CH 9

*****

Blanche looked around her cramped room in the twilight. Her bedroom was the smallest of the rooms on the second floor. Still, it had quite a big bed, and there was a dressing table and a sink.

Blanche thought.

“These do not suit me. I want a better one.”

Better than Mariette’s greenhouse, dresses, or jewelries, the Marquis’ daughter.

She will have wealth, and of course, fame and power. She will make sure no one treats her recklessly again.

“To do that, I have to stick with the female lead. But I don’t want to go to the heroine right now. It’s like buying and struggling.”

The answer came sooner than expected.

She will stay quietly by the villain, Ricardo’s side, then when everything is settled, she will go to the heroine Anastage and betray him. Then the rest of Blanche’s life will be peaceful.

While the room was burning in the light of the sunset, Blanche slowly stood in front of the balcony door.

An empty balcony was visible through the window.

Disappointed with her family, falling off the third floor on her own felt like a distant past. The cold air clung to her skin.

‘Now all that’s left is to decide when and how I will leave this house.’

Blanche wouldn’t go straight to Digitalis, but she thought she should level up first. There are no monsters, so she’ll have to go through the normal quests though.

‘But at what time… Ah!’

She had a good idea. There is a way to effectively increase her level in a short time! Blanche became more relaxed and her worries disappeared in an instant.

Surely using that option, there would be no problem raising her stats.

It was time for her to enjoy the sunset balcony. A familiar voice behind her called out her name urgently.

“Blanche!”

“Brother Pierre?”

Blanche turned around and Pierre was really there. He was pale and looked like he would faint right away.

Dew-like clean tears streamed down his sleek cheeks.

“No. I was wrong, Blanche. So… So don’t think about bad things anymore. Please, yes…?”

Suddenly, a great idea flashed through Blanche’s head. Blanche showed Pierre that her legs were healed.

Pierre, who burst into tears in an instant, ran to her and hugged her.

Blanche held him face to face and thought calmly.

‘In the future, Pierre will present a hidden item to the heroine.’

As his concept was a generous character, he presented the heroine an heirloom as a gift.

‘A unique item that doubles the experience. [White Sand Bracelet]. I should have it. The [White Sand Bracelet] is now in the mansion’s treasury, so I’ll use Pierre to get the [White Sand Bracelet].’

Blanche waited for Pierre’s weeping to subside before trying her luck.

“Brother. Do you think I should sacrifice myself for the family?”

As the darkness fell over the siblings’ shoulders, Pierre slowly pulled away from his younger sister. However he only stuttered like a broken clockwork doll and couldn’t answer aloud.

Since Blanche’s marriage had already been decided, he knew that whatever he said at this moment would hurt his sister.

“Blanche. I…”

“Shh. It’s okay, Brother. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

Pierre felt his tears, which had just subsided, rise again.

“I’m sorry. It’s me who should be sorry. If I had known this would happen, I would have asked the Princess for help from the beginning. I’ve been arrogant, I shouldn’t have asked you to marry Count Juan. I’m sorry, Blanche. My little sister… I’m so sorry to you.”

Blanche had a pitiful expression on her face, but in her head, she was busy calculating more coldly than anyone else.

‘So that’s what happened. Because of the nature of the Marquis, once he asks for money, he’ll keep asking for more in the future, so you blocked it from the very start.’

She gently stroked her brother’s wet cheek.

At this moment.

She had become a natural scammer.

“My brother. You’re so soft-hearted, how will you survive under that notorious Count after graduation?”

Pierre nodded and shook his head.

“Now is not the time to worry about me, Blanche. You’re supposed to marry such a Count!”

“I know. What do I do now…?”

At Blanche’s despondent smile, Pierre apologized what felt like a hundred times. So it wasn’t strange when the following words came out of Blanche’s mouth.

“Brother. If you’re truly sorry, will you grant me one wish?”

“Say it. Whatever it is, I will try my best.”

“Actually, I want to go into the treasury.”

“The treasury?”

When Pierre tilted his head at the unexpected request, Blanche answered timidly, as if embarrassed.

“My older brother and older sister often went in and looked around when they were young, but since I was a child, I was not able to enter the treasury. Because there are many precious things there. The thought that I won’t be able to enter up until the moment I leave the family made me want to take a look at least once.”

The Marquis did not hesitate to discriminate, fearing that she would destroy the family’s treasures. At the time, young Pierre and Mariette shrugged their shoulders at this discrimination.

As the shameful past came to mind, Pierre blushed involuntarily. His sister, who will soon get married to the Count, only had this wish. His heart broke.

“Okay. I will get the keys from Father tomorrow.”

“Yes. I trust you Brother. And Brother Pierre. There is one more thing I want to ask you.”

“What?”

For a brief moment, Blanche laughed bitterly.

“I want you to keep it a secret from father and sister that I can walk. Obviously, both of them will be upset.”

Indeed. To marry the third child who miraculously became normal to an old man over 80.

If the Marquis knew, he might become an alcoholic.

Pierre asked, rubbing his bloodshot eyes with tears.

“Blanche. Don’t you hate us?”

Her hesitant lips soon confessed in a light voice.

“How can I hate my family? To hate you… You’re my family.”

Drip. Tears shed on Pierre’s white and immaculate cheeks again.

Pierre was pretty when he cried.

Before the game was released, he was dubbed ‘The character I want to cry the most’ by the female employees.

* * *

The next day, the Marquis came to Blanche himself with the key to the treasury. He burst into tears as Pierre told him the story when he came looking for the key to the treasury.

‘It’s the only thing I can do for my daughter who is getting married to such a tr*sh.’

So the Marquis stood with Pierre in front of the second daughter with red eyes. Pierre looked ridiculous, because when the Marquis cried, he also cried.

The two looked like a pair of crucian carps.

The Marquis handed the key directly to Blanche’s hand who was seated in a wheelchair.

“Go on, Blanche. This is the key to our family’s treasury.”

Blanche smiled happily at her father’s belated kindness. For now, in order to stab the Marquis in the back, she will play the ‘good daughter’ as much as needed.

“Thank you. Father. And forgive me for being sensitive lately. The wedding is just around the corner, so I was nervous. I’m sorry, Father.”

The Marquis cried at her sullen expression as she apologized.

“No, Blanche. You have nothing to apologize for.”

That was true. But it’s not like she could be honest. She shook her head, making up a soft smile.

“No. I am a bad child.”

“Blanche…”

Pierre filled the gap where the Marquis hesitated. He knelt down in front of the wheelchair and carefully held his sister’s hand.

“Blanche. After visiting the treasury, why not have a picnic in the greenhouse? The weather is so nice today even though it’s winter, it would be a waste if we do not make the most of it.”

Blanche could see through Pierre’s heart at once.

‘It seems that the treasury is quite empty. I see that they’re being considerate of me in case I get upset because there probably isn’t much to look at.’

In her memory, the treasury was about 1800 square feet in size and was filled with various kinds of gold and jewels.

‘If you could clean out a place like that, it would be because of sheer incompetence.’

Although she was clicking her tongue inwardly, Blanche continued acting until the end.

“Really? I’d be happy to. Oh. Will Father go on the picnic with us?”

“Of course I will. Since you’re so obedient, I will spend all my time by your side today, even if it gets late.”

Pierre’s eyes brimmed with emotions at the sight that he could not have imagined. 

But Blanche…

‘I wish this soap opera would end now so they can take me to the treasury as soon as possible.’

… That was what Blanche thought.

Fortunately, Blanche didn’t have to wait too long.

Pierre said while sniffling.

“Let’s go, Blanche. Let’s go see the treasury.”

“Yes.”

“Pierre, I’m going to push Blanche’s wheelchair.”

“Yes. Father.”

Blanche smiled brightly as her eyes met the Marquis who was about to stand behind her. The Morality Error was a big help in acting.

“Father. I’m very happy. My father is spending time with me for the first time in a long while.”

But what’s going on? Why is the Marquis saying this all of a sudden?

“Blanche. From now on, you can call me ‘Daddy’.”

“… Yes?”

“Hmmm. I don’t know about Pierre since he’s a grown up now, but Alphonse and Mariette still call me ‘Daddy’.”

It was an absurd thing to say. She couldn’t have been more agitated from this.

‘What the hell are you talking about now?’

Hiding the tremor in her body, she acted, using a soft voice with all her might.

“… No. Father. I’m going to be a Countess soon. Count Juan wouldn’t want his bride-to-be to behave like a child.”

“Yes… I didn’t think that far.”

Pierre, who saw through his father’s regrets, urged his youngest sister.

“Blanche. Don’t do that, you can call Father ‘Daddy’ even now. You used the word ‘father’ more often than ‘dad’ when you were young.”

That was indeed the truth. However, it was according to the orders of the Marquis.

Fearing that he would be criticized for raising a spoiled little daughter, he put special effort into Blanche’s etiquette education from an early age.

At that brief moment of embarrassment, Blanche saw through the heart of the Marquis without difficulty.

‘I’m going to be a Countess soon, and now I’m a useful daughter, so you’re going to improve our relationship.’

Holding back her desire to grind her teeth out loud, Blanche pretended to be careful and opened her lips.

“Da…ddy?”

The Marquis’ face filled with a warm bright light. Seeing this, Blanche’s heart felt like it rotted away at once.

‘I should have noticed it from the moment the house went bankrupt. This man has been crazy for a long time!’

**********