The man was wearing a neat ash-colored suit darker than the color of his eyes. As he was about to take a step with his hands loosely in his pants pockets, the manager quickly bowed his head.

“Duke Lancelot is in a private room with a lady. My apologies.”

He slightly furrowed his brow at the words that his father had already occupied the exclusive private room.

The manager nervously watched the man’s reaction.

The man remained silent without showing any emotion.

“I told you I’d go to Anglia.”

One of his companions shouted boisterously.

“Let’s go. A beautiful woman is calling.”

“Not particularly.”

As the man replied indifferently, the manager quickly opened his mouth as if he had been waiting.

“I’ll show you to a table by the window.”

The manager politely gestured towards a seat. As the man nodded, the manager’s feet finally moved.

This can’t be.

Olivia couldn’t just stand by and watch such an unfair situation.

“Excuse me.”

As the group heading to an empty table stopped in unison, they turned towards the source of the voice.

“Oh? …Isn’t that Johan’s ex-wife?”

Whether he naturally had a good voice or wanted to draw attention, the man who had shouted about Anglia greeted her with an unnecessarily loud voice.

As they weren’t close enough to exchange greetings, Olivia looked straight at the manager and spoke directly.

“I came here first.”

Edgar turned around belatedly.

The woman’s expression was rather solemn, as if making an important declaration.

She had been a woman who tried to find darkness even under the bright light of the luxurious chandelier. It wasn’t because she was Johan’s woman, but her appearance strangely caught his attention.

That woman had changed.

Seemingly conscious of the gazes around her, the woman stood with an elegant posture from head to toe and protested in a quiet voice.

“I thought you might have forgotten, so I mentioned it.”

Even with the generosity of granting favor.

Edgar’s head tilted slightly as he looked down at the woman. A strange heat rose in Edgar’s eyes, which had been bored. He was quite curious about what it meant that she came first.

Her meaningless claim was even unfamiliar, as if she had come from a different world.

Although times have changed, this was still a world where the class system firmly existed. The simple logic that all priorities followed the hierarchy of status. But the woman seemed unaware.

The woman’s outrageous statement even flustered the experienced manager.

“Our establishment prioritizes VIP customers.”

“Ah, I see.”

The woman put down the glass she was holding on the bar table. With her eyelids slightly lowered as if disappointed, she said,

“I wanted to start a special day in Litten at Grand Blue. But it seems today will be special in a different way.”

“I apologize. We’ll seat you as soon as another table becomes available.”

The manager politely asked for understanding.

“That won’t be necessary. I’ve lost interest.”

The woman turned away without hesitation, along with her maid. Edgar and his companions were unintentionally blocking the way. Edgar took a step closer to the woman.

“We meet again.”

He greeted her with his characteristic smile. The woman, with her eyes full of him, wore a perplexed expression.

“Should I say I saw that too?”

The woman’s voice was calm, but there was a cat-like wariness lurking. Although a cat raising its fur would only be cute, the woman put strength in her eyes.

“What’s seen is seen.”

Edgar’s eyes curved as he gently met her gaze. The guests in the restaurant glanced at the two of them.

From the moment he entered, all conversation had ceased, and even the sound of cutlery had long since disappeared. His appearance was always like this, so it wasn’t unusual.

“If you’d like, shall we formally introduce ourselves? I’m Edgar Lancaster Lancelot.”

Edgar was the de facto head of Lancelot Company, a global enterprise. It would be no exaggeration to say that he wielded enormous wealth and power that affected most of the people gathered here.

But the woman seemed unaware, and Johan apparently hadn’t told his wife about his existence.

Her blue eyes blinked as if trying to fit puzzle pieces together, then suddenly widened.

Their eyes met as the woman raised her head. Grand Blue. That was his impression of seeing the woman’s eyes, full of himself, up close.

“…It’s the same name as the hotel I’m staying at.”

“By coincidence.”

“…”

Seeing the woman’s bewildered expression, Edgar couldn’t help but laugh.

‘I guess she didn’t come to make a deal with the young master using confidential documents. Backstabbing her ex-husband and getting her share.’

Gerald’s speculation was completely off the mark.

This proved that the woman knew nothing. Or she was an excellent actress.

Her exceptionally blue eyes shone with a clear light under long, dense eyelashes. They were too transparent to hide any malicious intentions. That strangely stimulated his nerves.

Dining with the woman who was Johan’s wife…

“If you don’t mind, would you like to have a meal together?”

It was an uncharacteristically impulsive proposal for him.

In any case, he was looking forward to lunch at Grand Blue after a long time.

The woman’s neat eyebrows twitched as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have. Then her gaze turned to the uncomfortably lined-up idlers.

“Ah. These friends were just about to leave, so don’t mind them.”

“What are you talking about? Where would we go?”

“Anglia.”

That breathtakingly dazzling smile, even to a man, soon meant ‘get lost’.

You bastard!

Ryan mouthed a curse towards Edgar.

How could you be so petty?

Ryan questioned with his eyes as if dumbfounded.

Whether he did or not.

Edgar signaled to the manager with his eyes.

“This way, please.”

Now completely ignoring Edgar, Ryan glared at him with annoyed eyes and signaled his friends to leave.

“I hope you can make up for today’s disappointment at the ball. My lady.”

The man tipped his hat slightly and said goodbye with a grin. His blatant gaze was full of curiosity about the divorcee.

“No. I can’t impose. Please have your meal with your companions as planned. I should be going now.”

Olivia said, looking at Edgar. She didn’t want to be placed on a plate in front of them instead of seafood.

She was also tired of the contemptuous gazes from the ladies flying in from the distant terrace seats.

That fox-like thing again!

That’s what their contemptuous looks said.

“Let’s go, Anne.”

“Yes, miss.”

“If it’s because of us, please don’t worry-”

“No. I am worried.”

Olivia briefly nodded to the men trying to keep her there, glancing nervously at Edgar, and left the restaurant.

***

“Miss, how about that?”

Anne pointed to a corner of Vichen Park lined with street vendors. They were selling various foods such as sandwiches, hot dogs, soda, and coffee.

Olivia and Anne’s first meal after leaving the restaurant ended up being sandwiches and coffee.

The meal on a park bench along the riverside was fortunately better than expected. So much so that Mediterranean seafood dishes didn’t even come to mind.

Munching on her sandwich, Olivia recalled the ball invitation.

So it was from that man.

She hadn’t thought such a young person would be the hotel representative. Nor did she know he was someone who enjoyed such nasty pranks.

She had already decided not to go to the ball, and if he continued to bother her, she could just move her residence. She couldn’t stay at the hotel forever anyway.

Her heart still raced when she recalled the terrifying moment of death. It was a life she had lived very hard without knowing it would end like that.

For now, she didn’t want to do anything. Nothing now that she was free from Johan. As if being rewarded for her efforts in her previous life. Couldn’t she indulge in this leisure for a while,

Quietly and peacefully.

It would be fine to go down to a quiet countryside far from high society.

Olivia decided to put her mind at ease. There was nothing to rush about.

As the wind blew, the lush leaves shook, creating waves of light green.

The coffee and bread she swallowed while looking at the beautiful scenery revived not only her hunger but also her vitality. Now she was brimming with enthusiasm to start sightseeing in earnest.

“Well, shall we go?”

“Yes, miss.”

The two rose from the bench and began walking towards the clock tower visible in the distance.

The clock tower, located not far away, was a symbol of Litten famous for the legend that it grants wishes when the two clock hands meet.

Olivia and Anne decided to cross the park. Above the heads of the two walking along the path, the clear chirping of birds could be heard.

“Do you have a wish you want to make?”

Eyes slightly widened with pure curiosity looked across at Olivia. She couldn’t help but smile. She knew it was all superstition and a sales tactic.

“Well. Do you have one, Anne?”

“Yes.”

Anne nodded and smiled shyly. Her God existed separately, and perhaps He had already granted it. Peace to all those Anne loved.

Walking along the cozy path, Anne looked at the cross of the cathedral facing the clock tower and prayed in her heart.

Olivia quietly looked at Anne’s profile and then looked up at the sky. The sky on a full spring day was a clear water color.

A wish…

God had been harsh to her. He had never granted her wishes even once.

Not when her father’s business went bankrupt. Not when her mother, who fought every day, left home. Not when her father took his own life one day. God wasn’t there.

Her life was filled with the results of her constant efforts. That was fortunate, if anything.

Quietly and peacefully.

Now that was the life Olivia had to strive for.

As the path ended and they entered deeper into the park where unknown deciduous trees were thick, lovers were whispering love to each other here and there under the lazy afternoon sun of spring.

“Oh, my goodness!”

Anne exclaimed.

“Let’s go that way, miss.”

“We’ll be late then.”

“He’ll grant wishes at 4:20 too, won’t He?”

Olivia laughed out loud seeing Anne’s flushed cheeks. The sound of kissing and bird songs were competing.

For Anne, who didn’t know where to look, Olivia took a side path. As they moved away from the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, the park soon became peaceful.

Walking along the flower path planted with bluebells, Olivia suddenly stopped.

Under the shade of a large oak tree, she saw a woman sitting on a bench. It was the very woman wearing the pink diamond necklace.