Blair began reading the fairy tale, trying to suppress the sudden surge of longing. Initially, it was difficult as Asiel came to mind, but gradually her heart settled.

Perhaps she mistook the warmth in her arms for Asiel.

Nevertheless, with the comfort and peace it brought, Blair did her best to unfold the fairy tale.

Fortunately, the child showed interest and concentration in Blair’s storytelling.

The tranquility shattered when a prince appeared in the story.

“I want to read too.”

A boy around six years old approached with a storybook. Behind him, a girl of the same age ran over.

“Hey! That’s my book! Give it to me!”

“No! It’s mine!”

“You left yours over there!”

The girl grabbed the boy’s storybook, and the boy resisted without giving in.

“Hey, you two!”

Blair, perplexed by the squabble between the two children, stopped the storytelling. The child in Blair’s arms, frowning slightly, shouted in a hesitant voice.

“Too noisy!”

However, the older sister and brother seemed determined not to stop the book-snatching battle.

In the end, Blair, who was unfamiliar with such situations, gently put down the child in her arms and approached the two kids.

“Hey, if you pull it like that, the book will get hurt. I’ll read it for you, so let’s―”

As Blair reached for the book the kids were tugging, the girl let go, causing Blair’s hand to be cut by a sharp piece of paper.

“Ah.”
“Oops.”

Seeing blood coming from Blair’s finger, the two children stopped their dispute simultaneously. Their faces turned pale.

“Madam?”

Melie, who happened to be approaching, witnessed the situation and hurriedly came over.

“Oh, your hand…! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s nothing, so don’t make a fuss. The kids are startled.”

Blair quickly wrapped her bleeding finger to reassure the startled children, but one of them burst into tears upon seeing it.

“She’s hurt!”

“Hurt? Who?”

Melie, hearing the commotion, approached. Blair’s plans of not getting involved were already distorted.

The boy pointed at Blair and said in a trembling voice, “Th-the princess got hurt.”

“I’m okay. It’s just a slight cut from the book.”

Blair tried to reassure them, but the children couldn’t calm down easily. It seemed like they felt guilty.

Then, as if thinking of something, the girl approached Melie.

“Can you treat her, Sister Melie?”

“Yeah, please help, Sister.”

“Okay. Then, I’ll take care of the lady, so promise me you won’t fight anymore. Promise.”

The children vigorously nodded their heads.

After getting a promise from the children with a pinky swear, Melie approached Blair.

“You came all this way, and now you’ve gone through something you shouldn’t have.”
It seems that the horse is not pleased with her visit, probably due to personal feelings towards the woman.

Blair responded, trying to hide her emotions, “It’s okay. I’m just glad the kids are not hurt.”

“If you think so, that’s fortunate. Now, Madam, would you show me the wound?”

Melie extended her hand to Blair.

Blair, with her stinging hand, belatedly placed it on Melie’s hand.

At that moment, memories from her past life overlapped. On this day in her past life, she had received treatment from Melie, for a different reason – a blister on her heel from new shoes at the temple headquarters.

Then, the touch of Melie’s hand, soothing her abdomen to heal Herdin’s cracked ribs, came to her mind. As she recalled these memories, her fingertips trembled.

In that moment, Blair withdrew her hand from Melie without even realizing it.

“…No.”

Confused, Melie looked at Blair with questioning eyes.

“Madam?”

“I’ve reconsidered. It seems I don’t need treatment. It would be a waste of your precious energy, Sister.”

Blair clasped her hand, as if anticipating that Melie might hold onto it. She had an unexplainable feeling that she shouldn’t receive treatment from her.

“I’m fine, but if the lady doesn’t want it, there’s nothing we can do.”

As their conversation was about to conclude, some children rushed towards them.

“Princess!”
Blair and Melia looked at the children with puzzled eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“The prince! The prince is here!”

“…The prince?”

“A person who looks like the prince! The princess’s husband, she said.”

As the children pointed in the direction, Herdin, who was approaching from that side, came into view.

Blair widened her eyes in surprise.

“The agreed-upon time to meet was at 2 o’clock.”

Today, he had a morning schedule for a state council meeting and was supposed to come to the temple afterward at the scheduled time.

Due to him coming early, Melia and he crossed paths unexpectedly. Blair’s heart began to beat rapidly at this unforeseen situation.

“Blair.”

Herdin’s gaze, taking large strides, briefly lingered on Blair before turning toward Melia at his side. His eyes narrowed as he recognized her.

According to Blair, this woman was the one he would fall in love with in the future.

Though he still thought it was an absurd story, recalling Blair, who was laughing and chatting just a while ago, made his mood sink.