewed throughout the match.
Now, just one last point.
Once again, Olivia Blanchett’s match point.
