C70
It was rare for Bianca to show her emotions so openly.
At the content, Zachary's eyes widened.
Bianca's face flushed.
when he realized what he had said belatedly. The hand that had been holding Zachary's arm tightly lost its strength and his body swayed.
Zachary, who was nearby, supported her. Bianca took a deep breath in Zachary's arms and squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered 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."
With the current situation, Zachary could wield unbridled power over Bianca. To that extent, the place where Gustave led Bianca was nothing short of a cliff.
Blaming herself for making a foolish decision in the heat of the moment, Bianca shuddered.
—Bianca….
Gustave stared at Bianca, speechless, panting in Zachary's arms.
She didn't even know her daughter thought that. No. That was her own delusion. She said that so that her daughter would think that…
What she didn't know was how well her 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 she thought. So, even in a situation where any other child would have run away crying, she persevered and stifled the sadness from her heart.
Gustave had been so serious that Bianca had been fooled into thinking that she couldn't return home from an unknown place. The only adult who took care of Bianca was her babysitter Jean from her. No matter how small a child is, she would quickly slip out of sight if she insisted that she wanted to go home every day.
But a year passed, and then two. Bianca did not contact him even after receiving Ella Jean's babysitter's obituary from her.
“I should have looked for Bianca first….”
But it was already too late, and Gustave's courage was lost.
The foolish choices of the past had come back like a boomerang and penetrated Gustave's heart.
His daughter's eyes were staring at him.
She let out a pitiful moan at the hostility in his eyes, which resembled those of her mother, who had died prematurely.
And Bianca's older brother, Johaseng, felt just as guilty as their 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 do well.
It was a vague and complacent thought. Because it was convenient to think that way. Because he had nothing to worry about. The absence of bad 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 a piece of cake was taken from her was nowhere to be found.
Bianca's anger was passionate, but at the same time cold and sharp as refined ice.
Only her light green eyes sparkled.
When he realized that he had neglected her until now, Johaseng's heart ached. Unable to look at her younger sister, she directed her gaze to the ground.
Bianca's heart was shaken by the tragic sight of the two Blancheforts.
It's been so long since she saw them, 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 watched them moan like a pair of sinners in front of her. Bianca squeezed her eyes shut to keep from crying. Her eyes were teary.
"I wanted to tell you to come back any minute." But I wanted you to fit in well with the Arno family... that's why I was insensitive.
Gustave opened his mouth with difficulty. There was nothing he had to do to make Bianca, who stood before him, more aristocratic than anyone else.
If I had known it would grow up so well, I wouldn't have been so insensitive.
It was too late to repent.
All he could do was do his best to undo what had already been distorted.
"I shouldn't have, you were a good girl."
Gustave laughed awkwardly. The wrinkles at the sides of the corners of his lips showed the passage of time. It was an insignificant smile. Very ordinary.
But at that moment, Bianca remembered her father, who left without even seeing her face.
“My father was worried about me back then? Did they think I'd do just fine on my own, like they do now?"
In the past, Bianca didn't really care, even if her father was indifferent.
Although it hurt him that she told him not to return to Blanchefort, he heard and understood from Jean that the union between nobles was like that.
So even though she didn't meet them, she was satisfied just hearing the rumor that he was still there.
So it was.
Although Bianca in the past had been kicked out by her father, as if she had been sold to Arno, she loved her family.
Bianca's heart sank. Fragments of the past that she had worked so hard to cover up were revealed.
They haven't seen each other for a long time. Meanwhile, all they could do was build up all sorts of emotions. Especially Bianca. Didn't he have to put up with her deaths? Transmitted by mail, she could only look at him from afar.
Bianca's older brother, Johaseng, died on the battlefield, and Gustave carried his elderly body onto the battlefield. For revenge? Or why he gave up?
Gustave was a man who was not familiar with the battlefield as he was an official from the day of his birth. His decision to go to the battlefield was equivalent to his decision to follow in Johaseng's footsteps.
If Gustave had really thought about
Bianca, she would not have gone to the battlefield so easily. He should have known how Bianca, who was left alone after her death, would have been dragged to her death in a place where there was no force to protect her, if she was a wise and intelligent father, she should have known.
It wasn't just that Bianca was angry with Count Blanchefort. Everything she had piled up shook her.
There was no place to return to, no affection in the Arno territory. Since she was so lonely, she fell even more in love with Fernand.
Let's rule the Blanchefort estate with our beloved Fernand. That was Bianca's only hope.
-… me
The voice that came out of Bianca's mouth was weak, but everyone in the room focused on her.
Bianca's eyes went blank and she lost focus. She herself couldn't make up her mind, and her confusion was obvious.
Like a reed swaying in the wind, her heart wandered aimlessly between anger and joy.
Meanwhile, the words that inadvertently flowed out must have been his true feelings that he has hidden until now.
-I missed you. It is just that….
—Bianca….
The tears she'd been fighting to hold back spilled down her cheeks like a crumbling dam. Bianca's auburn hair fell down her thin neck.
Count Gustave approached Bianca and opened his arms to her. Bianca sobbed in her arms.
Johaseng also approached them. His face was also covered with tears.
It didn't take many words to accept and understand each other. There are many things that can be solved with words, but there are times when words are unnecessary.
Like right now.
* * *
Zachary watched from afar as Bianca and the Blancheforts cleared up their misunderstandings.
Zachary, who could somewhat understand how they suffered as a family, was now relieved by this result.
He never thought that Bianca had been pushed towards him so coldly. 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 he accepted Count Blanchefort and corrected the mistakes of the past.
But at the same time, for some reason, one side of his heart began to beat strangely.
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