Chapter 58

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 58

Chapter Title: Because of Johann

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Deep ashen eyes fixed on Olivia.

She seemed like someone who had carved that day's events from her memory.

Otherwise, upon regaining consciousness, she should have sought out the culprit who pushed her toward the lake.

Not demanded a divorce.

"Why the lakeside?"

Olivia asked with a puzzled expression.

"No. Nothing."

Johann spoke softly, gazing at the woman's face that no longer felt unfamiliar.

"Finish your meal."

Johann filled her empty glass with water, brushing aside stray thoughts.

There was no need to dredge up memories that could only bring pain. That was when the knock came.

Olivia, who had just taken a bite of perch into her mouth, startled and stood up abruptly.

"It's fine. Sit."

Johann reached out, gently pulling her wrist to draw her back down.

As his command to enter rang out, the door opened.

"It's been a while, Madam. Ah. Sorry. Miss Blanchett."

It was Morris. He held a neatly folded maid's uniform in one hand and shoes in the other.

"Ah. Yes, it's been a while."

Olivia easily recalled the man from her memories.

She had even felt jealous of Morris, who shadowed Johann like a ghost.

Olivia greeted him with an awkward smile.

Morris bowed and whispered softly into Johann's ear.

"The princess has departed."

Morris's whisper carried across the table. Olivia hurriedly stood.

"The clothes. Please."

"After you finish eating—"

"This is enough."

Morris glanced apologetically at Johann, feeling needlessly sorry.

Johann gave a slight nod, and Morris handed the change of clothes to Olivia.

"Escort her out the back door."

Johann stood, buttoning his black jacket as he issued the order.

"Pardon? Why not the front—"

For a split second, Johann's cold gaze silenced Morris.

Why was he angry? They weren't even married anymore—had they quarreled like a couple?

Why was he taking it out on him? And with no reporters around, why bother?

Questions flooded Morris's mind, but what choice did he have? If ordered, he obeyed.

Suddenly feeling like an unwelcome intruder, Morris tactfully slipped out of the bedroom.

"And you?"

Olivia looked up at Johann, who stood motionless, and asked.

"Aren't you leaving?"

Even if she changed in the dressing room, wouldn't he hear?

The rustle of fabric slipping off her body.

The thought of the man outside hearing such sounds made her uncomfortable.

"Please leave."

Olivia said sternly.

We've already seen everything of each other.

The image flashed of his wife, lying seductively on the bed without a stitch of clothing.

It was laughable, her treating him now like some stranger.

At the same time, he felt like a fool for reacting now to something that hadn't stirred him then.

"Miss!"

Anne threw herself into Olivia's arms.

She had rushed out the moment she heard the carriage stop in front of the quiet red-brick mansion.

Her face flushed red, Anne burst into tears. Her white blouse front grew damp.

"Anne."

For a long while, Olivia stroked Anne's back. Until her sobs faded in the yellow sunlight.

And as dusk fell, Edgar arrived.

"Your health."

He looked haggard after just one day, his sunken eyes shadowed with fatigue.

"No injuries?"

His low voice was endlessly gentle.

"Fortunately."

Olivia smiled faintly.

Escort her with utmost courtesy.

Why had she thought that meant her? Olivia gazed at the man sitting across from her, chiding herself.

She had been foolishly, naively happy.

That someone could cherish her, when even her birth mother had abandoned her.

And understandably so.

You confuse people far too much.

Olivia felt endlessly ashamed of her presumptuous misunderstanding. And deeply hurt.

"I'm sorry. This was my oversight."

Edgar said in a voice thick with regret.

"It's not your fault."

The conversation lapsed again after a long pause, with the teacup between them. Silence flowed. Full evening settled beyond the darkened window.

Olivia let her gaze drift sideways. The tea was cooling.

Escort her with utmost courtesy.

The elegant handwriting kept flickering before her eyes. The princess was that precious to you.

Why did that fact hurt so much, why did it...

Hurt like this.

This unfamiliar self was unbearable. There was no reason it should hurt.

Olivia's eyes wavered in chaotic confusion.

Because of Johann?

Edgar silently watched her and reached that conclusion. Because of Johann.

Last night gnawed at him—the one night Marie hadn't reported on.

What had happened?

What had they said?

Her eyes fleeing like those of a guilty party irked him.

She was the woman he had worked so hard to make look only at him. So look at me, Olivia.

"You should relocate."

Her vacant stare at the teacup finally turned to Edgar.

Yes, like this. Look at me.

Her fluttering lashes asked where.

"Stay at the hotel."

"No. I don't think so."

It was a firm refusal without a hint of hesitation.

"Why."

Edgar's brow furrowed.

Because of Johann?

They had been husband and wife, sharing a bed for three years. Why did that fact irritate him now?

Edgar scowled.

"They want you to withdraw from the tournament. They'll keep attempting harm like this, Olivia."

Of course, he had planned to bind her hands and feet first, but separately, she seemed to need a touch of intimidation now.

After a brief silence, Olivia spoke.

"If they're that kind of person, it won't matter where I am. And..."

Olivia bit her lip.

"Staying at the hotel... would only provoke her further. I think it's best to stay here. If the princess isn't foolish, things will stay quiet for a while."

"If you're anxious and hate it."

His low,沉 voice resonated in her chest. Edgar's gaze was deep and calm.

How sincere was this man's gentleness?

There had been a man kind to everyone.

Her crush from school—his kindness was equal to all, leaving her forever confused.

But this man.

He's only kind to me.

Olivia peered into his gray eyes, tinged with a pale bluish hue.

Gentleness of uncertain authenticity, laced with concern for her.

He must have looked at the princess the same way.

You confuse me. You.

It wouldn't be strange if she fell in love with this man right now.

Edgar's demeanor had led her to such misconceptions.

"Don't worry about me."

"Olivia."

The man calling her name so freely stirred her confusion again.

All his words scattered lightly, his gazes, his actions—too easy for such a man.

Dispelling the hollow feeling, Olivia spoke clearly.

"I'm not so fragile as to burden you with worry."

Olivia smiled brightly.

Her voice, too clear and serene, carried the cold intent of dismissal.

That brazen tone ignited the deepest ember in Edgar's heart.

A clear rejection.

The second from Olivia Blanchett since her father.

Johann finished reviewing the Leopold Hotel's occupancy rates and the pre-event preparations for the Dumblin Championship in four days, then signed the bottom of the report.

The head manager left with the documents, and Morris entered immediately after.

"Preparations for departure are complete."

Johann nodded slightly when a knock sounded. It was the Krantz princess.

Morris bowed silently to the entering princess and withdrew. Johann stood from his seat.

"What is it?"

His neat hand gestured to the sofa as he spoke.

His tone drew a line, as if addressing someone with no business here, cold and detached.

"Did that woman... leave well?"

Irene asked while standing.

Johann walked to the desk and took a cigar from the humidor.

As he lit it with a match, he relaxed his clenched hand and slipped it loosely into his trouser pocket, asking,

"Surely you didn't come here just to ask that."

His low timbre and haughty downward gaze oozed arrogance.

It bothered her.

Irene couldn't deny it. She merely glared at the white smoke curling into the air.

If reporters caught wind and scandal erupted, her dignity would hit rock bottom again alongside the illegitimate's ex-wife.

She didn't want Christian seeing that.

"Tell me how much more I have to overlook."

Noblemen keeping mistresses was nothing new, so Irene had no desire for pointless emotional battles over that.

Regrettable that it was his ex-wife, but ignorable.

As long as no one found out.

"For that issue, shouldn't you have gone to Britt's princess instead?"

Someone else had kidnapped Olivia and shoved her into Johann's quiet bedroom.

It was ridiculous, her cornering him as if he were caught in some indecent act.

"I'm talking about the future. Whether you'll keep meeting that woman—"

"Princess."

A quiet voice cut through her words.

The pressure made even her, raised in luxury, shrink back.

"Then and now, as I've said, I did nothing."

From his lofty perch, beyond reach, his gaze filled Irene with humiliation.

"From now on... we'll see."

His aloof demeanor differed sharply from the beloved Christian.

She hadn't expected emotion from this emotionless man, but his iciness stirred unrest in her heart.

"If you make me look pathetic, I won't stay silent."

"That doesn't seem like something a woman entangled with another man should say, fiancée or not."

"!"

Irene de Krantz paled and froze.