Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Esina had given him advance notice for exactly this reason. Either way, he was officially Bianca’s fiancé.
Esina seized every opportunity to trample Bianca underfoot, proving her authority in the process.
She knew exactly what stimulus to offer her followers, and possessed a remarkable talent for fulfilling their desires.
For the nobility, watching a young lady of higher birth than oneself squirm was the perfect entertainment.
“Do as you wish. If it puts your mind at ease.”
Sacrificing Bianca to mollify Esina was a rational calculation for Daniel.
He always had been this way. In ordinary moments he indulged Bianca, but when it truly mattered, he never failed to abandon her.
Yet Bianca could not bring herself to leave him.
Just then, Count Roshe, who had been listening to their exchange in silence, shook his head.
“That maid may not be a commoner, after all.”
“May not be a commoner?”
“Indeed. Duke Rothwell sent word to me. Apparently Diana Rothwell has made her way to the Cardian Family.”
Both Daniel and Esina’s eyes widened simultaneously at this unexpected revelation.
“The powerless young lady of the Rothwell house?”
“Yes.”
“Why on earth would the Duke’s powerless daughter be helping the Cardian Family?”
“Who knows? Perhaps Miss Bianca found her pitiful, their circumstances being so similar.”
Daniel barely heard the Count’s words, his mouth hanging open.
If the maid he’d met was truly Diana Rothwell, then everything suddenly made sense.
‘That dignified bearing and composure—so that was why.’
It was no wonder he hadn’t recognized her. Diana Rothwell, the powerless daughter, had never once appeared in any official capacity.
An inner sigh of relief escaped him. Thank heavens she was a useless powerless daughter and not a true lady of consequence.
Duke Rothwell would hardly punish him over a powerless daughter.
Count Roshe’s expression grew grave.
“I’ve already sent word to Duke Rothwell in haste. No doubt he’ll dispatch knights soon. When he does, he’ll surely take that troublesome young lady away from Bianca’s side.”
“I wouldn’t worry overmuch. Sevar Cardian would do anything for the Temple Side-Effect Suppressant.”
Matilda’s expulsion had been an unexpected complication, but hardly a dire one.
After all, only the Rothwell Family could supply the Temple Side-Effect Suppressant they so desperately needed. As long as that fact remained unchanged, the Cardian Family would never escape the palm of their hand.
Daniel suddenly furrowed his brow and asked:
“Must we simply watch and wait until then? I have a feeling we’ll meet her again at the tea party. She was extremely disrespectful to me.”
“How exactly was she disrespectful? Besides, she was disguised as a maid—she couldn’t have been rude to you…….”
He couldn’t very well tell the truth. Daniel asked with anxious desperation in his voice:
“It’s difficult to explain in detail. In any case, must we simply observe and do nothing?”
If Diana truly was a Rothwell lady, the humiliation he’d suffered might never be repaid in his lifetime.
Count Roshe shook his head firmly.
“No, quite the opposite. The Duke said something to me.”
……
“He told me to make Diana aware of her position. To let her feel, down to her bones, how worthless a powerless woman becomes without the Rothwell name.”
Daniel’s expression brightened. Then, just as quickly, it hardened again.
“But what if Bianca refuses to marry me because of this?”
It wasn’t that he loved Bianca. He had maintained the engagement to seize the Cardian Family through her, and he couldn’t afford to let one powerless girl ruin his plans.
“Hmm? Well, even so, don’t concern yourself. As long as they need the Temple Side-Effect Suppressant, they’ll have no choice but to comply with Duke Rothwell’s wishes. So do as you please.”
In other words, Bianca too would be forced to marry by the Duke’s command. He now had justification to take full revenge on Diana.
A sinister smile spread across Daniel’s face.
* * *
Bianca grasped Diana’s shoulder and asked:
“Diana, are you all right? Daniel didn’t do anything to you, did he?”
Remorse flickered in her eyes. Diana deliberately adopted a downcast expression and spoke:
“I was a bit frightened, but…… there’s nothing wrong.”
“You were frightened?”
“Yes. It seemed he didn’t like that I was at your side.”
……What?”
Diana summarized the situation appropriately and relayed it to Bianca.
“He said I shouldn’t get the wrong idea just because you were kind to me, and that I should remove myself before I got replaced.”
He’d insulted Bianca as well, but Diana had no intention of repeating those words. If Bianca learned what her fiancé had said, the wound would cut far too deep.
‘Being hurt by people you believed mattered most—that’s the cruelest pain of all.’
As she herself had learned from her old friends.
“He dared to say such a thing?”
In that instant, Bianca’s eyes went cold as ice.
Diana looked up at her in alarm, startled by the intensity. The grip on her shoulder had grown far stronger than before, and Bianca herself seemed unaware of it.
‘Her strength has increased……?’
It meant the Darkness Encroachment had faded considerably. And as that oppressive force receded, her Ability was beginning to manifest more freely.
If Diana had been an ordinary powerless human rather than someone with an Ability, she would have felt genuine pain from that grip.
“That bastard Daniel, how dare he…… to my Diana! You must be hurt…… Are you truly all right?”
Since it was Daniel who had heard the insults, Diana had suffered no real blow. And so she could answer with complete sincerity:
“I’m fine, miss. I didn’t just sit and listen either. I gave a good retort.”
“What did you say? You really heard such vicious words and you’re truly unharmed?”
“I said something that would give him much to think about. So I’m fine, miss.”
Bianca hesitated for a moment, then her lips parted.
“……This won’t do.”
“Miss?”
“I think it’s right that I not marry Daniel.”
Diana blinked her eyes.
“Because of me?”
This was a situation she hadn’t anticipated. She’d thought Bianca genuinely cared for Daniel?
“I promised you that the one who’d disappear would be that bastard.”
She hadn’t expected that promise to come true so quickly, though.
Of course, she’d always had plans to scheme and manipulate, eventually driving a wedge between them.
But she’d never imagined they would separate because of someone they’d only just met.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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