Jared, after taking a shower at his grandfather’s mansion, redid the treatment on his hands and finished with minimal preparation.
His grandparents were bewildered when he told them he’d decided to live at Olivier’s mansion. However, since he couldn’t reveal the full story of the Ducal Family’s affairs, he lied and said Olivier was merely throwing a tantrum because she wanted to live together sooner.
Along the way, his cousin Yeny discovered he was leaving and became displeased, but Jared left her to his grandparents and returned to Olivier’s mansion.
Olivier muttered, “You were serious,” when Jared returned less than three hours later. Hannelore seemed pleased to be living with her future son-in-law and gave him a warm welcome, while the expressionless Trane appeared somewhat wary.
“Trane has prepared a room for you, so please consider this your home. Let’s get along from now on.”
“Yes. I look forward to it.”
The Duchess herself guided him to his room. She seemed genuinely happy, with a smile on her face.
“Olivier seems happy that she can finally live with you, Jared. She’s been restless ever since.”
“I have not!”
Olivier, who had been silently following them, snapped back with a displeased expression, but Hannelore didn’t seem to hear her.
Olivier, understanding her mother well, didn’t retort further.
After leaving his luggage in the room, Jared was led on a tour of the mansion by Hannelore. Olivier followed them, but only spoke when her mother addressed her, and kept looking at Jared as if deep in thought.
Of course, Jared noticed Olivier’s gaze but continued to humor Hannelore, deliberately saying nothing.
When Hannelore finished the tour to her satisfaction, she asked Jared to tell her more about himself, so they decided to have tea. Trane, perhaps anticipating this, had already finished preparing everything, and they were led to a terrace where they could see the well-tended flowers in the garden.
Hannelore was in high spirits, and seeing her mother like this, Olivier’s face also lit up.
Jared was bombarded with questions. He answered each one patiently, and when asked about his future plans with Olivier, he would become flustered, prompting Olivier to raise her voice each time. The tea party ended in the blink of an eye.
Under the pretense of unpacking, Jared returned to the room prepared for him. As he attempted to contact the spirits within the mansion via magic power,
“I’m coming in, Jared Murphy.”
Olivier entered the room without knocking.
He had no reason to refuse her, so he invited her to sit in a chair that was already in the room. Olivier sat down obediently and glared at Jared with a displeased expression.
“What do you mean by this?”
“What do you mean?”
“I knew you wouldn’t be straightforward, but you seem to be plotting something.”
“I’m thinking, but I’m not plotting.”
“Then tell me what you’re thinking. And tell me why you suddenly decided to live together. You weren’t keen on living together before, were you? Especially since you knew your engagement to me was just to put my mother at ease…”
Olivier’s voice grew softer, perhaps anxious about Jared’s actions, the intention of which she couldn’t comprehend.
While Jared was indeed perplexed by the idea of living together, he wasn’t entirely against it. He hadn’t actively sought to live together, but after witnessing Olivier’s affection for her mother, he thought it wouldn’t be so bad to go along with it.
“On the contrary, if I asked you to tell me what you’re hiding from me, would you tell me right here and now?”
“What do you mean, hiding? Are you perhaps concerned about some man from my past?”
“I know things about you that are different from the rumors, so I’m not worried about that. Or did you have a boyfriend?”
“I did not! And I’m sorry if being older means I have no dating experience!”
“No, I didn’t say you were sorry…”
Even as a young lady from a ducal family, it was heard that unmarried noblewomen sometimes met and dated men. However, it was still rare. Some young ladies even expressed relief when their families fell into ruin, indicating that noble relationships were more chaste than imagined.
However, among noble families, it was not uncommon for second or third sons, who were not expected to inherit the family estate, to become lovers with young ladies who were not yet engaged. They might also fall in love with common women.
Some families strictly forbade romantic relationships, while others allowed freedom as long as boundaries were maintained; noble families varied greatly.
However, what Jared wanted to know was not Olivier’s past relationships, but the matter of the attack.
It was unclear whether Duke Alway was aware of previous attacks, but he had recently heard that Hannelore and her group were housed separately precisely to protect them, given Hannelore’s weaker position as a main wife.
Yet, Olivier would not speak of it.
“Isn’t there anything I should know?”
“Is there something you should know?”
“From today, I will be living in this mansion with you, Hannelore-sama, and Trane. With that in mind, isn’t there anything I need to know?”
Jared wished he could hear it directly from Olivier.
However…
“—No,”
Jared’s wish went unfulfilled as Olivier stated it unequivocally.
“You don’t need to know anything. There is only one thing I require of you—to pretend to be my fiancé for my mother’s sake.”
She gazed at Jared with emotionless eyes.
“Whatever you’re investigating or plotting, don’t get ahead of yourself. Jared Murphy, you are merely pretending to be my fiancé. Even if I were to be hiding something from you, I have no obligation to tell you, nor is it necessary.”
“I understand.”
“Oh, you’re agreeing rather easily.”
“It’s not about agreeing or not. If there’s nothing I need to know, then that’s fine.”
He replied as if unaffected by Olivier’s cold demeanor. She shrugged as if a little taken aback.
“Olivier-sama.”
“…Yes?”
“I’d like to perform my daily magic concentration practice. Could you leave me alone for a bit?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Trane will call you for dinner, so please remember.”
With that, Olivier left the room after giving Jared a single, somewhat suspicious glance.
“Well, it’s unlikely she’d tell me even if I asked suddenly.”
He hadn’t expected Olivier to reveal everything so easily.
If he had told her that he had been attacked and warned by an assailant, things might have been different, but he didn’t want to needlessly raise her guard.
Otherwise, what would be the point of him coming to this mansion?
There was only one thing he had to do.
If the Assassination Organization Waalthe was going to attack, then let them. He would repel them, capture them, and make them reveal the mastermind.
Once he knew who had commissioned Waalthe, Duke Alway would personally bring that mastermind to justice.
Jared just wanted to protect Olivier and the others.
“For now, I should at least set up some insurance.”
Jared placed his foot on the window frame and quietly jumped out into the garden. Although the room was on the second floor, he landed silently and composedly.
While refining his magic, he communicated with the spirits and set up insurance in several locations around the mansion.
“Since I was warned this morning, Waalthe might come as early as tonight.”
He couldn’t understand why he wanted to protect Olivier and the others so much, but he wouldn’t let the continent’s greatest assassination organization harm them.
Jared was determined to expose the coward who would use an assassination organization to target Hannelore.
