You Said I Was a Persecuted, Terminally Ill Grand Duchess? - Chapter 66

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 66

 

Ever since she was old enough to have grown a bit, Bianca had always played with Rene like a toy.

 

Though no one had ever taught her, Bianca’s persecution reached levels that surpassed ordinary imagination.

 

Rene was already particularly small in stature due to not eating well.

 

Despite being five years apart from Bianca, their builds were similar, making her an easy prey to torment.

 

“How dare you block my path?”

 

Bianca pushed Rene down the stairs and broke her leg, simply because they had encountered each other at the end of the corridor she was walking through.

 

“As if such a necklace suits you. It would shine brighter by my side than with someone as lowly as you.”

 

Bianca took away Rene’s only memento of her mother and wore it quite brazenly, but within a few days…

 

“Ah, I’m bored with this now. I’ll just throw it away.”

 

As if to torment Rene before her very eyes, she pretended to throw it into the fireplace where logs were burning brightly.

 

That necklace contained a small portrait of her mother inside the pendant, making it something Rene cherished dearly.

 

“Don’t do that, Bianca. Please, please give it back…”

 

“Hmm? Why are you crying?”

 

Even though she had never once been held in her mother’s arms.

 

What could be so longed for and precious?

 

Bianca was genuinely curious about this.

 

Wondering how deep that emotion could be, she finally threw the necklace into the fireplace.

 

That affection that made her long for someone she had never seen and cry while digging through the fire pit with bare hands to save even traces of her—where on earth did it come from?

 

“You’ve never even seen your mother’s face once. She died right after giving birth to you.”

 

Bianca looked exactly like Duchess Blanche, the legitimate wife.

 

Both mother and daughter were full of jealousy and devoid of mercy.

 

In truth, Rene’s mother, who was a maid, would have had no choice but to accept the Marquis.

 

Moreover, House of Blanc had been lacking heirs until Rene was born.

 

Rene’s father, who was the young marquis at the time, reported the existence of his illegitimate child to the previous marquis, and the marquis family had no choice but to take Rene in.

 

Even if she was from a maid’s background, a child had already been conceived.

 

Though of lowly birth, they couldn’t heartlessly abandon someone with Blanche blood.

 

But that mercy only lasted until the child, Rene, was born.

 

The previous marquis reached the end of his lifespan around the time Rene was born.

 

Thus, the maid was secretly murdered as soon as she gave birth, and even her body could not be found.

 

The story that she died from childbirth complications was naturally a lie.

 

Though no one spoke of this fact, everyone knew.

 

This was true for both Rene and Bianca.

 

“And you should call me Lady Bianca. Am I the same as you? You filthy little rat.”

 

How ridiculous she looked back then, crying and reaching her hand into the fire pit.

 

Unfortunately, she didn’t get scarred, but I know she suffered quite a bit from burn blisters for several months.

 

‘If her whole body had caught fire and left scars, it would have been entertaining to see every time.’

 

Bianca found this regrettable.

 

On the day that Rene left for the Northern Region.

 

No one offered her their blessings.

 

Celeste, the only ducal house in the Rembrandt Empire.

 

No matter how powerful the family was, House of Blanc was betting everything on the new sun that was the Empress.

 

Celeste was a setting sun anyway.

 

The next family to take that position would naturally be Blanche.

 

At least the current Marquis Blanche believed this without doubt.

 

So Marquis Blanche decided to send Rene away.

 

To show loyalty to the Empress who wanted to bind the Duke’s feet with an engagement, while also disposing of the family’s trash.

 

It was a very profitable deal for House of Blanc.

 

The Duke was said to be as cold as the Northern Region’s weather, so he might quickly kill off a bride from a family he wasn’t on good terms with.

 

Then it would be like blowing their nose without using their hands—how advantageous would that be.

 

Only one person in the family.

 

Only Bianca had truly grieved.

 

“My most cherished toy has disappeared.”

 

Of course, it didn’t last long.

 

About 5 minutes or so?

 

Still, sincerity was sincerity.

 

With Rene gone, the bullying naturally shifted to the maids.

 

The number of people dismissed by a single word from Bianca was enough to fill several carriages and more.

 

The servants who couldn’t dare blame Bianca looked for the cause elsewhere, and before long, everyone had come to subtly believe that Rene brought misfortune to the family.

 

They said that if only Rene hadn’t been there from the beginning, the atmosphere of House of Blanc wouldn’t have become so ominous.

 

In truth, they knew that Rene had been the one taking Bianca’s anger in their place, but ultimately they were influenced by their master’s attitude.

 

Perhaps that was why.

 

Bianca was deeply displeased with Rene’s confident attitude upon their encounter after so long.

 

When Rene was at the marquis house, she always walked looking at the ground.

 

Her already small body hunched over as much as possible.

 

Back then, Rene had the resigned look of someone facing their end.

 

But what about now?

 

“Do you know me?”

 

Bianca examined Rene’s appearance from head to toe.

 

Unlike before when she was skinny as a starving ghost, her body had filled out nicely.

 

Whether from eating and sleeping well, not only her complexion but even her expression had brightened considerably, making her seem like a completely different person.

 

Most unbearable of all.

 

‘How is that vermin wearing a new dress from Belua Boutique? I came here with great determination to buy one because it’s so expensive.’

 

Recently, Marquis Blanc had become more nagging.

 

He had even scolded his usually beloved youngest daughter, restricting her outings.

 

It meant to stay quietly at home without going out to spend money.

 

Her allowance had also been significantly reduced.

 

However, wasn’t there an imperial banquet coming up soon?

 

Since Bianca never wore the same dress twice, she had to get a new dress by any means necessary.

 

Katarina Hugo, who always occupied the protagonist’s position, had voluntarily buried herself in the Northern Region and wouldn’t be coming to this banquet.

 

So naturally, the new queen of high society should be Bianca Blanc.

 

Thus, while secretly going to the boutique without her parents knowing.

 

She had encountered Rene wearing exactly the dress Bianca had intended to purchase.

 

“You really must have injured your head and become an idiot. Sister, how can you not remember me? I’m Bianca, your one and only younger sister.”

 

Bianca pretended to look pitiful, covering her mouth with one hand as she looked at Rene.

 

At those words, Rene’s red eyes trembled mercilessly, but strangely, the same fear as before was nowhere to be seen in them.

 

“Younger sister?”

 

It was a shameless attitude as if saying ‘Did I have a younger sister?’

 

“Um, I think you might have mistaken me for someone else?”

 

Rene smiled awkwardly while scratching her cheek.

 

A vein popped out on Bianca’s pale forehead.

 

‘So you want to try this, is that it?’

 

Bianca was confident.

 

She was the person who knew better than anyone what words Rene was weak to, what expressions and actions hurt her.

 

Rene used to start crying immediately if she acted even slightly weak, so this time would be the same.

 

“How could you forget your one and only youngest sister? Sister, you’re really too much!”

 

Bianca disgustingly covered her face and sniffled.

 

She was conscious of the gradually gathering attention.

 

“Um, the thing is.”

 

After thinking for a moment, Rene’s lips opened again before long.

 

“I’m sorry. The truth is, I recently fell from a horse and lost all my memories.”

 

Rene’s expression as she said this was endlessly stiff.

 

So much so that even a three-year-old child could tell it was a lie.

 

“….”

 

Who does she think she’s fooling?

 

Bianca’s eyes narrowed.

 

It seemed Rene wanted to bury her past.

 

‘I won’t let you do that!’

 

As if nothing had happened, Bianca erased her previous pitiful demeanor and spread open her lace fan wide.

 

Then she looked Rene up and down with a disgusted gaze.

 

“You went to the Northern Region and now you’re trying to play Duchess? Do you think that can erase your lowly bloodline?”

 

It was a small voice that could only be heard if standing close by.

 

Whether she heard those words clearly, Rene’s eyes widened.

 

“What? No, even so, insulting my parents when we just met is a bit….”

 

“What? Stop talking nonsense. Don’t try to change the subject. You lost your memory? It’s obviously a lie, isn’t it?”

 

“Ugh….”

 

Rene pressed down on her chest with one hand as if hit right on target.

 

It was a reaction she had never seen before.

 

She wasn’t afraid, wasn’t crying, and showed no signs of sadness or resignation either.

 

‘Who is… this girl?’

 

She didn’t seem like the Rene Blanche she knew.

 

Despite her attacking remarks from earlier, that confident attitude hadn’t changed at all.

 

As proof of that.

 

“Hmm, but it’s true? I really did lose my memory.”

 

Rene seemed determined to push forward with her claim, not just confidently but quite shamelessly.

 

Bianca swallowed a hollow laugh and immediately counterattacked.

 

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

 

“If you don’t want to believe it, then don’t.”

 

“You, you… you said you lost your memory? Then why are you speaking informally?”

 

“You spoke informally to me first.”

 

Hmph.

 

Rene snorted, shrugged her shoulders, and once again looked straight into Bianca’s eyes.

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