Olivier sent Jared off, and while she worried for her fiancé, who didn’t trust others, she also felt indignant, wishing he would value himself more.
Knowing his background, she understood his inability to trust others.
Her mother was murdered, and she was on bad terms with her family. While she could be considered close to a limited number of people, such as her grandfather, uncle, and cousins, she maintained a distance from others.
Of course, Olivier was aware of the distance between herself and Jared.
It was understandable. They had known each other for less than a month. They hadn’t actively tried to get to know each other as fiancés, and he had gotten injured protecting her and her family. She had also involved her precious cousin, who had experienced danger.
She felt guilty, which made it difficult to close the gap between them.
Olivier, who had lived her life pushing others away, was distant from people in the same way. The only close people she had were her mother and Trane. She was happy that she had recently become much closer to Yeny. Perhaps because of that, she felt an unsolicited sense of closeness to Jared.
But that was all.
Olivier was troubled by her inability to close the distance with Jared beyond a certain point.
To be honest, she was scared.
And, just as much, she didn’t know how to get closer to Jared.
Above all, it felt unbearable that troubles kept coming, as if trying to tear them apart.
If possible, she wanted to hold his hand and go somewhere. Even just to the city. She wanted to walk with him aimlessly, arm in arm, like ordinary lovers.
However, her position did not allow it.
It was not only because she was a young lady of a ducal family, but she had also strived to be strong to protect her mother. She had used the bad rumors spread by her cousin Emilia Alway to eliminate those who approached her, making herself appear like a wicked woman.
She was probably resented for it. But she didn’t care about those who approached her solely for power.
From the time she and her mother began living alone in this mansion a few years ago, she had decided to protect her family by any means necessary. She had even resolved to spare no method.
Jared probably didn’t know. That she had secretly eliminated those who approached them. How many people who tried to frame her and her mother using rumors she had crushed.
Olivier Alway never wanted him to know that she was a woman not worth risking his life for.
Perhaps he would find out someday, but until then, Olivier wanted to continue being a devoted woman who wanted to protect her mother.
She knew it was selfish, but that’s how she felt. And she couldn’t help but feel ashamed of herself.
“Older Sister Olivier.”
“Oh, Yeny. What is it?”
“Um, there is a letter addressed to you and me, and, well, it’s again.”
Sighing, Olivier interrupted her thoughts.
“Another harassing letter, I suppose. I don’t know who it is, but they’re relentless to send so many, over and over again.”
She took the envelope from a troubled-looking Yeny. Since Yeny brought it to her, Olivier knew that Trane had already confirmed it was not dangerous.
She wanted to throw it away without reading it, but the malicious words were proof of her enemy, so she had no choice but to read it.
“It’s one thing if it were just me, but for Yeny to be targeted too… I can only assume someone is leaking information somewhere.”
It hadn’t been long since Yeny came to the mansion to become a consort. However, she had already received several harassing letters.
Yeny, not yet Jared’s official consort, lived under the guise of etiquette training under Olivier, who was to be the future main wife.
Yet, someone who knew Yeny was to become a consort was sending her malicious letters.
Olivier suspected that someone within the Alway Ducal Family or the Daum Barony was colluding with an ill-intentioned party.
“Is the content likely the same as usual?”
“Probably. It’s tiresome.”
She took the letter from the already unsealed envelope and read its contents.
“Break off your engagement with Jared Murphy.”
“The ducal family should not harbor a superior Magician.”
“Magicians should marry Magicians.”
“Shame on you for desiring Magician’s Blood in your lineage.”
Olivier sighed at the unchanging content.
“Can’t they say something different for a change?”
“…Older Sister.”
“Are the letters to you the same?”
“Yes. It says, ‘Don’t become Older Brother’s consort.’ It also mentioned that Magicians should marry Magicians and produce excellent bloodlines.”
“I’m so tired of it. If they would just threaten me, I could fight back accordingly, but this isn’t enough to do that.”
Olivier was not foolish, nor was she ignorant of the world.
She knew how important Magician’s Blood was.
She understood that by becoming Jared’s fiancée unintentionally, the Alway Ducal Family was perceived by the public as having incorporated an excellent Magician from their retainer into their lineage.
Moreover, it was with Olivier Alway, a woman known for bad rumors, as his bride.
For those who worshipped Magicians or were considering recruiting them, there were many voices wishing to invite Jared into their families under better terms.
In fact, Baron Daum had received inquiries about preparing better treatment to welcome Jared into their family, and it seemed the Alway Ducal Family had also received offers from families with excellent male members to marry into their lineage, asking them to release Jared.
Such offers were not made because Olivier was his fiancée, nor because it was Jared.
Nobles were eager to incorporate Magician’s Blood into their families. Recently, powerful merchant families also seemed to be seeking Magicians.
Therefore, the Mage Association kept a close watch to prevent Magicians from being absorbed, but they were troubled by the fact that the Magicians themselves accepted such offers in pursuit of power. It was possible that some within the Mage Association were even providing information to nobles.
“Yeny. You remember your promise not to tell Jared about this, right?”
“Of course. If Older Brother were to hear about this, he would surely be distressed. More importantly, I don’t want to bother Older Brother, who is so busy, with such harassment.”
“That’s a good attitude.”
Olivier was impressed by her resilience.
If it were a typical noble lady Olivier knew, she would be frightened by such harassing letters, even if they weren’t outright threats.
But Yeny was different. She wasn’t frightened; she was ready to confront them.
Olivier had recently learned that Yeny had martial ability, but she wasn’t confronting them simply because she could fight. It was because her feelings for Jared were so strong that she refused to be defeated by such harassment.
And Olivier felt the same. Above all, she didn’t want to lose to Yeny.
Yeny might have loved Jared longer. It was also true that Olivier didn’t know him as well as Yeny did.
However, she had no intention of resting on her laurels just because she had been given the position of fiancée by chance.
“What do we do now?”
“We can ignore it for now. This kind of harassment tends to escalate, and when it does, we’ll be able to catch the culprit. It may be frustrating, but please bear with it for now.”
“Understood. However, if… if military force becomes necessary, please don’t hesitate to ask. I am prepared to wield my sword for Older Brother, and for my older sisters.”
“Thank you. But you don’t need to put so much pressure on yourself right now. Come, let’s have tea with Mother. Pfeil isn’t here today, so she must be lonely.”
It was not uncommon for nobles to actively seek to incorporate Magicians into their families.
Families that had produced Magicians for generations tended to particularly desire more excellent Magicians.
Such families, being Magician supremacists, might even confront a ducal family.
Currently, Olivier had no idea who was behind the harassment, but it was possible that it would escalate from harassment to threats and then to actual action.
These kinds of troubles usually arose when a Magician and a Non-magician decided to marry.
But, needless to say, Olivier had no intention of telling Jared about this matter.
This was a woman’s battle. Just as Jared tended to handle matters related to magic alone, Olivier also tended to keep things to herself.
I absolutely will not give Jared away!
Living in noble society, she had no resistance to him having consorts or lovers.
Even though her mother’s life had been threatened by a consort, she had been educated to accept such things as being part of noble life.
To be completely honest, her desire to monopolize Jared was strong.
However, as she had told him when they first met, she could accept consorts if they were people she approved of, which was likely due to her immersion in noble society.
In noble society, it was important to produce the next generation, regardless of rank or whether one was a newly risen noble.
If Olivier and Jared already had children, she might have chosen differently, but they were not yet close enough to have children.
She knew they cared for each other deeply, but she was frustrated that they couldn’t move beyond that.
Of course, for Olivier, who had little experience with romance, it was certainly a comfortable pace. However, she was also anxious that perhaps she lacked feminine charm.
In other words, Olivier lacked confidence in herself.
And she was also concerned about the ten-year age gap.
She could think of endless things, but whether for better or worse, she would likely continue to think of Jared and be flustered.
Such days would surely be enjoyable.
Therefore, she had no intention of parting with Jared.
“Well then, shall we go?”
“Yes, Older Sister!”
She headed to her mother’s with her dear junior companion.
She would quietly prepare for battle, so as not to be defeated by harassment, and so that Jared would not be taken by anyone else.
She was prepared to do anything for it. Just as she had protected her mother in the past, she would now protect Jared.
To repay her beloved fiancé, who had risked his life for her family, and to secure a bright future, Olivier made up her mind.
