CH 36

Mariette reluctantly placed the jewelry box on the dressing table. Opening her jewelry box revealed a diamond necklace, the stone was the size of Blanche’s eye.

The necklace was in the shape of an inverted triangle that narrowed in the center, and it even reflected different colors.

Mariette groaned.

“Isn’t it beautiful? It’s my favorite among the gifts the Count has given me.”

“Yeah. It’s useful.”

Blanche nodded and hung the necklace around her neck with Mariette’s help. She also wore colorful earrings in the shape of a chandelier. The earrings were made of eight drop-cut diamonds.

Thanks to the earrings and necklace, a beautiful refraction was painted over Blanche’s face.

And then the veil. Blanche was done with her final preparations.

She was so beautiful that no one in the world could find a word more fitting to describe her.

Finally, it was time for her to go down to the wedding hall.

Naturally, the Marquis came to pick up Mariette. What was surprising was that he didn’t recognize her as Blanche.

“Mariette. Are you ready?”

“Yes. Dad.”

Blanche stretched out her graceful white hand to the Marquis.

He clasped her hand and gave a sad expression. He apologized belatedly.

“I’m sorry, Mariette. I can’t believe I’m letting you marry someone like that. This father has failed you.”

Mariette and Blanche were surprised by this.

The Marquis was the type of person who would never admit his faults. Blanche couldn’t hide her disgust, unlike Mariette who quickly cried.

“You’re just saying that now?”

The Marquis’ face turned red in embarrassment.

“No, I… Hmmm, Mariette. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could start afresh since things have already turned out like this?”

“You’re telling me to accept your apology so that you can ease your guilty conscience.”

As was his habit, the Marquis immediately became angry.

“What sort of rudeness is this Mariette! How could you talk to me that way?! I am your father!”

“Yes. I know. You are my dad. That’s why you’re forcing me to get married right? To pay off my Dad’s debt.”

“Then were you thinking of becoming a single mother like this? If it weren’t for me, would the Count even want you?!”

[System/ Mariette is anxious.]

“Blan-… No, Mariette. Stop! No more fighting with daddy! We should go down to the ceremony hall before it’s too late!”

Mariette looked dissatisfied. She thought Blanche was deliberately picking a fight with the Marquis.

Blanche snorted.

“No. I can’t stop.”

Her sharp eyes flew past Mariette, and fell on the Marquis.

“In the first place, Dad should have persuaded His Majesty the King! If Dad hadn’t fallen off His Majesty’s favor, the Royal family would have paid off his debts!”

Enraged, the Marquis threw away Blanche’s hand that he had been holding.

“Mariette! You can go to the wedding hall alone!”

Blanche nodded happily.

“Yes. Fine.”

“What?”

The Marquis was perplexed. There was no greater shame than entering the ceremonial hall alone, a bride unaccompanied by her father.

Mariette, who felt like she was burning, started contemplating.

She glared at Blanche with all her might. However, contrary to Mariette’s misunderstanding, Blanche did not intentionally offend the Marquis. Besides, Blanche knew.

In the end, the fact that the Marquis will reach out to her first.

Blanche had a sly smirk.

“I’m looking forward to what lies ahead. Will Count Juan ever forgive father for the embarrassment?”

She was right.

Moreover, if it is the Count, he was only noble on the outside, but he could destroy them even with his eyes closed.

Even Alphonse’s tuition was now in Count Juan’s hands.

The Marquis clenched his teeth and swallowed his anger. But he couldn’t respond properly.

“Th-that…!”

Blanche waved in the air as graceful as a butterfly flapping its wings.

“What are you doing, Dad? Aren’t you going to hold my hand again?”

In the end, the Marquis had no choice but to reach out to his daughter first. Humiliation and anger passed over the Marquis’s wrinkled face.

He glanced at Mariette, as if he wanted to change the subject even for a moment.

“Blanche. I’ll see you later.”

Mariette nodded her head, but didn’t answer the Marquis. Because her attention was on Blanche.

It was clear that Mariette was surprised by Blanche’s dexterity.

In the next moment, Blanche, standing next to the Marquis, scoffed at Mariette.

“Id*ot.”

It was directed at Mariette, who became teary eyed just by receiving a single apology from the Marquis, even though he was the one who put her in this situation. Her relationship with the Marquis had been damaged and now she didn’t know whether they would go back to how they were, seeing the way he looked at her now.

Thus, Mariette realized. That the relationship between the two of them had been completely turned upside down.

Mariette glared at Blanche with sharper eyes.

‘Let’s see if you can laugh at me again once you find out that the key to the treasury I gave you was fake, Blanche.’

Mariette gritted her teeth.

‘Just wait. I’ll put you in the Count’s bedroom instead of me every night, using the treasure that you will never get as an excuse.’

Whether or not Blanche, who was dressed as Mariette, knew this, she remained relaxed.

The Marquis sighed at the unusual atmosphere between the sisters.

“Blanche. Today is the day, so be patient. You know your sister’s personality well, right?”

Blanche added sarcastically.

“Right. But it’s not just going to be a day or two. So you should get used to this kind of treatment from now on.”

“You…!”

Eventually, the impatient Mariette raised her voice. However, she couldn’t be mad at Blanche.

It was because the Marquis spoke again. He forced Mariette to sacrifice and bear with it.

“Blanche. I told you. Be patient.”

The real Blanche helped with a loud voice.

“Did you hear that, Blanche? You have to put up with me today. Today is the day Mariette Maquette becomes Countess Juan, right?”

All Mariette could do was swallow her boiling anger.

So, whether Mariette, who was left alone behind her, stared at Blanche or not, she safely arrived at the wedding hall.

The precious winter sunlight was pouring generously that morning. Finally, Blanche walked the Virgin Road in the Great Hall, which had been turned into a wedding hall.

She went through the wedding without appreciating how beautiful the inside of the hall was. However, that did not mean that Blanche was relaxed.

Even when the Count’s kiss touched her forehead, she was always thinking of the gold.

‘Where would the Count and Giacomo keep the treasury keys?’

Blanche was completely absorbed in those thoughts.

She could never have expected that Ricardo, who returned to the Count’s Castle, was right there watching her fake wedding!

* * *

Ricardo didn’t have any intention of returning to the Count’s castle in the beginning.

Having escaped the castle with the help of Blanche, he rode his horse in the early dawn.

Ricardo reached a village far from the castle in the morning.

Perhaps there was a festival, so the village was quite lively from the early hours. Ricardo let his horse rest and went to the public bath.

This was because his poor appearance, as he had not been properly washed for several months, was inevitably noticeable in many ways.

While at it, Ricardo even bought new clothes with the money Blanche gave him. He had only washed and changed into new clothes, but favorable gazes already gathered on him.

Ricardo’s appearance was as elegant and exotic as that of a nobleman. But the envying gazes could not keep Ricardo there.

His goal was to return to Digitalis and wait for Blanche.

Ricardo, who had barely eaten his meal, did not hesitate to get on his horse again. He intended to leave the Count’s territory as soon as possible, just as Blanche had advised.

All of a sudden, a bard’s song reached Ricardo’s ears.

~“So, the beautiful red-haired green-eyed girl was broken by Count Juan.”~

Ricardo’s body moved faster than he thought. He also knew a beautiful girl with rare red hair and green eyes. Besides, he knew Count Juan as well.

It was a song that he couldn’t just dismiss. Ricardo pushed his horse to move towards the bard.

The bard, who had been singing on top of a wooden box, quickly saw Ricardo even though he was surrounded by a crowd.

The bard looked at Ricardo’s appearance and regarded him as some sort of young lord who went out on an outing without his parents’ knowledge.

It was a plausible explanation. After all, a sumptuous wedding was taking place in the Count’s Castle at the same time.

The bard’s singing voice and the sound from the lute, who were expecting gold coins, became more melancholic.

~“Lady, Mariette Marquette. The most delicate flower on the continent. A girl with red hair.”~

An ominous feeling ran down Ricardo’s back.

Furthermore, the portrait behind the bard!

The moment he saw the portrait, Ricardo stopped breathing. The woman in the portrait painted in conté* was unmistakably Blanche.

‘Why is Blanche’s wanted notice posted on the street?’

He bit his lips nervously and asked a young man nearby.

“Hey, what sin did the woman in the portrait commit to get her face plastered on the streets?”

The young man, who was in the midst of singing, furrowed his eyebrows at the young voice. But when he saw Ricardo riding in a dignified manner on his horse, he politely refined his speech.

Like the bard, the young man had mistaken Ricardo as a nobleman.

“What do you mean sin, my lord? She is not a criminal.”

“What? She’s not even a criminal but there’s a wanted notice on the street?”

“My lord. That’s not a wanted notice, it’s a portrait. But. If you are from a foreign country, you may not know it. My lord, this is the most beautiful woman in the Lupinus Kingdom, Lady Mariette.”

“Mariette? Do you mean that girl’s name is Mariette? Are you sure?”

“Yes! There is no man in our kingdom who does not know the name of Lady Mariette.”

Ricardo murmured.

“Mariette… Her name was Mariette, not Blanche.”

“Yes? My lord? What did you say? I couldn’t hear you well.”

“It’s nothing. But still, I don’t understand. You’re saying that in this country, the woman’s face is out on the streets because she’s pretty?”

*****

*The conté crayon is an especially hard pencil, made of a mixture of graphite and clay that has varying degrees of hardness. It is usually made in black, red, or brown and is used as a drawing medium in any combination of these colors.