126. Bianca’s Marriage Proposal
“Really?”
The response felt rather underwhelming.
Alyona, who had been excited thinking she could finally help arrange the second princess’s marriage, felt strange.
Bianca appeared remarkably calm.
For over ten years, she had been searching for the man who saved her from the sea.
Finally having the only clue to find that person in hand, Bianca strangely didn’t look happy.
“Princess, aren’t you happy?”
“Of course I’m happy. So who is it?”
Bianca asked, forcing a bright voice.
She herself was quite surprised that she could feel so little excitement about the news she had waited for.
This was because Bianca already loved another man.
Luka Oblonsky. That man who had deceived her.
Even after their confrontation at the arena, he hadn’t explained why he had hidden his identity.
No, he hadn’t even come to see her or sent a single letter.
To him, she had been nothing in the end.
Though she tried to erase Luka from her mind, frankly speaking, even that was still thinking about him.
“They say he worked as the resort manager at that time.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure! When I saw his face, I remembered too. We went to that resort every year when the Duchess was alive.”
“Then how did this person know about me and come looking?”
“You’ve been asking around among the nobles here about the brown-haired boy you saw that day. Duke Oblonsky happened to hear about it.”
“Duke Oblonsky?”
He was Luka’s father.
Ironically, the father of the man she currently loved was helping her find her already passed first love.
“Yes. As it turns out, he was working at the Oblonsky mansion.”
“Is he at the Duke’s mansion now?”
“The Duke brought him to the palace.”
Bianca took this as a sign from heaven to forget Luka.
The past connection she needed to let go of wasn’t her first love, but Luka.
Now she would forget him and return to square one.
Soon after, the palace servants waiting outside guided Bianca to the reception room where the manager waited.
“You’ve become quite the lady now. It’s been so long. Perhaps you don’t remember me?”
“No, you do look familiar. I’m sorry for making you come all this way.”
“Not at all. After hearing your story from the Duke, I really wanted to help somehow, so I came.”
“Do you remember that day?”
“Yes. I remember a young master collapsed on the beach, completely soaked. Before I could even get there, the household servants rushed out and hurriedly carried him inside.”
Listening to the manager’s story, it certainly seemed he had witnessed it firsthand.
Only Bianca knew the time she emerged from the water, but he remembered even that detail accurately.
Now she understood why she hadn’t been able to find him until now—he had lost consciousness after saving her.
Perhaps he had even lost his memories from the shock.
Because Bianca had suffered from mutism then, she only began seriously searching for her first love several years later.
By then, the manager who uniquely remembered the collapsed boy on the beach had already relocated to the capital for a new job, causing them to miss each other.
“Then do you remember who that boy was?”
“Yes. For the families who frequently used the resort… I knew all their servants’ faces at least.”
“Which family’s son was he?”
The manager nervously swallowed before answering Bianca’s question.
He recalled his recent conversation with Duke Oblonsky.
“The second princess of House Smirnov is looking for Luka?”
The Duke’s expression hardened at the manager’s answer.
He remembered that day.
His son had gone out without a word and was found collapsed on the beach, completely soaked.
But he couldn’t allow a marriage alliance between the Grand Duke’s in-laws, House Smirnov, and his family.
While having connections to both sides wasn’t bad, Oksana would constantly suspect him if that happened.
He had no choice.
For now, he had to continue showing loyalty to Oksana, with whom he had long been allied, rather than the hostile Nikolai.
Vikentiy Oblonsky decided to use this opportunity to his advantage.
The manager’s lips trembled before he seemed to make up his mind and spoke.
“It was Young Master Olen of House Menshikov.”
***
“This is wonderful, isn’t it? It seems fate truly brings people together after going round and round.”
Marquis Menshikov laughed heartily as he spoke to Duke Smirnov.
“I’ve been wanting to get closer to you, Duke. How amazing that our children had such a connection!”
“Indeed.”
Baptiski Smirnov found this situation rather suspicious.
While Marquis Menshikov wasn’t strictly in Oksana’s hardline faction, he still generally sided more with her than the Grand Duke.
And now amid all this, Bianca’s long-sought first love turned out to be the Marquis’s son, Olen.
“Moreover, when our son was in the South, he fell in love with and proposed to the Princess without realizing she was the girl he had saved! Isn’t this quite the fate?”
“So why have you come to see me today, Marquis?”
Baptiski prompted him to get to the point.
Though he already suspected the reason.
“I was thinking we might formally proceed with our children’s marriage between our families. I’ve come, despite my rudeness in visiting first, to seek your opinion on the matter.”
“You mean to become in-laws with me? The former Grand Duchess won’t be pleased about this.”
“I’ve actually come to properly express my intentions to you regarding this opportunity.”
“What intentions do you mean?”
Marquis Menshikov suddenly got down from the sofa and knelt before Baptiski.
“What are you doing?”
“I too—no, we too find it difficult to watch the former Grand Duchess overstepping her bounds. Though she maintains a facade of political disinterest, which boyar doesn’t know how she subtly manipulates the Senate to influence policy from behind the scenes?”
“This too could be punished as an insult to the Grand Ducal family.”
“That doesn’t matter. Though we’ve been cautious until now, we want to support His Highness the Grand Duke. This is the opinion of the boyars around me as well. Though our faction may be too small to call it such, we wish to stand with His Highness.”
“You mean to announce your declaration of support to the world through the children’s marriage?”
“Yes.”
Smirnov’s expression grew grave at the Marquis’s resolute face.
Though the Marquis downplayed it, his faction could hardly be considered small.
If they could attract more boyars to the Grand Duke’s faction, which currently consisted mostly of new nobles and military officers, it would certainly strengthen his son-in-law’s position significantly.
But he couldn’t blindly trust the Marquis.
Moreover, Bianca’s wishes were important too.
Though he was her first love, it was from childhood.
He didn’t know if she still wanted to marry him now.
He wasn’t sure if rushing into marriage without giving the children time to get to know each other was the right thing to do.
“I’ll ask my daughter first.”
Menshikov, who had been prostrating himself on the floor, smiled slightly, which Baptiski didn’t notice.
If Bianca agreed, the doting father would ultimately permit his daughter’s marriage.
His declaration about supporting Nikolai was naturally a lie.
Duke Oblonsky had instructed the Marquis to arrange a marriage alliance with House Smirnov after learning about Olen’s proposal to Bianca in the South.
Oksana’s group planned to use this marriage to hold Bianca hostage as leverage against Katya and Nikolai if needed.
Baptiski left the Marquis in the reception room and went to see Bianca who’s waiting in the adjacent room.
“You can be honest. Just because he’s your first love doesn’t mean you have to marry him.”
“I’ll do this marriage.”
“Bianca, if you’re doing this for political reasons, don’t worry about that. We’re gradually building His Highness’s power base even without the Marquis. Your wishes matter most to your father.”
“Noble marriages rarely happen for love anyway. I’m lucky. The man who loves me is my first love.”
Bianca hid her true feelings as she spoke.
She wanted to help her sister and brother-in-law.
She also thought this marriage might help her completely forget Luka.
‘What expression will you make when you hear I’m marrying another man?’
She hoped he would cry.
Just as she had silently cried thinking of him every night since returning from the arena that day.
***
At that same time, discussions of marriage were happening in the Winter Palace.
In the Summer Palace, Mikhail was waking up in his bedroom, suffering from a hangover.
Since Katya and Nikolai’s royal marriage was confirmed, he couldn’t sleep without alcohol.
But today’s hangover felt particularly severe.
As he reached for the bedside table, he noticed a half-n*ked woman lying with her back turned beside him.
When he confirmed her face, Mikhail was so startled he fell backwards off the bed.
“Ahhh!”
His scream woke the woman.
Wrapping herself in the blanket as she looked for Mikhail, she soon peeked her head over the edge of the bed.
“Your Highness, are you alright?”
“W-why are you here?”
“Don’t you remember last night?”
Irina asked with a hurt expression.
