There is no happy ending

*******

Before she boarded the ship, Bianca came face to face with a familiar redhead in the harbor. Although her back was turned and her eyes were elsewhere, it was not difficult to make out the long red hair in a tight braid.

Especially since its owner was a tall, well-built man.

It was Rayman.

‘Ray……,’

Bianca unconsciously tried to call his name. I want to meet him, she thought in the back of her mind. But she didn’t finish the sentence.

Jade’s comment about his resemblance to The Duke of Winston has returned to her.

You could call her stubborn, what’s wrong with that? Bianca clamped her mouth shut and climbed aboard.

Pretend not to know, yes. Let’s pretend we don’t know. Pretending was easy after six years of ‘pretending’ to be the couple of the century with Bliss.

If I could hold on for a moment, I would never have to see her again. Even if we did meet in the harbor, we wouldn’t be in the same boat. I didn’t have to be the first to cross the line. I would.

I would.

‘Bianca!’

Bianca tried to pretend she didn’t know Rayman, but Rayman didn’t. He laughed as he called her name.

Bianca was momentarily flustered and didn’t answer. When Bianca didn’t answer, Rayman smirked and strode away, closing the distance between them.

There was a line drawn. There was a line drawn by tacit agreement, but the mere sight of Bianca’s figure had caused him to cross it without realizing it. Or maybe the line didn’t matter to him.

He looked back and forth between Bianca and the nearby boat, his eyes shining.

‘Are you going on this boat too, Bianca?’

Bianca’s ‘too’.

That meant Rayman was also heading to Volona. Bianca’s eyes widened.

‘……You too?’

‘I didn’t realize you were going to Volona, Bianca. I thought it was a coincidence, but it was meant to be.’

Coincidence the first time, fate the second.

Rayman smiled as he said it. He looked like he had just met someone he was “very glad” to see.

‘Are you a graduate student?’

‘No, I’m taking the mid-year entrance exam.’

‘Somehow…… I’ve never heard of anyone like Bianca at the academy. Which undergraduate exams are you taking?’

‘Do I have to tell you?’

‘No, it’s Bianca’s choice.’

She smiled.

In an instant, everything that had been bothering Bianca was cleared up. At the same time, Bianca was sure she hadn’t been wrong. Rayman didn’t look anything like Bliss.

Bliss doesn’t smile like that. Not wrinkle-free. Not sunshiney. Not dazzling. Therefore.

Bianca was going to cherish this bond. Bianca didn’t let go of relationships easily.

Partly because she didn’t know when or where it would benefit her, but for once, she didn’t want to let go.

The boat horn sounded. They boarded the ship one after the other. The sea was very different from the one they had seen while standing on the ground to the one they saw from the deck. Instead of the solidity of land, there was a distinct sensation of water beneath the trees. Above this unfamiliar sensation, Rayman spoke.

‘Bianca, if you’re going to get into Volona…….’

‘?’

‘We’ll probably see each other a lot, won’t we?’

Rayman’s face fills with something I don’t know if it’s joy or delight.

‘So…… we’ll say hello again for that time.’

‘…….’

‘I’m Rayman Oswald, a student of swordsmanship at the Volona Academy. And you, Bianca?’

His greeting was a little different for Bianca, however, as it was a friendly gesture that said something Rayman hadn’t said, and indicated that he hoped to get to know her better in the future. At the sound of his name, Bianca smiled.

A name she hadn’t heard before was added to the face she knew. Oswald. He said his name was Raymond Oswald. One more reason for Bianca not to let him go, and just in time, as she needed a stallion with a good pedigree.

‘Hahaha…….’

Rayman’s eyes narrowed at Bianca’s sudden laughter, not because he didn’t like her, but because he didn’t know why.

Reiman looked at himself.

Did I say something strange, was there something wrong with my greeting? But he’d only eaten a light ham and cheese sandwich today, and there was no way he could have known Bianca was laughing.

‘…….’

A gust of wind blew Bianca’s hair out of her face, momentarily muffling her laughter.

Rayman, who didn’t know why but didn’t hate Bianca’s laughter, tucked her hair behind her ear and said, ‘I can feel it on my fingertips. It felt like silk against his fingertips.

‘You look like you’re having fun.’

‘……because I’m having fun.’

‘May I ask why?’

Bianca’s tone shifted, but Rayman didn’t recognize it.

‘Does it matter why?’

‘It doesn’t, does it?’

‘It does.’

The name Oswald was not unknown to anyone who followed continental affairs.

Some thirty years ago, a short king had been crowned in Britannia, a country in the eastern part of the continent. Having taken the throne from his incompetent father, he was fiercely supported by the people.

He re-established basic laws, reorganized the tax system, and appointed people based on merit. He was indeed a stormy king.

But the little king was not content to rest on his laurels. At the same time, Britannia’s allies were engaged in a war that had been raging for years, beginning with a fishermen’s quarrel. It was a game of chicken, with nothing to gain and everything to lose. The king wasted no time in crushing both nations.

Thus began 20 years of conquest. The little king of Britannia proclaimed himself emperor and received the emperor’s crown from the Holy State. So was the Britannian Empire founded.

Rayman’s Falvonian language was crude and his pronunciation backward, so Bianca assumed he was an immigrant. It was an absurd misconception.

‘But that’s the way it is.

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.

‘Rayman, I’m…….’

Bianca’s hand fumbled near Rayman’s ear, and she grabbed it.”The suddenness of her grip made him flinch.”.

If the first time was a coincidence, and the second time was fate, it was better to cherish fate.

Bianca pulled her hand away and pressed her lips briefly to his hand. It was a little on the sticky side for a greeting. Raymond’s ears flushed. Bianca’s eyes were still smiling.

On the deck of a ship sailing for Bannog, Volona. He could hear the shouts of the men and the cries of the seagulls. The sea breeze is still bitter and disgusting. Not a place for socializing, not a place for impulses.

Bianca whispered.

‘I am Bianca Moening, the Marquess of Moening’s redheaded daughter.’

Raymond was not dull enough to recognize the obvious intent of the flirtation. He was a sturdy young man, after all, and had been in this situation many times before.

But he didn’t pull his hand away from Bianca’s grasp, and he had no reason to. It’s funny to say this to a woman who has a history of slapping me, but I don’t like……. Rayman swallowed dryly.

‘……I know.’

‘Then why didn’t you give me your name?’

Rayman didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at his hand, which was still in Bianca’s grasp.

‘Do you mind if I kiss the back of your hand?’

Oh, look.

One corner of Bianca’s mouth turned up at the sight of the horse turning. She wasn’t turning away because she didn’t want to.

His cheeks, which were slowly flushing, were a testament to his attraction. It would be ridiculous if the only reason he was so red was because of the sun.

Just as Rayman did not shake off Bianca’s hand, she did not refuse his proposal. Bianca nodded. Rayman carefully pressed his lips to the back of Bianca’s hand. His lips trembled slightly, perhaps due to nervousness……. The two of them were still eye to eye.

‘So, what’s your answer?’

‘…….’

‘Why didn’t you give me your name?’

The sound of the sea breeze stole Rayman’s answer. But by the shape of his lips, Bianca recognized his words.

‘I thought you might be disappointed.

And what would he be sorry about? He was probably disappointed that he had nothing to do with Bianca. But why did he think that?

Most people become more cautious when they have high expectations. So was Rayman, for though his fine looks and pedigree were far from ordinary, he was a very ordinary and affectionate man.

As he did not speak aloud, Bianca did not reply aloud. It was an appropriate arrangement. Rayman’s face softened instantly. It was a good answer, not only to close the distance between them but also to close the emotional distance.

What…… can’t be called a very pure result.

Although Bianca may not have realized it, she had set down her morning in front of him. Therefore…… perhaps if Rayman hadn’t been Oswald, their relationship would have taken a more innocent turn.

But Rayman was Oswald, and Bianca sewed Morning’s clothes back on. The maths had worked out: she would never, ever …… put Morning down in front of him again.

But what about that? Bianca had now made herself more important than her love. Bianca had already failed in her love, so she had to be careful. In Bianca’s life, no one could blame her.