“Miss, you were deceived by her kindness.”

Olivia, starved for affection, could not make rational judgments in the face of warm kindness. But Anne did not share the same blindness.

“Really. Miss, she’s a really bad woman.”

Anne’s wariness towards Diane Brook turned into the root cause of being falsely accused as a jewel thief.

Olivia’s faith in Diane was unwavering. Her yearning for a sister and friend in Diane made even the worried warnings of a mere maid seem like annoying nagging.

As Johan’s indifference grew, Olivia’s dependency on Diane only intensified.

“Please believe me, Miss.”

Anne’s eyes welled up with frustration and pity.

“I believe.”

Olivia enveloped Anne’s neatly clasped hands with her own.

“I believe in you, Anne.”

She gently pulled the hands she held. Anne sat down on the opposite chair.

“Can you tell me? About her.”

Olivia gently stroked Anne’s small hand with her thumb. The scars on Anne’s hand, from protecting Olivia since childhood, were densely packed.

Olivia, unaware, listened as Anne poured out stories only she knew. By the time the story ended, it was well past noon. The sunlight outside the window had already turned golden.

Anne went down to the kitchen to help Mrs. Marie with the late lunch preparation, while Olivia stared at the necklace box, feeling drained. In the quiet room, only the clock’s minute hand moved diligently, making noise.

As time passed, Olivia’s initial panic slowly calmed down. Knowing the truth about Diane Brook made the situation somewhat clearer, albeit still a conjecture.

The problem was how to deal with this fact.

‘Keep a cool head.’

She remembered the advice of a man she once knew.

‘And a warm heart?’

She joked, liking his serious face, feigning ignorance even when she knew the answer. It was another way of expressing her desire to be with him longer. Conversations with him were always delightful.

‘No. Even the heart must be cold. When making decisions, Ji-an, you need to be rational.’

Olivia cooled her head, thinking only of the case. She didn’t want to be emotionally swayed.

She didn’t want to be entangled with Johan Leopold again. He was a man engaged to someone else. She sincerely didn’t want to reconnect with him in this manner.

But.

Diane Brook had to pay for her crimes.

She had to clear Anne’s name, who was unjustly accused. Olivia might not be concerned about Elaine’s husband, but Elaine…

If she hadn’t talked about the necklace when they first met, she wouldn’t have been involved in this mess.

After sitting motionless for a while, Olivia stood up, as if she had made a decision.

Sitting at the desk next to her bed, she took out a piece of letter paper from the drawer. Dipping the pen in ink, she brought it to the white paper. After hesitating for a moment, the pen started moving, fluttering like a feather.

Maurice arrived at Greathill at his usual time. He always accompanied Johan from the ducal mansion to the Leopold headquarters.

“Have you arrived?”

A servant with a handful of mail greeted him as he got off the carriage.

“Ah, Benjamin. Good morning.”

Maurice smiled and ascended the front steps with him. Maurice wiped his shoes on the doormat before entering. Meanwhile, Benjamin sorted the mail on a cabinet beside the entrance hall.

“What’s this? Who sent another one of these?”

Maurice stopped, turning to Benjamin with curiosity.

“What are you referring to?”
“No sender’s name on the mail. Before, it came several times addressed to the lady, but this one is addressed to the master.”

Benjamin presented a letter to Maurice, stamped with the seal of the Britannian Kingdom and postmarked by the post office. Maurice’s eyes narrowed.

Maurice, looking at the letter, asked, “Before? Do you remember which post office it was from?”

“Of course. Those were postmarked from Norton Post Office.”

“Norton?”

“Yes, my memory is accurate. It looked suspicious at first glance, so I paid close attention to it.”

Norton… A name he had heard recently, but where? Maurice frowned, trying to recall.

“Were there any other mails from Norton? Apart from those to the lady?”

“No, sir. Nothing else.”

Benjamin spoke as if it was a matter of course.

“Why would people from there dare to write to the duke’s house? Except maybe for the employees here.”

Norton was a district formed by fallen nobility.

“Do you remember how many times they came?”

“Yes, sir. Three times.”

His answer matched Diane’s statement. Were they love letters from the duchess’s lovers? But something felt off about it, especially with the anonymous letter to the duke adding to the puzzle.

“I’ll take this and check it myself.”

After thanking Benjamin, Maurice headed to his office.

Even though his master, Johan Leopold, was low in the line of succession, he was still a potential heir to the throne. The contents of the letter couldn’t be taken lightly; there could be poison or something harmful.

Fortunately, there was no one in Londos brazen enough to target Johan’s life. The letter was harmless, at least on the surface.