Blair looked at Mikhail with considerably surprised eyes.

“…Mikhail.”

Mikhail lured Pipi into the bag. Having become close to him over the past two months, Pipi obediently entered the bag.

“Since it was a creature the lady particularly cherished, I thought you would come to take it before leaving. I didn’t expect you to bring them along too.”

Mikhail handed the bag containing Pipi to Blair.

“With that number, I think I can distract them.”

Blair, realizing he was trying to help her escape, hurriedly stopped his words.

“No, that’s enough now.”

“…Is it because of your physical condition?”

Of course, that reason was significant. But there was a bigger reason for refusing his help.

“I don’t want to involve you any further. This is a matter between me and that person, and it’s a problem I need to solve on my own.”

At Blair’s resolute words, Mikhail’s expression hardened.

Her words felt less like concern for him and more like drawing a line. That he could never intervene between Blair and Herdin.

“What if I want to be involved in that matter?”

“…”

“Can’t my feelings for you be a reason to intervene in that issue?”

Just as Blair was about to respond to that, the closed door behind them opened.

The person who entered through that door was…

“The lady said you were nothing to her. It seems that’s not the case?”

“…Herdin?”

Blair’s eyes widened at his appearance, someone who shouldn’t be here right now.

She finally realized why the knights had readily agreed to her outing. That her every move was being reported directly to Herdin.

Herdin approached Blair’s side and turned her body towards him, embracing her in his arms. As if trying not to even show her figure to Mikhail.

Mikhail looked at Herdin without showing any sign of surprise and replied.

“We are indeed nothing. Though my feelings are different.”

At that answer, a cold killing intent flickered in Herdin’s eyes as he looked at Mikhail.

However, Mikhail calmly continued his words even under that pressure.

“It’s exactly as Your Excellency just heard.”

“…”

“I dare to be in love with the lady.”

At that moment, a sharp mana emanating from Herdin flew like a dagger, grazing Mikhail’s cheek before embedding itself in the wall.

Surprised, Blair grabbed Herdin’s arm and called out to him in a shrill voice that was almost a scream.

“Herdin!”

Drops of blood formed on Mikhail’s cheek where the mana had grazed, and soon a line of red blood flowed. Blair’s face turned pale with shock at this.

Herdin, skilled in magic, wouldn’t have missed the wall by mistake. He clearly deliberately made the attack miss. It was an obvious warning that the next one would aim for the neck.

But Mikhail, who had actually been attacked, was glaring at Herdin without so much as blinking.

Herdin smiled crookedly as he looked at Mikhail.

Look at this.

It was quite different from when they first met, when he had pretended to be gentle in front of Blair.

Well, with that level of guts, he would dare to touch another man’s woman. Fearlessly.

“I didn’t like you from the first time I saw you.”

“…”

“How dare you.”

“…”

“How should I punish a scoundrel who dared to run away with another’s wife?”

Once again, Herdin’s mana rippled around them.

As Mikhail showed no signs of backing down either, and the atmosphere between the two men was becoming increasingly tense, Blair hurriedly stepped between them to intervene.

“Stop it, please!”

Herdin’s mana, which had been rippling as if about to attack Mikhail again, hesitated. At the same time, Herdin’s expression hardened as he faced Blair.

Mikhail’s eyes, which had remained calm even in the face of Herdin’s ominous killing intent, also began to waver at her intervention.

Herdin, brushing his bangs back irritably and swallowing a sigh, spoke to her in a much softer voice.

“Come here, Blair.”

But Blair didn’t back down. Just as she had always been unyielding when she thought she was right.

“It was me who wanted to run away, me who asked for help, and me who used this person’s feelings.”

“…”

“He’s my benefactor, and someone I feel sorry towards.”

Looking at Herdin with determined eyes, Blair presented her final bargaining chip.

“If you spare this person, I’ll do everything you want. So please, just let me say goodbye. I’m begging you.”

Begging.

At Blair’s desperate gaze, Herdin let out a cold laugh.

All this time she had hated and resented him so much, yet now she was pleading with him to save this man.

Whether it was guilt or a sense of responsibility, how was it any different from a woman clinging to save her lover?

While that sight was terribly unpleasant, he had the dark thought that if he could use those feelings to keep her by his side, he would gladly do so.

In the tense atmosphere where neither of them seemed willing to back down, Herdin finally opened his mouth with a sigh.

“Five minutes.”

At the same time, his menacing mana receded. Blair’s eyes widened at this.

“If you take any longer than that, he will die.”

Herdin glanced coldly at Mikhail standing behind Blair, then turned and left the room.

Blair turned to look at Mikhail after hearing the door close. Her eyes contorted painfully as she saw the wound on Mikhail’s cheek.

“…I’m sorry. Because of me.”

“It’s not your fault, my lady.”

“But—”

“And it’s nothing. You know, don’t you? That this level of injury is nothing to me.”

Mikhail had holy power, so he would be able to heal it right away. But Blair still felt uneasy.

Just because it could be healed didn’t mean the pain when the wound was inflicted wasn’t real.

Mikhail, however, quickly healed the wound using his holy power as if to prove it was nothing, and asked:

“Did you decide not to run away because of me?”

Blair shook her head.

“It’s not because of you. I just realized it belatedly. That this isn’t a problem I can solve by relying on someone else.”

“…”

“I’m grateful and sorry for everything until now.”

She finished speaking as if that was all she had to say to him. Watching her, Mikhail swallowed a sigh.

In the end, he had failed to turn her heart towards him. If Blair returned to Herdin like this, she could be in danger of getting caught up in Gerard’s schemes.

But he couldn’t speak about Gerard.

If Herdin found out, Blair could be in danger from his rampage if he confronted Gerard in this state.

Above all, he didn’t think someone who was so obsessed with her, putting his own feelings first, would give her up even if he learned about the black magic formation.

Mikhail buried that truth and asked Blair:

“…Even if I told you that you might be in danger if you stay by his side, would you still go back?”

At the meaningful question, Blair blinked for a moment and fell into thought. The answer came easily.

Even knowing about the past life incident, she had returned to Herdin’s side to meet the child, and had fallen in love with him again.

It was all a present created by situations she had chosen of her own will, not something others had made her do.

Blair spoke her decision, which she had chosen once again, in a calm voice.

“I’ll have to take responsibility for that danger too. Because it’s the present created by my choices.”

Having finished speaking, Blair quietly turned around, holding the bag containing Pipi.

Mikhail’s lips quivered as he watched her retreating back, but in the end he closed his mouth without saying anything about the black magic formation.

Only after the door had completely closed did he let out a self-deprecating chuckle at his own selfishness.

He couldn’t tell Blair about the black magic formation. No, he didn’t want to tell her.

He hated the thought of you learning that that man loves you, of watching you be happy by his side.

Even if it meant risking your safety.

He wanted to be a good person to her at least, but it seemed he couldn’t overcome the terribly selfish nature of humans after all.

But that didn’t mean he was going to just stand by and watch her get caught up in Gerard’s schemes.

Mikhail’s eyes gleamed coldly as he roughly wiped away the blood remaining on his face with the back of his hand.

There was still one way left to save her.

* * *

Pipi, who had been restlessly moving about in the bag, seemingly uncomfortable in the unfamiliar environment, eventually quieted down. It seemed to have fallen asleep after exploring its surroundings.

Herdin looked at the now quiet bag, then turned his gaze to Blair sitting beside him.

Blair was absently stroking her rounded belly as she looked out the carriage window. Herdin, who had been watching her intently, asked:

“Does it move?”

At this, Blair, who hadn’t looked at him once since getting in the carriage, turned to him with puzzled eyes.

Herdin gestured towards her belly with his eyes and added an explanation.

“The child in your belly.”

Finally understanding his question, Blair nodded slightly.

“Yes, sometimes.”

As Herdin was about to touch her belly, Blair slightly curled her body, cradling her stomach, and added:

“…Weakly. You probably can’t feel it yet.”

The implication was not to touch her.

Herdin’s brow furrowed slightly as he caught her meaning. Ignoring her intention, he placed his hand on her belly.

Blair flinched momentarily at his touch but didn’t push his hand away.

Herdin gazed at her as she looked up at him with uneasy eyes, then leaned close to her scarlet lips and whispered:

“Kiss me.”

Blair’s eyes blinked in confusion at his sudden request.

“You have to pay the price for me granting your request.”

His low voice and hot breath tantalizingly brushed against her lips.