EID Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Personal Feelings

“What kind of country is the Duchy of Kranz, Princess?”

Olivia quietly set her teacup down and posed the question.

Beneath the noon sunlight, with the drowsy autumn breeze brushing past, Olivia and Irene were having tea on the balcony of the suite.

“It’s a small but very beautiful country. They even call it the Jewel of the Mediterranean.”

Irene’s graceful eyes curved elegantly. Pride in her homeland shone in her smile.

She had ended up staying in Ritten ten days longer than expected.

Part of it was because of the autumn typhoon, part of it because of the Queen Terezia’s maintenance issues. But the biggest reason… was Olivia.

‘Britain has no future if it’s shaken by the hands of a foreign bastard.’

‘The incarnation of Justice, Olivia Blanchet, establishes a new age of righteousness.’

Conflicting evaluations filled the papers every day.

Among the common people, the name Olivia Blanchet was praised as that of a hero. But in the noble society, she was nothing less than a thorn in their eye—a living reminder of their humiliation.

In the midst of such turmoil, Johann had made a request: that Irene stay by Olivia’s side for a little while longer. His uncharacteristically polite request had been impossible to refuse.

Fortunately, things were now calming down, and Irene planned to leave today.

“I’d like to visit someday.”

“I’ll invite you. You’ll always be welcome in Kranz, Olivia.”

Irene’s face lit up with joy.

Kranz, once a luxurious resort city along the southern coast of the Kingdom of Rondos, had declared independence about eighty years ago.

As a country whose main revenue came from casinos and tourism, it was a destination visited year-round by nobles and honeymooners alike.

Christian had once been a VIP at Kranz’s casino—and Irene was the first woman to ever clean him out at the tables.

“Do you play games?”

Irene asked, recalling their first encounter.

“Games?”

Blinking her long lashes at the sudden question, Olivia looked at her.

“The usual ones you play in casinos.”

“Oh! Not at all.”

“Then let me teach you. I may not look it, but I’m pretty good at cards.”

“Looks like I’ll have to study hard, then.”

Seeing the princess’s gambler’s spark flare in her eyes, Olivia gave her a small smile.

“I’ll invite you soon. I was going to see my father anyway, about the marriage issue. I’d be delighted if you came with Duke Leopold.”

“…”

Olivia clasped the steaming teacup with an awkward expression.

Together with her divorced husband?

It was a puzzling invitation, but Olivia smiled calmly as she replied:

“I appreciate the offer, Princess. But I think it would be better for me to visit Kranz alone.”

Just as Olivia politely declined, the suite’s door burst open. The balcony curtains, swaying gently in the breeze, suddenly billowed wide.

“Perhaps that’s the Duke now.”

Irene turned her head brightly.

‘The one I want is you, Olivia Blanchet.’

The sudden whisper in her ear made Olivia’s cheeks flush red, like the crimson flowers on the tea table.

There was only one man who would dare enter the princess of Kranz’s suite without knocking.

He had said he would come to fetch Irene as soon as the Queen Terezia was ready to sail—apparently the maintenance had finished earlier than expected.

Olivia followed Irene’s gaze toward the wide sitting room. Their eyes widened together, like a full moon swelling in the night sky.

“Ah…!”

The princess gasped first.

Olivia, trying to see who had entered without permission, froze with her fingers still clenching the cutlery.

The man who emerged into the light after crossing the short passage was not Johann.

Lady Margaret Wellington first saw the shocking newspaper article upon arriving at Le Mont Harbor, just as she set down her luggage at White Gable.

She had planned to rest a day to recover from seasickness and headaches before returning to Leiden—but instead, she clutched the back of her neck and collapsed.

A rumored separation from Edgar.

Had she already moved on to another man? That, however, was not what caught Margaret’s attention.

It was the photograph—Johann descending the steps of the Supreme Court of Britan at Olivia’s side.

Margaret had lived in constant dread that Olivia might somehow claw her way back into scandal with her ex-husband.

And Johann was royalty.

If he were seen as colluding in the downfall of a Britan princess, it could easily escalate into diplomatic strife should the Britan king bear a grudge.

That alone was enough to put Margaret out of favor with the Queen of Rondos.

Thus, Margaret had no choice but to board another ship.

She swept into the hotel room like a cold gust of wind, approaching the two women blinking up at her with wide eyes—her grandson’s ex-wife, and his broken-off fiancée.

For her precious grandson, to whom she would not begrudge even her own eyes, here were two women who had already left deep stains upon him. And now, seated together in a hotel room.

Could there be a more uncomfortable gathering?

Margaret’s blood pressure rose.

She fixed Olivia with a sharp glare.

“It’s been a long time, Madam.”

Irene rose and offered a polite bow, drawing Margaret’s attention.

Their eyes met, and Irene’s gaze trembled faintly. Margaret’s, cold and unwelcoming, did not soften.

To Margaret, a princess who had secretly dated Christian while preparing to marry Johann was no better than a bastard.

This was why she had wanted him to wed Miss Josephine instead…

Tsk. Margaret clicked her tongue inwardly but still gave the vassal princess the bare minimum of courtesy.

“It has been some time, Princess.”

The curt greeting ended, her icy gaze shot straight back to Olivia.

Displeasure etched itself deeply into the old woman’s wrinkled face.

Olivia lowered her head politely. She bent her knees just enough—not too much, not too little—before lifting her eyes to meet Margaret’s.

She had only met Johann Leopold’s grandmother once during their three years of marriage—at the Queen of Rondos’s birthday banquet.

If such a brief, dismissive encounter could even be called a meeting, then today was their second.

Olivia swallowed a deep sigh.

Once they were seated again, the tea was poured anew.

The balcony that had just moments ago been filled with talk of the Jewel of the Mediterranean now held nothing but golden motes of dust drifting in the chilly autumn breeze from the Vichen River. A heavy silence weighed over them.

Margaret’s eyes, filled with disdain, were just as they had been the first time.

“You really do live an easy life.”

Olivia lifted her calm gaze toward the old woman.

“Whenever you need it, this man, that man. If only your mother had been that calculating, she wouldn’t have lost everything so pathetically.”

Had Elena Blanchet been worldly, she would have married the crown prince as expected, becoming crown princess.

But that girl had known nothing but pure love—and chose a thorny road instead.

Granted, she had coveted a man already wed, so perhaps “pure” was not the right word.

Still, she had been a woman of steadfast devotion.

Her daughter, however… had none of that.

“So tell me—what’s your game?”

Margaret snapped her fan against her palm with a sharp crack.

“You’ve had your fun with Lancelot. Now Johann’s broken off his engagement, and suddenly you’re trying to cozy back up to him?”

The barbed words made Olivia tighten her clasped hands over her knees.

“I have no scheme, Madam.”

Composed once more, she spoke with firm clarity.

“And you needn’t worry. It’s true that I had no choice but to receive his help during the trial. But I have no personal feelings for that man.”

Margaret’s eyebrow arched sharply upward. Olivia thought, fleetingly, how much that expression resembled Johann’s.

While the Queen Terezia awaited completion of its maintenance, Johann was in his office receiving reports.

The civil war in the colony of Hessen had finally begun to subside.

But the ironworks company he had acquired could no longer operate normally, crippled by riots.

The report explained that negotiations with the Hessen government over damages and losses were stalling. Johann frowned.

If the compensation talks failed, he might have to travel to Hessen himself to meet the government’s representatives.

His eyes narrowed as he read through the draft of their proposal.

It was then that urgent knocking rattled the office door.

At Maurice’s permission to enter, the hotel’s general manager rushed inside without even pausing for courtesy, hurrying straight to Johann and bowing.

When the man whispered something to him, Johann’s eyes went cold and narrow. He shot to his feet and strode out of the office.

‘The Marchioness Dowager Margaret Wellington has arrived.’

The instant he heard which suite his grandmother had entered, his body reacted on its own.

For her age, her sheer willpower burned like youth.

Johann gave a bitter laugh as he descended the stairs. By the time he reached the suite’s door, his gaze had gone glacial.

He drew a steadying breath and pushed the door open—just as Olivia’s voice reached him from within the short corridor leading to the sitting room.

“There are no personal feelings between us.”

His stride, firm and unhesitating, came to an abrupt halt.

“I will not be seeing him again.”

Just as easily as she had once said please divorce me.

Words that shook Johann’s composure, spoken by her without hesitation—as if they were nothing at all.