Ideally, he wanted to keep her within his sight and in his arms all day long.

But since that was not realistically possible, this was the alternative he decided upon.

Creating an excuse to keep Blair close and clearing Esmeralda’s false accusation would be the next steps.
His tone, devoid of mockery, further infuriated Blair.

He genuinely believed there was no problem with imprisoning her under the guise of protecting her.

The face she thought she had become accustomed to suddenly felt unfamiliar.

The realization that her perception of him, whom she thought she knew well over two lifetimes as her husband, was nothing but self-assurance struck her hard in this moment.

“I’m not your possession. Don’t speak that way.”

After trembling lips hesitated for a while, Blair finally uttered those words.

Hildin scoffed.

“From the beginning, it was what you wanted.”

“….”

“I give my body as you wish, regardless of your intentions.”

She had depicted him as a madman consumed by desire with that innocent face, and she had been the one tormenting her.

He became that person because she wanted it. So why, when he returns, does he receive disdainful looks?

Why does she now wear more wounded eyes?

“…There wasn’t a clause that said I couldn’t go out. Let me go out.”

“What do you plan to do outside?”

“….”

“Get kidnapped again, throw one more pretext for rumors?”

His sneering remark caused Blair’s eyes to painfully twist.

Hildin, looking at Blair, who seemed on the verge of tears, scratched his forehead with a sigh.

It was difficult to make Blair cry here. At this moment, with a shortage of time to overlap their bodies, he didn’t want to argue with her anymore. He didn’t want to forcibly hold her, rejecting her.

Hildin, who had been pondering for a while, changed his approach.

He approached Blair, who was trembling, and pulled her into his arms.

“I don’t want this.”

Blair tried to push away from his embrace, but Hildin effortlessly held her hand, restraining her. Then Blair turned her head away to avoid his approaching lips.

Hildin, holding her chin to align their gazes, whispered in a softer voice.

“A fortnight.”

At the unexpected words from him, Blair’s eyes blinked with a puzzled look.

Hildin continued as if answering her.

“After the end of the national festival, if everything goes smoothly, I’ll let you go out.”

By mentioning the approaching expiration date, the innocent and kind wife would believe only his words, making it easier for him to achieve his goal.

Hildin finally lowered his body to Blair, who had stopped resisting, and their lips met.

When Blair opened her eyes the next day, it was close to noon.

Hildin, who hadn’t left her side for a while, seemed to have reached a point where he could no longer delay his work. Recently, he had been leaving the mansion empty every morning but returning without fail to embrace her all night. His inhuman stamina became evident.

‘A fortnight…’
Alone in the bath, Blair, hunching her tired body, contemplated the deadline he had mentioned yesterday.

Although she pretended to accept the proposal, knowing she couldn’t defeat him on her own, she was, in reality, uneasy.

Blair absentmindedly caressed her lower abdomen while lost in thought.

‘What if morning sickness starts during that time?’

Deceiving Hildin, who was undoubtedly well-informed, and even deceiving Lena and Melli, who were closest and served as spies, would be an undoubtedly challenging task.

After a moment of contemplation, Blair sighed and got up. It was indeed an unsolvable problem.

After leaving the bath, Melli, who was waiting outside the door, came in and helped Blair dry off and put on a gown.

“I’ve prepared the meal as you ordered in the room.”

“Thank you.”

The two of them, having left the bathroom, went straight to the room.

As they entered the bedroom after passing through the living room, Blair’s pupils began to shake violently at the scent of soup and savory bread.

‘My stomach is uneasy…’

While it could be dismissed as simple loss of appetite, Blair, having experienced past lives, precisely knew what these symptoms meant.

It was morning sickness.