That Lady’s Stalker - Chapter 46
“I will worry every time he goes to the battlefield. I won’t be able to sleep at night, waiting for his return. But, but mother… he will always come back to me, just like he does now. His place, his home, is with me. So, even though I will spend those countless nights in worry, I am not scared, nor am I afraid.”
Oliver barely managed to swallow the surge of emotion rising within him as he listened to Olivia’s words.
“Mother, I want to be his true home as soon as possible.”
Her mother finally allowed herself to shed a tear. She pulled her grown daughter into a warm embrace.
“Liv, my dear daughter. Only love and happiness lie ahead of you.”
Olivia, too, clung to her mother’s soft shoulders and wept for a long time. Oliver, watching the warm, blazing sunlight pour through the window, couldn’t help but shed tears as well.
* * *
As he and Olivia left her mother’s room, Oliver thought to himself that before the summer ended, Olivia would be able to marry the way she wished.
But unlike their mother, their father still wasn’t ready to let Olivia go. Even as autumn approached, he hadn’t prepared himself.
“This won’t do. Oliver, change your clothes.”
Unable to hold back any longer, Olivia finally took action. Oliver clenched his eyes shut, bracing for what was coming. He felt a chill in his chest, not knowing what she might do.
“W-What are you going to do?”
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
Oliver, after reluctantly changing his clothes under Olivia’s insistence, stared in shock at her new appearance.
“Where are you really going with that makeup?”
He was frightened. The bold makeup, which didn’t suit her calm, elegant dress, made her look fierce and sharp. If her goal was to dominate with her appearance, she had already succeeded.
“You’ll find out when we get there. Hurry up and follow me.”
The sharp, clicking sound of her high heels against the marble floor seemed to echo with an intensity that could shatter the ground beneath her.
Despite his reluctance to follow, Oliver, at Olivia’s urging, had no choice but to take a step forward.
* * *
An hour later, he regretted it.
“This is the Imperial Palace!”
Judging by Olivia’s expression, it was clear she hadn’t come to see Asher. In that case, the only other likely possibility was that she was going to meet the Emperor.
“You witch! You tricked me and brought me all the way here?”
It seemed odd now. She had always told him to get lost, but today, she had silently and obediently led him here.
“It’s better to speak as a pair than alone.”
He wanted to punch that shameless face. Oliver struggled to hold back the impulse, trying hard to think positively despite his frustration.
The Emperor was not someone one could easily meet, and asking to meet him like this would surely lead to rejection…
“The Emperor is waiting. Please come this way.”
Why? As Oliver stood there, stunned and speechless, Olivia smirked and said teasingly.
“I sent a letter before we left.”
Olivia was more meticulous than he had thought. And, she was far more confident than he expected.
“Please grant us permission to marry.”
The Emperor, who resembled Asher in his features but had hair the opposite of his, looked at Olivia with interest.
“Hm? I haven’t received anything yet.”
Oliver knew that the Emperor and his father had exchanged letters several times. Yet, the Emperor’s act of pretending not to know was so shameless and sly that it almost tricked Oliver into believing it.
Besides, if he had received anything, it would have been the proposal letter. In the Empire, it was considered shameful for a woman to send a proposal letter to a man first, so the Emperor was likely trying to provoke Olivia’s nerves with that remark.
Meanwhile, Oliver, who felt like a mere bystander in this game, was nervously waiting.
Olivia, with a triumphant smile, took out a white envelope.
“I’ve actually brought it with me.”
It was the proposal letter.
For a moment, both Oliver and the Emperor were left speechless. Once again, Olivia was more calculated and bolder than anyone had imagined.
But the Emperor, not one to be caught off guard, quickly regained his composure.
“My brother doesn’t seem to know about this yet. Shouldn’t we inform the parties involved first?”
At those words, Oliver lost all sense of place and, forgetting where he was, yelled at Olivia.
“What! You did all this without even telling the Prince?”
“Quiet! I was planning to surprise him on the wedding day. But now, I can’t help it.”
“You… you lunatic…!”
In the end, after uttering words that shouldn’t have been spoken in the presence of the Emperor, the siblings were eventually kicked out of the audience room. They could faintly hear the Emperor’s laughter from inside, but the siblings were too busy hurling insults at each other.
A few days after that absurd incident, Oliver received a letter from Asher. It was a desperate plea for help. Unable to refuse Asher’s earnest request, Oliver eventually went to the meeting place.
Sitting across from each other in a busy downtown dessert shop, the two men looked oddly out of place for the setting.
Oliver, uncomfortable seeing Asher outside of the Duke’s residence, nervously fiddled with his fingers.
“Uh… Your short hair looks much better on you.”
