Chapter 14

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 14

Chapter Title: Invitation to the Ball

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A languid spring breeze blew in.

It tousled her abundant locks in a gentle gust that contrasted sharply with the heated tension on the tennis court.

Olivia Blanchett's match point.

The woman steadied her quick breaths, planted her small foot firmly on the grass, and leaned forward. Without hesitation, she tossed the ball into the air and leaped toward the sky.

A few strands of brown hair clung to her flushed cheeks and slender neck, sparkling in the light.

Her blouse pulled taut along her outstretched arm, revealing a glimpse of pale skin.

Edgar's gaze fixed on her sleek calves and delicate ankles beneath the skirt billowing with the wind, and he halted in his tracks.

Pang!

The moment she smashed the ball down with a fierce cry, Edgar snapped back to reality. The ball sailed over the net and bounced at his feet, rolling away.

Olivia cheered. She clenched her fist and let out a triumphant yell.

"Gorilla..."

The loafers on the bench, who had been gripping their hands in suspense while watching the match, muttered their impressions without thinking.

Where do you see that?

Edgar stood frozen, chuckling at the sight of the woman smiling brightly. Beads of sweat glistened on her forehead in the morning sunlight, tracing a round path. He gazed at her for a long while.

Edgar walked toward the net. Olivia approached him as well.

"You won."

With the net between them, Edgar extended his arm with a smile.

"Yes. I won."

Olivia's voice carried ragged breaths as she took his hand without hesitation. It was impossible to tell if her breath was sweet or if it carried the scent of flowers.

"Congratulations."

Edgar's throat bobbed slowly. Between the parted front of her blouse, as she caught her breath, her pale cleavage rose and fell. A breeze carried the faint aroma of rose soap.

"So. What's your wish?"

He lifted his gaze with effort, capturing her beautiful face.

"I'll think about it. Is that okay?"

"As you wish."

Behind the beaming woman, the grand fountain erupted in a cascade of white foam. It was a defeat he couldn't help but feel rewarded by.

The crisp chill of a cold drink after an intense physical exertion brought Olivia a simple joy.

As she savored her victory, sipping iced coffee packed with ice and lost in the carefree leisure of a worry-free life—

"Take responsibility for me, Miss Blanchett."

The sudden remark made Olivia burst into laughter.

The café was quiet on this weekday afternoon. The piano melody from the record player mingled with the patter of rain, creating a melancholic harmony like flower petals wilting in a storm.

"I'm serious. Come to the Rose Ball with me."

Elaine's expression was resolute, as if there were no backing down.

After the tennis match, Olivia had gone sightseeing in central Litton with Elaine. The bustling downtown area, packed with department stores, lavish theaters, and high-end shopping streets, teemed with tourists enjoying their shopping.

The conversation had started when Elaine, out to buy a hairpiece for the ball hosted by the Lancelot Hotel, asked if Olivia would attend. It continued even here in the café, where they had ducked in to escape a sudden downpour.

"I already said I wouldn't go."

Olivia said as she forked a large strawberry perched demurely atop whipped cream.

"As long as you have an invitation, you can get in. No problem."

"I don't even have a dress."

"You didn't bring any?"

"No."

"What a waste... why would you..."

Elaine muttered in dismay before steeling her gaze again.

"I get your situation, Miss Blanchett. But you have to come with me. No choice. It's because of you that I don't have anyone else to go with."

Elaine emphasized each word, especially the last sentence. For her, this might be the last chance.

Living extravagantly thanks to her husband meant deciding to divorce him was the same as giving up that lifestyle.

Of course, if she could secure alimony as massive as Olivia's, things would be different. But there probably wasn't a man in Rondos who would pay more than Duke Johann Leopold.

"...I'll think about it."

Olivia smiled faintly and turned her head to the window. Rain poured from the slate-gray sky like thousands of needles, shattering against the pavement.

A ball...

She didn't want to go, but she couldn't ignore Elaine, who was being ostracized because of her.

If only she'd held back her emotions a little that day. If only she hadn't brought up the necklace. Olivia quietly swallowed a sigh.

The rain battering the glass grew heavier.

It had rained that day too.

The drumming rain against her ears revived the nightmare-like moment. The day she'd longed for so desperately, yet everything had gone wrong.

It was the day she was first assigned to the violent crimes unit and deployed on a mission with her senior.

An early monsoon had brought torrential rain. The tragedy struck like an unannounced downpour.

'Watch out, Senior!'

Through the darkness, where silver raindrops flashed intermittently, a blade gleamed. That was when Ji-an's body lunged forward.

The criminal's sharp knife pierced her abdominal muscles in an instant. Not even a scream escaped. Her consciousness blacked out briefly.

'Han Ji-an! Han Ji-an!!!'

He shouted.

The raindrops falling on her cheek no longer felt cold. She wanted to feel the warmth of the man she loved just a little longer, but she felt nothing.

Her hearing held onto his voice until the end, along with the distant wail of sirens.

I love you.

She tried to form the words on her lips in that final moment—words she'd never spoken aloud before.

I wonder if they got through.

She was curious, but there was no way to know.

It became her last mission. She died trying to protect her senior. And now, she was alone in a world separated from that man by glass.

Are you doing well?

Olivia gazed silently out the window.

Elaine watched Olivia staring off into the distance beyond the glass, her calm expression laced with an indescribable sorrow.

She knew how cruel it was to invite someone shunned by high society to a ball.

'Please create a special ball together with Miss Blanchett.'

The letter delivered by the hotel manager, accompanied by a check.

There was no sender on the letter, and the signature on the check was unfamiliar, but Elaine knew instinctively.

Edgar Langcaster Lancelot.

If she hadn't witnessed him at the tennis court that morning, she might not have dared think of his name.

For Elaine, who already planned to attend with Olivia, there was no reason not to pick up a diamond fallen on the street.

Especially since divorce from her husband would leave her strapped for cash.

She found the marquis's intentions suspicious, but she wasn't exactly a good person anyway.

That said, she wasn't evil either. Wasn't it perfectly normal for a single man to take interest in a beautiful divorced woman?

Elaine decided to think of it that way.

What could go wrong?

And Olivia Blanchett had a kind heart, from what she'd seen.

"Miss Blanchett?"

"...Yes? Oh."

Olivia gave an awkward smile.

"Sorry. I was lost in thought. What did you say?"

"This might be my last chance. Once I divorce, this lifestyle will be hard to maintain."

Elaine prodded at Olivia's sense of guilt with feigned pathos. The rain continued to lash the window relentlessly.

"Is something bothering you?"

Anne asked cautiously. The young lady's mood was low after going out shopping with her first friend.

What could it be?

Anne felt a sudden chill of fear. Had something bad happened?

"I think I have to go to the ball after all."

"Suddenly?"

Anne's hands froze in surprise.

"Miss Elaine's in a bind because of me."

"But we don't have a suitable dress..."

The Rose Ball was this Friday. It was Wednesday now—no time to have one made.

Even when leaving Great Hill, she hadn't touched the lavish dresses filling the dressing room. Thinking back, it felt like such a waste.

She'd even ordered summer dresses...

"!"

Oh my goodness.

"Wait a moment, miss."

Anne, who had been gently patting Olivia's wet hair dry with a towel, hurried to the nightstand.

She pulled a notepad from the top drawer. Flipping through the pages frantically, she found the memo under the date from a couple days ago.

«Gabriel Boutique. Three dresses»

Anne stared at it for a moment.

It marked the delivery date for the summer dresses ordered a month ago.

It had been a day in March when snow fell from iron-gray skies. The same day the young lady had fallen into the lake. While speaking with her secretary, Diane Brooke, the young lady had flown into a rage and summoned the designer.

As always, by the time Gabriel Jeanne arrived, the young lady was drunk, and Olivia had no memory of how many dresses she'd ordered.

"...I forgot."

"Huh? Forgot what?"

Anne startled herself by voicing her inner thought aloud and looked at Olivia.

"Oh, I forgot it was Mom's birthday."

"Ah! Right."

Olivia smiled apologetically.

"Let's send her a gift. Anne."

"...Yes, miss."

She couldn't bring herself to tell the truth. If news of the young lady's past kept intruding like an unwelcome guest on her divorced husband, how would she feel?

Anne hoped the young lady wouldn't think of Johann Leopold at all. Loving the duke had destroyed her.

The current young lady—the one divorced from the duke—always smiled as if she'd lived a life full of joy. Her smiles made her even more beautiful.

Like all first loves, that emotion had been impulsive and inevitable. But it was just a first love. Anne prayed a more refined, mature love would come again.

Then, a fresh spring breeze blew in through the wide-open window after the rain. The notepad on the table fluttered, turning to the next page.

Anne's face drained of color once more.