A Marriage of Convenience /The Marriage Business

Chapter 6 - The Villainess, Bianca (6)

Bianca, who was born as a daughter of a noble, was immature and ignorant of how to desperately protect what was hers. Hence, she had been chased out from her position, completely clueless. Bianca closed herself off while spending her days in the cold convent, and held strong regrets regarding her life.

Why did I believe in Fernand’s love? Why was I without a child? Why was I thrown away so wretchedly?

The cause behind all of Bianca’s regrets was Zachary.

Her husband, Zachary de Arno, to be more exact.

If there had been a child born from her and Zachary, then it was likely that she would never have been driven out like so.

No. If she had been on good terms with Zachary from the start, then she would have never been used by Fernand.

No, that’s not it. She never would have gotten caught up in the viscount’s schemes if she had never married Zachary in the first place.

Bianca wondered what would have happened if she had returned not to her 16-year-old self, but  to her 7-year-old body before her marriage with Zachary instead. But she knew she would have still ended up marrying him. After all, their marriage was one chosen by her father after much deliberation, and it was the best political marriage for the Blancheforts.

Even though she had returned to her 16-year-old body, Bianca was grateful to have been granted another chance at life. She had spent many years brooding over her regrets on the cold floors of the convent, so at the very least, it was clear what she had to do from now on.

Bianca vowed never to suffer the same degradation and humiliation she faced before.

If marriage was ultimately a business, she realized that the wisest choice would be to secure her own portion of benefits from it. Bianca’s light-green eyes gleamed with resolve as she pushed aside thoughts of trivial matters, instead focusing on what was of most importance.

To her knowledge, Zachary’s death would occur during war. He would be 36 years old and Bianca would be 23. That meant there was still seven years until then. In order to not be kicked out after her husband’s death, Bianca needed to make sure she did not spare any interest towards Fernand or other men, and focus on becoming pregnant with Zachary’s child. Then, their child would become the Arno heir and Bianca would do her best to handle the county’s affairs and endure until her child became an adult. It was a perfect plan. Once her child was of age, he would surely look after her.

But there was a problem. Bianca and her husband weren’t exactly on terms that would easily open up the chance for her to have a child.

‘If I’m still 16… Then that means we’ve yet to consummate our marriage…’

Bianca sighed, feeling stumped. There were still two years left until they’d consummate their marriage and Zachary would never reach out to her first on his own. He never seemed to be in a hurry. It was likely that they may have never slept together, even up until his death, if his vassals hadn’t pestered him so.

In that case, Bianca couldn’t just sit back and wait. Seven years may sound like a long time, but considering how Zachary would be constantly vacating the castle for the battlefield, it would be appropriate to say that the period of time Bianca would truly have with him was only half that amount. Though it was possible to become pregnant after a single night together, it wasn’t guaranteed. People did say that pregnancy came easily to those who wanted to avoid it, while evading those who yearned for it.

In other words, seven years was already much too short of a period to try and conceive a child, therefore Bianca couldn’t let two of those years go by just idling away.