[Chapter 148] Bliere's Story (3)

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"Is it true that there is a mana stone mine in the Acacia estate?"

"Absolutely."

"How is the Count's condition?"

"The Count is on the verge of death. That's why this marriage is necessary."

"So you've found the right person. A vassal who has the lord's woman as his bride... Isn't that a stimulating truth that will intrigue other nobles who attend the wedding? Has she come over? I'd like to see her face."

"She says she loves me. Since I asked her to come to the capital for work anyway, it doesn't matter what she mistakes."

"You're cold."

Noebian's cold voice and the Crown Prince's low laughter shattered Bliere's heart.

'He didn't have feelings for me?'

It was true that she came to the capital because he promised her wealth. That's why she took care of the mana stone coffin and the external office.

But apart from that, she thought that as Noebian's mistress, she would eventually be able to have him completely when Adrienne died.

She never thought it was a mistake.

The way Noebian looked at her was clearly the intense desire of a man wanting a woman!

"I hope she's not too smart. If a woman who uses the inheritance law to get the mine spreads rumors and sells it..."

"Don't worry. She's a stupid woman."

Bliere almost collapsed.

The light coming from the crack in the door stabbed Bliere's eyes mercilessly, and thick tears fell below it.

'Noebian Trovika. You bastard! You're going to use me? But what about that attitude that made me feel strangely excited and affectionate when you said you loved me?'

Whatever Noebian's heart was, no matter how simple and ignorant Bliere was, she could clearly understand one thing.

He had made up the inheritance law or whatever, and he was trying to sweet-talk her into becoming his mistress in advance to inherit the mine when the Count died.

It wasn't just to have her by his side, the mine was the goal from the beginning!

'Was this what I could do in the capital?'

Bliere, who had lived as a commoner all her life, had no idea about the laws that applied only to nobles. She thought that as long as she could replace the Duchess's position, she would simply hand over the damn mine to him.

Darkness enveloped Bliere's heart as quickly as night covered the dusk.

Even if I were foolish, there was a future that came into view once I'd overheard everything.

Trapped in a suffocating silence, Bliere took a step back, feeling as if her neck were being strangled.

But just as Bliere was about to turn around, a series of shocking words reached her ears.

"Isn't this marriage similar to ours?"

"...Please mind your words, wherever you are."

"My uncle took the Lord's woman as his bride as well."

With a voice as sweet and gentle as an angel's, the Crown Prince's words froze Bliere in place.

'Adria... isn't she Noavian's wife?'

The Crown Prince's voice, filled with excitement over acquiring the mana stone mine, wrapped around Bliere's entire body.

"The person we should be careful not to let Princess Pireta find out about is my uncle. Lately, the princess has been visiting the mansion frequently under the pretext of being ill. I wonder if she has returned to the capital this time because the princess has fallen ill again?"

"..."

"I'm here to warn you. Don't stay near the princess for too long. On days like today, when Doris says such foolish things, I sometimes wonder if things would have been different if Adria Pireta were my wife instead of my mistress. Oh, well, she's practically my wife anyway."

Even his warning was delivered in a sweet voice, and the Crown Prince left Bliere in complete confusion that day.

As the Crown Prince's ornate robes rustled, Bliere stumbled backward and out of the building.

It rained.

Just like the cold night when she had first heard the secret of her birth and ran away.

Bliere ran through the rain towards the house that Noavian had prepared for her.

"Noavian Trovika, Noavian Trovika!"

Anger and betrayal were not washed away by the rain, and they tormented her.

[Noavian Trovika, I hate you.]

Chewing back her overflowing sorrow, Bliere wrote that one line in her diary with wet hands.

****

Bliere, who had been confined to her home due to the overwhelming betrayal, finally left the house on the day of Acacia Count's wedding to Olly.

For a long time, she had tried to sort out her feelings for Noavian.

But a strange thing happened.

The more she thought about Noavian, the more she was haunted not by the fact that she had not received his love, but by the fragile image of Adria she had seen through the door.

Even as she went through the motions of a wedding in a white dress, Bliere felt no emotions.

Only when she saw Noavian watching her from a distance did her heart twist.

Bliere snorted.

'You're just another discarded object to Adria.'

A half-hearted, greenish gaze flickered towards Noavian, who was smiling faintly.

"I prefer new things," Bliere muttered to herself, chewing her words.

To her surprise, her heart felt remarkably at ease.

"I won't let you have your way."

Although she had to greet the guests enjoying the after-party after the wedding, Bliere immediately set off to find Noavian's trail.

She had heard that the Crown Prince would be attending this small wedding, and she had barely managed to get rid of the worried Count Acacia, who was fretting about whether he should go too. On her way, she saw two long shadows of men in the area where the carriages were parked.

"...It's just that she's very sick."

"Hasn't the princess been ill for days? Can't I at least know how much time she has left?"

"That's inconvenient. It will depend on how much effort you put into it."

The Crown Prince, always with an angelic face, tilted his head and smiled. From a distance, Bliere stared blankly at his face as if it were a corpse.

"I'm truly grateful, uncle, that you're so concerned about my woman. But... is it necessary to be so kind to a daughter who has even abandoned her father?"

"Don't speak like that."

"Why? Just because her brother doesn't know, doesn't mean it's not true? Duke Pireta must be worried sick. Thinking that his daughter, who should be giving birth to my son, might die soon, the letters he's been sending me lately have been quite polite."

"..."

"Perhaps it would be better for the princess to die early without suffering, rather than knowing the truth. Don't try too hard, uncle."

"..."

"And as I always say, Adria Pireta is mine even if she dies. Understand?"

What the hell is that bastard saying?

Even the uneducated Bliere knew from experience that people who always smiled brightly had dark hearts.

But the words that the Crown Prince was saying to his sickly aunt, or rather, his mistress, were as if...

'As if he wanted her to die.'

In the end, Bliere returned to the Count's residence after the wedding, claiming to be ill. She suffered from an extreme sense of depression that made her want to bang her head on the floor.

'This is unfair, Adria Pireta.'

I thought you were taking my place and being happy.

So, unlike me who was suffering in a cold, dark, and lonely place, I thought you were being cared for by everyone, even though you were sick.

The Crown Prince's words, "a daughter who has even abandoned her father," scratched at Bliere's heart mercilessly.

'Were you in the same situation as me?'

Her chest felt so tight.

Even though it was something she had longed for so much.

No matter what Noavian planned, she could just close her eyes and pretend not to know.

She had thought that once Adria, who had monopolized everything she should have shared, died, all that would be left for her was to take everything.

The anger that had been directed at Adria, unable to be resolved, turned into a huge rock in Bliere's head, crushing her.

And strangely, that frail face she had glimpsed through the hurriedly closing door kept haunting her mind, over and over.

****

Noavian Trovika left the capital again.

'You're crazy, Bliere.'

Without realizing it, her feet took her to the Grand Duke's mansion.

Bliere fumbled with the dagger hidden in her bosom.

Let her check on Adria again.

Maybe the frail face she had seen was a mistake. Maybe the Crown Prince had just misspoken because he was only in the palace. Why would the Crown Prince want Adria to die?

"...The medicine arrived last time, but today too?"

"The Grand Duchess' condition is critical, so the Grand Duke is paying special attention."

Fortunately, it was the same gatekeeper she had deceived before.

'It was around here.'

The Grand Duchess's bedroom, which had been firmly closed that day, must have a window that could be seen from this garden.

Since the Grand Duke's mansion had far fewer servants than its size, Bliere managed to reach under the terrace by hiding behind the trees.

And just as she expected, she found Adria looking out the window.

"Oh..."

Adria hadn't noticed her yet, but Bliere looked up at her as if hypnotized.

Her lifeless eyes were looking endlessly at the entrance to the Grand Duke's mansion as if waiting for someone.

Adria's gaze was fixed on the entrance of the Grand Duke's mansion, while Bliere's gaze was fixed on Adria.

For a long time, they remained like that.

Adria's hazy gaze slowly lowered and finally found Bliere.

As soon as their eyes met, Bliere unconsciously took a step back.

"Wait, just a moment!"

'Oh, damn...'

What was she possessed by?

It was the first time she had seen the face of her half-sister, a twin who looked exactly like her, so close and in detail, that she must have been hypnotized somewhere.

Bliere punished her stupidity by banging her head and turned around with an awkward smile.

"Did, did you get any message from the Grand Duke?"

Oh. She must have been waiting for a message from that bastard Noavian.

For some reason, after giving his wife to the Crown Prince, that bastard was taking comfort with a similar Bliere.

'Why am I so indifferent?'

I was so angry at Noavian for his betrayal and heartbroken that I couldn't have love.

But was that it? Why do I feel like I don't have any lingering feelings for Noavian?

Bliere's confused gaze swept over Adria's pale, thin arm hanging on the windowsill.

'It's because that girl looks so haggard and pitiful.'

Just like I couldn't leave Jonah to die of cold and hunger at the border. It's just because I felt sorry for her.

I wanted to laugh at how absurd it was, but I held it back. I couldn't nod and smile in front of Adria, as I had recast a confusion spell on myself to look like one of the Grand Duke's maids.

But seeing me trying to suppress that self-mocking smile, Adria's eyes began to shimmer with a different light.

"Oh... is, is something wrong? Can I... help, help you?"

Who's helping who? With that dying face.

After looking at me for a long time, Adria, realizing that I didn't want help, didn't ask any more. But I hated that look even more.

"I... if the Grand Duke contacts you, can you... can you tell me directly without going through the butler?"

Adria, who had been fidgeting with her small, slender hands, said only that one sentence.

There were only four or five maids guarding the bedroom. A girl who was living so miserably that she would make such a 'request' to a maid whose name she didn't even remember.

"I would appreciate it if you could keep it a secret."

Her lowered voice was due to her lowered self-esteem, or perhaps due to her starting to cough.

Starting with the coughing sound, Bliere's eyes widened at the strong herbal scent coming from inside the window.

Terjemahan:

"I was so angry at Noavian for his betrayal and heartbroken that I couldn't have love.

But was that it? Why do I feel like I don't have any lingering feelings for Noavian?

Bliere's confused gaze swept over Adria's pale, thin arm hanging on the windowsill.

'It's because that girl looks so haggard and pitiful.'

Just like I couldn't leave Jonah to die of cold and hunger at the border. It's just because I felt sorry for her.

I wanted to laugh at how absurd it was, but I held it back. I couldn't nod and smile in front of Adria, as I had recast a confusion spell on myself to look like one of the Grand Duke's maids.

But seeing me trying to suppress that self-mocking smile, Adria's eyes began to shimmer with a different light.

"Oh... is, is something wrong? Can I... help, help you?"

Who's helping who? With that dying face.

After looking at me for a long time, Adria, realizing that I didn't want help, didn't ask any more. But I hated that look even more.

"I... if the Grand Duke contacts you, can you... can you tell me directly without going through the butler?"

Adria, who had been fidgeting with her small, slender hands, said only that one sentence.

There were only four or five maids guarding the bedroom. A girl who was living so miserably that she would make such a 'request' to a maid whose name she didn't even remember.

"I would appreciate it if you could keep it a secret."

Her lowered voice was due to her lowered self-esteem, or perhaps due to her starting the cough.

Starting with the coughing sound, Bliere's eyes widened at the strong herbal scent coming from inside the window.

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