C69
After Bianca came to Arno, Zachary took great care of her.
If you want something to eat, you can eat it. If you want to have something, you can have it. He took away all duties and gave him only rights. She was his wife whom he spoiled so much.
Although Zachary was a very flawed husband, he wasn't powerless enough that he couldn't protect her in this situation.
Zachary didn't know what Bianca had against the Blanchefort family. But even if the reason was very trivial, Zachary thought that if she was reluctant to meet, there was no need to meet.
If Zachary interrupts his meeting with Bianca, the Blancheforts can protest. From her point of view, she's just a girl who left, and she's just a little sister. But it does not matter. Such voices of dissatisfaction can be tolerated.
Zachary's eyes gleamed dangerously like a wolf guarding his pack. How cruel those black eyes were, even Bianca, who was right next to him, gulped. But, instead of living a bloody life, holding her was a greater comfort.
Everyone was always telling him to do something. Her duties as her countess, duties as a wife, duties as an abbess... And since she didn't do those things correctly, they said that she was useless.
Zachary was the one who could get in the way of her obligations more than anyone. What a great consolation to tell him that he doesn't have to do anything if he doesn't want to!
Bianca, who had less of a burden on her heart, was able to examine the situation more calmly. She couldn't escape her family forever.
They had to meet once, and this was the right time to meet his family. Bianca clutched the comforter to her tightly and muttered in a resolute and determined voice.
-… No. Because you can't avoid it forever.
So for you, the Count should be avoided? The question reached the back of Zachary's throat. Of course, he couldn't ask it out loud.
“Do what makes you feel comfortable. But getting your health back is the top priority.
"And make your clothes." Because I don't want to hear that I'm treating you badly.
Bianca smiled and looked at Zachary. Zachary smiled too when the atmosphere improved enough for jokes.
However, her smile, which couldn't shake off her worries for Bianca, was somewhat awkward.
* * *
Fortunately or unfortunately, when Blanchefort reached the capital, Bianca was able to stand up.
Although he had just gotten up from his sickbed, Zachary showed concern for his pale face, which remained sickly.
"What about delaying the meeting?"
'He's an earl. I'm sure he's busy. He's come all the way here, so it's better to just meet than bother rescheduling.
Zachary's eyes shone sadly at Bianca's calm words.
No matter how busy the count is, the meeting with his daughter, whom he has not seen for more than a decade, cannot be considered cumbersome.
What the hell happened between Count Blanchefort and Bianca?
Although she had curiosity in her heart, she didn't ask and silently watched Bianca put on her makeup.
She added vitality to her pale cheeks with pink powder. When she lowered her long lashes slightly, they fluttered and cast a shadow under her eyes. The movement, like the flutter of a butterfly's wings, made Zachary glance at Bianca without realizing it.
Bianca had complicated thoughts in her head. She said that she was ready, but her heart trembled uneasily.
Having finished getting ready, Bianca stood up.
Its swaying movements were as unsettling as a reed swaying in the wind. Zachary hurried over to Bianca and walked over to her. Bianca, quite used to being escorted by now, put her hand on top of his without hesitation.
What Zachary felt in his hand was the light weight of a small bird perched on it.
Bianca was escorted by Zachary to the reception room where her father and brother were waiting. It wasn't a long way, but her heart raced terribly along the way.
Bianca entered the reception room.
Waiting for her in the room was a straight-backed man despite his gray hair from old age, and a young man who looked like a clumsy gentleman.
People who are clearly part of your family. But those people were blurred in his memory…. It took him a long time to contrast the family portrait erased from his memory with the current present.
Were they like that?
Bianca looked at them unblinkingly.
A few decades have passed. In her past life, Bianca hadn't seen her father or her brother since she got married. She only received two letters. They were the obituary of her older brother Johaseng and her father Gustave.
Despite Gustave's death, Bianca didn't fully understand his death. Because he was a father she didn't see often anyway, and couldn't even remember. Although she shed tears of regret over his death, she did not easily realize what had changed at that moment.
It was in that last moment when she was expelled from the Arno family that she realized the power of Gustave's existence. What a strong fence her father was, if he had been alive, they wouldn't have thrown her like that, but if he were alive, there would be….
But it was a useless lament. There was no one left to protect her, and she had to bear the karma for her mistakes. What she realized was that she had to move on her own.
Bianca's gaze was fixed on Gustave, Count Blanchefort. At that time, he was a father for whom she desperately cried out for his existence, but in the end it was no use. More senile than he remembered in his memory, he stood up in astonishment when Bianca entered the room.
— Bianca.
—…Long time no see, father, brother.
“You grew up very well. You look like your mother.
—………
At Gustave's sweet and yearning tone, Bianca closed her mouth, not knowing what to say. The father she knew was not like that. Resolute, strict, and fully adhering to the dignity and manners of a noble.
And she raised her daughter to do the same.
Zachary tried to leave for the sake of the family reunion. But as soon as he tried to push her hand away from her, Bianca flinched and squeezed it. Startled, Zachary looked at Bianca.
Bianca's profile was terribly cold. It seemed to be an unconscious reaction that she herself didn't notice. In the end, Zachary stood tall in the reception room, accompanying Bianca, and watched the Blanchefort family reunion.
"Y-you seem shy because we haven't seen each other in a long time."
It was Count Blanchefort who was quite taken aback to see Bianca, who could not speak easily. In politics, he never showed a wavering figure, he was a faceless man like a sword, but he seemed strangely nervous. It was like looking at Bianca.
At the time of the marriage, she was a child, but she may have difficulties with her adult daughter, who had become a full-fledged adult.
It was also difficult for Bianca.
They weren't even a warm father and daughter in the first place, but at the time of their last meeting, each and every strict word Gustave had said to her was still like a shackle.
"Is Count Arno kind to you?"
-… Yes.
"Then why do you look so shy?" Your face is pale.
—…..
So Gustave's worrying questions were a burden.
Are you really worried?
Bianca's heart filled with the sound of harsh rebuttals.
Gustave, unaware of this, added as if to appease Bianca.
“I got a message that your babysitter is dead. It must have been very heartbreaking.
—…….
“Still, this father is glad you put up with it well and didn't say you'd come back.
At that moment, something exploded inside Bianca. It was as if a knife had been plunged into the heart of a pig and her blood had rushed to her head.
Bianca's eyes glittered dangerously. Venom gushed from her lips, which she had held tight until now and had made no sound.
“You didn't let me back in the first place.
“…Bianca.
"You never wanted me back!" You are now Arno. Think of dying in Arno! That's what you said!
It started as a quiet, whispering voice that ended in a piercing scream.
His large light green eyes shone without a drop of water.
Bianca unknowingly shook hands with Zachary. It was a grip like the flapping of a chick's wings that Zachary didn't even feel. However, in her desperate grip on him, he felt a strong stigma-like heat that he couldn't shake off.
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