A Convoluted Plot
IT was about a year and a half after Olivia moved to the capital.
At a popular local bakery, just a little outside the center of Daregas, the old proprietress was sweeping the floor.
I’m exhausted again today. Let’s get this cleaning done and head home.
She quickly finished her duties and began locking up shop to head home.
“Excuse me,” came a voice from behind.
The old lady turned around and saw three young women standing there. They were all wearing fancy, expensive clothing.
One of the women hesitantly asked, “I’m sorry to bother you. Would you happen to know when the magic item shop over there is open?”
She pointed to Carter’s Magic Items, which was on the opposite corner from the bakery. The door was shut tight, and the inside was dark and still.
The bakery owner let out a pained sigh. “Ah. It’s been closed all the time for a while now. Rumor has it the daughter of the owner has no time for the shop because she’s getting married.”
“Oh, Olivia’s getting married?”
“No, not Olivia. Her adoptive sister, I think it was.”
“Oh…”
The young woman looked crestfallen. She’d bought earrings designed by Olivia and loved them so much she’d brought her friends to the shop.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“Not at all. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help.”
The three women thanked the old lady, who waved as they left. Once they were out of sight, the old lady sighed. “For goodness’ sake… I do wonder what happened to her…”
About two and a half years before, the owner of Carter’s Magic Items passed away, followed shortly by his wife. His daughter, Olivia, was an artificer. Despite being so young, she kept the shop afloat with help from a long-time employee, Jack.
But two months later, the younger brother of Olivia’s father came—a rather pompous man—and the atmosphere in the shop turned into something fierce. Olivia stopped smiling, and Jack looked exhausted all the time.
It hurt the old lady’s heart to see so plainly that things were not going well. She often took little gifts over to the shop and asked if they were all right. Olivia told her that her uncle had brought in so many jobs from nobles that they had no time to rest.
After that, Jack retired because he was so overworked all the time. A few months after that, Olivia suddenly disappeared, and rumor spread that she’d been stealing her sister’s designs.
This made the old lady explode with rage. “For goodness’ sake! That can’t possibly be true!”
Olivia was so earnest and hardworking. There was no way she would do something like that. On top of it all, her engagement with the son of the local lord, Henry, was called off.
“The poor dear. She must be so hurt.”
The old lady wanted to console Olivia, but she had no idea where she was.
In her place at the shop came Olivia’s adoptive sister, Catherine, or some such. The old lady asked her where Olivia went and was met with a sour look that didn’t match such a sweet face.
“Olivia’s not coming back! They’re my designs!”
But the girl only came to the shop regularly in the first six months or so. Customer traffic slowed, and the shop was closed more often than not—until recently when the old lady hadn’t seen it open at all.
She looked at Carter’s Magic Items with concern. The shop was starting to show signs of neglect.
“I hope Olivia is off somewhere getting by all right…”
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💎💎💎
AROUND that time, Olivia’s former fiancé, Henry, was with Catherine, drinking tea in a café on the main street of Daregas.
As Viscount Perigord insisted, they’d waited a year after the end of Henry’s engagement with Olivia before they became engaged themselves. The invitations for their wedding had already gone out, and they were in the middle of preparing for the ceremony. Usually, this would be a busy yet joyful period, but Henry’s complexion didn’t look gleeful.
“Catherine, when are you going to reopen Carter’s Magic Items?” asked Henry with a gloomy expression.
Catherine gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I just haven’t been able to find the time to go to the shop, what with getting ready for the wedding and my studies.”
“Couldn’t you manage just once a week? My father has been asking when exactly the store will reopen.”
She grimaced at the mention of the Viscount.
Henry peered at her with a look of concern. “Catherine, has something been bothering you? You always went on about how much you loved sketching designs, but you haven’t done much at all lately.”
She used to always have a small sketchbook with her when she walked around and would occasionally draw something. Henry hadn’t ever seen her with a sketchbook recently, let alone draw anything.
Catherine hung her head for a while, then turned her misty green eyes to him. “Actually…there is something. I haven’t been able to focus on my designs at all.”
Henry was shocked. She was always smiling, so he had no idea Catherine dealt with such concerns. “What is it?” he asked.
“It’s…my sister,” she whispered, her voice close to fading away entirely.
He frowned. “Olivia isn’t in town anymore. You don’t have to worry about her bullying you.”
“That’s not the problem. Even with how things ended up…I still want her at our wedding.”
His eyes grew round at the unexpected statement. “Are you serious?”
“I am. I just feel bad for her if things stay the way they are.”
“Well…I suppose I can see that. But it’s her fault it ended up this way.”
“I know. But even if it’s not by blood, we’re still sisters, and I’m worried about her.”
She pressed the corners of her eyes to hold back tears, and Henry couldn’t help thinking how kind she was. It must have been hurting Catherine’s heart this entire time. He had heard you needed creative thinking to come up with designs. Surely, ideas wouldn’t come if something was worrying her.
I would rather not see that dreadful Olivia, but I have no choice—it’s for Catherine.
Henry nodded, his expression sour. “I understand. As reluctant as I am to do this, I’ll ask my father. I know he has had Olivia on his mind as well; I doubt he’ll refuse.”
“Oh, thank you!”
Catherine’s expression burst into a radiant smile as she clasped his hand. Feeling in a better mood with her holding his hand, he mentally congratulated himself. What a kind man he was to not only forgive that horrible woman but go so far as to invite her to his wedding.
That’s why he hadn’t noticed Catherine’s mouth, which had twisted in a far crueler sneer than ever before.
To Be Continued…