Extra - 3
For Bianca, who believed in her and followed her like a mother, a sense of betrayal pierced her heart.
"My mother, who was a countess, was her pride, so I might have wanted to be her pride too. Now that I think about it... Yes, I think I was her pride."
The remnants of the past turned into sharp thorns that pierced her chest. It wasn't very pleasant to unfold the reality that she had tried so hard to ignore, one by one before her eyes. She suddenly felt nauseous.
Seeing a shadow gradually cast over Bianca's face, Zachary stopped talking about it and consoled her.
"But the happiness of the moment with her is not a lie."
"...yes."
"Then that's it. I also had a lot of resentment towards my late father, but I dare not dwell on it. I'm the only one who suffers when I blame a deceased person for what they've done."
Zachary's words had bones*. Indeed, his father tried to hand over the Huegh family to Zachary, but reality only pushed him into difficulties. If he had been a little clearer about the issue of succession, Zachary wouldn't have wandered the battlefield at the young age of 16.
But thanks to that, he caught the attention of the Blanchefort family and met Bianca. To the extent that all of that happened, resentment for the past became futile.
The atmosphere grew heavier due to the stories, but the air between the two slowly mingled. Bianca reached out and caressed Zachary's cheek. Zachary blinked slowly and looked at Bianca, who was looking at him. Bianca let out a long sigh.
"Jean must have insulted you a lot... I'm glad you didn't send me back to Blanchefort."
"I'm grateful that she was just your nanny. No matter how dissatisfied I was with our marriage, she wasn't someone I could break it off with."
For Bianca, the consolation offered with a blunt face sounded like a joke. Bianca smiled gently, but Zachary was actually sincere.
And she wouldn't have known he would become a duke. Isn't that right? If that were the case, wouldn't he have been the type of husband the nanny liked?
"That's too much."
"It doesn't seem so to me."
"Why? Jean would have prayed every night for me to marry a duke."
Bianca asked, widening her eyes. When Zachary became a Count, he fulfilled her requirements as a marital partner, but now he is a duke. Not just a duke, but also a ruler of the Kingdom. The godfather of the future king... But Zachary didn't believe it that way and firmly shook his head.
"That was then. Now you're a Saint. So it's clear that a new standard would be set. A duke wouldn't even reach the tip of your toes."
"There wouldn't be an end."
"That's right."
The two looked at each other and smiled mischievously. If it were Jean, it might be true. It seemed impossible to find a marriage partner who would meet Jean's standards, even if one swam across the continent.
It was a story that needed to be overcome. Zachary was right. Reflecting on Jean's actions wouldn't help her future happiness. It only held her back. It was right to let it go now, remembering only the beautiful memories.
As the conversation grew longer, the Gonggi game stopped. One of the jewels rolled out of Bianca's reach. Fearful that Bianca was about to lean forward, Zachary, who had long arms, easily picked up the jewel and brought it in front of Bianca.
Bianca held the five jewels in her hands. Looking at the dazzling glow of the opal, she quickly pushed the jewel in front of Zachary and said sarcastically.
"You can do it too."
"....like this?"
As a man who does anything Bianca asks, Zachary received the jewel without knowing how to do it. Since childhood, he had been living a life that had nothing to do with playing, and it was the first time he played Gonggi. Remembering what Bianca had done before, the image of him imitating it wavered for some reason.
Bianca's slender fingers and the thick fingertips of other fingers awkwardly held the jewel. When Bianca played, she was agile and skilled, but Zachary couldn't match the timing of tossing the jewel and catching the jewel from below without a care. The gemstones flew through the air, scattered all over the place.
The usual Zachary was good at everything he did... In the end, Bianca couldn't bear it and burst into laughter at his disappointing and messy skills. She laughed so much that her stomach started to hurt.
Did he look that funny? Zachary smiled shyly. It was nice to see her laugh heartily after a while. Even if she was teasing him.
Bianca wiped tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingers. As she continued to struggle to suppress her laughter, she squinted and smiled, picking up the stones that Zachary had scattered here and there.
"Just because you're good at martial arts doesn't mean you're good at things like this. I thought you were good at anything you did with your body."
"What else can I do well with my body?"
"Of course... "
Bianca closed her mouth and only said that. What came to mind was their first night, because it was an incredibly fantastic first night.
It didn't seem like much between the couple, but Bianca still felt uncomfortable. Her ears instantly turned red. Bianca rolled her eyes and stepped away.
"Well, um... horseback riding..."
"On horseback?"
As if looking at Bianca's head as his own palm, Zachary's voice was subtle with a mischievous and questioning smile. Their foreheads approached as if they were touching. Zachary's whispers came right next to Bianca's ear.
"Bianca. What else?"
"You already know, so why are you asking? You're really sly."
With each touch of Zachary's breath, a shiver ran down her spine. Bianca blushed and pushed away from Zachary's chest.
But Zachary didn't move. Instead, he held onto Bianca. He held Bianca in his arms and buried his nose in her neck. He deeply breathed in Bianca's scent. The scent of roses, as always, intoxicated him.
"St-Still... it's daytime..."
"You know you can't stop me with that excuse anymore."
"But you like it when I make excuses."
"So, I have nothing more to say."
Zachary smiled as he buried his face in Bianca's neck. Bianca's body violently trembled as his breath tickled her skin.
"W-Wait..."
Bianca's limbs struggled, but it was difficult to escape from Zachary. Zachary's hand lifted the hem of Bianca's skirt and traveled up her thigh.
Zachary pressed some light kisses on Bianca's cheek and neck. Soon, his kiss became extensive and dense.
"Hng... Are you really going to do it?"
"Of course. Lately, it's been rare to do it because of Alex. Yvonne took Alex out, so at least we won't be bothered for a while."
Zachary sighed. Alex's escapes were day and night. It was fine to leave her with Yvonne during the day, but he couldn't ask Yvonne to do it at night.
At night, they brought Alex into Zachary and Bianca's room. Even if Alex escaped from the crib, Zachary, who had a keen sense of presence, could immediately wake up and catch Alex.
Although Zachary was a shameless man who paid no attention to anything other than Bianca, he wasn't so insensitive as to have sex with Bianca in their daughter's presence. On the contrary, he was more sensitive than Bianca.
At least if Alex were old enough to understand what they were saying, she wouldn't make the random escapes she does now, so they could sleep in a different room, but that was still far off. Therefore, even a small amount of time couldn't be wasted.
Knowing how hungry Zachary was, she couldn't let him go so easily. And since Bianca desired it as much as Zachary, she thanked his positive signal from the bottom of her heart.
"Then there's nothing I can do..."
Bianca leaned closer to Zachary. Her stiff neck obediently moved at the soft touch of Bianca. Soon, their lips met, and their breaths entwined.
It didn't take long before the clothes of the two were pushed onto the red carpet. The hem of Bianca's long, intense green dress was lifted, and the opal stones that Zachary brought had long been pushed away by their feet.
While the opal shimmered in the corner of the carpet's light, the two yearned for each other.
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The midday affair ended relatively quickly. Zachary's face looked hungry, but it was inevitable. It was partly because the time granted to them was short, but also because Bianca completely lacked resistance. Bianca groaned, pouting her lips as she straightened her disheveled clothes.
"I don't mind doing it once more."
"I do mind. It'll be difficult if you get sick."
"I don't get sick to that extent."
"There's no point in insisting."
"You're the one who seduced me first."
"Because once in a while is not too much."
"There's no difference between once or twice."
"But now you're tired. I have a clear understanding of your limits. Much more than you."
Zachary spoke calmly as he took care of Bianca's clothes. He seemed as skilled as when he undressed her. Originally, it was something that a maid should do, but Zachary quite liked the act of dressing Bianca.
Bianca complained, but obediently placed her hands on the clothes that Zachary was dressing her in. Zachary's rough hands carefully smoothed her long reddish-brown hair. The green dress looked very good on her. Zachary smiled with satisfaction.
A lady's dress was so intricate and sophisticated that a skilled maid always had to help. Considering that when Zachary first attended to Bianca's clothes, he didn't even know whether to use a piece of fabric on the sleeve or around the waist, it was a great improvement.
Tags:
TWB (Novel)