Chapter 25: 25

Again, the two stared at each other silently, but Lisa knocked, carrying tea and cookies, and broke the silence. 

“These are cookies and muffins that Mrs. Valerie just baked. They’re not sweet, so it will suit your taste.”

“Thanks, Lisa.” 

Lisa, who didn’t know Callie was with Olivia, entered the drawing room because Mrs. Valerie’s freshly baked cookies were delicious, and she wanted to bring them to her quickly.

But Callie still thanked Lisa in the sweet way she would treat her friend.

When Lisa left, Olivia asked, “Are you friendly with the maid?”

“Yes. I’ve been with her since I got married, so she’s been more like a friend to me than a maid.”

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“When the situation gets to the point where it is difficult to have a maid, you become close to them as if they were a friend.”

“Well, gone are the days when we used to sit still and play and eat as nobles. Even if that’s not the case, I like being close to people I care about.”

“Of course, since you’re from a fallen county. Now that you’re the wife of the son of the Cleart family, shouldn’t you be more concerned about society? You should consider Brandon’s reputation.”

It wasn’t like Olivia was wrong, but it felt like a blow. 

If she had to choose sides, Callie was much more comfortable hanging out with servants than high-status aristocrats.

But, as Olivia said, she knew that things were different now. That must be why he welcomed her into the Cleart family.

By the end of this summer and the fall, when he’s crowned a count at the king’s ceremony, he’d want to settle deep into the social world.

As if giving advice, Olivia said, “Everyone is curious about your married life, so how about hosting a party here? Ah, even though you’re the daughter of a count, it must be difficult because you have no experience hosting a party. I didn’t think of that.”

It’s kind of like hosting a party. I can do it.

Callie got sick of Olivia’s mocking remark that she wouldn’t be able to handle a party.

“No, I was just thinking of throwing a party anyway.”

“Is that so? I look forward to that.”

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“Can I ask Olivia for help with parts that are difficult to do by myself?” 

“As much as you want.”

Ah, why did I say this?

Hosting a party all of a sudden.

What am I gonna do about this?

As finances got tougher, Susan took her to social parties less and less often.

In recent years, she had attended only a handful of parties, and she had few social connections and little knowledge of how to host a party.

I’m worried I was just making a fuss out of vain pride and embarrassing myself.

That evening, as Lisa prepared Callie’s bed, she tilted her head and asked, “By the way. The three of them. Were they really just friends?”

Did Lisa notice it, too?

Callie was certain she’d never even spoken to Olivia properly.

Well, Olivia visited the villa of a married couple in their wedding room and made a difference so that even the servants noticed it…

Are you not aware? Or do you not care what people around you are thinking?

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Callie feigned ignorance and said, “What are you talking about?”

“They’ve been friends since they were young. That means they liked each other that much, but anyone sane could tell it doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“You didn’t say that to the other servants, did you?”

“Sheesh, I’m not that much of a blabbermouth. But the other servants did that before me.”

Other servants?

Callie’s ears perked up.

“What did they say?”

“It’s a love triangle.”

“If it’s a love triangle, you mean that Brandon and Leslie liked Olivia at the same time?”

Since it was about the man who had become her master’s husband, Lisa carefully kept her ears and eyes open. 

“It’s okay, so tell me what you heard.”

“Sir Leslie and Lady Olivia were fond of each other, but Sir Brandon intervened. The relationship between the two brothers used to be very good, but it got worse as they grew up, and it was all because of Lady Olivia.”

Callie remembered Brandon, who pointed his hunting rifle at Leslie instead of welcoming him when he arrived.

Maybe that’s why Brandon was being so rude back then…

Olivia’s heart had turned to Brandon, and the two brothers seemed to have become enemies.

Olivia, who was torn between the two men, eventually abandoned them both and married a man from a different family. But now that she’s returned as a widow, there was no way their relationship would improve.

The smile disappeared from Callie’s face as she remembered Brandon and Olivia together.

Even so, why am I upset?

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She hadn’t expected love in this marriage in the first place. 

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She already knew he was an infamous womanizer in Irze. Of course, there’s nothing new about a guy like that who had one more girl he liked.

Even so, she was worried and didn’t feel good.

It didn’t matter anyway. More than that, if the two men still liked Olivia… Olivia could take advantage of that.

“Lisa.”

“Yes, is there anything else you want me to do?”

“Watch over Leslie.”

“The two of them?”

“Yes.”

I was curious whether the love triangle was still going on in Leslie’s mind.

Although he used the rowing competition as an excuse, he must have visited the villa for the first time in years because of Olivia.

If Olivia has feelings for Brandon… The person with a reason for wanting me gone is likely Olivia.

Leslie could have killed me for the woman he loved at Olivia’s request.

Callie felt conflicted.

“If he goes somewhere, you can use someone to follow him. Especially when Leslie and Olivia are together.”

When Lisa saw the expression on Callie’s face, she blamed herself, thinking she might have brought up something useless.

Since Lisa and Callie were close like sisters, she thought the root of the problem was that she confessed everything without thinking about things she couldn’t say.

My mouth. I’m just making milady feel complicated.

However, Lisa nodded and said she would do as Callie told her.

“Yes. I’ll take a good look.”

Alone in his study, Brandon put down the papers he was looking at and was about to get up when he heard a knock.

Is Callie here? Brandon’s face hardened when the door opened.

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Olivia entered the room as if she were entering her own study.

“I was about to go to bed, but the light here was still on.”

“Isn’t it too late to visit the study where a man is alone, Marchioness Harrington?”

His dry words were no longer new to Olivia.

After Brandon saved her life in the lake, Olivia’s heart solely belonged to him.

But her father, Count Gonette, didn’t want his daughter to marry Brandon. He wanted Olivia, who had everything from wealth, family, and good looks, to marry a man from a better family. 

When talk of marrying Clark Harrington broke out without regard for her feelings, Olivia asked Brandon to run away together.

It was something Olivia mustered the courage to say after thinking it over and over again. Instead, Brandon chuckled as if he had heard something funny.

「Olivia, what are you talking about? Escaping for love is something you do with someone you love to death. We’re not like that, are we?」

From that day on, Brandon kept his distance from Olivia.

He was courteous as never before and never made any of his usual jokes. 

It was the first time Olivia knew how heartbreaking it was to see Brandon acting like a respectful and polite gentleman.

He had absurdly rejected the feelings she had harbored for a long time.

Eventually, she married Clark Harrington, and she became Marchioness Harrington.

However, her feelings for him did not disappear easily.

When she saw her pot-bellied husband ten years older than her, she missed her days with Brandon all the more.

So… it happened. She added something to the morning tea her husband drank every day.

Just to get back to Brandon.

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Eventually, after Clark Harrington passed away, Olivia gave up her husband’s inheritance and even his name. Then, she reclaimed her maiden name and returned as Olivia Gonette. 

She went that far and returned, but Brandon still refused to stay by her side. 

How heartless.

She heard he was a well-known womanizer in Irze. He spent time with so many girls. 

Why are you staying away from me, Brandon?

She was the daughter of a count who did not want for anything because she was treated preciously since she was young, but he didn’t give her the time of day.

“Isn’t the reason you haven’t gone to be yet because you’ve been waiting for me?”

“Oh, my, I never thought you would think such nonsense. No matter how much of a womanizer I am, I’m not such an unscrupulous guy who would go on a honeymoon yet fool around with an old friend. So will you please leave my study, Marchioness Harrington?”

Olivia, her face flushed at his polite request, pursed her lips.

“Everybody knows that Brandon didn’t marry Callie out of love.”

“Ah, really?” Brandon smiled nonchalantly as if he didn’t care what other people thought. 

“And don’t call me that. I told you everything when we met before the wedding. I abandoned Harrington’s inheritance and position, and returned as the daughter of Count Gonette. I did it all because I wanted to be with you, Brandon.”

The polite smile vanished from Brandon’s face. 

“I really can’t listen anymore.”

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