A Marriage of Convenience /The Marriage Business

Chapter 2 - The Villainess, Bianca (2)

Bianca had undoubtedly died. The memory of kneeling on the cold stone floor of the convent, praying even as frequent coughs escaped her throat was still fresh in her mind, as if it occurred just moments ago.

“Please God, please take pity on me and grant me another chance. I know I fell short, I was young and made countless mistakes. I promise I won’t make such foolish decisions ever again and live an honest life instead… I don’t want to die just like this…”

With death at her doorstep, Bianca’s eyes welled up with tears. The sound of sneers from those who had kicked her out to the cold, hard floors of the convent lingered and rang in her ears. Sounds which Bianca tried to drown out by praying more earnestly than before.

Except Bianca didn’t believe God would listen to her prayers. If God was truly listening to her, they would have made themselves known before she had made the wrong choices throughout her life, guiding her on the right path instead.

Her ill body could endure no further. It slackened, losing strength, while her eyes slowly began to close. Bianca ultimately collapsed on the spot, unable to support herself any longer.

She had no energy to raise her slumped body from the stone floor, using what remaining strength she had to lift her gaze to look at the statue of the goddess instead. Bianca could just barely make out the righteous features on the statue’s face with her blurry vision–a face that almost seemed to be telling her that it was going to grant her wish.

A bitter laugh faintly escaped her parted dry lips. She found herself pathetic for clinging onto hope even in her last moments. Bianca closed her eyes, the ends of her mouth still curled in a self-deprecating smile, believing that she wouldn’t be able to open them ever again.

However, Bianca ended up stirring.
In fact, she woke up to find that she had returned to her younger self.

The 38-year-old who was dying from a lung disease as she called out to God on a cold stone floor was nowhere to be found.

When Bianca opened her eyes, she found herself in her room in Arno castle. The patterns on the wall, engraved with the crest of the Arno family, the layout of her room… Everything was exactly as it had been in the past, which only caused Bianca’s head to throb.

Was this a dream? Or was this the final hallucination before she was to open the doors to heaven?
Unsure of the situation, Bianca secluded herself in her room. It felt like she would easily see her lifeless corpse pathetically sprawled on the cold floors of the convent if she were to close and open her eyes again. She never wanted to return to that place.

On the first day, Bianca never stepped a foot outside her blankets, her whole body continuously trembling with fear. On the second day, she turned her room upside down by throwing and breaking everything within sight. All the precious valuables were plucked from their chests and scattered messily on the ground.

On the third day, Bianca screamed from the top of her lungs.

And on the fourth day, she continuously scolded her maids, unceremoniously scarfing down the endless amounts of food she made them bring.

Although Bianca’s bizarre behavior continued, no one paid her any heed. They all assumed it was just their lazy and ill-tempered madam acting on a whim.

Despite being the lady of the house, Bianca made no effort to uphold any duties or responsibilities that came with such a position, which included being a supportive wife for her husband, Zachary. The only things she held an interest in were decorating her room, partaking in trivial hobbies, and picking out luxury goods.