Today was the fourth day that Olivia was living in the castle. She had gotten used to living in such close proximity with him all the time. During the past three days she had developed the habit of reaching for Adarian's hand whenever they stood up for any reason. 'It only took three days to build a habit. Wasn't it? Ah, no. It was three days to break a habit.' But still, she was with the man twenty four hours a day. Yesterday had passed in the same way as the second day. She sat at Adarian's side as he worked, and she read a bit more from the history book. They ate all their meals on time, and then retired for the night.
She had been talking to Adarian every night. They talked into the night until Adarian decided they needed to sleep, which was only after Olivia yawned. He asked so many questions about her world and the places she had seen there. When she told him about the internet he was astonished. She had all the information in the world at her fingertips at one point. He held her hands and admired her fingertips for just a moment. She really didn't want to tell him that she didn't use the internet for that purpose, and only used it for nerdy things that interested her.
She also told him about hospitals. She had spent so much time there it was an easy subject for her. She even told him how they had separate rooms for the patients so that they didn't infect each other. The doctors also wore disposable masks to not get infected, and changed them between patients so they didn't cause any cross contamination.
Then she had to explain what germs were. That night she had completely forgotten about time. She trusted Adarian more than she trusted anyone before. She didn't know why. She had only met the man for the first time seven days ago at the ball. But it probably had something to do with the fact that he called her Olivia Carter when they were alone. He proved her existence to herself. It was something she needed. She never read about a transmigrator suffering an identity crisis before. She didn't know if the story normally glossed over that or what. She did read about some of them having some trouble adjusting, but that was really it. Most of the time when they transmigrated they were placed into a story they already knew the ending of. But Olivia had no clue how this story was supposed to end. She did die in the original, but with how everything had changed… that was really unlikely to happen. She hoped.
She thought of the diary. She hadn't looked at it since she moved it from under the bed while Adarian bathed. She kept it hidden with her things. She moved it after that first night. She didn't want one of the maids to find it.
But now that she thought about it she leaned in and whispered to him. "Remind me to give you Olivia's diary later."
Adarian looked at her surprised. He didn't expect her to just say that to him out of the blue. He had thought she had left it at the Marquis estate. He was about to respond when suddenly the door to his office was pushed open abruptly.
"Adarian!" said the voice of the cool beauty who walked in angrily like she owned the place. "What is this!? I get back from going to visit my mother for just a bit and you've gotten yourself into some scandalous mess!?" She finished speaking before she noticed Olivia seated right by the side of the king.
"Why is she in your office!?" Lady Lowenheim had just been gone for a few days. Everything was fine when she had left! It was fine when she had received his letters. She was at the border when she overheard some of the soldiers there talking about it. They looked sheepish after she confronted them about the rumor, and then turned her carriage around and headed right back to that castle. She hadn't even left the kingdom yet and Adairian had somehow made the scandal worse! He was going to marry such a loose and villainous woman!? She had rushed over here the first moment she heard about it.
How did Olivia Praxis manage to sink her claws into Adarian so deeply. He never allowed anyone to stay in his office unless he trusted them absolutely.
Olivia was really embarrassed. She knew there was nothing between Adarian and Fredericka Lowenheim, but for her to burst in here, and then ask why Olivia was in his office was a little…
She could understand why Graciella's Dark Days placed Lady Lowenheim as a love rival.
Plus she really didn't have an excuse to stay in the office with Adarian; other than the fact that he was babysitting her. She really didn't want to publicize that fact.
"Freddy, close the door," Adarian said to her as he held onto Olivia's hand.
"She's staying?" Fredericka asked, as she closed the door anyway.
"Problem?" He asked her impatiently.
Fredericka went and sat before him but she looked at Olivia and said, "The rumors about you are so bad. Do you have no conscience attaching yourself to his side like this? What if your bad reputation rubs off on him?"
"Are you done insulting my wife?" Adarian was glaring at Fredericka.
"Insulting?" Fredericka Lowenheim looked at Adarian and said, "If you find the truth insulting then what do you want from me? Lies?"
"Out." Adarian said to Fredericka. "Get out of my office."
"You're telling me to get out?" She asked incredulously.
"You're not only insulting my wife, but also my judgment. Do you think that in the time I've known her I wouldn't be able to tell what kind of woman she is?" Adarian looked at Fredericka and grimaced. "I am not the type of person to blindly follow what rumors say. I'm the one who seduced her on purpose and tricked her into a marriage with me. Olivia's name is beside mine in the Book of Love."
"Wha-What?" Lady Lowenheim's voice went soft.. Olivia could see that he dealt a blow to his cousin. The book of Love? This was not a cheesy pick up line. This meant something to the royalty of this kingdom. "You exchanged cups with her?" She looked at Olivia more thoughtfully.
Olivia had gotten closer to Adarian the entire time Lady Lowenheim was speaking. She really didn't like her at this moment. She had hoped the book lied about her character, but it looks like the book was close to getting it right. How disappointing.
"You're okay with this?" Lady Lowenheim knew that the marriage through the Officiator's was just a formality at this point. There was no such thing as divorce once their names were entered into the Book of Love. Olivia could never divorce, and never marry anyone else. Even if she was evil enough to plan out Adarian's murder, she could never marry someone else.
"Yes," Olivia said. "Adarian plans to get me a tutor so I can be a good wife to him." Olivia hugged Adarian's arm.
Adarian was pleased with this side of Olivia. She was holding onto his arm like she was staking a claim on him. Was she jealous? This was really good. He smirked at her as she squeezed his arm a little tighter and glared at his cousin.
Lady Lowenheim narrowed her eyes, "A tutor?" A high ranking lady needed a tutor? For what?
Adarian realized that he had to spill the details to his cousin. He wouldn't tell her about Olivia. If Olivia wanted to say why she needed a tutor then it would only be after Olivia trusted her.
"I'm going to tell her my side," he leaned into her ear and told her. She nodded at him and stayed holding onto his arm for emotional support.
Adarian pulled out an envelope and threw it on the table in a casual manner, a new thing he unintentionally picked up from Olivia. It made a thud when it landed.
Lady Lowenheim looked up at the couple. She had seen that way Adarian looked at Olivia. And now he was insulting her by throwing things at her. Olivia really was a bad influence. She pursed her lips and picked up the offensive envelope. When she looked inside the envelope, she saw the burnt ring. Evidence that only her family knew about.
He came back in time? Then what happened in the future to make him not only trust Olivia so much, but also make him tie his name with her's forever?
She closed the envelope and handed it back to him. Only after she handed it back politely did he realize he had thrown it earlier. He pretended he did it intentionally. She's the one who insulted his wife first. He considered it payback.
"..." Lady Lowenheim opened her mouth, and then closed it. She really didn't know what to say. "Does she…" She looked at Olivia, "Does she know?" She was astonished. Olivia had to be ignorant of what the burnt ring meant. There was no way Adarian trusted her with such a secret.
"She has a name," Adarian said. "And she knows. We have no secrets. But we do have things we don't know about each other yet. We're still getting to know each other." He looked at Olivia and smiled.
Olivia saw that Lady Lowenheim understood what the envelope meant. But didn't know how much Lady Lowenheim knew.