In front of Agnes, Alice had always maintained her dignity and calmly confronted her sister. However, when she came out of her parents' home, her originally calm expression suddenly showed a little sadness.
"Are you still worried about Agnes's attitude just now?" Edmund saw the pain of the other party at this moment, so he comforted her in a low voice, "Actually, I don't think you need to take it seriously. Agnes is just angry. She's just saying what she said, but as far as I'm concerned, she still has great feelings for you."
"I know, but even so, I still feel uncomfortable. But I don't blame her. Everything was caused by myself, and I should bear the consequences." Alice replied tremblingly, "The reason why her words made me so uncomfortable is not Because she cursed me and slandered me, not because the words were too unpleasant, but because what she said was right..."
...Now Edmund was unable to intervene. After all, he was not qualified to intervene in Alice's family affairs.
But even he could see that the Marquis of Treville and Edgar were not too kind to Lady Alice, and they had other ulterior motives secretly. But even if he knew about these things, he could only keep them in his mind. In his heart, after all, he himself was more or less an accomplice.
He admired and appreciated these two sisters, and had received many favors from them. However, seeing them falling into disputes and pain, he could only stand aside and watch, and he felt guilty when he thought about it.
In the silence, the carriage quietly drove towards the Marquis de Treville's house. It wasn't until she was about to return home that Alice collected herself, tried to cheer herself up, and returned to her usual demeanor.
"I'm sorry to make you laugh." She smiled sheepishly at Edmund, "Such boring annoyances shouldn't waste your time."
"It doesn't matter, everyone has bad moods sometimes, of course I can understand." Edmund quickly replied.
"Okay, let's put my matters aside - let's talk about Bianca's matter." Alice's voice returned to its usual calmness, as if nothing happened just now, "Since Agnes agreed Go help persuade Bianca, then you can find time to take her to visit Bianca."
"Huh?" Edmund was a little surprised, and then questioned in a low voice, "Is this reasonable?"
"Don't worry, Agnes won't act rashly. Although she hates me for ruining her affairs, she doesn't want to make things difficult for us. And since we have given her trust, it is difficult for her to do so with her character. Hand." Alice knew what the count was worried about, so she explained, "Besides, if she is not allowed to see Bianca, how can she take the next step? So just do what I say, no matter what I can take responsibility for any unexpected situations."
Unconsciously, Edmund was used to listening to Alice's opinions, so after thinking about it, he finally nodded and agreed.
"Well, since you have made this judgment, then I will do it. As for the responsibility, you don't have to joke. The responsibility I shoulder is naturally only my own responsibility. Even if there is an accident, it is my decision. It has nothing to do with others.”
After he finished speaking, he stopped the carriage, then nodded to Alice and saluted, "This is closer to my home, I'll get off here -"
"It seems that you are used to having a home of your own." Alice suddenly laughed. "It's very natural."
Edmund was slightly stunned.
Then, he also laughed, with a mixture of embarrassment and full joy in his smile. "Yes, that is my home... Lady Emily and Mademoiselle Eugenie are my family."
Seeing the count's happy look, Alice was quite happy. After all, she had a role in bringing together the count and Emily. However, she would not always remind others that she was a benefactor, so she just smiled. He nodded.
"Then I wish you and your family many more happy times."
"Thank you." Edmund stepped out of the carriage, then raised his coat and threw himself into the cold wind. Although the wind was biting and biting, the thought of having family waiting for me not far away made me feel sad.
There was a warm fire burning in his heart, and the cold wind seemed to be nothing.
----------------------------------
With a creaking sound, the originally dead attic finally regained a little life from its solidification.
Bianca, who was lying on the bed, followed the sound and opened her eyes slightly.
Is it another day? she thought.
She has woken up from this small space countless times now.
But without freedom, there seems to be no difference between being awake and comatose.
Because the light in the attic was very dim and almost no sound could be heard, it was as if he had been thrown into a prison cut off from time. So Bianca could only feel the passage of time when others brought her food. At first she could count how many days had passed, but later she didn't bother to remember.
After all, what's the point of remembering how many days have passed?
She knew that maybe not long after, she would be waiting for her destined death, and no one would come to save her.
It's not that there is no way out. Not long ago, the count who planned to kidnap him conveyed the young man's conditions - as long as he betrayed the instigator behind the scenes and secretly testified against his political opponents, he could be forgiven. Take your own life.
But Bianca sneered at this condition. Although she had no loyalty to the people behind the scenes, she didn't want to make those who used despicable means to capture her happy, nor did she want to beg for mercy just to survive, so she wanted to He refused without thinking.
Her tough attitude naturally made the count furious. From that day on, he stopped negotiating with her, and the price was that he would only deliver meals to her once a day, and the portions would become much smaller.
Such a small amount of food could only maintain her basic survival at most. Bianca knew that on the one hand, they were afraid that she would have the strength to escape, and on the other hand, they wanted to use hunger to wear away their will and force themselves to bend their knees.
But although hunger made her weak, it did not wipe out her resistance. Even though she could get better treatment by saying something to the woman who brought the food, she still had no intention of bending her knees and simply lay down most of the time. In bed, silently waiting for the day of execution.
As time passed silently, the squeaking sound got closer and closer to her. It seemed that the food delivery person had arrived.
She didn't pay attention to the other party's intention, still lying with her eyes closed, refusing any communication, and only waited for the other party to leave before eating.
However, what was different from before was that at this time, a few gentle sobs reached her ears.
Her body was too weak to distinguish between reality and hallucinations, and Bianca's first thought was that she was hearing hallucinations.
"Master." At this moment, an out-of-key call sounded in her ears.
The originally scattered energy gradually concentrated in the call, and Bianca finally realized that something was wrong.
She suddenly opened her eyes, and then with the dim candlelight, she found two people standing in front of her.
One is the hateful Earl, and the other is her apprentice Agnes.
For a moment, Bianca's mind suddenly flashed back to the scene where Agnes brought the count to meet her.
Although it was only more than half a year ago, looking back now, it seems like a lifetime ago.
When I was so arrogant at that time, how could I have thought that today's outcome was destined from that day on?
Bianca's heart was full of mixed feelings at this time, pain, anger, and unwillingness, which made her heart burn with fire; but her weak body at this moment made it difficult for her to muster the strength to yell at these two people who had reduced her to this situation. The culprit.
In the end, she just stared at Agnes with wide eyes and a pale scowl.
"Agnes, you did a good job." Thousands of words finally turned into such a brief sarcasm. The voice was very soft, but it contained endless accusations and rebuke.
In Agnes's sight, the originally energetic master had become extremely thin due to hunger and injuries, his cheeks were withered, and his eyes were bulging as he stared at her. He looked absolutely terrifying.
And her angry gaze made Agnes speechless.
Agnes knew that her master had a perverse and arrogant personality and was not a good person, but many years of getting along with her and her careful teaching gave her a very high status in Agnes's mind, and he was one of the few people she respected. one of the people.
Even if the master dies, he should not die in this image...
"I'm sorry, Master." For a moment, she could no longer control her emotions and sobbed softly, "I caused you to become like this."
Bianca mustered up the remaining strength, raised her body slightly, and then leaned against the wall so that she could retain as much dignity as possible in front of her apprentice.
"So, everything...everything is your conspiracy?" She asked in a hissing voice, "You didn't dare to fight me, so you secretly sent people to attack me?"
"No! That's not the case!" Agnes replied loudly while sobbing, "I have never done that, and I will never do that! I just told my sister about the fight with you to take care of my funeral. I didn’t expect my sister to take matters into her own hands... When I come over at the appointed time, all I can see is you lying in a pool of blood... Please forgive me!"
The more she talked, the sadder she became. Finally, her sobbing turned into howling, so much so that she could no longer speak. "I'm sorry... I made you suffer, but I really didn't do that! I would rather die in this world." Your sword will not play any conspiracy because of cowardice!"
Although she was still very angry with Agnes, the girl's cry made Bianca feel full of pain and sadness. Bianca would not believe it was a lie anyway. She knew her apprentice's acting skills. It can't be this good.
The sorrow flowing in her eyes, as well as the sadness and sympathy for her current situation, are all unreservedly displayed on her face, which is absolutely impossible to fake.
So, this seems to be the truth?
Bianca, who was originally doubtful of the count's words, saw her apprentice from her crying and saw her simplicity and innocence that had never changed. She didn't even need to say anything more to believe her. what was said.
Besides, if it was really her plot behind the scenes, why would she come here to see her pretending to act like this? It was meaningless.
Forget it, I’m already dead anyway, so what’s the point of worrying about whether she planned it? Just think of it as true.
"Finally... finally I didn't teach the wrong disciple, and you are not a coward." So, after a moment of silence, Bianca spoke again, "In that case, I feel better."
After hearing Bianca's words, Agnes finally felt relieved. The teacher believed her words and no longer suspected that she was secretly planning all this.
The understanding from her master made her relieved and even more emotional, so her tears that had stopped for a while began to flow freely again. "Thank you...thank you for believing in me!"
"Stop crying, you are really worthless, you are still like a child at this age." Bianca said coldly, "It's just death. It's not like you haven't killed anyone before. What's there to cry about? You don't I feel ashamed and embarrassed.”
Although the teacher said this, Agnes could not bear it at this moment, so she cried for a while, finally calmed down, and wiped her tears with a handkerchief.
"You won't die..." She seemed to comfort Bianca, but also said to herself, "Isn't there a way to keep you alive now?"
Only now did Bianca return to the real world from the atmosphere of master-disciple reunion.
She suddenly remembered that Agnes was led by the count to the place where she was imprisoned - that is to say, even if she did not plan this conspiracy behind the scenes, at least now, she must have done it with the count. What a private deal.
otherwise,
How could the count be so kind as to risk exposing himself and come here with Agnes?
As for what kind of "deal" was made, given the circumstances, there's probably no need to guess too hard.
After thinking about all this clearly, Bianca, who was originally unclear because of hunger and weakness, suddenly regained some clarity in an instant.
She stared at Agnes coldly, and then asked again, "Agnes, so you also want to come here to be a lobbyist, right? You are here to persuade me to accept the count's proposal and sell myself in exchange for my life." ?」
Agnes was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"If you insist on saying so, then I admit that this is what I am here for."
"Hmph...hahaha..." Bianca flashed an angry look at first, but then laughed sarcastically, "Then where do you get the confidence to think that you are more convincing than those people?!"
"I have never believed in my eloquence." Agnes shook her head gently, "But I know that you still have a reason to live!"
