Chapter 13
#13
“Ricardo.”
I swallowed the anger that had risen to my throat and called his name.
I was planning to unleash the nastiest words I could muster at Ricardo, who had been ignoring me without my even realizing it.
At the very least, I was going to say something that would make him never think of me that way again.
“Bianca.”
He called my name, taking advantage of the time I was using to organize my thoughts.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you angry.”
I was about to tell him that he hadn’t seen anything yet. I was going to warn him that I was about to get seriously angry with him.
“I feel like I’ve been seeing a lot of different sides of you lately.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Ricardo nodded, oblivious to what I was thinking inside.
Well, then you’re about to see me warn you for the first time…
“It’s new and enjoyable to get to know you.”
Ricardo smiled.
He looked at me, crinkling his eyes, raising the corners of his lips, and smiling.
Brightly.
“Bianca?”
I was staring blankly at his smile. It was the first time he had smiled at me like that.
“Bianca?”
No, it wasn’t the first time. It was a smile I had seen a long time ago.
It was the kind of smile Ricardo had when he was younger, with rounder, brighter eyes, a smile I had definitely seen once before.
A long time ago…
“Are you feeling unwell?”
Ricardo said with a worried expression. His expression, which seemed genuinely concerned for me, made my heart flutter for no reason.
“It would be best to go in early today.”
Ricardo’s hand gently wrapped around my waist.
I was flustered by Ricardo’s escort, which I had never seen before, and left the Marquess of Wensbury’s residence.
It was a very strange feeling.
“Hello, Lord Wendsbury.”
I greeted him with a bright smile.
“Ah, you’ve arrived!”
He was sitting on the sofa in the tea room, and he jumped up in surprise when he heard my voice.
Lord Wendsbury’s only son and the future Marquess of Wendsbury, Reintar, looked exactly like his father in his youth.
As a joke, people said that Reintar’s portrait didn’t need to be repainted; they could just change the name on the portrait of the Marquess of Wendsbury in his youth, and no one would know the difference.
But in my eyes, the young Marquess of Wendsbury and Reintar looked completely different.
Of course, their faces were similar enough that I had laughed when I first heard the joke.
Reintar had the same red hair and deep green eyes as the Marquess of Wendsbury in his youth, as well as a slightly hooked nose and thin lips.
But the Marquess of Wendsbury, who was stubborn, generous, and a famous knight of the empire, and Reintar, who was simply obedient to his father, had completely different auras.
Even though they had the same green eyes, the look in their eyes was completely different, and the image they projected was also completely different.
“Have you been waiting long? I tried to come on time.”
“Ah, no! I came early.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Of course. I never broke a promise.
I always arrived 5 to 10 minutes early for appointments. That was the proper etiquette for a lady who cared about others.
“I was actually a little surprised that Lord Wendsbury asked to see me separately.”
After ordering and exchanging some pleasantries and greetings, I got to the point.
“Ah, well, that’s… I apologize if you misunderstood. I didn’t intend to commit any discourtesy to Bianca, Lord Wincaiser’s fiancée.”
Reintar stammered, his face slightly flushed.
He didn’t seem to realize that saying such things made him seem even more unnatural.
Again, that was another difference between him and his father. The Marquess of Wendsbury would have laughed heartily and immediately moved on to what he wanted to say.
“The thing is, when you came to our family’s ball last time…”
“That ball was very enjoyable. Thank you very much for hosting such a wonderful ball.”
“No, no. What I heard then, and what my father heard, was that you have been very active in charity work lately.”
“I’m embarrassed. It’s not something so grand that it deserves to be talked about.”
In my heart, I was cheering for the rumors to spread far and wide, but on the outside, I wrapped myself in modesty.
At least in aristocratic social circles, the rumors seemed to be quite widespread. I should check to see if the rumors are spreading well among the commoners as well.
“Actually, I was going to tell you then, but I heard you went in early.”
“Yes. I wasn’t feeling well at the time.”
“Oh, dear! Are you alright now? I didn’t know that when I asked to see you.”
Reintar was startled again and didn’t know what to do.
Anyone would think he was a man who didn’t know what to do in front of the woman he liked.
Come to think of it, he was already twenty-five and didn’t have a fiancée.
He had been engaged to a Marquess’s daughter in the past, but I heard that the engagement was broken off for some reason. And he had been alone ever since.
Even though the Wendsbury family was a prestigious family comparable to the Crofort Marquess family, the fact that the position of the future Marchioness was vacant was something that everyone questioned.
Rumor had it that he had a crush on a Marquess’s daughter, but could it be that he still couldn’t forget the Marquess’s daughter he had broken off the engagement with?
“I just felt a little dizzy and went early. I’m fine now.”
I reassured the flustered Reintar and picked up a refreshment as if to show him.
Then Reintar smiled and nodded.
He was a very gentle man.
“Actually, what I’m about to say today… is a bit of an embarrassing story.”
Reintar seemed a little nervous and licked his lips with his tongue.
As if that wasn’t enough, he picked up the glass in front of him and quenched his thirst.
“But because you are a role model, I wanted to tell you this embarrassing story and ask for your help, so I asked to see you.”
Watching Reintar, who was trying to tell the story with an even more nervous expression than before, I smiled gracefully, but in my heart, I was thinking that it was a nuisance.
I didn’t do good deeds to set up a counseling center.
“What I’m about to tell you is… nothing else.”
Even after saying that, Reintar hesitated, as if he didn’t have the courage.
“If it’s difficult for you to say, you can tell me next time…”
“Ah, no! I’ll tell you.”
My plan to escape by promising next time failed.
“Actually, the thing is, there is a illegitimate child in our family.”
I was about to reach for my teacup, thinking that he would hesitate for a long time, but I froze.
What did Reintar just say?
“Oh, please don’t misunderstand. It’s not my child.”
Reintar hurriedly added, looking at me, who was frozen.
I would have welcomed him saying that he had an illegitimate child more than that.
“It seems that my father had a brief… relationship with a woman when he was young.”
Reintar whispered, looking around.
Only then did I realize that he was sitting in the most secluded spot in the tea room.
That was also the reason why he asked to meet at this tea room, not at the Wendsbury Marquess family or the Crofort Marquess family.
Reintar was reluctant for anyone to know this fact.
“Could it be that the woman lied?”
I was very flustered, but I responded to Reintar’s words very calmly.
“Of course, we thought so too. We investigated the woman’s background. My father was once recuperating in the countryside due to an injury when he was young.”
“Oh my, even the valiant Lord Wendsbury had such a thing happen to him.”
Pretending not to know anything, I chimed in with Reintar’s words.
“Yes. And it seems that one of the maids in that area who attended to my father at that time… had that happen.”
Reintar was sweating as he told the story, as if he was having trouble telling it indirectly.
I already knew which region it was and what the maid’s name was, but I just nodded as if I was hearing the serious story for the first time.
“Could it be that the woman lied?”
I spoke of my wish.
If the Wendsbury family judged that the story was false, then the woman named Maria would not have to come to the capital.
“Of course, we investigated that too. But the date the child was born… if you calculate it backwards, it coincides exactly with the time my father was recuperating.”
“I see.”
“We also considered whether it was another man’s seed, but…”
Reintar trailed off. And he let out a small sigh.
Judging from his tone and sigh, it seemed that the Wendsbury Marquess family had already confirmed that she was Lord Wendsbury’s daughter.
“She looks so much like him that it’s impossible to deny.”
“You’ve already… met her.”
Reintar nodded weakly. At that moment, my neck stiffened.
Maria was here.
In a place so close, in the same capital as me, breathing the same air.
“My father is trying to accept the child into the Wendsbury family in the form of adoption. My mother is adamantly opposed, but in the end, it will be as my father wishes.”
“I… see.”
“That’s why I asked to see you today. Although the child, who grew up as a commoner in the countryside, will now be educated in the Wendsbury family, she will still be lacking in many ways.”
“……”
“It’s late, but she will soon be having her Debutante and will be entering society as a member of the Wendsbury family, so I’m worried.”
Reintar was only saying what he wanted to say, leaving me, who was unable to say anything due to the shock of Maria being nearby, in front of him.
“I humbly asked to see you in order to tell the kind and virtuous Bianca about the situation in advance and ask for your help.”
“I see.”
Barely regaining my senses, I barely answered Reintar’s words.
He smiled, thinking that it was a positive answer to his request.
“May I ask you one thing?”
“Of course.”
“That woman… what’s her name?”
Everything was obvious, but I asked with a last glimmer of hope.
“Ah, my half-sister’s name is Maria Bello… ah, no. It will now be Maria Wendsbury.”
Reintar smiled bitterly, and I felt a chill in my neck.
The story was unfolding faithfully as I had seen in the book.
With the ending of my head being cut off.
