Chapter 49

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 49

Chapter Title: Brushed Past

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The massive golden iron gates adorned with the emblems of the Britt royal family slowly creaked open.

At the faint sound, Johann slowly opened his closed eyes.

He could see the Princess of Krantz gazing silently out the window. The carriage began moving again.

A vast garden, neatly arranged in geometric patterns, stretched out endlessly.

At its far end, the sunset rippled over a grand palace built of peach-colored marble.

The carriage, having just exited the grand garden bursting with red roses—the national flower of the Britt Kingdom—finally came to a stop.

"It's been a while, Catherine."

The Crown Prince and his wife had come out to greet them.

"Have you been well?"

The Crown Prince and Princess Catherine lightly embraced, pressing their cheeks together. Watching them, Annblin swallowed a sigh.

They really were a perfect pair... if only Louise weren't around.

"Come on in."

Releasing Catherine, the Crown Prince warmly welcomed Johann.

"Congratulations on your engagement."

"Thank you."

Johann's voice was dry as he offered a formal bow.

"It's nice to see you like this, Princess."

Crown Prince Alex didn't forget Johann's fiancée either, guiding the guests inside while tending to them.

He belatedly wished Catherine a happy birthday and boasted about how much care his wife had put into preparing the banquet.

Annblin frowned at his blatant favoritism toward his wife.

The lavish banquet table, perfectly set to entertain distinguished guests, was filled with the sweet scent of flowers.

But the guests, accustomed to such extravagance, showed no particular surprise or admiration—except for Catherine.

"My goodness, the colors are so beautiful."

Catherine spoke kindly to the Crown Princess, who must have put in the effort for this occasion.

Even if she hadn't arranged the flowers herself, she had surely selected each one by hand.

"I'm glad you like it."

Louise smiled at Catherine.

"I was worried the reds might feel a bit overwhelming and cluttered, but Catherine, you're too kind."

As expected, Annblin chimed in.

She never let anything slide. Louise masked her expression and replied.

"I was mindful because red and deep crimson are the symbols of the Rondon and Krantz royals."

It was an intent impossible to disparage further. Annblin primly lowered her gaze and meticulously scanned the table.

Louise simply smiled quietly at the sight.

"Well, let's have a drink."

The Crown Prince lifted his silver goblet to change the mood. After a toast to the eternal alliance of the three kingdoms, the banquet began.

"How are the tournament preparations going?"

Catherine asked Annblin as she neatly sliced the venison.

"Smoothly."

She smiled brightly and said so, but in truth, it wasn't.

The problem was finding a designer she liked. In the end, she had instructed them to recreate the designs Madam Lauren had shown her exactly as they were.

Of course, even if Olivia wore the exact same uniform, it wouldn't be an issue.

Olivia Blanchett would just be seen as a woman imitating the princess.

"Your ex-wife must have played tennis for quite some time, I assume?"

The unexpected question flew at Johann, who had mostly been listening quietly.

A momentary silence fell.

The rude topic showed no consideration for Johann's fiancée at all.

Uncomfortable gazes turned reproachfully toward Annblin, then slowly shifted to Johann.

"Who knows."

Johann tilted his wine glass. The engraved clusters of plump grapes and vines gleamed coldly in the chandelier light.

"I've never seen her play."

It was an indifferent response, one that made it impossible to press further.

Meeting his steely gray eyes, Annblin flinched, suddenly aware of her fiancée's presence.

"I'm sorry. That was rude of me."

"No, think nothing of it, Princess."

Irene smiled faintly.

"You'll be staying for the finals, right?"

Annblin asked Catherine. The conversation shifted back to the Dumblin Championship.

Johann habitually checked the time. His long fingers slowly rolled up his stiff cuff.

"Think of me every time you look at this watch."

The awkwardly pressed letters in clumsy handwriting floated to mind.

"Your Highness."

Johann quietly set down his champagne glass and called to the Crown Prince. It was decidedly impulsive.

The Crown Prince, who had been talking with Catherine, turned his head.

"I think I'll take my leave now."

"Oh dear, we've kept a busy man too long. Next time, let's go riding together."

"Call on me anytime. Then."

The Crown Prince readily let him go.

Johann rose from his seat, offered a straight-backed bow, and left the banquet hall.

His actions were impeccably aloof, yet no one felt Johann Leopold was rude.

Once in the carriage, Johann ordered the coachman.

"To Riverside 3rd Street."

The carriage started moving. Outside the window, shrouded in dusk, the massive city was bathed in crimson lights.

By the time the carriage entered the city streets, it was full evening. Traffic was worse than usual, and the carriage kept starting and stopping.

Olivia fought off waves of drowsiness, struggling to maintain her upright posture. But it was no easy task.

Her conclusion for the day: playing with children was more exhausting than tennis.

The crimson streetlamps visible beyond the carriage window kept blurring hazily.

"Why don't you just close your eyes for a bit?"

Edgar said with a smile.

"No, I'm fine."

Olivia replied firmly.

She snapped her eyes wide—just as they had been about to drift shut—and shook her head.

Clasping her hands tightly together, she kneaded them vigorously.

Her white hands turned bright red from the rubbing, but the motion slowed, and her eyelids finally fluttered down. Olivia's eyes flew open.

Edgar chuckled and offered a solution.

"Pretend I'm not here."

"But you are."

"People always say you're stubborn."

"It's just that sleeping looks ugly on me."

Olivia glared sleepily with narrowed eyes, retorting primly. Edgar burst into laughter.

Then, in an instant, his expression turned icy as he asked.

"How would you know that?"

His voice was chilling.

Edgar had never stared at a woman sleeping after being intimate with her. He hadn't cared enough for anyone.

What about this woman, though?

His gaze on Olivia deepened. A strangely fervent desire began to simmer slowly.

The woman stared at him blankly. Soon, her crimson lips parted.

"That's..."

She trailed off.

'Han Ji-an. You were drooling.'

During stakeouts with her senior, they took turns napping briefly.

She had tried desperately not to fall asleep, but it was futile. When she woke, mortified after succumbing to sleep, he always teased her.

'You were even grinding your teeth.'

He said with a grin.

'Don't fall asleep anywhere. It's unsightly.'

About to answer Edgar, Olivia pressed her lips shut and turned her head away. Seeing her like that was enough for one man.

I wonder how he's doing.

That world, with no one waiting for her or welcoming her back, still made her eyes sting hot like a fool whenever it intruded unbidden.

Because she missed it unbearably.

Edgar's gaze deepened as he watched her profile, her nape flushed red.

The sight of her sleeping—a view no one but Johann would know.

'Olivia is off-limits.'

What nonsense.

Edgar scoffed. Recalling Johann's warning brought a wave of irritating displeasure crashing over him.

Whether it works or not, you'd only know by trying.

Edgar's twisted smile lingered on the woman, while her gaze drifted somewhere beyond the sunset-tinged window.

Before long, the blue sky deepened from red to navy.

As the woman's eyelids slowly closed under the ruddy streetlamp glow seeping through the clear glass, her slender body tilted with the carriage's sway.

That was when the carriage jolted to a sudden halt. Just as Olivia's head was about to smack against the wall, Edgar reached out an arm.

The perfectly poised lady was gone.

The streetlamps filtering through the transparent glass cast long shadows from her dense lashes.

Olivia, lips slightly parted in crimson, rested her head in Edgar's palm, breathing evenly.

In the quiet street where even her soft breaths rang clear, the taut front of her blouse slowly rose and fell beneath her slender nape.

His Adam's apple bobbed in rhythm.

The carriage lurched forward again.

She startled awake with a twitch. At the same moment, her eyes locked with the brilliant blue ones right in front of her.

It was then that the carriage carrying Johann had just exited the financial district, hellish on Fridays.

An old horse pulling a cart had collapsed dead in the middle of the road.

The carriage, finally picking up speed as if catching a breath, stopped again. Carriages from both directions tangled into a mess.

The death of one old horse turned the street chaotic in an instant.

Johann, leaning back with legs crossed, staring blankly out the window, glanced at his watch with narrowed eyes.

7:45 PM.

A time when Olivia was highly likely to be home. It was too late for a lady to be out alone without a guardian.

The carriage started moving again.

As Johann lifted his head toward the window, his gaze froze cold for a split second.

"......"

It was her.

The woman who had been his wife. Olivia Blanchett. And...

At that moment, the startled woman tried to pull her face away as if fleeing.

Edgar tightened his grip on her chin.

Her panicked blue eyes darted frantically, her pale face flushing deeper red.

Then Edgar leaned in close.

"There's something on you."

His whisper brushed her soft earlobe, almost like a kiss.

"Here."

As he murmured low in her ear, their eyes met Johann's.

Edgar's lips stretched into a long line. His gaze pierced straight through the window at Johann.

For that instant when their eyes clashed, the carriages slowly brushed past each other.

Childishly petty, yet thrillingly exhilarating.