"Rowen Nestian is coming?"
Everyone was understandably shocked. Even Asterian would be surprised if they heard this. Olivia looked up sharply and asked.
"Has Asterian been informed?"
"I haven't informed Asterian yet."
"Then I'll do it."
Rowen nodded, feeling that Asterian should know that Rowen Nestian was coming. And of course, the first person to tell should be...
Tiel.
Tiel needed to know. Rowen bit her lip slightly, worried. Would Tiel be okay?
It seemed like Tiel had overcome all the bad memories related to Nestian while staying at Asterian, but sometimes things aren't as they appear.
Perhaps she might still feel uncomfortable or upset about anything related to Nestian. Olivia was overcome with the impulse to sabotage the path and prevent Rowen Nestian from coming.
But she knew that was an unreasonable thought. Olivia Wolfgang was no longer a child.
Yet, when thinking of her loved ones, it was hard not to act like a child, because she truly loved and cared for them.
At Olivia's words, Karl nodded as if to say, "Go ahead." Clemence still wore a slightly worried expression.
"That person, the one who failed to harm Tiel before... didn't they hide within Nestian territory?"
"That's right."
Olivia nodded.
"They tried to harm Tiel?"
Karl asked with wide eyes.
Both Clemence and Olivia turned to Karl and exchanged looks, as if to say, "You didn't know about this?"
Karl stared at Clemence, his eyes wide, and asked.
"They tried to harm Tiel? What does that mean? I haven't heard anything about this. Everard's news is slow."
"Ten years ago, when Tiel was twelve, someone tried to harm her. At the time, they weren't caught, but we found out they had fled into Nestian territory."
Olivia continued.
"But since Nestian didn't cooperate, we couldn't investigate further after that."
"Why not? Asterian is the head of the Leopard Clan. Isn't it just a matter of breaking open the closed doors of Nestian and investigating?"
Karl asked, as if probing. It seemed like he was overly agitated after hearing about someone trying to harm Tiel.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net, it has been stolen.
Olivia didn't try to calm him down and simply responded.
"Asterian is the head of the Leopard Clan, but they can't infringe upon Nestian's rights. If that happened, it would lead to an irreversible war between the two clans!"
"That's nonsense, then... shouldn't we make sure Nestian doesn't get anywhere near Tiel? The person who tried to harm Tiel seems to have hidden in Nestian. Doesn't that mean Nestian is already involved with them?"
"I agree with you. But without solid proof, we can't press Nestian. That's why Asterian has been leaving Nestian alone. But if Rowen Nestian is coming to this festival, then it changes things... I'll let Grandpa and Tiel know."
"To ensure everyone from Asterian, including Duke Evalt, can stay comfortably, I've offered up the entire northern part of the estate. You'll probably meet them there."
Karl answered. Olivia and Clemence nodded lightly and stood up.
"Thank you, Lord Karl. We'll be going now."
"I'll be going too... Thank you for offering the place to stay."
"Not at all, if you have any discomfort during your stay, please let us know anytime."
Karl responded. Olivia and Clemence left the room and headed toward the northern part of the estate where Asterian's people were staying.
In the hallway, maids and knights from the Leopard Clan were walking around. It seemed that they had also been given space to stay.
Olivia stopped one of the maids.
"Where is Grandpa? And where is Uncle?"
The maid, recognizing Olivia's face—since Olivia had visited the Asterian Estate so many times, there was no way she wouldn't be recognized—bowed her head and led Olivia and Clemence to Alpheus's room.
"The Duke is in here."
"Thank you!"
Olivia cheerfully thanked the maid, who then left to attend to her other duties.
Before Olivia opened the door, she paused for a moment, glanced at Clemence, and said.
"You don't have to come with me, Clemence. I forgot to mention earlier. You must be tired, so go rest."
"Well, shall I?"
Clemence smiled.
"It's family time, so I ended up unconsciously following you here... I'll go rest in my room and call me when you're done talking, Olivia."
Clemence turned around and walked back to her room. Olivia, after seeing Clemence off, swung open the door.
"Grandpa!"
"Ugh!"
Alpheus, who had been writing on some documents with ink, looked up with a surprised sound.
His grip had tightened on the pen, causing the nib to break.
"Who in the world is calling me like this?" Alpheus thought as he looked up, only to see Olivia standing confidently, making him smirk as if he expected it.
"Olivia... You've arrived? If you were coming, you should have sent a message before coming in like this, what's with this sudden visit?"
Alpheus spoke.
"And I told you to knock before entering, didn't I? What's going on with you, at your age..."
Olivia sensed Alpheus was about to start lecturing, so she quickly sat down on the sofa and said.
"This isn't the time for that. Did you hear that Rowen Nestian might come to this festival?"
"...Nestian is coming?"
"Yes, it seems they told Everard, but it's not certain yet whether they'll come."
"With news of Tiel coming spreading across the empire, Nestian is coming here?"
Alpheus's voice was slowly turning angry.
He thought it was a good thing that he had followed them here.
Nestian might have joined forces with the one who tried to kill Tiel. If only the children had been sent to Arcadia, Alpheus would have spent the whole day nervously worrying in Asterian territory.
"Yes, I came to tell you because you should know, and Tiel needs to know too. Where is Tiel?"
"Tiel is resting in her room. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to tell her. As you know, she's been having a tough time lately. She doesn't have the energy to worry about Nestian right now."
"I'm worried about that too. But what if we don't tell her, and she's surprised when Rowen arrives? I think it's better to tell her in advance... Oh?"
Olivia suddenly stopped, noticing something tickling the back of her # Nоvеlight # hand. She looked up in surprise.
It was Tiel's fish.
Olivia's cheeks instantly flushed pink. She playfully tapped the fish with a fond expression.
"It's Tiel's fish! Grandpa, I think Tiel is calling for me! How did she know I've arrived here?"
"Well, you're so loud that I'm sure Tiel and everyone else here already knew you arrived. Except for me, who was busy working until you showed up."
"Since Tiel is calling for me, I should go. I'll stay quiet about the Nestian issue for now. You can tell Tiel. Understood?"
"I see you don't listen to me at all..."
Alpheus muttered. Olivia slammed the door shut and followed the fish.
At that moment.
"..."
A maid, standing at the corner of the hallway, was staring at Olivia intently.
The maid had blonde hair and emerald green eyes.
"Oh my, what is she doing here, not working?"
Another maid passed by and nudged her. The maid with blonde hair and emerald eyes didn't even look back at the one who nudged her, continuing on her way.
"...What's going on with her?"
The maid who had nudged her murmured, tilting her head.
And thought.
"Her movements were like a puppet..."