After the nobles surrounding the two of them had departed, Herdin handed a glass of wine to Katrina and raised his own glass.

“Are you afraid, Your Highness?”

As Katrina sipped the wine he had given her, she burst into laughter as if she had heard an amusing story.

“Fearful? Me? Of you?”

When Herdin looked at Katrina, he saw his wife’s face. Blair resembled her. Only the beautiful face that had been praised as breathtaking.

The moment he realized this fact, the woman in front of him became even more repugnant.

“Do you fear that I will uncover the truth, like someone afraid of being brainwashed? You are a sinner’s nephew, and I am the one who has forgiven you and accepted you as family. That is the truth.”

Her attempts to restrain herself were quite amusing. Her mother-in-law seemed to see her as a fifteen-year-old boy.

Herdin set down his empty glass on the table and added, “However, if your intentions are too transparent, it can actually arouse resentment.”

The laughter had disappeared from Katrina’s face as she looked at Herdin like that.

“What you know is the truth. That fact will never change.”

While Katrina’s voice was filled with conviction, Herdin politely lowered his head and turned away, as if he no longer wanted to deal with her.

Herdin, who had slipped away to a quiet corner of the banquet hall, moistened his dry throat with wine and looked around the hall.

His eyes, accustomed to Blair’s presence, quickly found her amidst the crowd.

Blair was talking to a woman on one side of the banquet hall. Their expressions seemed quite serious, as if they were discussing something important.

But what concerned him more were the young men who lingered around Blair, subtly circling her.

These guys were like hungry wolves. Whenever she showed the slightest opening, they would rush in, trying to strike up a conversation or even grab her hand.

He couldn’t believe that there were men who dared to approach her now, especially when the bride had just been married, and her groom was right next to her.

However, thinking back to the victory celebration, Herdin recalled that these types of guys were always hovering around Blair. She was the only one who didn’t seem to notice.

At that moment, as Herdin sipped his wine like whiskey, someone placed their hand on his shoulder.

“Is it that good?”

It was Johannes Felik, the son of Count Felik.

To Herdin, Johannes was one of the few odd guys who didn’t hesitate to approach him without fear. Even though Johannes kept claiming that he was Herdin’s friend.

Herdin didn’t bother to look at Johannes, who was rambling about nonsense out of the blue.

“What is it?”

“Your wife. Even though she said not to call her that, she couldn’t take her eyes off her during the victory celebration.”

“Nonsense.”

The response flowed smoothly, without a hint of hesitation.

Johannes stared at Herdin with a bewildered expression.

Even now, when he couldn’t take his eyes off her? Even while glaring at those guys who kept glancing at his wife, trying to approach her?

Johannes quickly guessed Herdin’s feelings, even though he had said something different.

“Well, honestly, she is quite pretty. I mean, what man wouldn’t be attracted to that face and that figure?”

Herdin, like any other man, was attracted by Blair’s appearance.

“Of course, unlike the other guys, this guy is attracted to her as his wife, which is legal.”

‘Of course, unlike the other guys, this guy is attracted to her as his wife, which is legal.’

While Herdin understood that he had never shown interest in any other woman, she was known as the empire’s most beautiful princess. It was understandable.

“Exaggerating a bit, if you put your mind to it, every man in this banquet hall could kneel at her feet……”
As if understanding Herdin’s feelings perfectly, Johannes, who had been rambling a moment ago, hurriedly added when he met Herdin’s gaze, which had become even colder than before.

“Oh, of course, not me. No matter what, I have a sense of ethics, and I’m not the kind of bastard who thinks such dangerous thoughts about a friend’s wife.”

Johannes quickly picked up his glass and brought it closer to Herdin’s with an awkward smile.

Herdin stared at him with an incredibly disdainful look. Johannes seemed to be talking as if he were upholding a thousand years of friendship with such a matter of course.

He moved to avoid Johannes, who was trying to clink glasses, and set his glass down on the table. Johannes’s glass clumsily grazed empty air.

“Where are you going? It’s been a while since I saw my friend.”

Hey, Your Lordship!

Ignoring Johannes’s voice calling him, Herdin stopped in his tracks as he headed toward the corner of the banquet hall where Blair had been.

By that time, Blair had disappeared.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Haa…”

The breath expelled by Blair spread out like a white mist in the chilly winter night.

‘Dizzy…’