He leisurely cast his gaze out the left window and put a cigarette from his case in his mouth. Among the high and low hotels, the Leopold Hotel, which was in the final stages of construction, could be seen.

It’s about to open soon.

Its lofty appearance rising towards the sky was just like Johan Leopold. Utterly arrogant.

Edgar let out a soft laugh as he was about to open his lighter lid when the door that had been rudely closed earlier now opened cautiously. Edgar turned around.

As if trying to make up for her earlier mistake, the woman in a neat blouse buttoned up to her neck and a flared skirt looked like a prim lady.

“Please forgive my earlier rudeness. I was expecting a guest.”

Her desperate voice, seemingly trying to remove any unnecessary misunderstandings, was rather amusing. At this point, they had already seen half of each other, hadn’t they?

“Must be a special guest,” Edgar asked with a casual smile.

“A lady I met here.”

Emphasizing the word ‘lady’, the woman’s earlobes turned red as she widened her eyes.

“What brings you here?”

The woman didn’t seem to have any intention of letting Edgar inside. She acted as if she had been given the mission to steadfastly guard the small opening of the door.

“Let’s talk inside.”

Edgar smiled gently as he pushed his well-polished black shoe into the door opening. The tip of Edgar’s shoe touched the tip of the woman’s slipper. The woman startled and stepped back.

Just for this much.

Where had the woman who had presented such a daring appearance earlier gone? Edgar held back a chuckle as he raised his gaze from her small feet. He met blue eyes sharpened with wariness.

“Please speak here.”

Olivia said firmly, meeting his gaze again after hastily avoiding it. Yet she was anxious that someone might pass by and witness this ridiculous situation. Especially those noblewomen.

Edgar put on a troubled expression.

“It’s about internal hotel matters.”

As he lowered his voice as if it were an important matter, the woman hesitated.

Her blue eyes, like clear marbles, became serious, as if trying to discern the truth of his obvious words. Her eyelashes slowly lowered and raised a few times. Finally, the woman parted her lips.

“In that case, could you please come back later? My maid is currently-”

Olivia, who was politely asking for understanding, was startled by the ding! of the elevator arriving in the hallway.

Familiar voices echoed down the long corridor. It was Elaine’s friends.

“C-Come in.”

A flustered Olivia grabbed Edgar’s arm without thinking.

She wasn’t even aware of what she was doing. She was only terrified of the rumors those women would spread if they witnessed this situation.

Edgar, his wrist grabbed, swallowed a laugh. After putting up such an impenetrable wall.

“Are you sure this is alright?”

Now that it had come to this, he didn’t want to be so easily pulled inside. He put strength into his legs, standing firm.

A scandal with Johan’s former wife. Edgar’s lips curled up mischievously as the chattering noise grew closer.

“Yes, it’s fine.”

The blue eyes, tense and confusedly shaking, were pleasing to see.

“Hurry.”

The woman frowned slightly and pulled on the wrist she was gripping even harder. Of course, it was far from enough strength to move Edgar. At this point, Edgar pretended to give in and let himself be pulled along.

Bang! The door closed.

The difference of a split second made even her heart race. The noise passed by the room and subsided.

Still holding the doorknob, Olivia, with her forehead against the firmly closed door, let out a sigh of relief.

Olivia, having calmed herself, slowly turned around. The man who had momentarily disappeared from her mind was standing there.

In the room, without Anne. Just the two of them.

Suddenly, she felt as if there wasn’t enough oxygen.

Even though she hadn’t been about to do anything improper, she became acutely aware of the man, as if they had met secretly to do something wrong.

She sharpened her senses, alert to the tension and discomfort that comes with being with an unfamiliar man.

Olivia carefully walked behind the sofa and placed her hands on the backrest.

As if the sofa would somehow protect her. Or as if she might lift and throw it in case of emergency.

Edgar found her both amusing and absurd. How could this be considered a seductress? He wondered about the photo of her and Johan entwined on the sofa in the banquet hall’s lounge.

“Please speak.”

There was no invitation to sit. Well, given how she was acting.

“I heard you sent our staff away. Did Lady Blanchet perhaps experience any discourtesy?”

“No, I should apologize about that. I’m grateful for Lancelot Hotel’s kindness. But I’m fine as I am. It’s enough.”

It was an utterly predictable and conventional expression of gratitude, as he had expected.

“That employee seems to have been quite shocked. I heard she shed tears in front of the general manager.”

It was a lie.

“Pardon?”

But the woman’s eyes widened in surprise.

The woman bit her lip, then released it before asking.

“She cried?”

Her face was certainly more serious than when she had been wary of him. It was amusing again, but regrettably, he couldn’t laugh.

“She’s a veteran employee who has worked here for thirty years. She’s a woman with strong pride in her profession of providing service. I hear she’s unable to compose herself after experiencing this for the first time.”

“That wasn’t my intention.”

“There’s no more accurate evaluation than a customer’s rejection.”

“I wasn’t evaluating her.”

The woman looked troubled with guilt.

“She said she wants to quit. Saying she can’t face her juniors. For our hotel, losing such a capable employee would be a great loss.”

“Quit?”

The woman asked back as if she hadn’t even considered it. If pushed a bit more here, she would likely reverse her decision.

Looking down at her, Edgar recalled Gerald’s words.

‘There were no particular peculiarities. However, the bottom of the travel bag had a double structure, so we couldn’t check inside. There wasn’t enough time either.’

What could be in there?

The probability of it being confidential documents from Leopold Company, which he hadn’t expected…

Edgar was not the type to restrain his curiosity. Moreover, he wanted to assign a maid under the guise of consideration, with not entirely benevolent intentions, to obtain what he wanted. Who would have thought planting a spy would be more difficult than dealing with a rival company?

“She was perfect.”

“Is that so? Then why?”

Edgar tilted his head slightly, putting on a serious expression.

“It’s just uncomfortable having strangers coming in and out. So if someone has to leave this hotel over this issue, I’ll be the one to go.”

The conclusion drawn by the woman hiding behind the sofa backrest was clear. Edgar felt like a fool in the face of her insight.

He had been gentlemanly threatening that if she didn’t quietly accept the service, the innocent maid might quit her job. While stimulating her sense of guilt.

But now he found himself being threatened in return.

“That doesn’t seem like a wise method. A maid who drives out a guest. That’s the worst, isn’t it?”

Despite her calm demeanor, the woman’s blue eyes were turbulent with conflict.

“What do you think would happen if that fact became known?”

Edgar looked down at the woman with an intrigued gaze.

Beneath her round, fair forehead, under her neat eyebrows, dense dark brown eyelashes blinked slowly.

With each flutter of her eyelashes, the scent of roses seemed to intensify.

“Would there be any place that would accept her?”

Edgar relied on the woman’s benevolence. Olivia Blanchet was kind and gentle. Enough to fall asleep in the same bed with a maid.

“…Please let me meet the employee. I want to clear up the misunderstanding.”

Breaking the long silence, the woman spoke calmly. The corners of Edgar’s mouth turned up slightly.

“You are truly kind, Lady Blanchet. It is also an honor to have you stay at our hotel.”

With a polite smile, Edgar bowed and then straightened up, extending his hand.

The woman, visibly hesitating, slowly reached out her hand. Not missing that moment, he pressed his lips to the back of her hand. The series of movements was quick and concise.

The sensation touching the back of her hand was soft and cool.

Suddenly, Olivia’s memories were stirred up.

To the time when she first met her husband.

From some point on, even in unintended moments, Olivia’s memories would suddenly invade Jian’s mind.

Some vivid, others blurry.

The moment she fell in love with Johan Leopold at first sight was particularly clear. As if it had happened yesterday.

Olivia Blanchet made her debut in society in the year she turned eighteen.

The Blanchet County family, which once dominated the political circles of Londos, had started on the path of decline due to Elena Blanchet’s adultery scandal.

Due to successive business failures, the county family was left with nothing more to sell, just an empty shell, and all that remained was the illegitimate granddaughter left behind by Elena, the family’s disgrace, when she died.

Olivia Blanchet. That’s how she was thrown into the marriage market.

And when she was about to be embroiled in a scandal with the crown prince, falling into the count’s scheme, her savior appeared – it was Johan Leopold.

Johan proposed, and his lips touched the back of her hand. At that moment, her heart fluttered.

Olivia firmly believed that it was love. Because without that, there was no hope left to live on.

So it had to be love.

As the man who made her think of Olivia’s husband straightened up from his bow, their gazes met up close.

‘Indeed… he resembles him.’

Something about that clear and concise conclusion made her uncomfortable.

Was it because the man’s gray eyes reminded her of Johan? The two men’s appearances were clearly different, with only that small part overlapping. Why did she feel this way?

“Ah, by the way, I happened to see you playing tennis.”

As the man who was turning to leave suddenly turned back as if he had just remembered something, Olivia, who had been lost in thought, looked at him in surprise.

“It seems you’ve been playing for quite a while.”

“Not for that long. Just occasionally.”

Olivia glanced at the door, wishing this man would leave now. If only Anne would come back quickly.

“Want to play a game?”

“I’m not that skilled.”

Olivia conveyed her firm intention without a second thought.

“You seemed to play well.”

“Not skilled enough to compete with you.”

“I see. That’s a shame.”

If the conversation continued any further from here, she was about to politely ask him to leave. At that moment, fortunately, the door opened. It was Anne.