There is no happy ending

Seeing Bianca’s speechless face for a moment, Bliss asked, urging an answer.

‘What do you want to do?’

Bianca wanted me to answer. I’d lived so many years on my feet that I couldn’t answer easily.

Bianca clamped her mouth shut and looked at Bliss, then removed her hands from the desk. Stretching her back, she replied with a hint of frustration in her voice.

‘…… Okay. I’ll come back another time, then.’

Better to take a step back than to hang on.

‘Okay.’

Bliss replied moderately. As if Bianca’s feelings were of no concern to him.

I don’t like the look of it. But she couldn’t blame him. Being ugly was worse than being dead.

Bianca bit her lower lip and nodded, then turned and walked out of Winston’s ducal chamber faster than she had entered it.

The feeling that something was up only seemed to grow stronger. Before she climbed into the carriage in front of the palace, Bianca turned to her escort.

‘I want you to do a background check on …… Bliss, what he does outside of the manor, what he sees, especially if there are any women.’

Thump. as you want lady!

Bianca’s heart made an uneasy noise.

Maybe, Bianca Moening, shouldn’t have given that order.

***

Several more days passed.

Unsurprisingly, the investigation had made little progress.

Most of Bliss’s encounters were as uneventful as the pods themselves. The messages she received were clean enough to make her wonder if nothing had happened.

Bianca was confused for a moment.

Bliss dismissed the rumors as bullshit.

Bianca knew. There had been rumors that she was pregnant during one of her trips.

Knowing this, she felt rather foolish for continuing to accept the tracking results.

‘I don’t mean stupid, I mean stupid…….’

Bianca muttered softly and squeezed her hand. The end of the paper in her hand crumpled.

The only reason it didn’t crumple completely was because she still had a shred of sanity left.

Then she thought of all the things Bliss had done for her that she took for granted.

Sweet kisses in public, whispered words of love, beautiful jewelry that not even a king of a kingdom could afford, and always putting Bianca first, no matter what.

Yes, Bliss was that kind of man. That’s who he was.

He may not be the man everyone else knows, and he may be a bit of a grave, but he is the most loyal man to Bianca.

‘Yeah……. I suppose a vision is a vision.

Bianca barely managed to loosen her grip on the crumpled document.

It contained a brief account of Bliss’s day and the people he met, and she held it up to the candle.

The flame caught the end of the document. Soon, with the smell of burning paper, the document containing his itinerary was reduced to ash.

Bianca had to think of something else. She wasn’t going to be swayed by such a ridiculous rumor. She had much to do, and much to come.

Other things mattered.

She had many goals and ambitions. She didn’t have time to waste on rumors that her fiancé was cheating on her, nor should she. If you let your guard down, others will take advantage.

As much as Bianca deserved the name Moening, there was much more to come. It was only natural.

The lush, dark auburn hair, and the contrasting, piercing green eyes underneath that could cut you if you touched them. The gorgeous looks, and a backside that would be the envy of anyone.

The center of the social circle, the next generation of socialites, is the brightest flower in the social circle. That was Bianca.

Bianca had to be the brightest. She had to be the brightest flower of the social circle, the center of the next generation of Falbons.

To do that, she had to get her head straight.

She looked at the invitation on my desk. Among the many invitations, one stood out.

A shilling, stamped with the royal sigil on gilded paper.

It was an invitation to a royal ball.

It was the beginning of spring. Provincial nobles flocked to the central capital to attend parliament. It was also the perfect time for socialites to kick off the social season.

The royal balls at the beginning of spring were the social season’s opening balls, and they were especially large because they were where all the debutantes of the year gathered to play the debutante ball and get their eyes stamped unless there were special circumstances, which is why they were so important to Bianca.

‘I’ll use this to put the rumors to rest.’

Bianca picked up the invitation. Her grip was far from delicate. Despite the sentence announcing the social season, her eyes were unmoved.

No wonder. For Bianca, everything is a means to an end, a way to put herself above others. Heck, she even sees herself as a means to an end.

A sentence announcing the social season was no different than a call to arms for her to go to war.

To her, even the royal balls were something to be exploited, not enjoyed.

‘How do I silence the rumors…….’

A matching dress and robes would be quite appropriate.

In social circles, women are the flowers and men are the picture frames. Since it was the men’s outfits that complemented the women’s matching dresses, I thought it would be appropriate for them to match and look like one piece.

Or, if not that, I could match the accessories like a wedding set, and wear the Alexandrite jewelry I’d just been gifted.

The necklace and earrings came in a pair, and I was told that the set cost the same as a small kingdom’s worth of land.

Unless it’s something that’s a bit of an eyesore, I’ll recognize it and keep my mouth shut.

Bianca grabbed her bell, which was lying quietly on her desk, and shook it. Call Bliss, call the designer……. There was so much to do.

Soon enough, the maid cautiously opened the door and entered. Hearing the door open, Bianca spoke without looking in their direction.

‘Tell Bliss to come straight to the Moening Mansion, I’m looking for him.’

Bianca did not doubt that Bliss would come straight to her.

That was the way Bliss had always treated her, and it was the one rule between them.

But some time passes, and Bliss replies that he is ‘busy’.

Bianca’s letter had a brief, impersonal sentence on the back, and the look on the servant’s face as he delivered it was one of embarrassment.

Bianca thought she could hear Eris’s voice echoing in her ears once more.

My head feels dizzy, and I wonder if this is a sensation I shouldn't be feeling.

Ah…….

She wished she'd poured tea over her face instead of Eris Drian's dress, then she'd have been liable for a hefty bill, but she wouldn't have felt this sick to her stomach.

Bianca leaned deeper into her chair, rubbing her brow. Her throat felt tight and nauseous as if it had been stuck in a knot. It was the second vision.

Bliss Winston, are you?

Are you…….

Bianca, a question rose in her throat, but she swallowed hard.

It felt like something would break if she said it out loud.

Sitting alone in a large room was nothing new to her, but somehow it was strange and scary at the same time.