Chapter 19
#19
"Ah! That's not what I meant!"
Maria hurriedly added, as if she herself thought what she had said sounded strange.
"I meant that you are someone I want to resemble, someone I want to become."
Maria's hands, which had been frantically waving in the air, were finally placed neatly on the table.
Actually, that was also quite terrible.
I wanted to take her hands off the table and place them neatly on her lap. That was proper table manners, after all.
"You flatter me."
But instead, I chose to ignore her hands and give her an elegant smile.
"Bianca, you are as beautiful and elegant as I've heard. Even your heart is beautiful."
Maria said, her face slightly flushed.
Her hands were fidgeting on the table, as if they didn't know what to do.
Like Lara, who is overjoyed in front of candy.
Is she… sincere?
"I heard you do a lot of charity work."
"Just a little, because I'm personally interested."
I couldn't say that I was doing it because of her.
"Actually, I was a little scared at first. I mean, about meeting a noble Young lady."
"Oh, Maria, you are a wonderful noble Young lady now."
"No. I know it too. I know I'm lacking. I may look presentable dressed up like this, but if you take off the dress, I'm just a commoner girl from the countryside."
Maria knew herself better than I thought.
"I heard you know my story."
"Not in detail. I've only heard a little."
"I heard not long ago that I was the illegitimate child of a great Marquess family. At first, I couldn't believe it."
"Really?"
"Yes. Who would believe it if someone suddenly came and said, 'You are the Marquess's daughter, let's go to the capital'?"
"I suppose not."
"Actually, I didn't want to come to the capital."
I paused for a moment at Maria's unexpected words.
But Maria, who was looking down, didn't see me do so.
"I was afraid of my life changing so suddenly. My circumstances weren't great, but I was satisfied with my life in Ancheny."
"Then why did you come to the capital? Why did you decide to live as Miss Wensbury?"
"My mother is not in good health. It was difficult for me to cure my mother's illness with my own means."
Maria's expression, as she smiled slightly, looked sad and wistful.
From that smile, I could tell how much she loved her mother.
Maria had given up a life where she was content with what little she had, in order to cure her mother's illness.
Anyone would be scared if they were suddenly thrown into a world they knew nothing about, with such a sudden change in environment.
Moreover, she wasn't that young.
If you were adopted into a noble family when you were very young, it would be a stroke of luck, but if you were adopted after you were older, like Maria, it was bound to be difficult.
Not only would she be the subject of gossip, but she would also have to work day and night to quickly learn what she hadn't learned as a child, and no matter how much she learned, it would be impossible for her to become like the other noble Young ladys.
High society was not an easy place.
Perhaps Maria would remain a drop of oil floating on water until the day she died.
Of course, the Wensbury family must have sent Maria to me to ask for some help to prevent that from happening.
Because I am Bianca Crofort, the flower of Splendor Empire's high society.
"I decided to be adopted into the Wensbury family to cure my mother's illness, but I was still scared. Actually, I still don't know what to eat with this spoon."
Maria said, showing me the soup spoon.
"Actually, I still don't understand why there have to be so many spoons when we eat. It would be easier to wash the dishes if there was only one."
Maria smiled slightly, probably as a joke.
I, who thought that you couldn't possibly eat pudding with the spoon you used to eat soup, didn't understand her words, but just smiled slightly.
"So, I was scared, but I gained some courage after coming to the capital and hearing about Bianca."
"My story?"
"Yes. If there was someone who was not only outwardly beautiful like Bianca, but also inwardly beautiful, I thought that noble society wouldn't be so scary."
Maria looked at me and then blushed slightly again.
"Really… Bianca, you are like a dream to me."
"Bianca, this is really delicious!"
"Ah, so you use this fork for salad. Oh my! Bianca, you even eat salad so elegantly. What's the secret?"
"Um, but is it okay to ask you something like this? How do you make your hair so shiny?"
"I want to do charity work like Bianca later. But right now, I'm more concerned with when to use a fork and when to use a spoon."
Throughout the meal, Maria ate the dishes that came out with admiration, asked many questions, and often looked at me with sparkling eyes.
And each time, I kindly answered her questions and sent her a smile.
Then Maria would admire my answer again and blush shyly at my smile.
Am I really going to kill that child later?
A question arose within me.
Am I really going to poison such an innocent and kind woman?
The hatred that had risen in my heart before meeting Maria had already subsided after meeting her.
"So, my mother is currently hospitalized. The doctor said it would have been better if she had come sooner, so I was really upset. I wanted to bring her as soon as possible, but my circumstances were difficult."
Even while eating something delicious, Maria would become depressed as soon as she thought of her mother.
"But now that she's hospitalized, I believe she'll get better soon."
Soon she smiled. It was the same as the report I had seen.
A Young lady who is unblemished, positive, cheerful, and lively.
"Yes. I'll pray that she gets well soon too."
"Thank you so much, Bianca."
Maria said that and smiled shyly again.
And she picked up the water glass in front of her and took a sip.
In the book, I secretly obtained a colorless and odorless poison and put it directly into Maria's water glass.
For a brief moment, I imagined that I had already poisoned that water glass.
Maria would soon frown in pain and clutch her neck. Or, since it's poison, would she clutch her stomach?
That face with the shy smile would be covered in pain, and her chattering lips would only utter mournful groans and painful breaths.
"I'm really happy to be able to talk to Bianca like this today. As I said, Bianca, you were my ideal type."
Maria said, as if to break my reverie.
"Maria, I'm not such a wonderful person."
I hated you just two hours ago.
I even seriously considered killing you.
You foolishly innocent woman.
"Actually, I don't do charity work out of pure kindness."
"Yes?"
"I wanted to be known as a good person. I wanted to be known as a kind woman."
That was my original purpose. To improve my reputation.
To let people know in advance that I am not a villainess.
"Isn't that natural?"
Maria said, tilting her head slightly.
"I want to be known as a good person to others too. No one wants to be known as a bad person to others."
"For example……."
I glanced at Maria.
She was focused on me, as if she was looking forward to what I was going to say.
"What if someone called me a villainess?"
"A villainess?"
"Yes. If they called me a villainess who would kill people without hesitation."
"Bianca?"
"Yes."
"That can't be!"
Maria raised her voice for the first time.
It was louder than when she said the meat melted in her mouth, louder than when the bean she was trying to pick up bounced off her fork and hit the candlestick in the distance.
"There's no way Bianca would be called a villainess."
Maria looked straight at me.
Her eyes were unwavering and upright.
"It can never be."
That's what I thought too.
No matter what the book said, I would never commit murder.
Especially not kill that kind woman who has infinite trust in me.
"Maria."
"Yes."
"I think so too."
When I smiled at her, Maria smiled as if she was relieved.
There was no way I would become a villainess.
***
A faint dawn was breaking.
It was a night spent with countless thoughts.
No matter how many times I thought about it, there was only one answer. I was not a villainess.
No matter what that book said, I was not a villainess, and I would not become one.
After meeting Maria, that thought became even more firm.
"I have to break off the engagement."
And that was the conclusion I finally came to.
Becoming the Duchess of Wincaiser was my long-held dream and my long-held wish.
I had never thought that it would not happen, and I had never thought that I would not achieve that dream.
At least to me, it was my natural destiny.
But what was more important than my long-held dream was 'me'.
What was most important to me was not my long-held dream, the position of Duchess, or Ricardo's side.
'Me' itself was the most important thing to me.
"I'm Bianca Crofort."
I raised my chin and straightened my back. I looked straight ahead and looked in the mirror.
A beautiful and dignified woman was there.
When I smiled at the mirror, she smiled too.
It was a very elegant and beautiful smile.
"That's enough."
It was okay if I wasn't a Duchess.
It didn't matter if I was a woman who broke off her engagement.
I was Bianca Crofort.
That was enough.
