Chapter 35
As people grow older, they grow up.
And people are always dualistic.
Once there was someone who severely bullied another, only to feel guilty years later, wondering why they did such things. On the flip side, there are those who don’t want to admit their guilt and end up becoming even more enraged.
Jenica was 16 this year. The world might say she’s of age and should be marrying by now, but she was still immature.
So, she didn’t really understand her own heart at that moment.
In the year without Bianca, although it had been her daily routine to treat Bianca poorly, Jenica began to change gradually after Bianca went missing.
Just like love fades when distance increases, hatred, too, dissipates when apart.
Jenica used to harbor vague resentment towards Bianca, stemming from the pain of losing their mother, who died after giving birth to her while cursed. But now that the vague target of her resentment had disappeared, she found herself directionless.
That misplaced hatred soon morphed into emptiness. And before long, it turned into self-loathing.
She was now at an age where she should break free from her parents’ shadows. It was time to reflect on what situation Bianca had faced instead of holding onto that vague hatred.
After chewing over the things she had done to Bianca one by one, she realized just how pathetic she had been and how she had pushed Bianca away simply because she lacked emotions.
This immature girl was beginning to recognize her mistakes as she matured.
And then, suddenly, Bianca returned.
Still not having reached the level of maturity, Jenica casually blurted out her thoughts.
“Why are you back?”
This was how Jenica had always treated Bianca. Even though she realized she had wronged Bianca, she found it impossible to utter a kind word suddenly.
“Oh, I get it. You got dumped by that fool from Valheim, didn’t you? Well, I mean, how could someone as unpleasant as you be accepted by anyone?”
Thus, she continued to treat Bianca with disdain. Although she clearly knew she was in the wrong, she couldn’t stop herself.
So, once again, with a deep hatred for herself buried in her heart, she repeated the same mistakes as before. Jenica was going through one of those immature phases.
“I’m going to search for the Snow White Herb.”
After hearing Bianca’s words, Jenica tried to ignore them, but they gnawed at her.
The Snow White Herb had long been used as a means of deception. This was mostly because the Snow White Herb looked almost identical to the White Flower Herb.
Merchants often couldn’t tell the difference between the two. There was no way Bianca could distinguish between them.
‘She’s going to buy something sketchy.’
Annoyed at the thought, Jenica went to find the merchants.
And then, before Bianca could, Jenica secretly found the real Snow White Herb, all while knowing that the rest of the herbs in the shop were fake White Flower Herbs.
“Make sure to tell all the merchants not to sell the Snow White Herb to Bianca. They’ll understand what that means.”
Jenica gave orders to her attendants to relay the message to the merchants. They could implicitly turn a blind eye to the merchants selling fake White Flower Herbs to others, but she ordered them not to sell any to Bianca.
However, her usual sharp-tongued demeanor led to misunderstandings.
The attendants, seeing Jenica warning the merchants, were convinced that she was up to her usual trickery against Bianca.
Well, she always had been.
In fact, Jenica only had one personal attendant with her while she quietly went to find the Snow White Herb, so the attendants had no way of knowing.
And naturally, Bianca assumed that the merchants not selling her the Snow White Herb was another one of Jenica’s schemes.
“What should I do now?”
Amidst her thoughts, Jenica, who had procured the Snow White Herb, fell into a reverie.
Why am I going through all this trouble for Bianca?
After pondering various reasons, she arrived at a conclusion involving Bianca’s current status.
She was none other than the fiancée of the fool from Valheim.
“That fool from Valheim… not a fool, right? He said he needed her! That’s what matters.”
Jenica nodded to herself, content with this rationalization. The guilt she’d felt over how she’d treated Bianca was a driving force behind her actions, but she did her best to brush those feelings aside.
‘I’ll just hand it over and send her back.’
As those thoughts crossed her mind, she set out to look for Bianca.
“Lady Jenica!”
Hearing a voice calling out urgently, she turned to see one of her attendants running towards her.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Lady Bianca has gone to the mountains alone!”
“What?”
Jenica’s eyes widened.
Then, it dawned on her why Bianca had ventured out.
‘She must have been unable to find the Snow White Herb.’
She’d gone there by herself.
“What is this idiot doing? It’s not like Hadenhartz’s mountains are a joke!”
She was flabbergasted. What could possibly compel someone to act so rashly?
Suppressing her agitation, she hurriedly summoned the knights.
‘If Bianca dies, the connection between Valheim and Hadenhartz will be severed!’
While continuously feeding herself such justifications, she began her ascent up the mountain as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, Bianca was not too far off.
The sight of her confidently preparing for her trek left Jenica dumbfounded.
“I told you not to sell it!”
Now she understood why Bianca had decided to climb the mountain right away.
What was that thought?
She barely managed to suppress her excuses.
In the end, she knew that her sharp tongue and behavior were the real issues.
If she had just admitted at the start that she had already secured the Snow White Herb, this whole ordeal could have been avoided.
Yet, once again, harsh words slipped out of her mouth.
“Ha, do you think I brought you along because I like you? If you die, the connection between Valheim and Hadenhartz will fall apart!”
Those cutting words burst from her lips.
This mouth clearly had no habit of speaking kindly.
“Jenica, why did you come in person?”
However, the next question left her speechless.
“What?”
Jenica looked at her, confused. This was the last thing she’d expected to hear.
It was evident that Bianca, too, had intended to go on her merry way if Jenica had merely sent a search party.
Considering Jenica’s usual disinterest in family affairs, her personal trip raised some eyebrows.
“I told you, I came to find you because of the family.”
“You’re not exactly one to care about family matters. You could have just sent a search party.”
While the eldest son handled family matters, Jenica, the second child, often acted aloof.
So if it had been their older brother searching for her, Bianca wouldn’t have batted an eye.
But Jenica, who disliked her so much, being here in person raised suspicion.
With her emotionless nature, Bianca pressed on that point.
As she hit the nail on the head, Jenica’s lips pursed in irritation.
But soon, her expression twisted into annoyance.
“What’s it to you? That’s my business.”
However, despite her irritation, a subtle feeling of guilt nagged at Jenica’s heart.
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