I May Be A Villainess, But I Won't Live My Life That Way - Side Story One – The Past (3)

Side Story One – The Past (3)

“I will marry my sword.”

The excited expression on Asel’s face, anticipating Ricardo’s response, quickly faded to disappointment.

He looked at Ricardo with a gaze that was even more pitiful than the disdainful look he had shown earlier.

“W-what? Why?”

“Marrying a sword? Isn’t that something children say? Like marrying your mom or dad, or marrying your favorite teddy bear?”

“That’s different.”

“Oh, really?”

Asel stared at Ricardo with a look that suggested it was anything but different.

“If I go to war and die, the one left behind will be sad. So I have no intention of marrying a person.”

When Ricardo spoke in a firm voice, Asel turned to look at him without realizing it.

He had often heard Ricardo say he wanted to become a knight, but he hadn’t known he had thought so deeply about it.

He was genuinely serious about his dream.

“So, do you really mean it when you say you want to marry a sword? You really won’t marry anyone?”

“Yes. If the person I love is sad because of my death, that would truly be a sad thing.”

The expression on Ricardo’s face looked a bit lonely as he said that.

“Then you just need to become incredibly strong, right?”

“What?”

“If you become incredibly strong—so strong that you won’t die in battle—wouldn’t that be fine?”

At Asel’s words, Ricardo stared at him blankly.

It was a response that perfectly suited Asel’s age—like something a child would say.

“Yeah, if I become a strong knight, the chances of dying would be lower.”

But that was also the truth.

“Then it’s settled. After becoming incredibly strong, you can get married.”

Asel said with a grin, playfully hitting Ricardo as if he had solved his dilemma.

“Yeah. I need to get stronger—for the person I will love in the future.”

Ricardo couldn’t help but smile too.

* * *

“Ricardo!”

Bianca intentionally arrived at the Winkaiser estate an hour earlier than the tea party. In fact, coming this early wasn’t something she did only today.

When she got off the carriage and Ricardo personally escorted her, Bianca felt like a real lady. So she always arrived early to avoid overlapping with the other young ladies, just to have Ricardo escort her.

And Ricardo knew this.

He knew that when Bianca peeked her small, white face out of the Croft carriage and their eyes met, she would shine with excitement and smile shyly.

Then she would quickly erase her smile, as if asking when she had smiled, and extend her hand with a playful expression.

That was why Ricardo always made sure to finish getting ready early so he could leave whenever he wanted, even if Bianca arrived early.

Unbeknownst to him, he found Bianca quite adorable.

“Did you hear the news?”

While walking slowly together toward the hall with her hand resting on his, Bianca carefully opened her mouth.

In fact, this was a question she had hoped he already knew the answer to. Bianca was curious about Ricardo’s reaction.

“What news?”

But not knowing what Bianca was referring to, Ricardo merely smiled gently and asked.

It was the same warm smile Bianca had always loved.

“The news about our engagement.”

Bianca responded with a bright smile, unable to help herself at Ricardo’s beaming face. Now, the thought that this kind smile was directed at her made Bianca’s heart race even faster.

But in that moment of Bianca’s radiant smile, Ricardo’s face froze.

It was an expression of disbelief, as if he had never heard such a thing before.

Seeing his expression harden, Bianca’s own expression became frozen.

“Our… means….”

“Of course, it’s about you and me….”

Bianca’s voice, trying to explain, gradually became quieter. It was a voice that lacked certainty.

But Bianca had clearly heard it from her father yesterday. He had consented to her engagement with Ricardo at the Winkaiser estate.

So, overwhelmed with joy, she had forgotten the decorum of a lady and rushed to her father, kissing him on the cheek and forehead.

Her father had smiled happily at his daughter’s kiss, and her mother had looked on with a warm smile as well. Bianca had been happy too.

However, Ricardo’s face was stiff, as if denying everything that had happened yesterday.

“Are you saying you and I are getting engaged? But you’re too young.”

When Ricardo said this as if Bianca was too young, she felt it was unfair.

There was only a three-year difference between them.

“I’m not too young!”

“You’re only ten years old.”

“I’m already ten! That’s old enough to get engaged.”

“But…”

Ricardo paused, as if he were about to say something but then stopped.

“You don’t like me?”

Bianca asked, looking directly at Ricardo.

She tried to convince herself that this couldn’t be the case, but Ricardo’s reaction was clear.

He wasn’t happy about the engagement.

“Why? I’m not ugly, I’m not poor, and I’m not a troublemaker! I’m a fine lady!”

Bianca felt a surge of anger and suppressed the urge to throw a tantrum.

She didn’t want to show such an unbecoming side of herself in front of Ricardo.

“It’s not that I don’t like you, Bianca.”

Ricardo spoke in a very quiet voice.

“You’re very cute, and… I think you’ll become a wonderful lady in the future.”

“Then why do you hate me?”

“I don’t hate you, Bianca.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s just too sudden, and an engagement is almost like a marriage at such a young age…”

“I’m not young!”

“You are young, Bianca. So am I.”

Bianca felt relieved. At least this time, she wasn’t the only one who was young.

“Still, just because we’re young doesn’t mean the adults can decide our futures without our say.”

There were a few difficult words in Ricardo’s statement, so Bianca couldn’t understand everything he said. However, she felt that if she asked him the meaning of those words, he would think even less of her, so she didn’t dare to ask.

In that moment, feeling truly too young made Bianca almost tear up.

“I need to see my father.”

Ricardo released Bianca’s hand.

“Guide Bianca.”

He urgently spoke to a nearby servant.

“Ricardo…”

Bianca tried to grab him, but he had already dashed off into the distance.

* * *

Seeing his eldest son barge in without knocking, Duke Winkaiser squinted his eyes.

Observing Ricardo radiating anger, he didn’t feel surprised; rather, he thought it had been quite a while since he had seen him like this.

“It seems you have something to say.”

The duke didn’t scold Ricardo for his rude behavior and gladly offered him a chair. However, it seemed that Ricardo had no intention of sitting.

“I heard that Bianca and I are getting engaged.”

“I was going to discuss it tonight, but news travels fast.”

Duke Winkaiser didn’t bother to ask who had told him.

“Is it true?”

What mattered more than who had told him was Ricardo’s expression, twisted in disbelief.

“Isn’t she too young?”

“That might be true now, but in seven or eight years, she will be a wonderful young lady.”

“Then you should say that in seven or eight years.”

“That won’t do. By then, she will have already met another suitor. The beautiful only daughter of the esteemed Marquess Croft—a precious young lady everyone would envy. It’s the same even now.”

“Not me.”

Duke Winkaiser looked at his tightly shut-mouthed son.

He pondered who he had taken after to be so stubborn, but there was no need to think long.

It was clear that he had taken after himself.

Those stubborn, sparkling black eyes and tightly pressed lips were all just like Duke Winkaiser’s.

That made him like his eldest son even more.

And it made him want to break Ricardo’s will even more.

If he resembled him, then he was no less than the successor of the Winkaiser family.

“Yes. I see how it looks.”

Duke Winkaiser nodded.

“If you understand my intentions, please disregard it.”

“That’s not possible.”

The duke shook his head.

“Why not? It’s just talk; we haven’t even held an engagement ceremony yet, have we?”

“The Croft family is a well-known lineage in Sprendo. In terms of wealth, they’re among the top three. We cannot refuse a marriage proposal from such a family.”

“What about Carlos? He’s the same age…”

“Ricardo.”

The duke cut off Ricardo’s attempt to use his brother as a shield.

“If you truly dislike this marriage, there’s one way out.”

It was as if Duke Winkaiser had been waiting to say these words.

“…”

Ricardo felt a sense of foreboding.

It was as if, during a duel, one was intentionally leaving an opening on the side, and when a sword was thrust there, it would be met with a blade at their throat, just waiting.

“What is it?”

But Ricardo had no choice but to ask.