"……Duke."
When I briefly addressed him with a title, Leon blinked blankly.
"A lot of time has passed, indeed."
Ricardo’s eyes slowly narrowed.
"Ha."
He let out a small chuckle and gave Leon a slight nod.
"So you were Count Owen. I heard the news that you’d returned."
"I came back safely."
Leon lightly shrugged his shoulders.
"Still, seeing you alive like this makes me surprisingly glad."
"Your personality hasn’t changed either."
Leon brushed off Ricardo’s words and made eye contact with me.
In Leon’s eyes, which sparkled as if stars were embedded in them, a part of my heart stirred.
……Leon really had come back.
"I’ll be taking Bianca for a bit. If it seems rude, I ask for your understanding. You’re the gracious Duke, so I trust you’ll let this slide."
Leon smiled brightly and led me away. As I was dragged along by him, I glanced back.
Ricardo showed no sign of regret.
……Then why did he stop me earlier?
He was truly an incomprehensible person.
* * *
I remember it clearly.
What Ricardo said on the day of the engagement ceremony.
〈I’d rather die than marry someone like you.〉
He said that, claiming nothing had changed from before.
That he hated Bianca so much he wanted to die.
Because I had read the original story, I decided to try understanding Ricardo. Even when I was resented for something I hadn’t done, I just let it be.
……But how was I supposed to understand Ricardo now?
Was he behaving that way just to show me the minimum level of courtesy, as he had said?
I thought he regarded me as someone not even worth showing basic manners to. That was one way I tried to understand him.
But now, the current you…….
How am I supposed to understand you?
"Bianca."
At that moment, Leon’s voice flowed into my ear.
"Oh, brother."
"Have you been well?"
Leon grinned playfully.
"Of course. I even gained a lot of weight while you were away, see?"
I proudly held up my forearm.
"You’re still skinny though."
That really wasn’t true. I had gained quite a bit.
Well, compared to the large-built Leon, my body was still insignificant, so I decided to just agree.
"I even went to the homecoming ceremony."
"The homecoming ceremony?"
Leon was visibly surprised.
"Of course I had to go. I mean, my brother was coming back……."
As surprise spread across Leon’s face, a smile bloomed.
"Wow, I didn’t expect that."
Just what did Leon think of me?
Do I really come off as that indifferent?
When I glared at him, Leon chuckled and tousled my hair roughly.
"You’ve grown a lot. Back then, you really hated crowded places."
Well, that was back when I had only recently possessed Bianca’s body.
Being surrounded by strangers nearly drove me insane. I constantly cursed the gods for throwing me into a world I hadn’t wanted.
……Compared to that time, I guess I had adapted well.
I smiled faintly and changed the subject.
About what had happened to me while we were apart.
It probably wasn’t a very entertaining story, yet Leon occasionally burst into laughter as he listened.
Even as the steam from our teacups slowly faded.
"……What about you, brother?"
"I was busy hunting down monsters. Nothing interesting."
Leon shook his head in disgust.
"More importantly, I heard you got engaged to Ricardo?"
"News travels fast, huh."
"Of course I had to hear about your news."
"……."
"What’s Ricardo like? That annoyingly handsome face of his still ticks me off."
What was he like? It was a difficult yet simple question.
He was kind of weird, hard to understand.
Didn’t seem like the person I used to know.
I tried hard to explain all my feelings in my heart, but Leon, who couldn’t read minds, couldn’t possibly understand what I meant.
"He’s not bad."
I ended up answering in a plain voice.
"Really? That’s unexpected."
"……What is?"
Leon leaned back comfortably in his chair and crossed his arms.
"He’s the complete opposite of you personality-wise, right? I thought you’d definitely hate him."
I do hate him. I hate him so much.
"Besides, I heard he’s totally smitten with a lady from the provinces."
"That’s right."
I answered without thinking. The warmth in Leon’s eyes turned cold in an instant.
Wow, is that how he hunted monsters?
Thank goodness I wasn’t the one possessed by a monster.
I hurried to continue speaking.
"But she’s just so pretty and kind."
"Bianca."
"Yes?"
"You too."
At Leon's words, I rolled my eyes. Realizing I had nothing in particular to say, I smiled sweetly.
"I know."
At that moment, Leon burst out laughing. He laughed so heartily that his massive frame bobbed up and down repeatedly. Chuckling uncontrollably, he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.
"As long as you know."
Leon brushed back his fallen hair. Then he held out a cookie from the plate.
"……Thank you."
Then, glancing at me sideways, Leon carefully spoke up.
"By the way, I didn’t interrupt earlier, did I?"
"Not―at all. It was really perfect timing."
Thinking back to what had happened earlier, my mood seemed to plummet again.
"You were fighting, right?"
"……Yes."
"Maybe it’s because you’re nobles, but that was one elegant fight."
"You’re a noble too, brother."
"Well. If it were me, I probably would’ve thrown a punch first."
Leon said that and raised his huge fist.
I let out a small laugh. But deep down, I still felt uncomfortable.
In fact, there was something that had been bothering me about what had happened earlier.
How casually the past had been brought up.
It’s not like I take lightly the past where Bianca tormented Ricardo.
……Yeah, let’s settle the past first.
That comes before trying to understand Ricardo.
I tapped my finger on the table and cautiously opened my mouth.
"Brother, how do you apologize when you’ve done something wrong?"
"Apologize?"
"Yes. Assuming the other person thinks my apology is a lie."
"Why apologize. Just beat them to death, I mean—wait, no, not that."
Leon bit his lip and corrected his expression.
"……I’ve never really apologized before, so I don’t know."
"……."
"If you think you need to apologize, Bianca, then it must be something serious."
Leon, quite unlike himself, groaned and began to think seriously with me.
"Have you ever apologized?"
"Sort of……."
Had I? Being with Ricardo was always so overwhelming that I’m not sure I ever did.
"If they didn’t accept it, maybe the other person just isn’t ready yet?"
"……."
"If it’s hard to say in words, try writing a letter. When I throw a punch, I always send an apology letter first."
A letter……?
His way of speaking was rough, but it was actually pretty helpful advice.
Ricardo and I seemed to fight every time we met, and things only kept getting worse between us.
It was an unexpected gain.
* * *
Ugh, what do I even write?
I groaned, staring at the blank stationery.
This wasn’t right, and that wasn’t it either……
The pile of crumpled paper on the floor kept growing.
Something sincere, without seeming like I was forcing forgiveness, something that could subtly mention breaking off the engagement and say I support you and Idette—something just right.
……This is hard. So hard.
* * *
The Head of the House of Duke Hessen, Ricardo Hessen.
He had always lived a noble life. Since he was young, everyone bowed their heads to him, and that was only natural.
That was his everyday life. A calm and quiet life.
Into that life barged a woman.
That was Bianca. That girl.
……Bianca Roygin.
It was a name he had rolled around in his mouth countless times, yet the woman’s name always felt unfamiliar.
The child who used to be just pretty had grown into a lady. In the woman he met again, he couldn’t see a trace of her past self.
She used to charm him with round, innocent eyes, and now she glared with sharpened ones, saying things he’d never imagined.
Has the time apart really been that long? The woman he saw again felt as unfamiliar as her name.
……If this was how it would be, you should’ve just kept pretending like before, Bianca.
〈Please at least show my sister the minimum respect.〉
Was it Cedric? The man with a neat impression—he had never seen him so angry.
〈……I’m asking you, please.〉
Though he said it was a request, the gaze he gave me was sharp as a honed blade. If his stare had been a real sword, I’d have been shredded to pieces.
His overbearing attitude was irritating, but what he said was valid. As her family, it was something he had every right to say.
……But Cedric, your sister had no intention of showing me any respect either.