Chapter 40

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 40

Chapter Title: A Gift for Johann

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"What's with the long face? You're supposed to be the man of the hour tonight."

"Must be Catherine."

His piercing gaze, sharp as ice, drifted toward some spot in the grand ballroom lit up by dazzling chandeliers. His weary, indifferent expression somehow looked languid.

"If we're talking buzz, you're the one stealing the show, brother."

Mikhail leaned back against the terrace railing and shook a lit match in the air to light his cigarette.

The crimson flame flickered wildly before vanishing.

"Guess I need to reflect on that."

A monotone voice slipped through the mist-like smoke rising around him.

"Sure you do."

Mikhail snorted and beckoned a servant beyond the glass doors with a flick of his hand.

The servant approached, balancing a silver tray with champagne flutes, and bowed deeply.

Mikhail, cigarette dangling from his lips, picked up two glasses and handed one to Johann.

"To your future duchess!"

He raised his glass slightly and winked at Johann.

Johann, showing no reaction as usual, turned his gaze elsewhere.

"Shouldn't you go look after your fiancée? Someone might think you got engaged to Chris instead."

Johann took a sip of champagne, his bored eyes fixed on the spring roses blooming in the distance.

"Am I the only one who thinks it's weird?"

"If you're curious, go inside and ask her yourself."

Johann set his half-empty glass on the railing and spoke dryly. The crystal flute caught the light.

Mikhail shifted topics in response to Johann's tepid reaction.

"I saw the duchess. Oh, wait—no, Miss Blanchett. Yeah, Miss Blanchett."

Johann, who had been staring straight ahead, finally turned to Mikhail with a slow gaze.

"She didn't even recognize me. Isn't that a bit much?"

Mikhail clutched his chest and pretended to sob.

"Where."

His low voice rang out briefly.

"Dumblin Club."

Mikhail glanced at Johann as he spoke.

"She and Ed had this weird vibe going."

A bit of ash fell from between his white-gloved fingers.

Johann Leopold was a man whose mere presence exuded intimidation, arrogance matching his aura.

With hardly any expressions, the rare glimpses of emotion he showed were entertaining to watch. Like now.

Mikhail grinned.

As one of the few who knew about Johann and Edgar's relationship, it was a small pleasure to poke at it.

"Miss Blanchett was smiling, too. First time I've seen that. Does she smile like that around you often?"

Johann started to say something but pressed his lips together.

She had smiled early in their marriage, but... it was different from the one in the photos.

A subtle difference. Maybe because it stemmed from different emotions. Or because the person she was with was different.

"She changed her hairstyle."

"Yeah."

Johann's half-hearted reply made Mikhail's eyes widen in shock.

"Yeah? You just said 'yeah'? Wait, did you already know?"

Johann had nothing particular to say, so he lifted his glass.

Look at this guy. Mikhail's face twisted in disbelief as he pressed further.

How could such a cynical man know every little change about his ex-wife? He wouldn't sleep tonight without knowing why.

"How'd you know? Did you meet her?"

"No."

"Then? You're not having her watched, are you?"

Johann set down his empty glass and rubbed his temple wearily.

"Lingering regrets?"

He tilted his head slightly as he spoke.

"How about it. Should I go, or will you?"

His low, velvety voice was sweet, but it meant get lost.

"I'll head in once I get an answer. Don't tell me you do have regrets—"

"It was worth it. That's all."

Johann cut him off sharply and glared.

Regrets, huh. Mikhail subtly changed the subject under the fierce gaze.

"Anyway, when did she start playing tennis? She completely crushed Russell Junior, who's been at it for ten years."

Even as he gauged the mood, Mikhail watched Johann's reaction. Johann, expressionless, took a deep drag from his cigarette.

"She wouldn't have played at the earldom. Did you play together?"

"No."

Johann exhaled a long plume of bluish smoke and denied it curtly. He knew nothing of Olivia's tennis skills either.

"Was she always athletic?"

His icy gray eyes narrowed. Johann stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

Come to think of it, he didn't know much about Olivia at all. Just that she had a pretty face and a body that satisfied him just as much.

"Anyway, I bet on Miss Blanchett in this tournament. Her support in the club is... Oh! Guess I should stop talking about the ex-wife."

Mikhail, who had been chattering excitedly, suddenly plastered on a gentlemanly smile.

"Someone who's never even gotten close during two marriages should probably bow out."

"It's only once so far."

Johann's face grew impassive again as he looked where Mikhail was staring.

"Here comes your fiancée."

Mikhail's cheerful voice coincided with the music shifting to a calmer melody drifting onto the terrace.

Just as the Krantz princess stepped out.

"You don't hate me, right?"

Mikhail joked shamelessly.

"No."

The Krantz princess gave a faint smile, glanced at Mikhail, then turned to Johann.

"If it's alright, could you come with me? Grandmother has arrived."

Johann nodded, buttoned his jacket, and offered his arm. The princess lightly placed her hand on it.

"Catch you later."

With a brief farewell to Mikhail, Johann turned with the princess.

"A pleasure to meet you."

Johann greeted the elderly lady politely.

Her eyes, brimming with pride at having turned a humble country girl into an archduchess, quickly scanned him.

The third son of the Edinburgh ducal house, bearing the Leopold ducal title, was perfect for marrying off her precious granddaughter, whom she wouldn't trade for the world in her eye.

Except for one thing.

"You need to keep your ex-wife in check."

"Grandmother."

Irene quietly called to her grandmother.

"Did I say something wrong? Everywhere I go these days, that's all anyone talks about. How do you think I feel? You... how do you feel?"

The old lady couldn't continue.

She had poured all her longing for her daughter, lost too soon, into her granddaughter.

Irene, in her soft lilac evening gown, looked pure and elegant.

To think such a lovely girl would forever be tangled in scandals with that lowly illegitimate child.

It crushed her heart, making her lament living too long.

"I apologize for causing you concern."

Johann's voice was courteous, but it lacked sincerity. The old lady inwardly clicked her tongue at his arrogance.

Stars may shine, but they don't sparkle alongside the sun. Yet the young duke before her seemed unfazed even in the presence of the realm's highest power.

If only he didn't have that divorce on his record. It was such a pity.

A gold nugget with a scratch isn't copper. And diamonds don't even get scratches to begin with.

"This old woman just wants her girl to marry bathed in the world's blessings."

"Yes."

Johann replied curtly.

"She's been mature beyond her years since childhood. A perfect angel, never any trouble."

The noblewoman boasted proudly.

"In this corrupt world, there's no lady as chaste as Irene."

Johann suddenly felt like he was facing the Margaret sisters.

That was when Josephine's name came to mind. The lady who only danced cadrilles was chaste too, supposedly.

"Grandmother."

The Krantz princess whispered softly and gently tugged the old lady's arm.

"I'm not saying this because she's my granddaughter. Irene really is..."

She had endless praises for her. As the anecdotes poured out, Johann glanced at the princess beside the old lady.

The one person who could stop this. But her attention seemed elsewhere. Johann followed the chaste lady's gaze.

Christian.

The princess was looking at the crown prince.

"Isn't that right, dear? ...Irene?"

"Ah! Yes, Grandmother."

Her hastily withdrawn gaze met Johann's. It took mere seconds for her expression to smooth over.

A woman clumsy at hiding her feelings came to mind.

Olivia had been entangled with Christian too.

Johann checked his watch.

It was rude with someone present, but she'd started it, so he ignored it.

He'd held up his end as her fiancé for the evening.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Madam."

He bowed politely and gave the princess a brief look.

His silent goodbye. She responded with a slight nod.

Johann turned away without hesitation.

The night, mildly unpleasant and irritating in equal measure, was deepening.

"What do we do now, Miss?"

Anne looked at Olivia with a gloomy face and asked. It felt like sitting on pins and needles.

The Rose Ball scandal, and now the duke's ambush on top of it.

In the chaos, Anne had forgotten the duke's birthday gift, which had become a literal time bomb dropped before them.

Olivia had no better ideas either. She just felt stuck.

The carriage carrying the two rattled off. Litton's largest and oldest department store, Hailo, gradually receded into the distance.

'It'll be hard to stop the delivery.'

The Patek store clerk's words came back to her. It wasn't much different from what she'd expected.

The Patek 'New Watch' ordered three months ago was set to arrive right on Johann's birthday, and it was too late to reverse it.

Johann's birthday was tomorrow.

Olivia's eyes fell on the newspaper mounted on the carriage wall.

In the black-and-white photo, Johann stepping down from the carriage with the Krantz princess, entering the Rondon Palace banquet hall, they looked like the perfect pair.

A birthday gift from an ex-wife in this situation.

It couldn't get any worse.