Herdin, who had been staring at the empty bed, strode over and felt the blanket.

The sheet was already cool, its warmth gone. It meant she hadn’t just stepped out for a moment.

A long-forgotten anxiety swept over him. At the same time, the blood in his entire body turned cold.

“Blair.”

Herdin searched everywhere Blair might be, from the dressing room to the bathroom, the library, and finally Pipi’s room, but she was nowhere to be found.

Nowhere in his domain.

Only the empty room of Pipi, whom he had brought back inside last night saying it had gotten chilly, spoke volumes.

Blair was not here.

“Your Excellency, what’s wrong—”

Mason, who had come out to the central hall of the mansion early in the morning, stopped short when he saw Herdin bustling about the mansion, exuding a chilling aura.

A fierce glint shone in Herdin’s blue eyes as he surveyed various parts of the mansion.

“Blair has disappeared.”

“Pardon?”

“Has anyone seen her?”

Mason, who was about to reassure him that Blair might have gone for a walk, closed his mouth upon seeing Herdin’s murderous gaze.

Herdin was already certain that Blair was no longer in this mansion. In such a situation, words meant to reassure him would be mere prattle.

“I’ll check right away.”

Mason immediately left the room and gathered the servants in the center of the mansion.

“Has anyone seen the madam from midnight until now?”

The servants, called out in the early dawn, shook their heads at the sudden question, their faces still groggy with sleep.

Among them, only Lina and Mellie were blinking, their faces pale.

“The madam… has disappeared?”

Their faces, on the verge of bursting into tears, showed that they hadn’t noticed Blair’s escape plan at all.

Herdin let out a sardonic laugh as he looked at the two of them.

In the early days of their marriage, Blair had said she would ask even Lina on Herdin’s behalf. It meant she wasn’t included in the escape plan from the start.

If she had intended to leave even her closest attendants behind, she wouldn’t have told anyone in this mansion about her destination.

“You two, follow me.”

Herdin returned to Blair’s room with the two women, Blair’s closest maids, and ordered them.

“Check if any clothes or jewelry are missing.”

By looking at the clothes she took, they could roughly guess what climate region she had gone to, and if she sold custom-made jewelry, it could be traced.

But all Blair had taken was the one set of clothes she was wearing, and the mischievous young creature that followed her like a mother.

As if to say she wouldn’t take anything he had given her, she had truly left with just her body.

And one more thing.

Daring to carry his child in her womb.

“Um, Your Excellency. I found this on the dressing table…”

Lina, who had been suppressing her emotions under Herdin’s intimidating presence, approached hesitantly. In her hand was a letter.

Herdin immediately unfolded the letter.

I’m sorry for leaving like this.

But the contract we initially agreed upon has ended, and since you have no intention of fulfilling it, I wish to end our contract in my own way.

For my sake, and for yours, I beg you one last time, please don’t look for me. I will cherish and love the child, raising them well without any lack.

Although we couldn’t bid farewell wishing each other well, I will leave with only good memories, and I hope you will remember it the same way.

May you always be happy.]

A sardonic laugh escaped through Herdin’s teeth as he read the letter written in neat handwriting.

Happiness. Happiness, she says.

While she was by his side, she had resented him so much, but now that it was time to leave, it seems her heart was considerably lightened. Judging by her wishing for his happiness.

He couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at the implication that not even hatred or resentment remained for him.

Thinking about it that way, her unusually docile behavior towards him last night made sense. The sight that had been satisfying at the moment now cut through his heart like a dagger.

I was neither love, nor hatred, nor resentment, nor anything to you.

I truly am nothing to you.

That fact hit him anew.

But he had no intention of letting her leave his side so lightly as she wished.

Whether it be hatred, resentment, or any form of emotion, he needed to occupy a place in her heart.

If he could be something to her, even in that way.

Because she was rightfully his wife, who should belong to him.

Herdin crumpled Blair’s letter and shoved it into his inner pocket before immediately leaving the room.

Mason, who had been searching for Blair once more inside the mansion with the servants, approached. Herdin ordered him.

“Tell the knighthood. Block all routes leaving the estate, and search everyone entering and leaving.”

Although she had entered a stable period, she couldn’t ride a horse while pregnant. By carriage, she couldn’t have left the estate yet.

After giving that order, Herdin went directly to the stable to take out a horse and mounted it. There was a place he needed to check first.

* * *

“Pipi? Pipi!”

In the dark passage lit only by a single lamp, only Pipi’s cries and Blair’s labored breathing echoed.

“We’re almost there, Pipi. Just hang on a little longer. That’s a good boy, right?”

“Pipi.”

Blair hurried her steps while soothing Pipi, who seemed anxious in the bag. Fortunately, the small creature calmed down upon hearing its owner’s voice.

Blair smiled wryly at the sight.

When she first planned to escape from the duke’s mansion, she hadn’t intended to bring Pipi along.

It would be safer and more comfortable for it to stay in the well-provided duke’s mansion than to accompany her on the quite long journey ahead.

But just before leaving, when she went to say goodbye to Pipi. Seeing the small creature recognizing her and running towards her, she changed her mind.

She had taken it in originally because it reminded her of Asiel, whom she had left behind in the vanished time. Just as she couldn’t leave Asiel behind, she couldn’t leave Pipi, who resembled Asiel, behind either.

So Blair abruptly reversed her plan.

Although traveling with Pipi would be a bit more arduous and troublesome than going alone.

However, as she walked through the dark corridor for a long time, she thought it was good that she had brought Pipi along.

Just as Pipi calmed its anxious heart upon hearing her voice, she too was calming her anxiety in this darkness because of that small being depending on her.

“…Have we arrived?”

Blair, who had been walking through the seemingly endless underground passage for a long time, finally hit a dead end.

“There should be a latch around here…”

When she held up the lamp to illuminate the ceiling of the wall, she saw a latch that could only be opened from the inside. It was exactly as Mikhail had explained.

Blair unlocked the latch, then stepped on a nearby wooden box to push the door upwards. However, due to the weight of the door, it didn’t open easily.

After struggling like that for a while.

Just as Blair was about to push the door more forcefully, it opened from the outside, and blue dawn light poured in. And then…

“You must have had a hard time getting here.”

In the dim dawn light, Mikhail extended his hand towards her.

Blair, blinking at the sudden light, looked around only after her vision became clear. The surroundings were a forest devoid of human presence, entirely enclosed by trees.

“Where is this?”

“This is the Pahar Forest, located in the north.”

Blair first handed over her luggage and the bag containing Pipi, then climbed up to the ground with Mikhail’s help. She protected her belly with one hand, worried about bumping into the wall.

Seeing this, Mikhail’s gaze fell on Blair’s stomach.

While preparing her escape plan from the duke’s mansion, Blair had previously informed Mikhail about her pregnancy.

Because escaping alone and escaping while carrying a child would require fundamentally different methods.

Upon hearing this news, Mikhail became puzzled. What could be the reason for her to run away from the man she loved while carrying his child?

However, Blair’s determination to escape from the duke’s mansion was firm, so Mikhail set aside his questions and assisted with her escape plan.

But upon meeting Blair, he had a sudden thought.

Perhaps, she was carrying an unwanted child out of a sense of responsibility.

Considering Blair’s usual personality, it was entirely possible. Even while escaping, she had brought along a small creature.

If that were the case, he could offer help.

Mikhail carefully asked Blair, who was catching her breath.

“Madam, perhaps that child in your womb… Is it a child you do not want?”

Blinking at the sudden question, Blair understood its meaning a beat later and hastily replied.

“No, this is a child I wanted.”

And while protectively cradling her belly, she added.

“I’m living for this child’s sake.”

The look in Blair’s eyes as she said this was as sharp as that of a mother animal protecting her young.

Mikhail, momentarily taken aback by her fierce demeanor he had never seen before, quickly acquiesced and backed off.

“…I’ve made an impertinent interference.”

He extended his hand to Blair, who had caught her breath to some extent.

“First, I’ll escort you out of the forest. By now, His Excellency must have arrived at the mansion, so he’ll soon notice this passage and come after us.”

Blair took Mikhail’s outstretched hand and stood up.

She had just barely escaped from the duke’s mansion. She couldn’t rest easy until she left the estate.

The real challenge of evading pursuit was only beginning.