A Marriage of Convenience /The Marriage Business

Ch.43

"......"

Robert opened his mouth as if to refute, but he couldn't help but close it. Sauveur's words unexpectedly struck at Robert's weakness.

He felt as if his heart had been exposed. Robert's face was flushed with embarrassment.

"I know how much you care for the Count. Even the Count will not doubt your loyalty. But your current attitude does not resemble that of the Count's vassal. She is our lady."

"... Just because you're young doesn't mean all immature behavior is acceptable. The Count has been standing with a sword since the same age when his wife arrived at Arno Castle."

"Because the circumstances surrounding the Count led him to that. The Count was especially strong-willed and enjoyed good health, so he endured it. It's different with the lady."

"......"

"Then, don't worry too much. The current lady is different. She deserves the victory flower of a dull tournament."

Sauveur raised his voice with optimism and convinced Robert. If he had asked how he was so sure, he would try to laugh it off and let it go, but fortunately, Robert remained silent with his head bowed.

Indeed, there was no particular reason for Bianca's improvement with Sauveur. Until now, Sauveur had thought of Bianca as an unfortunate young woman. Demanding and antisocial. But how can he know about her if he has never spoken to her in the first place?

However, after they met in the stable, they had the chance to talk a couple of times.

Although she is arrogant, she is quite kind. She was stubborn and made decisions on her own without listening to others, but when asked why she made that decision, she would explain the reason.

He begged her to share a snack, but it was cute that she passed him all the leftover cookies. It seemed like she was doing something for the enemy, but somehow she didn't ignore him.

Oh, it doesn't seem right to list it like this.

Anyway, Sauveur didn't hate Bianca. No, he even liked her a little.

Perhaps he will end up liking that little arrogant and audacious lady. The corners of Sauveur's lips twisted.

First of all, Sauveur had a weakness for a woman who tied him down and wielded him. It seemed like he didn't even care, but it would have been better if it wasn't completely out of the question. And Bianca was very suitable for him.

----

Even with just a walk, it wasn't easy to look around the vast castle. To the east of the castle today, to the south of the castle tomorrow.

Even if she divided it little by little, after finishing looking around the territory, the sun would set. Literally, she was just looking around, but even though she wasn't doing anything special, her energy would drain.

Still, her body was able to endure the hardships.

No matter how difficult it was, the place she walked was her own property. If she got tired, she could stop. That was a blessing!

In the past, Bianca had traveled a long and rocky path, unable to rest. She shed tears as she continued the relentless torture that couldn't be stopped. Compared to that, this was nothing.

On the contrary, there was something else that was difficult for Bianca. It was the refusal of the servants. Every time she appeared, they would gossip and talk among themselves, and if Bianca tried to approach them, they would run away.

When Bianca gestured and called them, they would obediently come closer and bow their heads, but Bianca couldn't tell what kind of expression they had on their faces.

Bianca straightened her expression with determination. Because she wasn't really hurt by it. However, just because she wasn't hurt didn't mean she could ignore the hostile gaze that stabbed her skin.

The hostility of the crowd swirled and became a sharp spear, but soon it broke and turned into a thorny shield. Resentment permeated the voices that spoke here and there. Bianca was obviously a demanding lady, but she had never done anything to deserve so much hostility. What had she done to make them so angry?

It was during a conversation among servants that Bianca learned the reason. Among them, the name of an unexpected person who cursed Bianca without expecting her to be there was mentioned. It was Ante.

Bianca had long forgotten who Ante was. She was the servant who insulted her and even slapped her cheek until her hands swelled, but in the end, she was just a servant.

If it hadn't been for Yvonne, who listened to the servants' conversations beside her, Bianca would have never known what was happening.

Although Arno Castle was a large property, it was narrow enough for everyone living on the property to know each other. It's no wonder they knew about Ante, but a couple of months had passed since she left, and what happened with just one maid wasn't unusual enough to still be mentioned until now. Wasn't it natural for the lady to kick out the maid who tried to seduce the Count? Furthermore, it was the Count, who was praised, who expelled Ante.

However, they firmly believed that poor Ante, who was in the same position as them, had been sacrificed due to the jealousy of the Countess, who was a member of the established elite. It was only then that Bianca realized that rumors had been circulating that Ante's affair had been exaggerated.

No. It wasn't because of Ante. The Ante matter was just an opportunity, and it was provoked by the actions Bianca had developed before that.

It was curious that, although everyone was hostile, there was a lot of favoritism towards Bianca.

This was because Bianca had given squirrel fur to Yvonne. When it was discovered that Bianca didn't skimp on her people, those who wanted to ingratiate themselves with Bianca hovered around with rigid and unknown favors.

Of course, even then, there were still many more people who were afraid of Bianca. They seemed to think that they could be expelled like Ante.

As chaotic as the situation in the Arno estate surrounding Bianca was, she looked out the window and sighed deeply. She wondered if it would ultimately be effective to continue wandering the castle.

Currently, in the Arno estate, the majority public opinion insists that Bianca's actions were simply "making an appearance without doing anything."

In reality, they were not wrong. The first time she began to wander the estate was to demonstrate that she was somewhat interested in the Arno family as the Countess. It would be nice to learn the work, but that doesn't mean she wanted to take over the work Vincent was in charge of.

Because all of this was ultimately to give birth to Zachary's child, and at the same time, it was for her own sake.

A person with tenacity would have continued their actions without giving in to the gaze of others, but Bianca was the type of person who didn't like to waste time on things she couldn't fix anyway.

All she had to do was show her dedication and hard work for the Arno family. This might not be the way to do it. Perhaps there was some other way. Bianca walked slowly down the hallway, thinking about what would be best.

Bianca had reached the middle of the hallway when she heard the voices of the maids. About five of them were sitting in an empty lot right next to the hallway, embroidering in the sunlight. Judging by the high-quality fabric, it was embroidery for Bianca's clothing.

Bianca looked at the maids working. The curly-haired maid's embroidery skills were superb. With such craftsmanship, she would be good at lace...

As soon as she remembered, Bianca suddenly snapped back to reality. Yes, lace.

Bianca, who had come up with something, involuntarily leaned over the railing where they were. She was in such a hurry that she didn't even think about the stairs next to her.

"One moment."