There is no happy ending

******.

Although she often ‘pretended’ to be weak to alcohol when dealing with people in society…… Bianca was not weak to alcohol. People in the north drank heavily to combat the chill air of the north, and so did her ancestors.

Bianca’s ancestors had done the same, and she had inherited her constitution from them, which meant that she was able to look at her body objectively and not be swayed by alcohol, so her mind was the clearest when she drank.

After returning to her lodgings and greeting Rayman at the door of her room, Bianca walked neatly to her chair. There was no sign of the ruined clothes she’d draped across the chair before leaving. Bianca guessed that either the staff or Jade must have abandoned him.

She’d wasted too much time today: buying clothes, meeting with the counselor, eating…….

‘Not bad.

It wasn’t bad. It was quite enjoyable. But pleasure aside, she had a job to do. Bianca was clear about the priorities of what I had to do, and it wasn’t her cup of tea to waste time on such things.

She had to go to Volona. She had to get into Volona, and she had to come back with Volona’s name. Bianca wanted things to get better, not worse. It was better to prepare for the future than to dwell on pleasures that would not last forever. Bianca finished the book she had been reading in the carriage.

It was at this point that Bianca was concentrating on her studies. Bianca was in the middle of a sentence she couldn’t quite understand when a sound interrupted her. It was a knock on the door.

The material of the door is different, but the knocking is familiar. Bianca didn’t have to open the door, or even ask, to know who was standing outside.

‘Come in.’

As Bianca had predicted, Jade walked in quietly.

Jade’s eyes were red. Jade cried a lot, and in that way, she looked just like Eugene, proving they were related. Neither the Marquis nor Bianca had tears in their eyes, but Jade and Eugene did, and it made me think that bloodline was so important. Only Bianca didn’t realize that Jade’s face was so much like Bianca’s the moment she’d left the Duke of Winston’s.

Bianca stopped moving her hand. I didn’t ask him to come here, and he just showed up. I had to listen to what he was going to say. As if to say something, Bianca looked at her and Jade asked.

‘…… Have you eaten?’

‘Yeah.’

It was a terse question like she was trying to gauge something. Bianca blurted out.

‘With that guy.’

Jade didn’t hide her disapproval, which caused Bianca to pull her brows together and raise one eyebrow. Bianca put down her pen and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, which had fallen naturally from looking at her book. Bianca said.

‘I should say ‘he,’ he was my guest.’

Jade corrected her.

‘……I’m sorry, with him.’

‘Why do you have to be so cheeky?’

Bianca’s voice rose at the end. It was a question, but not a statement. A tap, a tap. Her index finger tapped the book, making an odd noise. Jade swallowed hard.

Ever since she’d come to Bannog, …… Jade had become too much of a prude. It was often the case in the capital, but even more so now that she was out of the Marquis’ sight. The Marquis and his wife were frightening, and she wondered if she hadn’t seen them since she was a baby. That was not Bianca’s cup of tea.

Bianca disliked the impudent commoners. She hated insolent servants even more. Bianca set her jaw.

‘How far do you want me to go?’

Bianca had already cut Jade a lot of slack. Jade should know. It’s in the Morning’s blood to not treat people like people.

‘Answer.’

‘……Sorry, miss.’

Bianca never spanked Jade. Not because she cared for him, but more because she didn’t want to use her power on him. The mere sight of Eugene’s likeness made her nauseous. Then again, maybe Bianca was too easygoing.

Bianca threw the book at Jade. The book hit Jade on the head with a heavy thud. Blood trickled down Jade’s forehead from the corner of the book. Bianca, however, was unmoved.

‘I asked you why I was taking you to Volona.’

‘…….’

‘It is not because I consider you family, or because I consider you a loyal servant, or because I care for you.’

‘……I apologize.’

‘Because other things can leave Moening at will, but you can’t.’

The things that bothered Jade the most came out of Bianca’s mouth.

‘You can’t live anywhere else, and you’re all that is left of the Morning. You belong to my family, from your tiny body to your life, and that’s why I brought you here, not some other bastard who might see an opportunity to take advantage and run.

Because you’re not worthy of life outside of Morning,’ Bianca’s words stabbed Jade in the heart. Jade grimaced.

Bianca was right. Jade can’t live outside of Morning. His life will always be at the will of Morning. The Marquis didn’t want Jade’s existence, or the blood in him, to end.

But even so, that was a cruel thing to say. Jade closed her eyes. She could feel the sticky blood trickling down her cheeks and dripping from her chin.

‘You keep creeping up on that topic…… and making people angry.’

It was a long time ago. There was a man and a woman who were madly in love. Theirs was a love story, and it came to fruition. They were the Marquis and Lady Morning.

But that’s not where their story ended. Unfortunately, the wife was barren. The family elders and courtiers talked of disowning the marquise. They couldn’t tolerate an infertile wife in a family that valued bloodlines.

The Marquis loved her dearly. She was a tyrant, but a very loving one. With her permission, he found a surrogate mother who looked like her and had her give birth to two children.

The first child did not resemble the Marquis, and the second barely resembled him. The child who did not resemble the Marquis did not receive a name. The child who did look like the Marquis was named Eugene. It’s a disgusting story.

And the child who didn’t look like the Marquis, who didn’t become Morning and didn’t even get a name, was Jade. Even the name Jade had been given to him by a nursing mother who took pity on him. Bianca knew that well.

Jade wanted to cry a little, but she didn’t. Bianca has no sympathy for other people’s tears. She doesn’t have compassion. No one else matters to Bianca.

But it’s eight, eight, eight, eight, so I can’t help it. Without wiping away the blood, Jade asked.

‘Am I wrong to be worried about you, about you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Is it wrong for me to worry about you getting hurt?’

‘Wrong.’

‘Is it wrong that you’re the only thing that matters to me?’

Bianca wrinkled her nose. She had that look whenever she couldn’t stand the disgust.

‘Because you’re not worth anything to me. Why don’t you know that?’

‘He looks like the Duke of Winston.’

Jade knew very well that the words would only make Bianca angrier, but her words hurt so much, and she was saddened that her concerns were not reaching Bianca, that Bianca had no intention of hearing why she was worried.

Bianca’s face flushed red, like someone who has been grievously insulted.

‘And yet I’m wrong to worry about you?’

‘You!’

‘What’s wrong with me worrying about you, when I know how you saw Duke Winston, and I know you’re here because of him! What’s wrong with me worrying about you, when you disappeared without a word and reappeared with someone who looks like Duke Winston? What’s wrong with being cautious, because someone who never cried cried!’

Bianca jumped to her feet. The chair, unable to overcome the recoil, flipped backward with a loud clatter. Bianca picked up the pen, still on the table, and threw it. Unlike the book, the pen couldn’t hurt Jade.

‘Don’t you dare say that?’

Bianca’s green eyes flashed as she spoke with broken indifference. Finally, Bianca was furious. Bianca curled her trembling hands into tight fists.

‘Rayman doesn’t even look like Bliss.’

‘…….’

‘I don’t think of Bliss Winston anymore.’

Bianca thought her anger was justified. Jade thought…… well. I’ll remain silent on this.

Jade was right. There was a subtle resemblance between Rayman’s and Bliss’s faces, but Rayman was not Bliss. Bliss’s eyes, which looked gold in the sunlight, and Rayman’s, which were clear and golden, were not alike at all.

And Bianca wasn’t thinking of Bliss. She was still consciously blocking out thoughts of Bliss, but she would soon stop thinking about her forever. She would. She had to.

‘If you ever say that shit again, I’m going to cut out your tongue.’

‘…….’

‘Fuck off!’

Bianca shouted. Jade had a lot of things he wanted to say, but he didn’t. He bowed low to Bianca and left the room. A few drops of blood on the floor proved that Jade had been there.

Inside the room where Jade had left, Bianca bit her lower lip and raged for a long time.

As she walked away, escorted by Rayman, …… Bianca had hoped that during her stay in Bannog, she would see Rayman again. Vaguely, she had.

I mean, why would she do that?

Could Bianca Morning completely drop Bliss Winston for that reason? Could she tell Jade in no uncertain terms? Bianca couldn’t. Damn it, she couldn’t.

‘Rayman doesn’t look like Bliss.

It was also a kind of wish.

The conversation with Jade had stuck to Bianca’s insides like sticky tar, growing frustration.

Perhaps because she couldn’t get rid of it, Bianca didn’t enjoy the sun, sea, and wind of Bannog.

Perhaps because she couldn’t shake off her frustration, Bianca stayed cooped up in her accommodation instead of enjoying the sun, sea, and breeze of Banog. Her outings consisted of lunch and a walk of half an hour.

Thankfully, Rayman, whom she was sure she would meet again, never came into contact with Bianca during her stay in Banog.

‘The first time is coincidence, the second time is fate, and the third time is destiny.

Rayman drew the line at coincidence. Bianca received that line. Neither was willing to cross the line, so it was never extended.

Besides, coincidences don’t happen that often.

Funnily enough, Bianca realized that she was secretly hoping for more coincidences.

At first, it was a mild annoyance. But it didn’t take long for Bianca to realize that she had been harboring a secret expectation, which made her feel even more uncontrollable.

She’d never doubted her feelings, but she couldn’t deny that Rayman resembled Bliss, and she had a nagging doubt. She wondered if she hadn’t completely forgotten Bliss.

The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable Bianca became because I couldn’t deny Jade’s words that I wasn’t even human.

I knew that if Jade found out, she’d say something like, ‘That’s why I said I was worried…….’ and pretend to be my brother. That would have been very hurtful and humiliating.

Still, Bianca believed that the unpleasantness would go away once she boarded the boat to Volona. Bianca was not one to believe in coincidence or fate.

Rayman’s accent was a little off, but he seemed very familiar with the geography of Bannog, and he knew many people in Bannog, so he must have been here a long time. Bannog had its fair share of immigrants, and he might have been one of them.

‘Once I get on the ship, I’ll never see him again.

Bianca thought.

Time very quickly. Three days was a blink of an eye compared to the carriage ride. The day came when Bianca boarded the ship for Bologna.

It would be a strange and unusual experience for a while, but things would soon return to normal. Bianca took a carriage to the harbor.