There is no happy ending

EPISODE:2.2
The Count acted as if nothing had happened, but Bianca couldn’t wipe the agitation from her face.
Her gaze kept drifting to Eris and the other princesses against the wall, and to Bliss, who was chatting with a group of men.
Eventually, she had to admit it. They, and what she said, bothered her like crazy, and she couldn’t concentrate on anything else.
Bianca wanted to hear from Bliss right now, somehow, to say no, to see her face, to hear her answer, to be reassured.
Soon enough, the music ended. Bianca exchanged a modest smile with the Count and walked away, then quickly turned to Bliss.
The crowd’s eyes shifted once more.
‘……Bliss.’
Something about my voice is unfamiliar, Bianca thought.
No, it wasn’t just my voice that was unfamiliar; my hand holding his was unfamiliar, as was the look on his face as he looked back at me with his usual expression.
Unable to handle it, Bianca couldn’t help but look pleading.
Whenever she looked at Bliss longingly, Bliss was very aware of her intentions. Bliss took Bianca’s hand very gently, as if he was handling something precious, and tucked her hair behind her ear.
‘……You’re tensed, Bianca.’
‘Bliss.’
‘Tell me.’
‘Let’s go to our terrace. I want to rest.’
Bianca’s voice was fragile,
People were more easily swayed when a seemingly strong person showed a vulnerable side than when a seemingly weak person became strong.
Bianca had a pointed face that could stab you if you touched it, and she was overly flamboyant, so it was appropriate to act now.
Bliss nodded and followed her to the terrace. Eris, watching the two of them from the distance, fell silent at the affectionate scene.
***
As soon as they were inside the terrace, Bliss drew the curtains. As soon as the others were out of sight, he asked as if he’d been waiting.
‘What happened.’
The name that has adorned their names up to now is Couple of the Century. But there was no love in Bliss’s eyes as he looked at Bianca, unbecoming of the word.
Rather, it was so cold it could freeze a man to the core.
Bianca tried to ignore the thumping of her heart. There had to be a purpose, she thought, but she couldn’t ignore the rush of emotion that came with Bliss’s words.
She didn’t like to let her emotions get the best of her, but that didn’t mean she was going to listen to anything that offended her.
‘We’re still in the ballroom, Bliss.’
‘I know. So what do you want?’
Normally, Bliss would have changed his tone in an instant, and knowing his usual behavior, it was even harder to believe.
Bianca let out a small giggle, then spoke with a hint of irritation in her voice.
‘This is the second time I’m telling you to “pretend to be in love” since we’re …… in a ballroom.’
Ah, we may have to do this again.
Bliss and Bianca were alike.
They were the most important thing to each other, their names were the most important thing to each other, the light they would leave behind was the most important thing to each other, and so they needed the things that would make them shine the brightest.
This means that they never looked at each other with eyes that were truly full of love.
The envied couple of the century, the couple of the century, is a window couple…… in the best sense of the word.
Bianca had to ask Bliss. There was a reason for all this behavior, and it was something that had been bothering her all this time.
‘Are these rumors true?’
Bliss paused for a moment at the question, which had come up between them a few days ago and hadn’t come up again since.
Bianca’s eyes went cold. She continued.
‘I don’t think it’s true,’ she said, ‘because if it was true, this ridiculous scandal wouldn’t have reached my ears, I wouldn’t have been offended, and you wouldn’t have treated me like this.’
There was no physical evidence, but the psychology was firmly in place.
Bianca thought I knew Bliss very well, and at the same time, she was confident that she couldn’t be far wrong.
For six years, I had been acting with one goal in mind. She didn’t want to look like anyone else, so she put on a very convincing front. To do that, they had to get to know each other.
So Bianca tried to get to know Bliss, a lot, a lot. This is not the Bliss I knew. Maybe Eris was right.
‘……I’m asking you one last time, Bliss Winston. Don’t be funny.’
‘…….’
‘Did you lock eyes with some chick, and now you’re acting like this to me?’
It was a question, but there was no doubt about it.
There was only complete certainty. Along with Bianca’s will, it would be better to say it plainly.
It was a question, but it wasn’t a question; it came from a place of knowing with absolute certainty what she had to say and the answer she had to hear.
As much as Bianca knew, Bliss needed to know. She couldn’t forget. The roles they had been given and the ties that bound them together.
‘I’m sure you haven’t forgotten our contract, Bliss.’
For some reason, pronouncing the word contract was not easy. It felt like it was choking her. Bianca chewed the flesh in her mouth when she finally spoke.
She wanted to bite her lip, but that would smudge the make-up on her lips. Bianca had to be impeccable in front of others.
That’s what she was raised to do, that’s what she lived for. She didn’t want to be disheveled.
The scent of metal lingered in her mouth. Bianca swallowed the blood with her saliva.
Bliss, unaware of the state of Bianca’s mouth, looked at her, still cold and …… unsure of what she was thinking.
And then he asked.
‘……Is it important?’
There was no denial in that short question; it was a kind of affirmation.
Bianca’s fists clenched at Bliss’s words.
‘Yes, it does. It’s important. Didn’t you remember to be loyal to me?’
‘Is it necessary to be so faithful?’
Answering a question with a question is not Bianca’s favorite way of speaking.
The feeling of a blade cutting across her chest was an illusion. It had to be.
‘You can come to my office anytime, and I’ll come when you call.’
‘…….’
‘You’ve got all these wonderful things in your hands that other people can’t hold onto in a lifetime, and they’re always swinging them to and fro in your hands. What do you lack, at least one person?’
That’s enough, Bliss said, as if he’d done his job.
Bliss wasn’t wrong; there were plenty of people who thought Bianca was loved.
But for Bianca, it wasn’t enough. She couldn’t be satisfied with that; she needed something more, something more precious, and only then would she be satisfied.
But Bliss, as if she didn’t know that, chastised her.
‘It’s just a rumor.’
……He shouldn’t have come out like that.
Bianca was momentarily at a loss for words. She couldn’t think of anything to say, so she blurted out something that sounded stupid even to her.
‘Then we should have at least coordinated our outfits for the ball.’
I swallowed my retort, feeling like I’d look like a fool if I said anything else.
The red gown draped meticulously over Bianca’s petite frame, stretching gorgeously in comparison to her petite frame.
Imported from a kingdom renowned for its silk, embroidered with gold thread, and adorned with jewels, the dress could have cost a small castle.
Nevertheless, Bianca couldn’t bring herself to like it. The red color, she had often thought, looked unnecessarily frivolous…….
She had a question to ask.
‘Do you even know that I don’t like red? Do you even know what colors I like, what I want?
Same thing.
But Bianca didn’t ask, because she felt like it would be mean.
Bianca doesn’t want to be tacky. It was many times easier to bite her tongue and go out and get fucked than to do that.
But those thoughts had nothing to do with Bliss. Bliss wasn’t Bianca, so he didn’t knew her.
All that mattered to him was that he was, right now, excessively unpleasant.
Bliss narrowed his eyes at Bianca’s next words. The woman in front of me, Bliss thought, was crossing the line.
Bianca was too greedy and too perfect. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the drive for perfection, and there were times when she thought she was a little like that.
But to turn it into a blade and point it at herself, well, there’s no choice. If anything, he preferred that to being left hanging like a corpse. But crawling was something he couldn’t accept.
Bliss, grimly, brought up something Bianca had been pretending not to know.
‘This wouldn’t be the first time.’
It was a warning, a reminder not to cross the line.
And it was. This wasn’t the first time Bliss had seen another woman. During their six-year engagement, Bliss would often see other women.
Casual one-night stands, not romantic relationships. Sometimes they were mutually compatible, but most of the time they were short-lived.