Since the Rose Ball, Olivia Blanchet had constantly been at the center of rumors.

Of course, initially, most of the articles were negative.

But after the Dumblin Club incident, the stories about Olivia changed favorably.

However, recently, her quiet reputation started to be splattered with mud once again.

“……Really. They’re going too far.”

Day after day, articles condemning Olivia Blanchet were pouring out. Moreover, the intentionally written articles were quite sensational.

A brazen temptress cozying up to the Marquis of Lancelot, her ex-husband’s business rival.

An illegitimate child who snatched away the princess’s necklace, lover, and now even her designer. Is the throne of the tennis queen next?

At this point, even those who had little interest in tennis began to show abnormal enthusiasm for this tournament.

Our princess, hailed as the queen of tennis, must absolutely not lose to such a shameless illegitimate child.

Everyone unanimously took the princess’s side.

“Don’t worry about it, Anne.”

Olivia, standing in front of the mirror, narrowed her eyes with a frown. The sunlight streaming through the window reflected, dazzling her eyes.

Anne felt upset. The sight of her lady trying not to show it made her heart ache even more.

While buttoning Olivia’s new tennis dress, Anne carefully asked.

“Couldn’t we ask for a rebuttal article to be published?”

It was something the Marquis of Lancelot could do. Anne was frustrated as to why they didn’t borrow his power.

He seemed to exist to save her lady. This fact became even clearer in moments of crisis.

Vouching for the lady’s identity who was practically a stranger, readily allowing Anne on the ship, personally barging into Greathill – all these actions pointed to one fact.

The Marquis likes the lady.

That was Anne’s conclusion.

Although she had felt resentful when the scandal first broke out. But that was entirely the fault of the unscrupulous reporter, not the Marquis’s.

“I’ll show them with skill.”

Olivia brushed it off with a light smile.

‘They say she earned her entry rights with her body.’

She knew there were unspeakable rumors circulating about her.

If she reacted to each one, she felt she wouldn’t have any sanity left.

The world sees what it wants to see anyway. She just had to show them.

Do her best.

That was enough.

Having finished changing, Olivia left the changing room and walked down the corridor.

Passing the elegantly curved staircase and crossing the Hall of Fame, the gazes of passersby felt prolonged.

Whether due to the articles full of vulgar expressions, or because of Olivia’s attire.

Anne thought it was the latter. If there was another reason to add, it was also because of the perfectly beautiful lady.

They descended the wide stairs leading to the tennis courts through the colonnade.

The sound of balls being hit here and there disappeared, and silence fell all at once.

Olivia walked towards Court 12, ignoring it.

“……”

Russell Junior, who had arrived earlier and was warming up, widened his eyes. Then he blinked repeatedly.

“Ahem.”

Not knowing where to fix his gaze, but finding his eyes constantly drawn, Russell was rather embarrassed.

“So… this outfit……”

Russell Junior started speaking while looking at the vast sea, but couldn’t finish. Olivia’s white arms and legs flickered above the water’s surface.

“Yes. I tried it on to check the fit. How is it?”

At the kind smile no different from usual, Russell Junior was at a loss for words.

How is it, she asks.

“Well……”

His whitened mind was pure shock.

“…Ah, beau… I mean, it looks cool.”

With a white hairband pushing back her chestnut hair, her small ears were exposed.

The dress was all white in accordance with tournament regulations, and a row of lace-covered buttons ran down the front of the bodice to the waistline.

The problem was that it was too short.

With no sleeves and a skirt length that clearly revealed her knees, Olivia’s slender arms and legs stood out. It was an outfit that would make men lose their senses and proper ladies faint.

“Shall we start? Coach?”

Russell, who had been dazed, belatedly took his position. Olivia was already on the court, swinging her racket to warm up.

Following her movements, the skirt hem twirled above her knees.

Russell Junior sighed and served. Would she even be able to move properly with that distraction?

But that was Russell Junior’s misjudgment. He was the only one distracted.

Huff, huff. A moment later, Russell Junior’s rough breathing echoed across the club grounds.

To fend off the balls returning faster than before, he had to run with his feet on fire, without a moment to catch his breath.

As her clothes became lighter, Olivia’s movements became quicker and more agile.

The spectators who had gathered by now stuck out their tongues.

As they had done every year, betting began.

Whether the princess and Olivia would indeed face each other, and if so, who would claim the trophy.

The women’s singles match, which had been an unpopular event, suddenly became Litten’s greatest point of interest.

“One vote for Olivia Blanchet.”

“Me too. Of course.”

Whatever the newspapers were clamoring about, the Dumblin Club members would bet on Olivia.

They were the only ones who knew her skills.

Thinking about raking in huge stakes in return for accepting her, a contented smile already spread across their faces.

Olivia drained a glass of water cleanly.

Soon after, the ordered food was laid out on the table, and Olivia focused on her meal. Until someone sat at the empty table before her.

“Is Duke Leopold coming?”

The hand that had been busily moving cutlery suddenly stopped.

“That’s what they say. I heard he’s coming with his fiancée……”

The man who had glanced this way, seemingly conscious of Olivia, trailed off and called a staff member to place an order.

Olivia’s lips, which had been chewing with cheeks puffed like a squirrel’s, stopped moving.

Olivia’s face, with the transparent sunlight shining obliquely, was pale. It wasn’t just because the soft fish meat was stuck in her throat.

“You didn’t know?”

Russell Junior pushed the water glass towards her as she fumbled for it, and asked.

After swallowing the food, Olivia nodded slightly.

Olivia had put in her utmost effort to the point of developing blisters on her palm holding the racket and on her toes running across the court.

Her shoulders and wrists, abused for hours, ached in every joint, and when she returned home, her whole body would be exhausted.

In that state, she deliberately avoided wanting to be hurt further by malicious articles.

Somehow, her appetite had fled.

“…I should get up first. …I’m sorry, Coach.”

Olivia wiped her lips with a napkin and politely excused herself. She couldn’t continue the meal in this state.

Good heavens!

Her ex-husband was coming across the distant ocean.

Johan Edinburgh Leopold.

Olivia, who had been certain she would never encounter him again after fleeing Londos like an escape, found this situation utterly confusing.

“It’s time to prepare for disembarkation.”

Instead of answering, Johan nodded briefly and stubbed out the cigarette he had been smoking in the ashtray.

Mixed with a long sigh, hazy smoke dispersed into the air.

While he was dressing, the sunlight ripened to a yellow hue.

His gaze, now in a black suit, turned beyond the valet adjusting his blue tie.

Through the round window, the mainland was faintly visible.

Brit, the country Olivia had chosen, came into view, small.

‘If there’s someone who should go to hell for this, it’s not me, but you yourself, Your Grace.’

As Diane Brook’s nonsense came to mind, his hand unconsciously went to the knot of his tie.

“Is there something uncomfortable, sir?”

Johan, who had paused for a moment, just shook his head.

“No.”

His face was sharp as he uttered briefly.

Hell, is it.

Johan’s gaze lingered on his wrist as he slowly buttoned up the gloves offered by the valet.

‘You know what, Johan?’

He heard his wife’s voice. He couldn’t remember exactly when it was. It had been too common an occurrence.

‘The fact that while I was looking only at you, you looked at your watch nine times. …Do you know that?’

Olivia.

The glittering gold second hand was reflected in Johan’s eyes, which showed no expression.

“It’s all done, Your Excellency.”

Emerging from his reverie, Johan nodded slightly with narrowed eyes after checking the time.

The valet bowed respectfully and withdrew.

Litten Harbor was drawing ever closer.

Johan searched for a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

The smoke he deeply inhaled and then exhaled spread hazily like the fog over the lake at Greathill.

Olivia’s heart beat ominously.

A woman slowly withering away from love for her husband, finally consumed by madness and meeting a miserable end, appeared vividly before her eyes.

Wearing a yellow hood with a thick rope around her neck.

With a thud, the trapdoor opened, and Olivia Blanchet’s body danced in mid-air.

No!

Olivia shook her head violently. She hurriedly erased the sentences floating in her consciousness.

That won’t happen.

“Are you alright?”

Russell Junior, who was escorting Olivia to the carriage waiting area, asked while examining her complexion.

The relationship between divorced couples couldn’t be good, but how bad must it have been? The woman, who seemed somewhat terrified since hearing the news of the duke’s visit, looked pitiful.

Well, Johan Leopold, with his oppressive atmosphere that could freeze others and his aloof attitude, was a figure difficult even for other men to endure. How much more so for a fragile woman.

“I’m fine, Coach.”

Olivia showed a faint smile.

I’ll be fine.

Nothing will happen.

Olivia composed her expression while calming her troubled mind.

Since it’s for the hotel opening, he’ll probably leave right after the event is over.

Their paths won’t even cross, so there’s no chance of running into each other.

These days, she only went between home and the Dumblin Club, so she had no reason to go near Golden Avenue, nor did she have any intention to.

Olivia decided to end her negative thoughts there.

“Can you go alone?”