118. The Lovers of Jeu de Paume (3)

Meanwhile, Bianca set out to look for her sister who said she would return shortly but hadn’t come back yet.

She wasn’t in the makeshift restroom installed across from their seats.

Not knowing that Katya was right behind the wall from where they were originally seated, Bianca walked around looking in all directions.

Then, not paying attention to what was in front of her, she bumped into someone.

“Ah!”

“Are you alright?”

She rubbed her aching cheek that had crashed into someone’s chest and looked up.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking where……”

Bianca couldn’t continue her words.

A familiar man was looking down at her.

“W-why are you here……”

“Well, I am a northern nobleman after all.”

“Ah! I’m sorry. I forgot. Please excuse my rudness.”

“It’s nice to see you like this. Have you been well?”

The man who helped steady her when she almost fell smiled carefully as he helped her up.

He was Olen, who had competed with Count Gregory in courting Bianca in the south.

He was also the son of Boyar Menshikov, the Marquis of the North.

He had briefly come down to the south for recuperation, fell in love with Bianca at first sight, and stayed in the south while actively pursuing her with affection.

Right after Katya left for her honeymoon with Nikolai, Bianca rejected all suitors’ proposals.

“Lady Bianca, if it’s about what Ivan brought up in that trial, I really don’t mind at all. Ivan was the shame of all men. I was furious that he would expose a lady’s secret like that.”

During Ivan’s marriage fraud lawsuit against Katya, it was revealed that Bianca was infertile.

This was also why Bianca couldn’t accept any proposals until then.

It was the duty of a noble family’s mistress to continue the family line.

Although she was diligently treating herself with medicine her sister had brought from abroad, she couldn’t be certain of its effectiveness until she married and properly tried to conceive.

“That’s part of it, but there’s someone I want to find in the north.”

“Who is it? I’ll help look as much as I can.”

“No, I can’t trouble you with this matter, Olen.”

“Then perhaps……”

“Yes. It’s my first love. I can’t marry anyone else because I still can’t forget him.”

When she said she wanted to go north to find her first love when her sister returned, Olen had no choice but to accept her rejection.

He returned to his hometown, the capital, heartbroken from the unrequited love.

And so, the two were meeting again after a very long time.

“Yes. Thanks to you. Have you been well, Olen?”

“Of course. I’ve been doing well.”

Though his heart ached, Olen carefully managed his expression, pretending everything was fine so she wouldn’t feel burdened.

When Bianca mentioned she was looking for her sister, he offered to help search and they went to the back of the arena.

There was a waiting area for carriages and horses there, and if Katya had left early due to an urgent matter, they thought to ask the palace servant who recorded entries and exits in the arena.

Around that time, Nikolai was injured during the match, and Katya, while returning to her seat, saw him get hurt and ran toward the waiting room, but at that moment, the two had just turned the corner behind the wall.

The sisters missed each other by mere moments.

“Did you find your first love?”

While walking toward the stables, Olen carefully asked Bianca.

“Not yet.”

“I hope he appears soon.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

“If there’s even a small clue, I’ll help look for him.”

“Well……”

As she turned her head while speaking, another familiar man entered her view.

It was Luka, who was just coming out of the waiting room.

He had removed his outer coat, hat, and eye patch that he wore during the match, worried he might run into Bianca along the way.

Bianca, who recognized the brown-haired man even from afar, was about to wave her hand in greeting.

Noble ladies who recognized Luka greeted him enthusiastically.

They were women who admired Luka in social circles divided between the Grand Duke’s faction and Luka’s faction, and they had been about to return home, bored because they thought he wouldn’t be competing today.

In the midst of this, they happened to run into him, which was nothing short of a windfall.

‘Why am I acting like this?’

Watching the scene, Bianca suddenly felt a tightness in her chest and pressed her hand against her sternum.

She had been feeling hurt that Teacher Tranov left without saying anything to her.

She thought that was all, but her heart stung.

Strangely, seeing him chatting and laughing with other women felt very unfamiliar.

When he was in the south, she had never seen Luka being friendly with anyone but her.

Even while staying at the Smirnov mansion, he would only cordially greet her, take walks with her, and have casual conversations with her alone.

So she thought he was just very shy, but in the north, he was a sociable man.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Shall we go back inside the arena?”

“Don’t you need to look for Lady Katarina?”

“No. If my sister has returned, she’ll probably look for me. The arena is so large, we might have missed each other.”

“You’re right. Let’s go then.”

As Olen nodded and turned around, he finally noticed Luka in the distance.

“He’s still as popular as ever.”

Though it was just a passing comment, the words stuck firmly in Bianca’s ears.

“Do you know Teacher Tranov?”

“What? Tranov? Do you mean Boris who works as the Grand Duke’s aide?”

“Yes. This is Luka Tranov, Boris’s relative. He was my tutor who taught me ancient languages and music.”

Seeing her point directly at Luka, Olen tilted his head with wide eyes.

Though he didn’t understand what was going on, the two were definitely talking about the same person.

And certainly, Bianca was mistaken about him.

“Tranov? You must be mistaken.”

“What? That can’t be. He stayed at our house for quite a long time. We had lessons every day, ate meals together, went on walks……”

At those words, jealousy welled up inside Olen.

Whether that tutor was Luka or not, he was intensely jealous of the fact that another man had spent time with Bianca every day.

“If my eyes are correct, that man is Luka Oblonsky. He’s the youngest son of Duke Oblonsky. He’s quite popular in northern social circles. Those women over there are probably ladies who usually admire Luka.”

“That’s impossible. A son of Duke Oblonsky wouldn’t work as a tutor for another family.”

“I’m curious about that too.”

“Let’s go, shall we?”

“Let’s confirm before we go.”

Before Bianca could stop him, Olen called out.

“Luka Oblonsky!”

Luka instinctively turned his head toward the sudden call of his name.

And at that moment, he made eye contact with the person he absolutely didn’t want to meet like this.

In that instant, he saw disappointment and shock flash across Bianca’s face.

“Bianca……”

She shook her head in disbelief and ran off somewhere.

He had thought that eventually this secret would end, whether he revealed it himself or was discovered first, but not like this.

Olen, who read the strange atmosphere between the two, looked at him before following after Bianca.

Luka couldn’t bring himself to either stop her or follow her.

‘What would I even say if I caught up to her?’

Though he should explain something, he had no words to offer her right now.

His mind went blank like a sheet of white paper.

All he could do was replay the scene of her turning away from him with that hurt expression.

Due to his selfish desire to stay by her side longer, he had ended up deeply hurting the woman he loved by not confessing the truth.

It was the moment he hated himself more than ever before.

***

At the same time Luka’s carefully hidden secret was being revealed, someone knocked on the door of the waiting room where Nikolai was alone.

“Come in.”

He spoke without turning toward the door as he opened the first aid kit to take out medical supplies.

The door opened carefully with a creaking sound.

“I keep telling you I’m fine. Focus on the next match since there might be other injured……”

Nikolai stopped mid-sentence as he finally turned his gaze that way.

His beloved wife was standing there.

“Tia……”

Perhaps he had been waiting only for her to come.

Maybe that’s why he had sent everyone else away.

It was quite amusing.

The fact that while he was trying so hard to push his wife away, he was also waiting for her.

Katya locked the door with a click and silently walked over to sit beside Nikolai.

She then snatched the disinfectant and cloth from his hands and began treating the scrape on his knee.

He naturally followed her lead without trying to stop her.

He didn’t even feel the sting as he stared intently at Katya who was focused on treating his wound.

She carefully applied ointment and wrapped the bandage, then slowly raised her head to look up at him.

“I must marry you, Grand Duke.”

“Tia……”

“Right now I can at least come late like this when you get hurt where I can’t see, but I won’t be able to if I’m not family.”

His wife’s eyes grew moist as she spoke.

“I hate seeing you hurt. I hate you being in pain without me there.”

“……”

“I’ll propose one last time. Marry me, Grand Duke. Not fake, but real marriage.”

It was her second confession.