C70
It was rare for Bianca to show her emotions so openly.
In response to the content, Zachary's eyes widened.
Bianca's face flushed when she realized what she had said belatedly. The hand that had been tightly holding Zachary's arm lost strength, and her body staggered.
Zachary, who was close by, supported her. Bianca took a deep breath in Zachary's arms and tightly closed her eyes as she recalled the mistake she had made.
It was something Bianca never wanted to reveal to Zachary.
"A bride who could never return to her parents' house. That was something she didn't have to tell her husband."
Given the current situation, Zachary could wield unrestrained power over Bianca. In that sense, the place where Gustave led Bianca was nothing less than a cliff.
Blaming herself for making a foolish decision in the heat of the moment, Bianca trembled.
"Bianca..."
Gustave stared at Bianca, speechless, gasping in Zachary's arms.
He didn't even know his daughter thought that. No. That was his own deception. He said that so his daughter would think that...
What he didn't know was how well his daughter would keep her word and how much she endured crying to keep her word in a situation of loneliness and pain.
Bianca was a stronger girl than he thought. So, even in a situation where any other child would have run away crying, she persevered and drowned the sadness in her heart.
Gustave had been so serious that Bianca was tricked into thinking she couldn't return home from an unknown place. The only adult who took care of Bianca was her nanny, Jean. No matter how small a child is, they would quickly be out of sight if they insisted on wanting to go home every day.
But a year passed, and then two. Bianca didn't contact him even after receiving the obituary of her nanny, Jean.
"I should have looked for Bianca first..."
But it was already too late, and Gustave's courage had been lost.
The foolish choices of the past had come back like a boomerang and pierced Gustave's heart.
His daughter's eyes stared at him.
He let out a pitiful groan at the hostility in her eyes, which resembled those of her mother, who died prematurely.
And Bianca's older brother, Johaseng, felt as guilty as his father, Gustave.
Johaseng used to get along very well with his younger sister. But when his sister's marriage was decided, he was more interested in his brother-in-law, Count Arno, than his sister, who used to cry over losing a piece of cake.
He welcomed the marriage with open arms. At that time, Baron Arno was the idol of the youth of his time. Of course, he thought his sister would be fine.
It was a vague and complacent thought. Because it was convenient to think that way. Because he had nothing to worry about. No news is good news. He thought his sister would be fine.
But the way his sister looked at him... The image of the sister crying after having a piece of cake taken away was nowhere to be found.
Bianca's anger was passionate, but at the same time, cold and sharp like refined ice.
Only her light green eyes were shining.
When Johaseng realized that he had neglected her until now, his heart ached. Unable to look at his younger sister, he directed his gaze to the ground.
Bianca's heart was shaken by the tragic sight of the two Blancheforts.
It had been so long since she saw them that she thought she wouldn't be affected because her heart had hardened like a stone, but it was an illusion.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw them groaning like a pair of sinners before her. Bianca squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears. Her eyes were teary.
"I wanted to tell you to come back at any time. But I wanted you to adapt well to the Arno family... that's why I was insensitive."
Gustave struggled to open his mouth. There was nothing he could do to make Bianca, standing before him, more aristocratic than anyone else.
If he had known she would grow up so well, he wouldn't have been so insensitive.
It was too late for regrets.
All he could do was try his best to undo what had already been distorted.
"I shouldn't have done it, you were a good girl."
Gustave laughed awkwardly. The wrinkles at the corners of his lips showed the passage of time. It was an insignificant smile. Very ordinary.
But in that moment, Bianca remembered her father, who left without even looking at her face.
"Was my father worried about me back then? Did they think I would do well on my own, just as they do now?"
In the past, Bianca didn't really care even if her father was indifferent to her.
Although it hurt when he told her not to come back to Blanchefort, she listened and understood from Jean that this was how noble unions were.
So, even though she didn't meet them, she was satisfied just hearing the rumor that they were still there.
And so it was.
Although in the past Bianca had been cast away by her father, as if she had been sold to Arno, she loved her family.
Bianca's heart sank. Fragments of the past she had worked so hard to cover were revealed.
It had been a long time since they last saw each other. Meanwhile, all they could do was accumulate all sorts of emotions. Especially Bianca. Didn't she have to endure their deaths? Transmitted through correspondence, she could only watch from a distance.
Bianca's older brother, Johaseng, died on the battlefield, and Gustave took his elderly body to the battlefield. For revenge? Or because he gave up?
Gustave was a man unfamiliar with the battlefield as he had been an official since the day he was born. His decision to go to the battlefield was equivalent to the decision to follow in Johaseng's footsteps.
If Gustave had truly thought about Bianca, he wouldn't have gone to the battlefield so easily. He should have known how Bianca, who was left alone after his death, would have been dragged to death in a place where there was no strength to protect her. If he were a wise and intelligent father, he should have known.
It wasn't just that Bianca was angry with Count Blanchefort. Everything that had piled up shook her.
There was no place to return to, no affection in the territory of Arno. Being so alone, she fell even more in love with Fernand.
Let us govern the Blanchefort estate with our beloved Fernand. That was Bianca's only hope.
"...I..."
The voice that came out of Bianca's mouth was weak, but everyone in the room focused on her.
Bianca's eyes blanked out, losing focus. She couldn't make up her mind, and her confusion was evident.
Like a reed swaying in the wind, her heart wandered aimlessly between anger and joy.
Meanwhile, the words that flowed out without her realizing must have been her true feelings that she had hidden until now.
"I missed you. It's just that..."
"Bianca..."
The tears she had struggled to hold back streamed down her cheeks like a crumbling dam. Bianca's auburn hair fell over her slender neck.
Count Gustave approached Bianca and opened his arms to her. Bianca sobbed in his embrace.
Johaseng also approached them. His face was also covered in tears.
It didn't take many words to accept and understand each other. Many things can be resolved with words, but there are times when words are unnecessary.
Like in this moment.
---
Zachary watched from a distance as Bianca and the Blancheforts cleared up their misunderstandings.
Zachary, who could understand a little bit of their family suffering, now felt relieved by this outcome.
He never thought that Bianca had been pushed towards him with such coldness. Fear made Bianca even more unable to open her heart to Zachary... She must have thought that even her father had abandoned her.
Still, it was fortunate that she accepted Count Blanchefort and corrected the mistakes of the past.
But at the same time, for some reason, a strange beat began in one side of his heart.
Tags:
TWB (Novel)