TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 35
People grow as they age.
And people are always dual-natured.
Even if they have tormented someone mercilessly during childhood, as time passes, they feel guilty, wondering why they ever did such things.
On the other hand, some refuse to acknowledge their guilt and instead lash out even more aggressively.
Jenica is 16 years old this year.
While the world clamors that she is of age and ready for marriage, she remains immature.
Thus, she did not yet fully understand her own heart.
The past year without Bianca.
Even though tormenting Bianca had been a daily routine for her, Jenica gradually began to change after Bianca was gone.
Just as love fades when distance grows,
hatred, too, fades with distance.
Jenica, who had vaguely resented Bianca due to the pain of losing her mother—a mother who had died giving birth to Bianca under a curse—found her baseless hatred adrift once its target disappeared.
The misplaced hatred soon turned into emptiness.
And that emptiness quickly morphed into self-disgust.
It was now time for her to step out from under her parents’ shadow.
It was time to reflect on Bianca’s circumstances rather than harboring unfounded hatred toward her.
As she mulled over the things she had done to Bianca, one by one, she came to a realization.
How pathetic she had been and how she had hounded Bianca simply because Bianca lacked emotions.
Immature as she was, Jenica began to recognize her mistakes as she slowly moved toward maturity.
Then, suddenly, Bianca returned.
Jenica, who had not yet reached the stage of maturity, carelessly blurted out to her:
“Why did you come back?”
That was how Jenica had spoken to Bianca all along.
Even though she knew she had wronged Bianca, being kind all of a sudden was an impossibility for her.
“Oh, I see. You got dumped by that Half-Penny of Balheim, didn’t you? Well, who would accept someone as unpleasant as you?”
So, she continued to treat Bianca with venomous hostility.
Even though she clearly knew she was in the wrong, she couldn’t stop herself.
And so, with a deep sense of self-loathing buried in one corner of her heart, she repeated the same cycle as before.
She was going through that immature stage of her life.
“I’m going to search for the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom.”
Hearing Bianca’s words, Jenica tried not to care, but she couldn’t ignore it.
The White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom had long been used as a means of deception.
This was because there was a nearly identical mushroom called the White Flower Snow Mushroom.
Even merchants often failed to tell the two apart.
There was no way Bianca would be able to distinguish between them.
“She’s probably going to buy something strange.”
Frustrated by her thoughts, Jenica sought out the merchant guilds.
Then, secretly finding the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom before Bianca, she managed to acquire a genuine one.
The problem was, there was only one.
Every other mushroom labeled as White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom at the merchant guilds turned out to be fake White Flower Snow Mushrooms.
“Make sure no one sells the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom to Bianca. Tell the merchant guilds—they’ll understand what I mean.”
Thus, Jenica had her servants relay warnings to the guilds.
She tacitly allowed them to deceive others with White Flower Snow Mushrooms but forbade them from selling any to Bianca.
However, her usual sharp tone caused misunderstandings.
The servants, seeing Jenica warning the merchants, all assumed she was trying to sabotage Bianca once again.
After all, she had always been like this.
In truth, Jenica had only taken her most trusted butler along while obtaining the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom, not wanting anyone to know she was doing it for Bianca. The servants had no way of knowing.
Bianca, too, naturally assumed that the guilds’ refusal to sell the mushroom to her was Jenica’s doing.
To Bianca, who had been tormented by Jenica her whole life, it was obvious who was behind this.
“What should I do about this?”
But the truth was, Jenica, who had obtained the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom, stood there holding it, lost in thought.
Why am I going this far for Bianca?
After much deliberation, the conclusion she arrived at was none other than Bianca’s current status.
Bianca was Balheim’s fiancée.
“The Half-Penny of Balheim… Not a Half-Penny, as they said. It’s because that youngest one of theirs needs her! That’s it.”
Satisfied with her reasoning, Jenica nodded to herself.
While guilt over her past actions against Bianca simmered in a corner of her heart, she deliberately ignored it.
“I just need to hand it over and send her away quickly.”
With that thought, she set out to find Bianca.
“Lady Jenica!”
Seeing the servant running toward her in a panic, she tilted her head.
“What? Did something happen?”
“Lady Bianca went up the mountain alone!”
“What?”
Jenica’s eyes widened in shock.
Then, belatedly, she realized why Bianca had gone to the mountain.
“Because she couldn’t find the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom.”
She had gone to look for it herself.
“What a fool. Does she think Hardenhartz Mountain is a joke?”
Jenica wore an incredulous expression.
Why does she always act so recklessly without thinking?
Suppressing her growing anxiety, Jenica hurriedly summoned the knights.
“If Bianca dies, the connection with Balheim will be severed!”
Repeating this excuse in her mind, Jenica climbed the mountain as quickly as possible in search of Bianca.
Thankfully, Bianca wasn’t too far away.
Seeing Bianca confidently prepared for the climb left Jenica utterly exasperated.
“I told them not to sell it to you.”
And now, Jenica understood why Bianca had immediately decided to climb the mountain.
“That’s because—!” The excuse rose to her throat but was forcibly swallowed.
Deep down, she knew her sharp words and usual behavior were to blame for all of this.
From the start, all she had needed to do was tell Bianca that she had already obtained the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom.
Yet, again, the words that escaped her lips were harsh.
“Ha, do you think I brought you here because I like you? If Balheim’s fiancée dies stranded, the relationship between Balheim and Hardenhartz will fall apart!”
Harsh words spilled out of her mouth.
This mouth of hers seemed incapable of speaking kindly.
“Sister Jenica, why did you come here yourself?”
But Bianca’s next question rendered her speechless.
“You don’t usually care much about family affairs. You could’ve just sent a search party.”
At those words, Jenica couldn’t find a retort.
As Bianca said, it would’ve been fine to send a search party instead.
The excuses she had conjured up only made her guilt surface, pounding at her chest.
In front of Bianca, she bit her lip and grimaced, her embarrassed face looking as though she were angry.
“What does it matter? It’s my business.”
Bianca simply looked at her with a puzzled expression, unable to comprehend her.
To Bianca, who lacked emotions, Jenica’s changes were incomprehensible.
Emotions are not one-dimensional but multifaceted.
However, that multifaceted nature was something Bianca, devoid of emotions, could not understand.
Hence, Bianca could only recognize Jenica’s emotions as anger and resentment.
“Just follow me. I don’t even want to see your face. I’ll give you the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom and send you away immediately.”
And so, feeling as though Bianca had hit the mark, Jenica could only respond with sharp hostility.
It was a defensive reaction born from the shame of having her weakness exposed.
“Is that so.”
In the end, the two began descending the mountain without further conversation.
Jenica found the silence uncomfortable.
She wanted to say something, anything, but couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth.
And she thought Bianca wouldn’t want to talk to her much, either.
‘Yeah, this is the kind of relationship we have in the end.’
Considering all the things that had happened, what was the point now?
Feeling pathetic, she raised her head.
Given how far they had climbed, it seemed they would only reach the bottom by nightfall.
Once they returned, she would hand over the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom and tell her to leave—that would be the end of it.
It was at that moment.
“Mind if I join you?”
A voice echoed from behind the knight and the two women.
The moment the knight, sensing danger, tried to draw his sword—
Thud!
—an axe flew through the air and split his head in two.
A brief but absolute silence followed.
The man who had crushed the knight’s head in an instant pulled out his axe with a sly grin and looked at the three.
His head was oddly more like a dog’s than a human’s.
A protruding, pitch-black snout and sharp teeth visible between his jaws.
Yet, he also had human ears, giving him a monstrous appearance.
He was a World Erosion Being who had slaughtered countless figures of the Empire before going on the run.
He was Butcher Dog Bergmann.
“Hello, ladies.”
This was the phenomenon that occurred when someone made a pact with a World Erosion Being.
“Young Ladies, please run immediately!”
One knight shouted urgently, drawing his sword as he charged.
Clang!
“What the—what?!”
The clash of sword and axe rang out, and Jenica, witnessing the sudden killing, fell into a state of panic.
She had grown up sheltered, never having to deal with the horrors of the World Erosion.
Death or injury was common for soldiers or knights, but for a delicate noblewoman like her, this was her first time witnessing such brutality—it was only natural for her to panic.
Thud!
At that moment, a girl grabbed her hand faster than anyone else could react.
That girl was none other than Bianca.
Like Jenica, Bianca had grown up as a sheltered flower in a greenhouse, but fear that could paralyze her didn’t exist.
Thus, she made the cool-headed decision to grab Jenica’s hand and run.
“Run!”
And she didn’t forget to shout, snapping Jenica out of her daze.
Spurred by Bianca’s cry, Jenica finally came to her senses, adjusted her stance, and started running.
She didn’t know what was happening.
But she could tell this situation was extremely dangerous.
However, even though she had temporarily regained her composure, her mind was still in disarray.
“Just focus on running.”
Bianca said this as she led Jenica forward.
Seeing Bianca, much younger than her, taking the lead, Jenica bit her lip.
No matter what, she was the older one.
Determined not to be dragged along, she started running on her own two feet and spoke.
“At this rate, we’ll get caught.”
Despite the ambush, their opponent was strong enough to take down a knight in one blow.
The other knight had told them to flee immediately, which meant he couldn’t handle the enemy alone.
If the knight fell, the two untrained women would inevitably be caught in no time.
“Do you have a plan?”
Bianca wasn’t familiar with the geography of the Rokal Mountain Range.
So when she asked if there was another way, Jenica began scanning their surroundings.
“This way.”
She turned her body and started running in that direction, and Bianca immediately followed.
“The Rokal Mountain Range gets a lot of snow, so there are crevasses covered by ice and snow that look solid from above.”
As she ran through the forest, Jenica explained, showing a good grasp of the terrain.
“We’re wearing artifacts that let us run on top of the snow, so we’ll be fine, but he won’t.”
The ice would collapse under an adult’s weight, sending him plummeting below.
If they headed in that direction, it would be harder for him to chase them.
“It’s a roundabout way, but there’s an area with a lot of crevasses.”
“Let’s go that way.”
There was no other choice.
Thus, Jenica and Bianca immediately sprinted in that direction.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Soon, the sound of footsteps began echoing behind them.
Snow, unless it’s falling, leaves clear tracks.
So after killing the knight, he had been quickly tracking the two women.
With each step, the sound of his pursuit grew closer, making Jenica increasingly anxious.
What would happen if they got caught?
Would she die, just like the knight?
Such thoughts began to overwhelm her mind.
Before they knew it, the two were running across snow-covered terrain filled with crevasses.
Crunch!
Suddenly, the sound of ice breaking and snow collapsing came from behind them.
Hearing that sound, Jenica finally allowed herself a moment of relief.
Thud!
But then, the sound of footsteps resumed.
This time, they were accompanied by the sound of great leaps, as if he could see all the crevasses and was effortlessly jumping over them.
Jenica’s face turned pale.
Their pursuer could not only escape the crevasses but also identify their locations.
In the end, all they’d achieved was taking a longer path.
“Because of me…”
“This way.”
Realizing her mistake, Jenica shut her eyes tightly, but Bianca spoke in the same calm voice as before.
When Bianca changed direction, Jenica instinctively followed.
“Wait, if we go this way—”
“It’s fine. This is the right way.”
This direction was the exact opposite of Hardenhartz.
But it was too late to change course.
The sound of footsteps was already right on their heels.
“Hey, ladies, didn’t I say I just wanted to talk? Don’t you listen? You’re making me angry.”
Now, even the man’s loud voice reached their ears.
While Jenica’s face turned ashen with fear, Bianca slowed her pace.
“We’re here.”
“We’re here? Where exactly is ‘here’?”
And at those words, Jenica’s eyes widened.
Because it was the edge of a sheer cliff where nothing else existed.
“You, what are you—!?”
That was when Jenica spun around to face Bianca and shouted.
Tap—
Along with the sound of footsteps crunching on snow, a voice came from behind them.
“Running on snow isn’t something I’m used to.”
It was none other than the Butcher Dog, Bergmann.
“Still, I must say, I’m really lucky. Getting to be with such lovely ladies.”
Indeed, as he said, he was quite fortunate.
Having fled the Empire and hidden in the mountain ranges of Hardenhartz, he happened to overhear their voices while wandering the peaks.
Listening in on their conversation, he realized that these two were none other than the daughters of Hardenhartz.
And, to top it off, one of them was Balheim’s fiancée.
They were perfect hostages, without question.
“Come on now, come here. It’s dangerous over there.”
As he began to approach, Bianca and Jenica started to slowly back away.
But no matter how far they retreated, there was nothing but the cliff behind them.
Jenica couldn’t understand Bianca’s intentions.
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out why they had chosen to flee to this place.
“Get ready.”
“What?”
“Prepare to leap.”
Jenica’s eyes widened in shock.
She thought this was utter madness.
Was Bianca suggesting they commit suicide?
But Bianca and Jenica had already reached the edge of the cliff.
“Wait a second, you’re not seriously thinking of jumping, are you?”
Bergmann, stunned, tried to stop them.
But it was already too late.
Bianca stepped back, pulling Jenica along with her.
“Aaaaahhh!”
In an instant, with a scream, the two of them plummeted off the cliff.
“Damn it!”
Bergmann cursed as he leapt after them.
These two were valuable hostages.
He couldn’t afford to let them die, so his plan was to grab hold of them.
The moment he jumped off the cliff—
His eyes widened in disbelief.
Because the two of them had not fallen to the bottom of the cliff as he had expected.
Instead, Bianca and Jenica were standing on a small ledge that jutted out from the cliffside.
Jenica’s face was pale, her legs trembling, while Bianca stared directly at him.
“Huh?”
Was this what they had calculated?
So that’s why they came here.
Bergmann, dumbfounded, muttered in frustration as he spun his axe.
The little brats had cleverly outwitted him, but—
“You’ve underestimated me too much!”
With a whoosh, his axe swung to the opposite side.
The force of the axe slicing through the air redirected his trajectory.
But no matter how skilled Bergmann was, he couldn’t avoid falling in this situation.
However, he could grab one of them.
The moment he grinned with a sinister smile at the thought—
Bianca’s arm swung through the air.
Thud!
At that moment, a snowball flew straight into his eyes.
“Huh?!”
One hand was outstretched, while the other gripped his axe.
Even with his trained body, he couldn’t block the surprise attack of the snowball.
But it only momentarily blinded him.
The instant he reached out to grab them, he felt something hard slam into his head.
When he finally opened his eyes through the scattering snow—
There was Bianca, using the sole of her shoe to push off him and leap away.
“Ohhh!”
“Bianca!”
Bergmann and Jenica’s voices overlapped as Bianca and Bergmann plunged downward together.