Since the Marquis of Castana had decided to deliver the contracted amount directly to the Duke of Estel later, there was virtually no reason to remain here.
At my words, I noticed an earthquake in Bianca’s pupils, as if she had never imagined I would respond like this.
“Engagement? We were supposed to have an engagement ceremony. But we couldn’t even have a proper one because of the raid. And now, you’re saying you’re going back to the Duchy of Estel?”
“Eh…? Wasn’t the engagement ceremony just a pretext to catch them? Now that the purpose has been achieved, I don’t see the need for such theatrics.”
My answer made Bianca’s breath quicken. It seemed like she was gradually losing her composure over my indifferent response.
From my experience on expeditions, I could tell she was on the verge of an explosive outburst. It was a precursor to great anger. Seeing that, I glanced at Aria, who stood beside me. If Bianca went mad and tried to attack me, Aria was my only hope.
“Then, what about when you declared in front of everyone that you loved me? What was that?”
“…That was a situation where I had no choice but to say it. They asked why we got engaged, and I couldn’t exactly say it was due to a contractual relationship.”
“…..”
Suddenly, Bianca’s erratic breathing stopped. I could sense that something inside her had crossed a critical threshold.
“…So, what about when you said you wouldn’t leave me alone? When you promised to always be by my side?”
“…..”
It was only then that I realized things were going off course. I could sense that Bianca had become a little too immersed in this ‘false engagement’ charade. Or perhaps something I said at that time had struck a chord with her.
“Bianca.”
“…Huh? What is it?”
When I looked at her with serious eyes, she stared back at me, her expression confused, as if she had regressed to childhood. For some reason, her appearance evoked nostalgia in me.
But that was all. I slowly shook my head, drawing a conclusion.
“You know it well. Stories like the one between Estel’s descendant and Castana’s descendant—where they fall in love—are just that, stories. It doesn’t happen in real life.”
“…What?”
Bianca’s face hardened at my remark. But I continued speaking, indifferent to her reaction.
“To be honest, I’m not sure what you’re thinking right now, but it’s clear you’ve taken this false engagement quite seriously. So, there’s only one thing I can say.”
“What?”
“I think you were just dreaming, Bianca.”
At my words, her eyes shimmered as though something inside her was about to overflow.
Looking at her, I fought to deny the assumptions forming in my mind. Bianca del Castana was meant to remain an enigma to me, forever beyond my understanding.
“…A dream?” Bianca asked in a mournful voice.
“Yes, a dream. You were just dreaming. And when you wake up, it will be the kind of dream you forget entirely.”
Bianca’s hands trembled softly at my words.
“…Was it all a lie?”
“What?”
“That time, you said it in front of my grandfather. You said it in front of everyone. You said you made a promise to me when we were young. We promised to be together. Was that a lie? To you, was it nothing more than a dream?”
At Bianca’s words, I sighed softly.
“It wasn’t a lie. I meant it sincerely, in my own way.”
“Then why? Why are you doing this? Why?”
“But those were just the silly words of our younger days.”
At my remark, Bianca’s body froze completely.
“Bianca, we are adults now. We’ve become adults who bear too many responsibilities. Why can’t we see that we’re no longer at an age where we can think only of ourselves?”
“…Cain, you…”
“Bianca, I am the future Duke of Estel. It’s my duty to care for all the subjects of the duchy in exchange for the privilege of standing above them. I can’t afford to think only of myself, not when so many call me ‘Young Lord Cain’ and put their trust in me. I can never prioritize my own desires.”
As I said this, I signaled to Aria. She quickly understood and handed me a suitcase that had already been packed. I passed by Bianca, who seemed deeply shocked, and without any hesitation, I left her with these final words.
“Goodbye. To be honest, pretending to be your fiancé wasn’t so bad.”
Bang!
Perhaps due to the strong wind, the door slammed shut with a loud noise.
And with that, everything ended. Perhaps.
****
[Bianca’s POV]
“…..”
For a long time, Bianca stood alone in the empty room, motionless.
She couldn’t think of anything.
No, she simply couldn’t.
Everything that had made her who she was had crumbled away.
In the days that followed, she realized that the happiness she had felt had been a mere illusion.
Yes, she had been proud, believing she had it all, that everything was perfect.
But in truth, it had been nothing more than a dream. A fleeting happiness, like a castle built on sand. An illusion with no real substance, ready to collapse at any moment.
Thud!
She sank to her knees, burying her face in the bed before her. She thought that if she cried any harder, her voice might escape her. Suddenly, she became aware of his lingering presence in the bed sheets. When she came to her senses, she found herself clutching the sheets, inhaling deeply.
“…A crazy fool.”
Even as she cursed herself, her hand wouldn’t let go of the sheets. To her, they were irreplaceable treasures, simply because they carried his scent.
“…Ah…”
As she inhaled, her longing for him only intensified.
At that moment, Bianca realized something. She realized that she, as a woman, could not live without him. That after tasting the happiness of being with him, she could never return to a life without him.
But at the same time, she hated him. She hated him more than she ever had when they were reunited after ten years.
He had denied it all. He had dismissed their precious childhood memories as ‘insignificant’. Memories that, to her, had been irreplaceable had been trampled on, buried in the mud by his own hand.
He was running away from her. Running away from everything they had shared. The thought of him abandoning her and meeting another woman made her vision blur with rage. Her fingertips trembled with hatred and fury.
Once again, he had been taken from her. Stolen by Sarah Cernard, stolen by the women of the expedition, stolen by that white-haired woman. She had never had him all to herself. Not once. Not in the past, not now, not ever.
Hate. Hate. Hate.
She hated it all now. She hated herself, her life, and the other women who had so easily taken him from her. She wanted him to look only at her. To love only her. She wanted to bear his child. In the end, she wanted the two of them to be happy.
For a moment, a thought crossed her mind. A thought that always led to the worst assumptions, a thought she had vowed never to act on.
“…The answer was simple all along.”
Bianca’s mouth twisted into a strange smile. She let out a broken giggle, then smiled brightly as if she had found the answer.
“This time, I just need to make sure he never runs away, right?”
Goblin: Want to read more? Become a IPUAW Level 1 patron at Patreon, and you will get Two Advance Chapters (4 chapter parts) immediately for only $5 a month and you will stay 4 chapter parts ahead of the regular release for the month.
You can also become a Supreme Patron for $30 a month to access all the advanced chapters of all the novels on Goblinslate! You can support me by sponsoring chapters at BuymeaCoffee. Please turn off your a*dbl0cker to support the translations. A little support can help me a lot!