TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 34
Clatter, clatter—
Inside the rattling carriage, Kraush was rubbing his healed arm.
It seemed like there would be no more issues now.
Having secured a decent sword, combat shouldn’t be a problem either.
‘What a brute of a woman, relying only on strength.’
Cursing Mary under his breath, Kraush lifted his head.
Then, up ahead, he saw the coachman, known as No. 15, driving the horses.
Kraush was currently riding in the carriage.
And not just any carriage—it was a carriage made of bones.
“Snore, snore.”
Beside him, Ebelasque was snoring as she slept.
The owner of this carriage was none other than her.
As she kept leaning against him, Kraush grabbed her head and pushed her away before looking outside.
After becoming a fugitive from the Empire.
Ebelasque had virtually no other option but to head to another kingdom.
So, after much deliberation, she ultimately decided to follow Kraush.
When she nagged him to take responsibility for bringing her along, Kraush had flicked her forehead and clicked his tongue.
While traveling by carriage was convenient, Kraush wasn’t particularly thrilled about having Ebelasque nearby.
‘What a nuisance, this one.’
Well aware of her personality, which puffed up with arrogance at the slightest concession, Kraush was pondering where he could appropriately ditch her.
Suddenly, the crow sleeping on his lap lifted its head abruptly.
Whenever Crimson Garden possessed another being, her crow often fell asleep like this.
It seemed Crimson Garden had returned.
“Child.”
“I’m here.”
When Kraush responded, Crimson Garden turned her head.
Then, in her crow form, she made a displeased expression.
“It seems something’s come up.”
“Something? What is it?”
“It’s about your fiancée.”
Kraush’s eyes narrowed in confusion.
After all, the only fiancée he had was Bianca.
“…Explain in detail.”
“The Butcher Dog has infiltrated Hardenhartz.”
Kraush’s body stiffened.
The Butcher Dog Bergmann, a madman who had committed massacres in the Empire and fled.
Kraush had known he was hiding in Starlon, but hearing the name Hardenhartz, he leapt to his feet.
“Bianca.”
“That’s the problem. She went into the mountain where the Butcher Dog is hiding and has gone missing.”
“Ebelasque!”
“Huh, huh?!”
Kraush grabbed Ebelasque’s clothes and forcibly woke her.
Ebelasque, who had been drooling in her sleep, snapped her head up in confusion, and Kraush shouted at her.
“Turn the carriage toward Hardenhartz immediately!”
It was the first time in a while that Kraush had raised his voice after returning to the past.
＊ ＊ ＊
The day Bianca returned to Hardenhartz at Kraush’s request to find the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom.
As she had known, Bianca was not warmly received.
That kind of treatment was all too familiar to her.
She was the cursed daughter.
The most worthless daughter in Hardenhartz.
Among servants and maids, it was routine for them to gossip about her in hushed tones.
Her title as the youngest daughter of Hardenhartz was more of a curse than an honor.
‘It’s been a while.’
While staying in Balheim’s Green Pine Mansion, she hadn’t felt this way at all.
Now, experiencing it again, Bianca realized just how comfortable her life had been at the Green Pine Mansion.
There, the maid Ellie and the butler Aliod hadn’t whispered about her at all.
They didn’t care about her curse or anything else; they treated her with utmost respect.
‘Of course, that makes sense.’
Kraush had faced even worse treatment than she had.
In Balheim, it wasn’t a curse but his lack of talent that had dragged him down.
Bianca lifted her head and looked out the window.
Who would have thought she’d find the Green Pine Mansion more comforting than her own home?
The world truly was unpredictable.
‘I want to go back soon.’
For some reason, she started to miss Kraush.
Click, clack—
At that moment, the sound of footsteps began approaching from ahead.
The sound was one she recognized well.
Because they belonged to the person in her family who hated her the most.
A woman three years her senior, now sixteen years old.
Jenica Hardenhartz.
She was none other than Bianca’s sister.
As soon as Jenica saw Bianca, she scowled, her pale eyebrows furrowing.
Her reaction was as if she had seen something repulsive.
“Why have you come back?”
At the same time, her venomous words echoed.
Seeing this, Bianca finally understood why she had felt more at ease with Kraush.
‘Mr. Kraush and I are the same.’
It was a sense of kinship.
The way Kraush had been treated by his siblings mirrored her own experiences.
To Jenica, Bianca was the child who had killed their mother upon being born.
On top of that, cursed and incapable of even feeling sorrow, Bianca would only stare back with her unsettlingly blank expression no matter how much hatred or anger Jenica directed at her.
And so, Jenica loathed her.
To Jenica, Bianca, devoid of emotion and seemingly inhuman, was nothing less than a curse birthed by their mother.
Now that Bianca had returned.
It was only natural that Jenica wouldn’t let it slide.
“Ah, I see. You got dumped by that Half-Penny from Balheim, didn’t you? Well, of course, someone as unpleasant as you wouldn’t be accepted anywhere.”
Jenica spat her usual venomous words.
But this time, instead of ignoring her sister’s insults, Bianca turned to face her for the first time.
“He isn’t a Half-Penny.”
What she said was entirely unexpected.
“What?”
“Mr. Kraush isn’t a Half-Penny. And I’ll be going back soon.”
Jenica looked at Bianca as if she were spouting nonsense.
But as always, Bianca’s expression remained unchanged.
That unchanging demeanor only made Jenica angrier.
“Oh, really? Then leave immediately! There’s no place for you here anyway!”
“Not yet.”
Hearing her sister’s outburst, Bianca shook her head.
“I’ll leave once I find the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom.”
“The White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom? Why are you looking for that?”
Jenica looked at her with a baffled expression.
The mushroom, used to raise the body’s heat, is a natural ingredient of an elixir that fills the body with warmth for a month after just one bite.
Why would she be looking for such a thing?
After pondering for a moment, Jenica soon realized one fact.
“…You need that half-penny, don’t you?”
For some reason, Bianca was helping the youngest of Balheim.
She didn’t know what Bianca intended to use the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom for, but she found everything Bianca did to be unpleasant.
“Ha, go ahead and search hard.”
With that, she turned away with a snort.
Bianca, who was devoid of emotion, couldn’t fully understand the malicious smile on Jenica’s lips.
Thus, Bianca began to inquire about the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom as requested by Kraush.
However, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t purchase the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom.
The reason was simple.
First, the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom itself is a very rare mushroom, so few people harvest it.
Second, it was none other than Jenica’s interference.
Unlike Bianca, Jenica was the one who would lead Hardenhartz alongside her eldest brother.
Her influence was the strongest in Hardenhartz, to say the least.
Therefore, she had instructed the merchants not to sell the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom to Bianca.
It was truly a malicious act.
“I’m sorry, Lady Bianca, we have no White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom in stock.”
Thus, even at the last merchant, Bianca blinked in disappointment.
The two servants who had followed her looked around awkwardly.
The two servants knew exactly what Jenica had done.
After all, they were the ones Jenica had personally assigned to report on Bianca’s actions.
“Is it not here either?”
Bianca was also in a difficult situation.
She had promised to bring the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom to Kraush, but at this rate, she would go empty-handed.
Eventually, she returned to the mansion, lost in thought.
‘It seems like Jenica interfered.’
It was a mistake to mention the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom to her.
She had thought Jenica would help her leave quickly, but it seemed Jenica hated her more than she had anticipated.
‘In that case.’
Bianca began to search through Hardenhartz’s books.
After pulling out several books and looking up information about the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom, she soon nodded.
Hardenhartz is the oldest family in the north.
As such, the distribution areas of the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom were detailed.
Perhaps the merchants deliberately didn’t disclose the location of the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom to maintain its value.
‘I might find it sooner than I thought.’
With that thought, Bianca quickly packed her clothes and supplies.
If no one helps her, she’ll do it herself.
Her decision was like that of a child.
Even if her emotional range was limited, making her seem mature, she was only thirteen.
Her way of thinking was too simplistic.
‘I just need to find it quickly and come back.’
Without fear, she set out into the mountains alone.
Jenica, upon receiving reports of her actions, wore a dumbfounded expression.
“Are you an idiot? You’re underestimating the mountains of Hardenhartz.”
She was astonished.
Having been born in Hardenhartz, she was naturally accustomed to mountains and snow.
However, the mountains of Hardenhartz are not easy enough for a thirteen-year-old to wander around.
Moreover, the location of the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom is deep within the mountains.
It’s not a place she could go alone.
At this rate, she would almost certainly get lost.
“Sigh.”
Jenica let out a long sigh.
She didn’t know why Bianca, who had only been interested in reading books since birth, was working so hard.
Even if she hated her, if Bianca got lost and died, it would be troublesome for Jenica too.
She is Balheim’s fiancée.
If she died and the connection with Balheim was severed, it would be a big problem.
“Tsk, I’ll go get her. Assign a few knights to me.”
“Yes, understood.”
In the end, she got up to retrieve Bianca.
Thinking of her as an annoying younger sister.
＊ ＊ ＊
The Rokal Mountain Range of Hardenhartz.
Bianca was walking on the snow-covered mountain.
‘It’s fine.’
Bianca nodded as she looked at her shoes.
Thanks to the artifact that allowed her to walk easily on the snow, she could move comfortably.
Bianca, with her bag tightly packed, began to walk into the mountains again.
She intended to find the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom before nightfall.
“Hey!”
At that moment, she heard a sharp shout.
When Bianca turned her head, there stood Jenica and two knights.
It seemed like she had chased her hard, as she let out a long sigh with a tired expression.
It was because Bianca had moved faster than expected for her short legs.
Because of that, Jenica had to wipe the sweat from her forehead despite the winter.
“Are you an idiot? You came into the mountains to find the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom because it wasn’t available?”
She scolded Bianca, irritated.
But the one who was truly dumbfounded was Bianca.
“You made them not sell it to me.”
Bianca had entered the mountains because Jenica had blocked the distribution of the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom.
It was already a mushroom with limited distribution.
Once Jenica blocked it, there was no place in Hardenhartz where Bianca could buy the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom.
So she came to find it herself, but why was she being scolded for that?
“Ha, do you think I came to get you because I like you? If you, Balheim’s fiancée, get lost and die, the relationship between Balheim and Hardenhartz will be broken!”
Upon hearing that, Bianca finally understood.
Indeed, she was an important figure in Hardenhartz.
She was a token of the transaction between families.
Bianca hadn’t thought that far.
“Follow me. I’ll give you what you want and send you back quickly.”
Upon hearing that, Bianca also turned around.
She had no intention of taking risks if she could just get the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom.
But she had one question.
“Jenica, why did you come yourself?”
“What?”
Jenica wore a dumbfounded expression.
From her heavy breathing and the worn-out clothes from climbing the mountain, it was clear she had come in a hurry.
Searching for Bianca could be done by organizing a search party of knights familiar with the mountains.
Therefore, there was no reason for her to climb the mountain herself.
“I told you, I came to find you because of family matters?”
“But you’re not usually so concerned about family affairs. You could have just sent a search party.”
Even if she held a position in Hardenhartz, Jenica was still the second child, just like Bianca.
Given the male-dominated nature of Hardenhartz, it was the eldest son who could worry about family matters.
Bianca would not have found it strange if her eldest brother had come looking for her instead.
However, it was Jenica, the second child, who came.
To Bianca, it was strange that Jenica, who had hated her so much, came in person.
The part that Jenica delved into was Bianca’s lack of understanding of emotions.
Jenica, having been precisely hit on that point, moved her lips slightly.
Soon after, her face contorted into an angry expression.
“What do you want me to do? It’s my heart.”
Yet, somewhere deep inside Jenica’s heart, she felt a pang of guilt.