Herdin couldn’t tear his gaze away from the spot where Blair should have been. Dismounting, he questioned the knight in front of him.

“Mrs…”

“That, that…”

“Speak. Don’t make me ask twice.”

“…She hasn’t been seen for about an hour.”

The news conveyed by the knight initially chilled Herdin’s entire body, then it seemed to heat up again, as if boiling.

Herdin suppressed the rising anger and closed his eyes slowly. The restrained emotions felt hot, as if they would ignite the tinder.

“Explain the situation. What happened?”

The knight quickly explained the situation. Lord Selden’s child had gone missing, and all the noblewomen, including Blair, lent their house knights to help find the child. During Lina’s brief absence due to an upset stomach, Blair disappeared.

“Witnesses?”

“Everyone was busy looking for the child, so there doesn’t seem to be anyone who witnessed it.”

Herdin, who had absorbed all the information, opened his eyes. His deep blue eyes, tinged with a sharpness, pierced through them.

“Since when did you consider Lord Selden your lord?”

The low, authoritative voice seemed to drop lifelessly.

Under the intimidation, the knights involuntarily shuddered. It was an instinctive recognition of a more powerful being, much like an animal recognizing a stronger predator. It was akin to the fear of death.

Herdin, usually a lenient lord, now made them keenly aware that fundamentally, he was the cold and ruthless ruler of the North. The knights couldn’t even utter a word of apology; they simply bowed their heads in shame.
Standing beside him, Lena was also trembling under that pressure. However, more frightening than that was the fear that, due to her mistake, Blair might be in danger.

In an atmosphere where someone dying wouldn’t be considered unusual, a woman’s voice interjected.

“I came to express my gratitude… Has the Duchess not returned yet?”

It was Rachel Seldane.

She was holding a child in her arms, her lost niece.

Her story made Herdin narrow his eyes.

“…Hasn’t she returned?”

“I saw one of the knights entering the forest with a lady just a while ago.”

Herdin’s expression hardened.

A knight.

Could that knight be Asher?

“Yeonga, do you remember which family that knight belonged to?”

“I was too distracted to see the family emblem. Naturally, I thought he was a Delmark knight… What happened to the Duchess?”

Rachel’s story left the Delmark knights and Lena in turmoil.

A noblewoman who disappeared with a knight during the banquet.

Though the truth was uncertain, it seemed like a perfect scenario for an investigation.

Realizing this, Lena hurriedly stepped forward to Herdin.

“Oh, no, Your Grace! Please don’t misunderstand! The mistress is not someone who would do such a thing!”

Forgetting the fear from a moment ago, her thoughts were now solely focused on asserting Blair’s innocence.
“You knew I would come back soon, and without saying a word to me, you act like this―”

“Shut your mouth.”

Herdin cut off Lena’s attempt to defend Blair with a cold tone. Lena closed her mouth with a frightened expression.

In this situation, strong denial would only raise suspicions. Especially with outsiders present, not Delmark people.

Barely holding onto reason, Herdin quickly started to turn over the cold facts in his mind.

Lena’s words were correct.

Even if Blair did have a secret lover, she wouldn’t clumsily reveal it like this, especially not in front of outsiders. And now wasn’t the right time to expose the scandal she had planned; the truth about the incident at the Empress’s Palace hadn’t been revealed yet.

“Now it’s getting harder, scarier, and I don’t want to live with everything covered up without knowing anything more.”

Yes, she had clearly said that.

But…

“Can I trust her?”

Can I trust that woman?

If she had already achieved the purpose of this contractual marriage? If there was no longer any reason to maintain this contractual marriage?

Regardless of the truth of the Empress’s Palace incident, she might want to reveal the scandal and leave.

Proving this contract is just a piece of paper.

Doubts flared up like flames in an instant.

“…No, that’s not important right now.”

First, he needed to bring Blair in front of him. Regardless of who she was with or what she was doing, that was the first priority.
When Herdin tried to suppress his emotions and turn his steps back towards the forest, Rachel, who had been watching him, smiled knowingly and said with a tone of understanding, “You’ll be back soon. The Blair I know is that kind of friend.”

“Well, our elegant Duchess wouldn’t do that.”

Wesley, who appeared suddenly, chimed in sympathetically.

“Oh, I didn’t try to eavesdrop; I just overheard as I was passing by.”

Herdin looked at Wesley with a cold gaze.

Wesley hesitated for a moment under that gaze but soon chuckled and added, “Maybe the madam went for a short walk and got lost on the way back?”

“Yes, that’s right. That must be it.”

Lena blindly agreed with Wesley’s words without even knowing who he was.