C55
While Zachary and Bianca were immersed in their own world and chatting, Vincent, who was listening to their conversation, wanted to check if he was hearing correctly.
"Doesn't it sound like 'that' Countess offered the Count to spend his first night with her?!"
Furthermore, it seems that there was a time when she called him 'darling,' so many things must have happened between the couple without the butler knowing.
Vincent set aside his concerns about whether the Countess had eaten something wrong. It didn't matter now. Vincent went to see Zachary after he finished his urgent work.
Coincidentally, it was meeting time when Vincent visited Zachary. Except for Gaspard, Robert and Sauveur were reporting internal affairs to Zachary.
Vincent paused for a moment. Even considering the Lord's majesty, when it comes to Zachary's private history, he generally tends to inform when no one else is around. But now was not the time. When people's attention focused on Vincent, who suddenly appeared, Vincent, who approached with quick steps, raised his voice, unusually blushing.
"Count. Since when have you been discussing a successor with the lady?"
Zachary and Bianca only talked about their relationship. However, since Vincent's view of aristocrats' relationships is completely entangled with the successor, it was natural that his train of thought would spring up.
Frankly, was there any love between Zachary and Bianca?
Zachary asked with a frown.
"... Do I have to say that?"
"Of course! If I had known such a story was going on, I would have tried to serve a little more-..."
"A little more?"
Zachary's interrogation was a bit blurry. Vincent kept his mouth shut. He was so excited that he made a speaking error. As it was an immature approach as a butler, there were no objections. While Vincent blamed himself, Zachary looked at Vincent with eyes as sharp as a knife.
"With or without a successor, she is the hostess of Arno. No matter what attitude she takes, it's the same. So, no matter how you serve her, that shouldn't change, right?"
"... It was my mistake."
Zachary's voice was not loud, but an undeniable dignity was present. Vincent bowed his head so that the top of his head was visible and begged for his mistake. But he couldn't just apologize for a mistake. As there was something more important than that, Vincent carefully pulled on his luck.
"... Count. From what I've heard, it seems that the lady wants a successor, and the count refuses... Am I guessing prematurely?"
"That's right."
"No, why on earth is he refusing?"
How long had he been blaming her? Vincent flinched and raised his voice. Seeing Vincent's unfathomable uproar, Robert and Sauveur swallowed and kept their mouths shut, silently listening to the conversation between Vincent and Zachary.
Everyone's attention was focused on the response that would be spat out from Zachary's lips.
Zachary responded casually, as if he were stating something obvious.
"Isn't she still sixteen?"
Vincent opened his mouth at Zachary's words, which seemed to be an obvious reason for the sun to rise from the east. Of course, Bianca was quite mature. Still, she was old enough to have an heir. Didn't Viscount Rudolf, who rules the neighboring estate, have children when his wife was fifteen? How the hell does he have to wait longer?
Vincent urged Zachary.
"Winter is over. The new year has come. The lady is also seventeen years old. She is old enough!"
"She should be at least eighteen."
There really are no windows in that stone wall. Vincent wanted to beat his chest, even though it would be an unreasonable act.
Years passed, and Bianca was not the only one who turned seventeen. Zachary was now thirty. To be honest, it is Zachary who is in a hurry, who the hell is he worried about?
As it was their tenth year of marriage, Vincent thought that this year should be the annexation of the couple. If Bianca doesn't want to do that, he wouldn't know, but didn't she say that his wife also wants to have children?
Bianca had never told Vincent that, but Vincent's mind had already shifted as if Bianca had publicly announced that she wanted a successor. Fortunately, Vincent's illusion was not far from the truth.
Until now, he had seen Bianca with indifferent eyes, but it seems that the lady truly changed this winter. When Bianca said she would look around the territory, he passed it without much thought, but after thinking about it again, there were signs from that moment.
"I said that now that I am older, I think I need to learn one by one what I have to do as the hostess of the Arno family."
The lady is truly ready to become a countess!
At first, he was disappointed that she resigned shortly after looking around the territory, but as Vincent's eyes are now covered in bean pods, it seemed that Bianca was no longer looking around the territory due to health issues.
That's right. To have an heir, the lady's health had to be managed with more sensitivity and delicacy.
How many women died giving birth?!
Vincent had already created his own illusion.
The lace played a very important role. The value of the lace also influenced Vincent's quick change in attitude towards Bianca. As he never thought Bianca would have this kind of ability, the repercussions were incredible.
The only reason Bianca pretended to look around the estate was to urge Zachary not to treat her like a child forever because she could fulfill her duties as a countess to some extent.
Even if you go roundabout, you just have to go to the capital.
Zachary still treated Bianca like a child and didn't plan on backing down, but Bianca got an assistant named Vincent.
He would have never dreamed that Vincent would push Zachary's back with such enthusiasm. If Bianca had known, she would have greatly appreciated Vincent's hard work, but fortunately or unfortunately, Bianca was not here.
While Zachary and Vincent were discussing, Sauveur, who had been listening silently, intervened.
"Don't do that, how about scheduling the annexation soon?"
......
When Sauveur sided with Vincent, the room was divided. A feeling of betrayal dripped from their eyes, beneath raised eyebrows, with disapproval, as if saying, "Sauveur, you too?"
But for Sauveur, it was a natural proposition. To be honest, Sauveur was as frustrated as Vincent. When Zachary first announced that he would take Bianca to the capital, Sauveur thought Zachary was trying to win Bianca's favor to secure an heir. That must have been a hasty guess.
As much as he had admired his master's intelligence until now, Sauveur was frustrated with Zachary's foolish behavior. Sincerely concerned for Zachary, he raised his voice and insisted.
"She's a woman, you have to mark her and take her. Madam is so beautiful, who knows what kind of fly will buzz around her when she goes to the capital?"
"Sauveur. You are very frivolous."
"No, there are some minstrels in the capital who seem to have honey on their tongues, and there are many other handsome great men. Count, are you sure Madam won't look at them? To be honest, it doesn't seem like Madam likes the Count very much. But what do you mean they won't even sleep together?"
......
Zachary's face darkened at the weighty facts Sauveur pronounced. There was nothing wrong with Sauveur's words. Zachary sighed and closed his eyes tightly. However, his tightly sealed lips and unwavering eyes were resolute as if he would not break his will.
So the guts of Sauveur and Vincent burned even more. In particular, it was so shocking to hear that Zachary rejected Bianca.
Did that arrogant Madam directly mention succession, but he rejected it in one stroke?
It was to the point where Bianca might have slapped Zachary's cheek. No, maybe she did it without them knowing. As long as it was the Bianca he knew, that would be possible.
He had been close to Bianca recently and started to like her, but it was just a matter of interest. He didn't want to make excuses for what Bianca had been doing, and he didn't want to understand that she was a poor girl.
But now, for the first time, Sauveur sympathized with Bianca.
Compared to Bianca's proactive approach, Zachary's attitude seemed tepid, which annoyed him even more. Now is not the time to hesitate. In this case, he has to mark her. To push the back of that stupid count, who only needs to seal his marriage contract, Sauveur added to Zachary almost mocking him.
"And sleeping doesn't mean a baby will be born immediately, right? I'm not asking her to have children right away, I'm just asking her to do it first."
......
"Madam is seventeen this year. After all, they will have to come together when she turns eighteen. Even if it's a year earlier, no one will say anything. They've been married for ten years."
"At that age, a year is quite a lot."
"Oh my God, it's frustrating."
Zachary didn't move, and Sauveur pounded his chest and held his forehead. Vincent's face was also disastrous.
Desperate because none of their attempts worked even though they persuaded him with all their might, the two shook their heads as if it truly had no solution.
Contrary to Sauveur and Vincent's fervent insistence to push Zachary into Bianca's room, Robert stared at them. Not knowing what to say, Robert opened and closed his mouth repeatedly.
It was unsettling because they didn't seem like the people he knew.
When Sauveur approached Bianca, Robert thought he was crazy. However, when Vincent, known as the unwavering reason of the territory, the last bastion and defensive wall, seemed favorable to Bianca, what he had believed until now began to tremble. As if he couldn't read the atmosphere on his own.
Robert, who still thought of Bianca as a selfish and arrogant lady, felt like he himself was being ostracized. Although Zachary insisted that he couldn't come together with Bianca, he didn't say it because he disliked her.
So Robert sat silently in a corner, like a sack of barley, and Sauveur and Vincent opened their mouths once again, to persuade Zachary, burning with determination to see the heir of Arno.
But in the end, Zachary's persistence couldn't be broken, and the events of the day seemed to come to an end without much significance.
Tags:
TWB (Novel)