Chapter 1: Chapter 1 I’m not Olivia anymore (1)
Holding a purple grape in her hand, Wendy peeled its skin skillfully, then placed it in her mouth.
She rolled it inside her mouth quickly and spat out several seeds, which didn’t befit a virtuous woman like her..
Neatly dressed in a sky blue dress with golden blonde hair stretched down to the waist, she was a lady by any standards, but her actions were as rough as a man.
The air of the indoor flower garden full of blooming flowers was stuffy.
As if she felt stuffy in the muggy air, she threw off the white cape around her neck and smiled in satisfaction.
“Well, it’s very sweet. That’s why they’re praising Berry’s grapes so much. Hummm…..Let me plant three grapevines.”
Muttering to herself, she approached the flat soil on the edge of the flower garden and pressed on it with the index finger. She remained still briefly then quickly pulled out her finger and covered the hole as thick as her finger with soil.
She repeated it three times then quickly rose, exclaiming, “Oh my god!”
“Can I do it with the branch as thick as?”
She picked out three branches proper in size and length, which had been piled on one side of the flower garden, then touched the end of them to the ground as if to measure something.
When she drove a wooden pole firmly into the ground near the hole, she was done dirtying her hands.
It was strange that she didn’t have a grape or a young grapevine when she said she would plant grapevines. Besides, the wooden pole she fixed there had originally been used as a support for another plant in her garden.
“Grape, please grow well and help me have a glass of grape juice this evening.”
Humming a song, she left the garden without regret.
If anybody saw her wishing like that, they would regard her as crazy.
The door closed with a thump, and the dazzling afternoon sunlight shone on the soft soil in the silent garden.
A few seconds after the door was closed, the soil beneath the sunshine crumbled.
Light green buds broke out of the soil shyly hiding their cute leaves in the afternoon light.
Soon, the long stems began to spring up among the small buds with the sound of petals opening. The stalks did not stop there, but sprouted small leaves here and there.
They soon transformed into large leaves that were the size of an adult’s palm, and the thin vines between the stems began to spread without stopping. The green vines were covered by a solid brown bark, leaning against the support that Wendy placed beside the holes.
After growing quickly for a while, the vines stopped growing for a moment and quietly held their breath in the silence of the garden.
When a yellow butterfly fluttered in the flower garden, looking for a place to rest, it seemed that peace fell on the green leaves in the afternoon sun. But the yellow butterfly was scared by the growing pains of the grapevine and flew away.
While sitting at the table and enjoying soft milk tea, Wendy looked around the flower shop and smiled. Fresh flowers decorated the flower shop beautifully, displaying their vast array of colors.
It might not be different from any other flower shop, but its freshness was incomparable. Full of pride, she looked at each of the lovely flowers. Anemone, Freesia, Kara, Dahlia…
Dahlia!
Looking at the flowers, she felt annoyed suddenly.
Dahlia was a red flower, inviting temptation.
She glanced at the red flower sharply then dropped the teacup out loudly.
Wendy stared into the air after turning her eyes away from its red petals.
Her blue eyes trembled with memories.
* * *
Tak, tak,tak.
The sound of someone walking along Earl Hazlet’s long exterior corridor was pleasant.
If they saw Olivia almost jogging, the maids in the house might call her uncultured, but she could not hide her excitement.
Normally, she would try to be an example of the noble family’s poise and grace, but today it was not easy because she heard that Dylan Lennox, the second son of Lennox, who she missed so much, had returned to the mansion. Mularden, the estate of the Lennox family, was close to Hazlet’s estate, Valleta, so if she wanted to, it wasn’t difficult for her to meet him, but she hadn’t seen him recently.
Recently the countess got really upset when she saw Dylan getting chummy with Olivia, but Olivia had no intention of parting with Dylan as the countess wished.
The countess kept complaining to Olivia, “You and Dylan are not a good match. Know your place! How could a woman like you, a mere mistress’ daughter try to win over my son’s heart?”, but Olivia didn’t care at all.
Although Olivia heard all sorts of insults from the countess, she firmly decided to ignore them all.
‘Who the hell are these guys trying to change my mind?’
Olivia tried to calm down by biting her lip in resentment. In fact, she was not trying to win over Dylan’s heart out of childish interest or pride. She tried her best to stop missing him, but it was in vain.
Whenever she felt frustrated, she always climbed on her horse and ran through the field of Valletta where she first met Dylan Lennox. Before meeting him, her life had felt as meaningless as horse-trampled grass, but he gave it meaning.
It had been a winter afternoon. Snow had been piled up here and there. He smiled as soon as he saw Olivia, as if he was there to meet her.
As they rode along the white snowy road, he realized that they had already reached Valta while smiling at her. It was the first time that she felt such warmth.
Standing on the frozen winter field, she had a premonition that the season of her mind would change as soon as she saw his smile..
Olivia soon realized that she really loved Dylan. His light blue hair and blue eyes captivated her for very long. When she heard Dylan’s heartbreaking confession six days ago, she learned how hard her heart could beat.
“Olivia, I can’t hide my feelings about you anymore...I love you. If someone tells me to say something I can’t give up, I’ll repeat your name again and again. Not my family nor my sword, nothing but your name.”
She could never avoid him. He made her honest with her feelings. After hearing his confession, she came to love her own name for the first time because he repeated it.
Olivia’s blonde hair fluttered briskly in the air with her jogging. When she entered the back garden, gasping for breath, she saw Dylan’s back in the distance.
Standing in the back garden with dahlia flowers fully blooming, he looked handsome as if he were a painting.
A smile of joy was soon on her face. She adjusted her dress and walked toward him slowly like a sophisticated lady.
While looking at his back, she was filled with uncontrollable excitement in her fresh green eyes. She would burst into smile at any moment. How could she describe it other than love when she was so thrilled to walk toward him?
However, she had to stop suddenly after only walking a few steps in excitement.
She stiffened at what’s happening before her eyes.
In his light blue hair were a woman’s slender hands. His arms were wrapped around a small woman as if she was precious to him. Wrapped in his arms, a beautiful woman was kissing him passionately. Her red hair was embedded in Olivia’s eyes as intensely as red dahlia petals.
She was her half-sister Francis Hazlet, the only precious daughter of Earl Hazlet.
At that moment, the world was crumbling around her. She often heard people say, ‘The world is crumbling,’ but didn’t pay much attention to it.
She understood its meaning now.
In the end, Olivia closed her eyes, seeing the red dahlia petals fluttering in the crumbling world for the last time.
Sadness came to her after shock, then anger. All of it happened in the blink of an eye.
Opening her eyes, Olivia approached the two with careful steps. When she clenched her trembling hands and approached them, she noticed a watering can that seemed to have been left by a gardner. She reached out to take it without any hesitation.
Olivia not only grabbed the heavy watering can but also picked up a handful of soil and mixed it into the water. The large lid that blocked the opening of the watering can had been long discarded in the grass.
Olivia didn’t need to sneak up to them because they were so lost in kissing that they didn’t even notice her presence right before them.
Olivia’s eyes sparkled with anger. How could he, who kissed her, whispering of his love of her, kiss that disgusting bitch so passionately? Their blatant kissing tormented her ears.
Whenever the countess scorned Olivia, Francis had sneering smile on her red lips, which were now stuck to the lips of this man that Olivia loved.