130. A Welcome Scheme
When Luka burst open the chapel doors, he saw Bianca’s back as she knelt before the altar.
The groom hadn’t arrived yet, it seemed.
Luka stepped onto the carpet and ran to his love who was about to become another man’s woman.
Bianca had her hands clasped together and eyes closed, praying to the gods for her family’s happiness.
She prayed that with the support they would gain from this marriage, her sister and brother-in-law would achieve their goals and the world would become a better place.
She prayed for the happiness of everyone she knew.
That included Olen, who would become her husband, and Luka.
‘There was a time I hated him. Looking back, that too was just a remnant of emotions. Why he told such lies from the start, why he left without a word, and why he didn’t explain even after everything was revealed. Though I still can’t fully understand everything about him……’
I hope that person finds happiness.
As Bianca thought these words in her mind, she opened her eyes at the presence and turned her head.
Like a lie, Luka stood beside her.
His expression was distorted with anguish.
His eyes were completely red as if about to burst into tears.
“What are you doing?”
Bianca asked with a trembling voice.
She tried to appear composed but failed.
“What are you doing?”
With those words, she found herself pulled up by her captured hand.
Luka held his beloved’s hand and ran back the way he came.
The exit was right in front of them.
He ran as if everything would be solved if they just opened that door and went out, but at the threshold, Bianca let go of his hand.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Don’t marry Menshikov! No, I wish you wouldn’t marry any other man!”
“Who are you to say that?”
She felt confused.
Her father tried to stop this marriage, her sister tried to stop it, Alyona tried to stop it, but she didn’t listen.
Perhaps she had wanted to hear it from Luka’s own lips.
That he loved her and wanted to prevent her marriage to another man.
But he didn’t feel the same way she did.
It was a painful one-sided love.
Luka was neither her lover nor family.
A temporary tutor?
Just a passing connection.
And Luka had let go of it first.
Seeing how he hurriedly left for the capital without even a simple goodbye, she must have meant nothing to him.
Why would someone who was nothing to her try to stop this marriage?
There was no clear motive.
“Who are you to say such things?”
“I……”
“Are you trying to teach me about life just because you were briefly my tutor? I’m sorry, but please don’t interfere.”
“Bianca.”
“Don’t call my name. I don’t even know your real name properly. Everything I knew about you was a lie.”
At that moment, Luka suddenly bent down and knelt on one knee before her.
“My introduction comes late, Lady Bianca.”
After paying his respects, he gently kissed her hand and raised his head.
“My name is Luka Oblonsky. Not from the Tranov family serving the Grand Ducal house, but the son of Duke Oblonsky, head of the Senate. Politically, we stand opposite the Grand Duke and Duke Smirnov.”
“……”
“I should have revealed this from the start, but I couldn’t. I won’t make excuses about missing opportunities repeatedly. Though it might have been unavoidable at first, I had plenty of chances to tell you but chose to hide it by my own will.”
What was he trying to say now?
He, who had only run from the truth, finally became honest.
Luka had always wanted to explain. At least in his heart.
“My failure to find courage until now was purely due to my cowardice.”
He had to acknowledge that.
While he should have shown only his best side to the woman he loved, revealing his flaws wasn’t easy, but it had to be done.
Even now, he wanted to tell Bianca everything.
“That day, I was waiting for the Grand Duke in front of Duke Smirnov’s mansion when the servants guided me inside, telling me to wait there. Only when I arrived at the interview room did I realize they had mistaken me for a tutor candidate rather than a guest.”
“You should have said something after the interview. Did Duke Oblonsky order you to infiltrate our house to spy on the Grand Duke?”
That was one reason why she couldn’t forgive Luka.
Given how Nikolai covered for him, he seemed to have some friendship with the Grand Duke.
If so, he might have been planted as her father’s spy next to the Grand Duke using that friendship as leverage.
The thought that she might have caused harm to her sister and brother-in-law was unbearably painful.
This was a natural assumption since Bianca didn’t know that Luka had chosen to abandon his father and family to side with Grand Duke.
“It’s actually the opposite. Because I work for the Grand Duke.”
“Then why did you work as a tutor while hiding your identity?”
“The moment I first saw you at the perfume shop, I fell in love.”
At his confession, Bianca’s heart began beating at an unfamiliar pace.
He had loved her too.
And he had fallen in love even before she did.
Sincerity filled Luka’s eyes.
Even if this were all a lie, she wanted to believe it was true enough to make tears flow from happiness.
“We parted then, misunderstanding each other’s status. When we met again, seeing you treat me familiarly, still thinking I was a commoner, I thought that might be good enough.”
“……”
“Knowing this love could never be realized, I wanted to stay by your side even just like that.”
“Because of my family and relatives?”
“The problem is the Oblonsky family. If we marry, they will try to use you as a hostage to manipulate the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess. I didn’t want you to become that sacrifice.”
Her answer brought Bianca back to reality.
The miracle of being loved by the person she loved…
The walls of reality were too high for that dream-like event to come true.
“You just stated why we can’t love each other.”
As she turned away in disappointment, Luka stood up and caught her hand again.
“Do you think I ran here in one breath just to tell you that?”
“……”
“If my family stands in the way of this love, I’ll abandon them. Nothing in my life is more important than you.”
“What are you……”
“If I’m disowned by my family, I’ll no longer be a noble.”
Luka pulled her hand to cup his cheek.
Nuzzling against her small palm, he spoke with sorrowful eyes.
“Could you love someone like me?”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying right now—”
“Marry me.”
Would this be how it feels if her heart fell to the floor?
Before she could process the meaning of those words in her mind, a tear escaped first.
Luka carefully wiped away the tear rolling down her cheek.
The two held each other’s cheeks and locked eyes.
“There’s no ring, no flowers. This isn’t how I planned to propose, please forgive me.”
“Marriage is between families. You know it can’t happen with just love.”
“That’s why I’ll abandon it all. Would you not like me if I became a commoner?”
“How could I! I don’t love you because you’re a noble, I’ve loved you since I thought you were just a tutor……”
Finally, Bianca confessed her feelings through tears as well.
Unable to hold back any longer, he embraced his beloved.
“That’s enough. I’ll take care of everything else. As long as you love me, I can do anything.”
“If you take me as your wife, you might not be able to have children.”
“Have you forgotten? I was at that trial too.”
“Ah……”
“That doesn’t matter. I need nothing else as long as I have you.”
Even in what should have been the happiest moment of her life, she had to confess her flaws anxiously, but Luka didn’t seem to mind at all.
Only then did Bianca decide to let go of the heavy burden that had remained in her heart and fully feel this happiness.
As she rested her face against his broad chest and stayed in his embrace for a while, Luka spoke as if he had just remembered something.
“We shouldn’t just stay here, shouldn’t we hurry?”
“Why have you been like this since earlier? Is there something urgent?”
“We need to leave before Olen Menshikov arrives.”
“Why would he come here?”
“Weren’t you two supposed to have your covenant ceremony today?”
As Bianca stared up at him blankly as if he was saying something nonsensical, Luka finally realized.
That Nikolai had tricked him.
It was a scheme meticulously designed like a spider’s web by the Grand Ducal couple.
But it was a lie he felt grateful for.
***
“What nonsense is this? You say you’ll marry the Smirnov family’s daughter?”
Duke Oblonsky felt his blood rushing to his head.
Everything had been going perfectly according to plan.
Until his son backstabbed him like this.
“You were smart enough to study mathematics under the same teacher as Grand Duke. So you must know what my answer will be.”
“Yes. I know.”
“Your father doesn’t have the energy to waste on such matters with you. So come to your senses on your own. This is both a warning and an order.”
“I didn’t come to ask for your permission, Father. This was just a notification.”
Luka responded without backing down.
This was the first time in his life he had defied his father.
A harsh palm flew across his cheek.