Chapter 74: The Lovely Best Friend Act ✧⁠*⁠。

Javien did not budge; instead, he took a step closer to Olivia, blocking her path.

"Tell me what she did to you, Olivia. Before I go to that garden myself and put an end to her game."

Olivia bit her lip. Javien’s piercing gaze gripped her very soul, causing the defensive walls she had built to slowly crumble.

She knew the man in front of her was not the type to be swayed once he had made up his mind.

"Delia called me to the flower garden,"

Olivia finally confessed, her voice soft yet firm. Her eyes darted around, looking everywhere except at the imposing figure before her.

"She sent a message... saying she misses our old memories together."

Javien’s jaw worked, holding back a sudden surge of boiling anger.

"And you are foolishly going to surrender yourself? After what she did to you before?"

"I have to!" Olivia interjected, her chest heaving.

"If I don’t go, she will find another scheme. She is in Duke Herold’s pocket right now. If she can’t bring me down, she will use Prince Avvion to put pressure on Lady Ophilia. I cannot let Lady Ophilia become a victim just because of Delia’s personal vendetta against me!"

The corridor fell silent for a moment, save for the sound of the wind outside growing increasingly harsh.

Javien stared at Olivia with an unreadable expression a mixture of frustration, worry, and something that looked like closely guarded admiration.

Slowly, the tension in Javien’s shoulders relaxed slightly, though his gaze remained ice-cold.

"You worry too much about everyone else’s safety, Olivia. To the point where you forget that your own life is hanging by a thread,"

Javien whispered, his voice sounding deeper and more dangerous now.

He took another step forward, closing the distance between them so closely that Olivia could smell his masculine scent mixed with the cold outdoor air lingering on his clothes.

"You will go meet her," Javien said, not as a permission, but as a command.

"But you will not go alone."

Olivia was stunned. "Javien, if you interfere, the Duke will..."

"I don’t care about the Duke," Javien cut her off sharply.

"I will be behind the hedges. At a single scream or signal from you, I will personally drag Delia out of this estate. Understood?"

Olivia looked into Javien’s violet eyes, searching for any sign of a jest, but she found nothing but an unshakeable resolve.

And here I thought I was the one about to play Delia’s game!

Finally, Olivia nodded slowly.

A sudden warmth bloomed in her heart, easing the cold dread left behind by the entity’s warning last night.

In the Flower Garden...

Meanwhile, in the middle of the flower garden surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges, Delia stood with her back to the entrance. She was holding a small pair of shears, roughly cutting several red roses until the petals fell to the ground like drops of blood.

A cynical smirk never left her lips. She knew Olivia would come. Olivia’s supposedly responsible and pure nature was incredibly easy to read.

"Come on, Olivia..."

Delia whispered to herself, her eyes scanning the corridor pathway wildly.

"Let’s see how long that innocent face of yours can last when everything falls apart." She smiled broadly at the thought.

The sound of footsteps on the small gravel path cut Delia’s monologue short. She immediately shifted her expression. The wide, terrifying grin vanished, replaced by a sweet and gentle smile the very mask Olivia hated the most.

Delia turned around slowly, placing the small shears onto the stone table beside her.

"Olivia," Delia called out softly, her voice intentionally laced with an affectionate drawl.

"I’ve been waiting for you for so long. Have you been well?"

Olivia stopped a few paces away from Delia. She did not return the fake smile.

Seeing Delia’s fabricated innocent face at this very moment drastically pulled Olivia’s mind back to the memory from a few days ago the incident in the servants’ hall that had almost ruined her life.

She took a deep breath, clutching her apron tightly to quell the lingering resentment from the past. She looked directly into the eyes of the girl standing before her.

"Don’t waste your time with this longing act of yours, Delia," Olivia’s voice sounded frozen, completely devoid of any tremor of fear.

"Which memory exactly do you miss? The memory of when you framed me in front of Madam Irene? Or the memory of when you casually said you ’mistook me for someone else’ after publicly humiliating me?"

Delia let out a soft laugh, completely unbothered by having her secrets dug up again.

She took step after step toward Olivia, her eyes scanning the maid uniform Olivia wore with an incredibly condescending gaze.

"Oh, about that?" Delia covered her mouth, feigning surprise before continuing in a mocking tone.

"Olivia... didn’t I already apologize back then? I only said... oh, perhaps I saw wrongly. I didn’t expect you to still hold onto it. Are you the vengeful type?"

Delia brought her face a little closer, deliberately wanting to see how far Olivia could withstand her provocation.

Behind the hedges not far from there, a very faint rustling of leaves could be heard. Javien’s violet eyes narrowed sharply, observing every inch of Delia’s hand movements.

His hand was already resting on the hilt of his sword, ready to strike if that snake of a woman dared to touch Olivia.

Something played at the back of his mind a strange feeling that this scenario had happened before.

Returning to Olivia and Delia....

"I didn’t come here to listen to your fake apologies, Delia," Olivia countered, keeping her voice as tightly controlled and calm as possible.

"State your purpose for calling me here. What kind of trap are you trying to set this time?"

Olivia demanded, staring sharply into Delia’s eyes. Delia merely stared back into Olivia’s deep brown eyes, which reflected her own image.

A sudden heat began to burn inside Delia’s chest. She narrowed her eyes, loathing the way Olivia’s deep brown gaze displayed absolutely no fear.

Olivia’s calmness felt as though it were tearing apart Delia’s ego, which had only recently inflated after gaining the Duke’s attention.

"A trap?" Delia whispered, her voice suddenly turning incredibly soft, yet as sharp as a razor. She took another step forward, closing the gap between them until the tips of their shoes almost touched.

"Olivia, you view me far too harshly. I called you here because I felt sorry for you. Haven’t you realized your current position yet? You are just a lowly maid who can be thrown out at any moment if I open my mouth to Duke Herold."

Olivia did not flinch. She maintained her upright posture.

"If that’s the case, then go ahead and open your mouth, Delia. After all, you are an expert at fabricating stories, aren’t you? Just like that day. Do you think I forgot the way you brought up Javien’s name?"

Hearing Javien’s name, Delia’s expression twisted into a smirk. Her drawn-out smile returned, filled with a hidden agenda.

"Oh... Javien," Delia drawled, her eyes flicking toward Olivia’s wrist hidden beneath her apron, trying to find signs of something she had suspected back in the servants’ hall that day.

"You care about that knight very much, don’t you? To the point of running around to protect him in that basement room? And he, too, seems... willing to do anything to protect a maid like you.

"But Olivia... what do you think will happen if Prince Avvion or Duke Herold finds out that you have a secret relationship with Lady Ophilia’s personal knight? Who do you think will be punished first? You... or that Javien you worship so much?"

Olivia’s pupils dilated for a fraction of a second. Delia’s tactic this time was truly aimed at manipulating her weakest point the safety of the people around her, especially Javien.

Behind the hedges, the atmosphere seemed to freeze. Javien’s jaw tightened when he heard his name being used as blackmail by Delia.

The sensation playing in his mind earlier that sense of dejavu, as if this situation had happened before was now replaced by an absolute certainty.

The woman in front of Olivia was truly a threat that had to be eliminated before she ruined everything.

The friction of Javien’s sword being drawn an inch from its scabbard produced a very faint

shink!

that was nearly swallowed by the rustling of the garden wind.

Olivia, realizing the danger signal from Javien’s position, immediately took control of the situation. She knew she could not allow Javien to act recklessly out in the open like this.

"You want to threaten me using Javien’s name?" Olivia cut in, her tone intentionally raised a bit louder, serving as an indirect warning for Javien to restrain himself. Olivia stared at Delia with a look of pure disdain.

"Delia, you can bring whatever ridiculous stories you want to the Duke or Prince Avvion. But you must remember one thing... in this estate, everyone knows you are a maid who made a mistake and made reckless accusations.

If you cause a scene without proof once again, do you think Madam Irene will let you off? Do you think the cruel Duke Herold wants to keep a troublemaker like you around?"

Delia’s face turned sour. Olivia’s words pierced right into her greatest fear losing the status of an ’honored guest’ that she had only just tasted.

Before Delia could respond, Olivia took a step back, breaking the distance between them.

"If you don’t have anything important to say other than spreading your cheap slander, I shall take my leave. I have plenty of work left to finish for Lady Ophilia," Olivia stated firmly.

She turned around, preparing to walk away from the rose garden, leaving Delia shaking with a mounting, explosive rage.

Delia gritted her teeth, her eyes glaring piercingly at Olivia’s retreating back.

"Olivia!!" Delia shrieked quietly, yet laced with deep-seated vengeance.

"Just you wait... you haven’t won yet! Today you can act so proud, but tomorrow or the day after... I will personally ensure that you are kneeling and begging at my feet!"