“Then why are you here?”
“I came to check if you were sleeping well.”
“…”
Olivia was left speechless and just stared at Johann blankly.
Why, as if I would die or something…
It seemed like she had a truly spectacular heartbreak. Although he wasn’t Gian’s husband, in any case.
It wasn’t a look she should be showing in front of her ex-husband. A sudden memory of last night made her neck feel hot.
‘…Even if I have nowhere to go. …I don’t want… you.’
And yet, here she was.
Olivia couldn’t help but sigh at the contradiction of being indebted to her ex-husband.
At that moment, Johann, who had stood up, suddenly reached out. His large hand touched her forehead. At the same time, he put his other hand on his own forehead.
“You have a fever.”
His actions were very natural. As if he had always been so gentle.
“D-Don’t do that.”
Olivia said, pushing Johann’s hand away.
“Don’t do what?”
He grabbed her wrist.
Johann looked down and into Olivia’s eyes.
Her eyes were red from how miserably she had cried in his house because of another man.
The woman who used to cry only for him.
Johann, who had stood idly outside the bedroom door, unable to open it, waited in the darkness for her sobbing to subside.
It wasn’t until the night was deep and the air was turning blue that the hellfire that had been consuming Johann died down.
A chill ran through him. His hand, which had come off Olivia’s wrist, gently gripped her chin.
Johann slowly ran his thumb over her plump lower eyelid. He pressed down firmly, as if to erase Edgar’s trace.
“It hurts. Stop it.”
Olivia grabbed Johann’s wrist with both hands and glared at him.
“Why have you changed?”
“…”
It was a question like a deep sigh.
“Tell me. Olivia.”
“…Let me go.”
A flash of light appeared in her dulled eyes. His fingertips, which had slid from her eyes, gently caressed her bruised red lips, which were pressed against her white teeth. Then he gave it a hard rub.
Her lips, which had become hot from the friction, grew hot. Olivia pushed Johann’s chest away and parted her clenched lips.
“Don’t…!”
She felt that something was wrong when a foreign object suddenly invaded her mouth.
Surprised, Olivia bit down hard on Johann’s finger. But her weak resistance only served as a stimulant.
The man’s finger was pushed deeper into her mouth in one go.
Johann, who was looking down at Olivia as she shook her head with her face a deep red, let out a dull sigh and rummaged even more persistently in her mouth, as if to erase Edgar’s trace. Fiercely.
Just as a pale Olivia was struggling to pull away from his firm wrist, a knock, like a salvation, broke the suffocating silence. At the same time, their movements stopped.
Did we just touch lips? Or…
When her thoughts reached that point, she lost her focus for a moment.
If the sound of the knock on the bedroom door hadn’t brought Johann back to his senses, they might have gone all the way. Crazy fool.
When she came to her senses, her angry eyes were glaring at Johann.
Staring at her ocean-colored eyes where angry waves were surging, Johann slowly pulled out his finger and leisurely ran it over Olivia’s lips.
Her lips, which were wet and glistening with his saliva, sparkled in the morning sunlight. It was sensual and looked good.
Watching Olivia furiously wipe her lips with the back of her hand, Johann commanded in a low voice.
“Come in.”
The butler entered through the open bedroom door.
“A letter from Deputy Maurice, Master.”
The butler respectfully held out the silver tray in his hand. Only then did Johann’s gaze leave Olivia and rise to the white envelope.
Johann opened the envelope.
“…”
After confirming the one-sided schedule notification with no content, he raised his head and saw that Olivia was limping away at a distance.
‘…Even if I have nowhere to go. …I don’t want… you.’
The harsh words, which he had dismissed as her last bit of pride, seemed to be her true feelings. When he confirmed that truth again, his heart ached.
“Rest. If you need anything, tell Raion.”
“Call Anne for me.”
Her face, which had become cold, was pale.
Only her lips, which were streaked with the transparent morning sunlight coming in at an angle, were a deep red.
“I will.”
Johann, who had been staring at Olivia for a while, turned around. He strode across the bedroom, then suddenly stopped.
Olivia’s heart, which had been sighing in relief as she watched his back move away, froze again. He had turned around.
“…”
“Wait.”
Leaving those words, Johann left. Soon, the sound of the door closing was heard, and Olivia just sat down, clutching the bedpost.
Her dense eyelashes blinked slowly.
‘Why have you changed?’
With the heavy sound echoing in her ears, the man’s rude actions were chaotically tangled in her mind and would not leave.
Did he find out…?
At that moment, a knock was heard. Olivia, who had been dazed, was startled and instinctively turned her head. The door opened.
“Miss!”
“Anne!”
Fortunately, it was Anne.
Tap. Tap. The sound of a fan hitting a palm echoed regularly in the suite. Grand Duchess Margaret Wellington was in a foul mood from the morning.
The gaze of the old woman, who was sitting ramrod straight at the table, flew to Morris.
“Is he coming today?”
At her reprimanding gaze, Morris swallowed his dry saliva.
“He should be on his way now.”
“What is that imprecise answer!”
“I apologize.”
When did he send the message? Why wasn’t he here yet? Twice yesterday. Once early this morning.
Still, there was no news from Johann Leopold.
Morris, who was getting anxious, felt like storming into Winston Manor right away.
He had pleaded with him to arrive at 8 o’clock for breakfast.
Grand Duchess Wellington, who was glaring at the plates that the head chef of the Leopold Hotel had ambitiously prepared, which were now growing cold, suddenly stood up.
“Lead the way.”
“Pardon?”
A flustered Morris stammered.
“At this point, he must want me to go to him.”
“Th-That’s not it. Please calm down, Grand Duchess.”
Morris jumped. He looked back and forth between Grand Duchess Wellington’s expression and the room door and continued.
“Perhaps the Duke is not feeling well, so the carriage cannot go at a fast speed, which is why he’s late. It’s about time he arrives, so just a little longer—”
He had to stop this situation somehow. Morris was about to cling to the Grand Duchess’s skirt.
Fortunately, just before such a tragedy could happen, the door to the room opened with a knock.
“D-Duke!”
Morris was filled with emotion as he saw his savior entering in the light.
But Johann, after a cold glance at the person who had caused this troublesome situation, met his grandmother’s gaze.
“I’m late.”
Johann, who gave a neat greeting without any frills, stood in front of Margaret.
“You scoundrel. I thought you had hurt your leg since you weren’t coming, but only your leg is fine.”
Margaret looked Johann up and down, scolded him, and then sat down.
His uninjured arm and the scar on his smooth forehead. And how much of a mess must it be under his well-tailored suit?
She was heartbroken at the sight of her beloved grandson.
The meal between his grandmother and Johann was as desolate as ever.
No, was it particularly more desolate today? Morris’s throat was parched from the tense atmosphere as he served behind Johann, who had a bad arm.
“I hear that child has disappeared?”
“…”
Breaking the long silence, Margaret wiped her lips with a napkin and asked Johann.
Johann, who also picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth, answered calmly.
“So I’ve heard.”
Margaret stared at Johann. Her eyes were icy.
According to a piece of news a maid had brought, Olivia Blanchett had suddenly vanished the night of the closing ceremony.
Johann didn’t show any reaction and took a sip of wine.
‘Wait.’
The moment he said those words, he was reminded of Olivia, who had looked at him with cold, contemptuous eyes.
It was understandable since he had been rude to a woman who said she didn’t want him.
‘…Even if I have nowhere to go. …I don’t want… you.’
Did she leave? In the end?
A vein bulged on the back of his hand, which was gripping the slender stem of the wine glass. At that moment, his grandmother’s cold voice brought him back to his senses.
“Did you meet her?”
It was a tone closer to a confirmation than a question.
Johann raised his eyes and quietly stared at his grandmother, then flicked his empty glass with his fingertip.
A clear chink sound rang out. Morris finally came to his senses and refilled the glass.
“No more wine. You may go.”
Margaret, who was displeased with Johann, who had not touched his food and had only been drinking, sent Morris away.
Then, a silence like the eve of a war settled in the space where only the two of them remained.
The morning sunlight streaming through the long, large window passed through the wine glass, casting a red light on the white tablecloth.
The series of movements of picking up the crystal glass between his thick and neat fingers and bringing it to his mouth flowed as naturally as water.
“Tell me. Did you meet her?”
Margaret pressed him.
Margaret Wellington was a person who never hid her feelings.
She had a time when she was a shy lady, but after a lifetime with a philandering husband, her emotions had dried up like a dead branch, making her a blunt person.
“Johann.”
She must have crossed the ocean because she was curious about that from the beginning. A person who hated seasickness. She must have been anxious. He could easily guess her true feelings.
“That’s my private life.”
Margaret’s eyes sank menacingly. She was as sharp as she had been when she had gotten rid of her husband’s many mistresses.
And her sense, which had not yet dulled, whispered to her.
“It’s a family matter.”
Grand Duchess Margaret Wellington was a person who detested bastards.
Her husband, his mistresses, and their bastards, whom she couldn’t even stomach after grinding them up… So the chance of her and Olivia getting along was non-existent.
“Meet a woman who is a good match for you. Blood doesn’t lie. You’ve seen it yourself, haven’t you? Those vulgar photos.”
Johann saw a menacing vein pulsing on his grandmother’s forehead.
Even now, newspapers were busy publishing the scandalous photos of Olivia and Edgar kissing on the green grass after the final match.
In the eyes of the stubborn old woman, that was a disgrace.
Johann didn’t show any emotion. He just felt that the wine going down his throat was incredibly bitter.
Did she leave?
Or… is she waiting?
Johann’s nerves were becoming increasingly frayed.
