There is no happy ending

Speaking as your ex-fiancée, I can tell you that…….’

‘…….’

‘I curse myself for loving you for a moment, so please come to your senses.’

She pushed past him, shoving Bianca Bliss with her hand. Her steps were quick, but her voice was clear.

‘And never let us meet again.’

That was it.

That was all Bianca wanted to say to Bliss and all she intended to say. She didn’t like nastiness.

She would never look back at him again.

Therefore, Bianca did not look at Bliss’s face. How Bliss’s face had fallen……, what Odette’s expression had been, things Bianca didn’t need to know now.

As she walked further and further away from the venue, Bianca’s face grew cold. She could hear herself clicking her tongue.

‘I can’t believe I loved that shit.’

Really…….

If she could go back in time, she wanted to punch herself in the throat for letting her feelings for Bliss Winston get the better of her. For the first time, Bianca regretted her past.

Bianca’s step was light. Disgraced, but okay. It would be okay. It had to be.

Odette would never be able to hold her head high in Falmouth’s social circles. For those who ruined their first social event, a tag would follow them.

Even if she didn’t, she was ‘warned’ by Bianca in front of everyone. Even with Bliss behind her back, few idiots would dare to reach out to her. Morning was no stranger to them.

Bliss would be labeled an idiot for life. An aristocrat who went mad over a commoner woman and threw away his fiancée! Fools don’t get any bigger than that. The glittering name of Winston’s ancestors has been tarnished by generations to come.

Is that all? Today, the faint link between the Winston family and the Morning family will be severed. The Moeingtons were meticulous in their construction, but they were not immune to the vilification of the Moengtons.

Why else would Eugene, a half-Moening, be able to reign in such splendor outside?

Now the nobles must choose between Morning and the glory of Falborn. There were more than a few who would take a stand in the battle of the two houses. The Duke of Winston’s house would suffer no small blow.

Bianca was in a better position than either of them. Bianca has a point and a way to cover up her remaining blemish. A way to cover up the flaw and make it even more glorious.

Of course, It will take work on her part., but she’s done a good job. It’s just a little funny that this is how she decided to do something she’d been putting off for years.

Arriving at the Marquis, Bianca said to the butler.

‘I’m leaving for Bologna directly tomorrow, so get ready.’

The butler’s eyes widened.

***]

To find out who stood out the most at that party, for better or worse, all you had to do was watch people’s mouths.

The queen of the party was always the talk of the town, and in that sense, the queen of this party was undoubtedly Bianca.

Bianca left before the party was over, but her behavior was the talk of the party.

First, Bianca’s dress was on everyone’s lips. Then it was Bianca and Bliss’s breakup. Bianca’s blatant warning to Odette and…… her slap on Bliss’s cheek was like new firewood thrown into a boring social circle.

‘How refreshing to see another side of the Moening Princess.’

‘She could be so angry, I’d forgotten that or something.’

‘Today’s work is soaking wet firewood.’

‘It may not catch fire at once, but it will burn for a long time.’

‘Next time we have a tea party, do you think Princess Moening will come?’

There was also talk of Bliss and Odette, but it didn’t last long. Odette’s quick departure from the ballroom played a part.

Mostly because it was much more fun to laugh at ‘those’ Morning and Winston than to talk about nameless commoners.

Odette, meanwhile, had been alone in a strange silence since Bianca’s departure from the ballroom.

No words were spoken, only Bianca’s words rumbled in her ears. Bianca spoke of love. She spoke of a love she thought she would never have. She spoke of a love that Bliss hadn’t spoken of in a while.

Odette felt her hair grow white.

Odette barely opened her mouth.

‘It says …….’

The hem of her dress crumpled badly in her hands, and Bliss recognized the faint tremor in her voice, the way it quivered at the edges.

Bliss turned to look at Odette, her face contorted. Odette’s eyes met Bliss’s as they stared blankly into space.

Odette’s voice rose a tone. But it was barely a shout. It was an effort.

‘Please let me go back and change my dress, Bliss.’

‘……Yes.’

‘You, too, I’m going to…… sleep at home.’

‘If that’s what you want.’

For a moment, Bliss’s eyes blurred. Odette didn’t miss the moment.

Her face turned as pale as the pale watery dress she wore. But Odette was undaunted.

She simply left the ballroom, escorted by a mechanical Bliss, just as skilfully as she had entered, but not as skilfully as she had entered.

As she climbed into the carriage, Odette wanted to scream in fits and spasms and ask Bliss, ‘Is your fiancée in love with you?

Didn’t you say your fiancée didn’t love you, that there was no love between you, she wanted to ask.

But I couldn’t ask.

I felt like if I asked, something precious would be destroyed. So I just thought to myself.

‘You said there was no …….

Look at Odette’s situation now.

Look at the words Bianca left behind.

Look at Bliss’s face, broken by Bianca’s words.

Can it truly be said that there is no love between them?

Well, I don’t know.

‘If there is no love, he wouldn’t break down like that…….’

If I thought about it any further, I felt like I would accuse Bliss. I felt like I would question him.

Are you sure you love me?

Why do you care about your ex-fiancée, do you love her?

She could almost feel him asking those questions.

Odette desperately pushed the thoughts out of her head; she didn’t want to doubt Bliss after everything that had happened. Still, she believed in the love Bliss had shown her.

Therefore, she desperately feigned calm.

The carriage rattled. The silence that filled the carriage felt like a lump in my throat.

Whether it was the silence or Bianca’s words that bothered her…… a faint headache of unknown origin struck Odette. Odette leaned against Bliss’s shoulder and gently closed her eyes. They were still holding hands.

‘Bliss.’

Odette called out to Bliss softly, her eyes still closed. Half a beat slower, Bliss answered.

‘……Hmm?’

‘……I love you.’

Bliss’s face fell again.

It was a different breakdown than when she’d heard Bianca’s words, but Odette had chosen to close her eyes, as she couldn’t see Bliss’s face.

Bliss looked down into Odette’s face as she leaned against my shoulder, then squeezed Odette’s hand tightly.

‘Yes.’

‘……And you?’

‘Me too.’

For a declaration of love, her voice sounded pained.

But it was genuine. Odette thought so, at least. Even though he hadn’t said it out loud this time, he did, or so she wanted to believe.

Today, each syllable, each word, was heavy, a suffocating weight. Odette could not understand anything anymore.

Odette squinted her eyes. Her thin eyebrows furrowed in a rare frown. A tear rolled down her wine-stained dress. The chill she’d felt in the ballroom melted away.

‘Do you love me?’