5. A Conflict Named Desire - 05
5. A Conflict Named Desire - 05
"I truly do adore this garden. Truly."
Bianca reached out with her slender fingers and lightly touched a hyacinth blooming in the flower bed. At her touch, the fully bloomed hyacinth burst forth with the sweet fragrance of spring.
It was a scene straight out of a painting. A beauty who looked like a work of art herself, tenderly caressing a flower with an air of helpless fascination. If a painter were seated here now, he would be frantically working his brush like a man possessed, desperate to capture this spectacle on canvas.
But it left me completely cold. I am not so easily swayed. The wench might have a tolerably pretty face, but hadn't I learned through firsthand experience that her inner nature was more hideous than anyone's?
This woman's true character was that of someone who'd never felt the slightest qualm about throwing punches, even as a child.
"Kain. You weren't just thinking something rude about me, were you?"
"...Who knows. I have no idea what you're talking about."
When Bianca aimed her uncanny insight at me, reading my inner thoughts, I feigned ignorance and averted my gaze. She was a woman possessed of a freakish talent, as chilling now as it was back then.
"So, have you made your decision? I think I've given you ample time to think."
"The decision itself is never difficult. It's simply a matter of needing to understand."
"Understand? Understand what?"
Bianca cocked her head at me and posed the question. Looking at her, a hollow laugh slipped out of me. Was this woman genuinely clueless and acting this way, or did she know exactly what I was talking about and was simply playing dumb? The latter was overwhelmingly more likely, of course. She was a damnable woman whose excessive intelligence had driven her utterly around the bend.
"I'm talking about understanding everything related to this situation. As you said, my head isn't the sharpest."
"....."
"No matter how much I think about it, I can't easily comprehend it. Why House Castana would willingly offer a colossal twenty percent of their net profit, why you're trying to deal with me personally rather than House Estel, and."
"And?"
"Your true intentions in thinking a transaction can even occur between House Estel and House Castana. All of it."
No matter how I turned it over, no matter what assumptions I made, I could not easily picture House Castana making such an absurd proposal to us.
They say even rivers and mountains change in a decade. A thousand years is an immense span of time in which they could change a hundred times over. House Estel and House Castana had spent a full millennium not merely glaring and snarling at each other, but desperately trying to screw each other over at every turn.
The gulf of emotion carved between them could not be filled in a single moment, and each side's pride was far too strong for one to extend an olive branch of reconciliation now. For a dramatic compromise to occur between the two families, I suspected at least twice the time they had spent burning with mutual hatred would need to pass. That was how long they had loathed one another.
And now, was I supposed to readily believe them when they started spouting sweet nothings about gratuitously handing over a portion of profits? Did they think I would naively buy a story that sounded like it came from a head full of flowers? Did they take me for a fool?
"Bianca, I'd rather we stop sizing each other up, now that we've come this far. You win. It's your victory. As the destitute House Estel—no, as the one who must lead House Estel in the future—I won't deny that accepting your proposal is the optimal choice. I'm well aware that the best thing to do is to just mindlessly gobble up the blind money."
"....."
"But don't think that means I'll meekly nod my head at your offer. I do like money, but if you thought I'd sell House Estel's pride for mere coin, then let me tell you, you're gravely mistaken."
Before the regression, House Estel had not received any such handouts from House Castana, and the two families had gone their separate ways. It wasn't what you'd call a life of plenty, but House Estel managed to roll along without any major bumps, maintaining a reasonably noble appearance.
...At least, until the witch who brought winter to the entire continent ten years later, and Bianca, who now stood before me, utterly destroyed the Estel Duchy.
"So I'd appreciate it if you were as forthright and clear as possible. I don't have the confidence for a fierce battle of wits with mages. If you have nothing more to say to me, then let's end the discussion here."
With that, I turned my back on Bianca without any hesitation. It was a clean, decisive attitude that seemed to hold not a shred of lingering attachment. But in truth, I was barely suppressing the violent pounding of my heart. Opposing that woman with force was, without a doubt, one of the most foolish acts in the world.
That was the moment.
"...Hey, Kain. Aren't you going to stop right there? Who said you could walk away in the middle of a conversation?"
Stock-still.
The instant Bianca's barbed words reached my ears, my body slipped from my control and froze in place. It was unmistakably a side effect of the year I'd spent living like a slave under Bianca.
'...Damn it.'
A story flashed through my mind: dogs trained to a bell that rings at feeding time will eventually salivate reflexively at the sound alone. My current situation seemed no different. How was I, frozen without a shred of pride just because this woman told me to stop, any better than a dog?
After a moment of self-reflection, I barely managed to turn my neck, stiff from tension, and looked at Bianca. Her expression was hideously warped, as if she were a demon incarnate.
...But, mercifully, my prediction proved wrong.
"...Haa, fine. Kain. I'll tell you everything. It's also true that you, as you are now, have the right to know."
"...The right?"
What in the world was she talking about now?
"But before that, I have one thing I want to confirm. Rumors say you fought and won a duel against the Young Duke Turnizen, who has reached the Master Realm, at the imperial capital's banquet hall. Is that really true?"
"...I got lucky. Very lucky."
My answer was neither modesty nor humility, but a simple fact. If I fought that bastard again, I would never win.
"Hmm, so it is true."
But however Bianca interpreted my answer, she nodded with a deeply satisfied expression.
"Your doubts are all correct. Certainly, House Castana and House Estel are not exactly on intimate terms. At the very least, it's clear we don't have the kind of relationship where such a deal would go back and forth."
Bianca wore a sullen look across her entire face, as if something else was now troubling her, and continued speaking.
"But the situation has changed. More precisely, you changed the situation entirely. The fact that we're making this preposterous proposal to House Estel, the fact that I'm laying out this absurd proposal to you right now—it's all because of you. Kain."
"...What?"
...Why was this my fault?
"What, you're the one who told me to be honest, and yet you still play dumb. Do you want me to spell out in detail the things you've been up to? Kain?"
"....."
No, I truly had no idea what she was talking about. The only things I'd done recently were play with Aria, get hounded by the Imperial Princess, and humor Ariel. What in the world was this woman saying?
"Well, so you're going to play it that way. It's certainly not something you'd want to babble about with your own mouth. I don't dislike that cautious attitude."
As she spoke, Bianca began to look at me with deeply inscrutable eyes.
"That spectacular scandal you caused a few months ago. The broken engagement with Sarah Sernad right after. And on top of meeting with the Emperor in the imperial capital, a duel with the Young Duke Turnizen."
Bianca counted each of the brilliant exploits I'd racked up over the past few months on her fingers, and then arrived at a conclusion that was downright flabbergasting.
"This was all your intention, wasn't it?"
"...What?"
Utterly unable to grasp the situation, I had no idea what kind of expression I was making, but Bianca paid no mind and continued.
"At first, when I heard those filthy rumors surrounding you, I almost got fooled as well. But the more I thought about it, the less likely it seemed. The Kain I know is nothing but a fool of a man. He's a blockhead who, far from hitting on a woman he just met, can't even lay a finger on her out of cowardice. Am I wrong?"
"....."
I was grateful she believed in my innocence, but I couldn't help thinking the added commentary wasn't strictly necessary.
"And the speed at which the rumors about you spread was too fast. Almost as if someone was artificially propagating them. Honestly, does it make sense for that kind of story to disseminate so rapidly?"
...She had a point. Just why had those damnable rumors spread so fast?
"I started deducing from there. What benefit could you gain by amplifying and reproducing a scandal about yourself? What task is so vital that you'd need to drag your own honor through the mud to accomplish it?"
After speaking, Bianca arrived at an answer with a voice noticeably lighter than before. The tone of a person who believes they've solved a riddle naturally becomes lighter.
"I could think of only one answer. It must have been an order from the Emperor. Just as the unwanted engagement was made by the Emperor's command, the Emperor's hand must also be behind this broken engagement."
"...What?"
It was an interpretation so novel my jaw dropped. So new and fresh that even I, the person directly involved, was hearing it for the first time. What possible thought process had led her to that conclusion?
"You don't have to make that face. I have no intention of spreading any rumors. It's just that, in return for keeping our mouths shut, we have a small hope that you might offer a little cooperation."
"...Cooperation? What's that?"
"Well, it's nothing difficult. From a certain point of view, it's a proposal you could even call lucky. No man in the world has ever received such an offer."
As she spoke, I noticed Bianca's earlobes reddening, if only slightly. What grand proposition was she about to make that she'd show such a reaction?
"How about you get engaged to me?"