Ch#46
“How can you be so certain when you’ve known the man for so little time?”
“Because nothing of the sort you’re imagining has ever happened between us.”
“That may have been the case until now, but it will happen eventually. That’s how men are.”
“…….”
“Their heads are filled with nothing but thoughts of how to get their hands on a woman.”
Herdin tucked a stray lock of hair behind Blair’s ear as she stood with her lips pressed firmly together in discontent. He added, “Though I suppose a noble Princess such as yourself couldn’t possibly imagine such things.”
The gesture appeared tender at a glance, but the look in his eyes as he gazed down at her and the words leaving his mouth were bone-chillingly cold.
“In a situation like that, a pretty, wealthy, and naive woman appears before him and treats him with dignity.”
“…….”
“Do you really think that fellow is any different?”
Blair’s eyes, which had been shaking with unease, finally crumpled as if she were about to burst into tears. It was as if she herself had been insulted.
And all because of a mere commoner.
“From now on, take a knight with you whenever you meet that man.”
Herdin unilaterally ended the conversation and took Blair’s hand. It was meant as an escort, but Blair yanked her hand out of his grasp.
Herdin’s icy gaze turned toward her. Blair looked him straight in the eye and spoke.
“You have no right to insult that man based solely on your own assumptions.”
As she spoke, her body trembled violently. It was just like the time she had stood her ground against her brother’s opinion during a luncheon at the Imperial Palace.
Though she looked terrified, her eyes were filled with a sense of justice. She was someone who never backed down—not when she believed she was in the right.
Seeing that side of her again was both ridiculous and irritating.
“I… I cannot agree with your view.”
Having stated her opinion firmly in a quiet voice, Blair left him behind and headed toward the hired carriage she had reserved.
Herdin let out a hollow laugh as he watched her carriage depart.
“Shall I put your hair up again today?”
Melli asked as she sat Blair down in front of the mirror. Blair gave a small nod.
“Yes. Please.”
Long hair was beautiful, but it was difficult to manage. With so much to do today to prepare for the banquet, it was better to have it pinned up so it wouldn’t get in the way.
The soft, rhythmic sound of brushing filled the peaceful morning room.
It was the time of day when Melli or Rina would brush Blair’s hair while she reviewed her schedule.
As she organized her tasks for the day in her head, Blair looked at Melli in the mirror and suddenly called out to her as if she had remembered something.
“Melli.”
“Yes?”
Blair started to ask a question, but her lips merely hovered before she closed them again. Instead, she shook her head.
“No, it’s nothing.”
In truth, she had wanted to ask if Herdin had left.
After Blair had returned to the mansion alone in the hired carriage yesterday, Herdin hadn’t returned until late at night, well past dinner, as if he had other business to attend to. Consequently, they hadn’t crossed paths.
Usually, they shared breakfast every other day, but today, she didn’t want to see him.
The way he had insulted Mikhail to his face was inexcusable.
Had he not insulted him simply because of his own high status and the fact that Mikhail was a commoner?
Such behavior was wrong.
She was disappointed that he, of all people, would speak that way.
‘But I shouldn’t let it show in front of the girls.’
That would be beneath her dignity.
“All finished, my lady.”
“Thank you.”
Once she finished grooming, Blair left the room and stood at the top of the stairs leading to the first floor.
When she was about halfway down, she saw Herdin and Russ descending the opposite staircase.
Perhaps he had noticed her as well, for Herdin’s gaze drifted in her direction. Blair’s footsteps came to a dead halt as her eyes suddenly met his.
Herdin’s gaze lingered on her for a moment before returning to Russ.
Blair slowly continued down the stairs and reached the first floor a beat ahead of him to wait. Even though she felt uncomfortable, she couldn’t very well not see him off since they had run into each other.
When Herdin reached the first floor, he walked right past her. Just as Blair, having received a silent bow from Russ, was about to follow behind him, a cold voice rang out.
“There is no need for you to come out.”
He walked away with long strides. Though he wasn’t walking particularly fast, his long legs carried him a great distance in just a few steps.
Russ looked even more flustered by the exchange, but he gave a quick bow and followed after Herdin.
Blair watched Herdin’s retreating back with dissatisfied eyes as he left the mansion under Mason’s escort, then she turned toward the dining room.
He was the one in the wrong, and he was the one who had made it obvious to others that they had quarreled. There was no reason for her to go out of her way to dance to his tune.
However, Melli’s eyes were full of worry as she watched her mistress.
“I don’t think I can just stand by.”
Rina, who was eating lunch on a garden bench in the increasingly mild weather, tilted her head at Melli’s sudden remark.
“About what?”
“His Grace and Her Ladyship. It doesn’t look like they’ve made up yet, does it?”
Right after the wedding, it was understandable because they had barely seen each other before marrying, but ever since the day Blair collapsed in front of the fireplace, the two of them seemed to be getting along well.
‘For a while, they didn’t even come out of the bedroom, which actually made me worry about Her Ladyship….’
But from a certain point, Herdin stopped visiting the bedroom, and the atmosphere turned icy. To anyone watching, they looked like a couple in the middle of a spat.
Even so, she thought they had reconciled the day they returned from the Grand Empress Palace together… but upon further observation, that didn’t seem to be the case either.
In particular, ever since the day they went to the art gallery a few days ago, Blair seemed to be intentionally avoiding shared meals.
By nature, servants are not supposed to listen to anything other than their master’s orders, nor are they supposed to speak unless spoken to. However, that didn’t mean they were blind and deaf to what was happening right in front of them.
The two had had a major falling out. That much was certain.
Even so, it wasn’t a matter for servants to interfere in. A marital spat was strictly between the couple.
However, as the cold war dragged on for nearly a month, Melli began to worry about Blair.
After the other maids had been caught by Herdin subtly bullying Rina, the overt ostracization had vanished, even if the others weren’t exactly friendly.
‘But if this cold war between the two continues like this….’
Melli didn’t want Blair to go through the same things she had before.
It was partly due to the lingering guilt from the past, and partly due to the genuine affection she had developed for Blair.
Rina, however, was a staunch member of the anti-Herdin faction.
“It’s definitely His Grace’s fault. Definitely! Absolutely! Her Ladyship is in the right.”
“No, I’m not trying to figure out who’s right or wrong. It’s their business, so it’s not for us to judge. What I mean is, we can’t just let it stay like this.”
“Then what?”
“Whether they make up or have an even bigger fight, shouldn’t they at least see each other’s faces for something to happen?”
But Rina, who was unconditionally on Blair’s side, furrowed her brow.
“Why should Her Ladyship have to make that kind of effort? The person who’s being frustrating should be the one to do it.”
“Her Ladyship is probably frustrated too, she just doesn’t express it. He is her husband, after all.”
Rina couldn’t criticize Herdin any further and clamped her mouth shut.
Melli was right. No matter how close Blair was to them, they were still mistress and maid.
In this mansion, Herdin was the only family Blair had to lean on.
Rina still found Herdin disagreeable, but for Blair’s sake, she decided to listen to more of what Melli had to say.
“Anyway, so?”
“How about we create some time for the two of them to be together?”
“How on earth are we supposed to do that?”
“Well, that is….”
Melli, who had been contemplating with a serious face, let out a small exclamation as something occurred to her.
This… this is a different development from my previous life.
Blair stared at the scene before her with wide, surprised eyes.
In the sitting room of the bedroom, where she had been called while preparing for the banquet, Baroness Sionel and her assistants were laying out the finished gown and a set of men’s formal wear.
This part of the scene was exactly what Blair had expected before coming to the bedroom.
Except for her husband, who was sitting leaning back in the chair beside her, watching the scene with her.
Blair glanced at Herdin with confused eyes.
‘Why is he here?’
It had all started a week ago.
Baroness Sionel had visited the Duke’s Mansion to prepare the outfits for the banquet.
‘My Lady, how about a matching couple’s look like this? It’s all the rage among young lovers and newlyweds these days. Even in a crowded place like a banquet, people can tell at a glance that this man is yours.’
The Baroness had suggested a couple’s look in her previous life as well.
Upon hearing that, Blair had agreed to the couple’s look just as she suggested. As a new bride in love, she had been eager to show off her love and her husband.
But now that she had returned to the past, she knew that all of it was futile.
Blair had expressed her desire to have a normal dress made, not a matching look.
However, Melli and Rina, who had been listening to their conversation from behind, suddenly chimed in.
‘My Lady, I really want to see you in a matching look.’
‘It’s the first banquet you’re hosting as the Duchess, after all. Wouldn’t it be better to dress in a way that makes both masters of the Ducal house stand out?’
After thinking for a moment, Blair had readily decided to accept their earnest suggestion.
It wasn’t that she particularly wanted to match, but there was no specific reason to refuse their request either.
‘And anyway, it will look good to be dressed in matching outfits at the banquet.’
Instead, she chose a different design from her previous life this time. It would be boring to wear the same design twice.
Whatever the process, the result had ended up being a matching couple’s look just like in her previous life, so she assumed the future following it would be the same as well.
In her previous life, he hadn’t tried on the matching outfit until the day of the banquet.
In other words, his appearance at the fitting for the finished clothes before the banquet was something that had never happened in her previous life.
