The place Herdin brought her to was an elementary school.

“I heard you used to teach children here.”

Upon learning that Blair had worked here as a teacher, he made a donation in the name of ‘Blair Delmark’ and brought her here.

“It might be difficult for you to work as a teacher from now on, but I thought you could help the school in other ways, so I decided to make a donation.”

Although the Duchess couldn’t work as a teacher again, he thought meeting the children she loved so much would improve her mood.

“…You made a donation?”

“Yes, in your name.”

But far from being pleased, Blair’s expression darkened even more.

Just as Blair was about to say something to Herdin, a bronze-skinned man emerged from the school building and approached them.

“Welcome, Your Grace. Duchess. We’ve been waiting for you after receiving your message.”

The man spoke Clanian fluently, though with a slightly different accent than most Clanian people.

Blair knew him well. It was Petro, who taught the children of the Southern Continent language at the elementary school.

Blair’s face brightened at the sight of a familiar face, but she stiffened a beat late when she realized he had called her ‘Duchess’.

“Teacher Petro.”

“Oh, it’s Teacher Arwen!”

Before Blair could even greet Petro, children who had been playing ball in the schoolyard spotted Blair and came rushing over.

“Teacher!”

Though it had only been a few days since she’d seen the children, it felt as joyous as if years had passed.

As Blair was about to greet the children, Petro stepped in to block them from approaching her.

“Children, don’t be rude. Remember what I told you earlier? We should call her Duchess now, not teacher. She’s been kind enough to mingle with us casually due to certain circumstances, but she’s actually an esteemed guest visiting Nerha.”

“Ah, right…”

It seemed Petro had given them a heads-up before Blair’s arrival. The children stopped in their tracks and awkwardly greeted her, unable to approach any closer.

“Hello.”

Some children looked at Blair with frightened eyes after hearing Petro’s words, while others still showed delight at seeing her. However, even those children couldn’t openly express their joy and only glanced at her cautiously.

“It’s alright, Teacher Petro.”

“No, my lady. While you’ve been gracious enough to embrace the children, they should learn basic etiquette.”

Blair tried to dissuade Petro after noticing the children’s demeanor, but he sternly instructed them on proper manners.

“Come now, everyone back to your places. Don’t you have a game to finish?”

The children looked back at Blair regretfully before returning to the yard where they had been playing. But one child remained standing in place.

It was the boy who had a crush on Blair.

“Is that man Teacher Arwen’s husband?”

Herdin gazed at the boy who was staring at him with bold eyes, with his usual indifferent expression.

Unlike other children who would cower and avoid him, this child of about eleven or twelve years old was looking at him with characteristically sharp eyes.

Petro, sensing Herdin’s mood, hurriedly tried to placate the child.

“How dare you say ‘that man’! This is the Duke of the Empire, Chris. He’s the husband of Teacher Arwen, I mean, the Duchess.”

“…I don’t like him.”

“Come now, you should go back too. The game can’t go on without its promising striker.”

Petro, not hearing Chris’s grumbling, hastily pushed the child away.

“Then please make yourselves comfortable, Your Graces.”

Petro bowed to the couple and walked away with Chris.

Blair stared at their retreating figures for a moment, then lowered her gaze with a bitter smile.

Petro was right.

The children are still young with little life experience.

If they become too casual with her, they might act the same way with other nobles and cause problems.

So for the children’s sake, it’s right to teach them strict etiquette, but…

‘I guess I’ll never be called teacher by those children again…’

Just a few days ago, she was part of that scene. Sharing small daily moments, laughing together.

But now, she alone had been ejected from that scene.

Simply because she was the wife of this man standing beside her.

And so she became a complete stranger living in a different world from them. The sudden realization of this fact left her feeling achingly lonely.

At that moment, Herdin took her hand and led her.

“Let’s go to that bench over there.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Blair quietly slipped her hand out of his grasp and stopped walking.

Herdin turned to look at her with puzzled eyes. A cool breeze passed through the space where her hand had been.

“Let’s just go back.”

Blair’s expression, contrary to Herdin’s expectations, was contorted as if in sadness. Seeing this, his brow furrowed.

Why.

I’m giving you everything you want. And yet…

Why aren’t you smiling yet?

Herdin rubbed his forehead and asked, as if sighing:

“What’s the problem now?”

“…It’s nothing. I’m just tired. I want to rest.”

Herdin caught Blair’s hand as she tried to return to the carriage, hiding her true feelings.

He grabbed her shoulders as she tried to avoid his gaze as if fleeing from him, making her face him.

“This isn’t just a tired face.”

Forced to face him, Blair’s lips trembled, but she ultimately kept her thoughts to herself and pressed her lips tightly.

“It’s not because of you, it’s my problem. I’m sorry for making you worry.”

Her apology, uttered as if trying to avoid the issue, did nothing to alleviate Herdin’s frustration and only made him more anxious.

Blair’s resigned attitude, unlike their previous fights, seemed as if she was trying to give up on him.

“You say it’s not because of me.”

“…”

“Then you shouldn’t have made me worry. You’ve been wearing that dead expression next to me all this time, and you say it’s not because of me?”

“…”

“What exactly is the problem? I’m giving you everything you want. The most expensive things, the most precious things, I’m giving you everything. Isn’t that enough to satisfy you?”

“…Is that what I wanted?”

Blair finally burst out with the emotions she had been trying to suppress. This reaction gave Herdin a sense of relief.

He lowered his voice and said:

“Then tell me. What is it that you want, what ruined your mood?”

Blair laughed bitterly at his words, which sounded as if he was trying to soothe a child.

She had been constantly expressing her opinions to him. But he had never once listened to her words. Now, his attitude of saying he would listen to her seemed ridiculous.

“If I tell you, are you actually willing to listen?”

“…”

“My opinions, my thoughts. They’re not important to you anyway, right? You have no intention of listening, and you’re not at all curious about why I made certain choices.”

“…”

“What’s your problem? I’m doing everything you want without putting up any useless resistance.”

Herdin’s expression hardened at Blair’s words.

“…What I want?”

“It’s all what you want. Giving me expensive and precious things regardless of my wishes, then rationalizing it as being for my sake.”

“…”

“Of course, others would say I’m ungrateful. So in the end, it’s my problem. You’re not at fault, so don’t worry about it.”

Blair sarcastically blamed herself for all of this, just as Herdin always did, as if it was all due to her stubbornness and mistakes.

Whatever his purpose, she knew he had chosen only the most expensive and best things for her. Even if her opinions were ignored.

So she thought she would feel better if she denounced his sincerity and hurt him.

But why? The dagger she threw to return to him painfully pierced her own heart instead.

It was she who felt like crying because of the words she had thrown.

Blair turned away, desperately trying to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes.

She didn’t want to cry in front of him. Tears only momentarily weaken the other person’s heart and serve as a means to avoid the situation, without solving the fundamental problem.

However, Herdin seemed to have no intention of letting it go, sighing and turning Blair back to face him.

“Blair, wait. We’re not done talking yet.”

Unable to hold back any longer, tears welled up and fell.

Blair wiped away the tears and lowered her head.

“Let me go. I want to stop…”

Her voice was clearly tired. Her fragile shoulders trembled pitifully as she tried to hold back her sobs.

Herdin’s eyes contorted at the sight.

The stifling emotion from earlier disappeared, and only the thought that he needed to comfort her dominated his mind.

“Blair.”

But at that moment, a familiar pain shot through his head, and his vision blurred white.

‘I’m sorry, Blair.’

This time, there were no visions.

Only thoughts that were clearly his own came to mind. At the same time, a searing emotion like a tidal wave rushed over him, as if his heart was being torn apart.

Herdin stiffened and held his breath. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe due to the overwhelming emotion that felt like his own but wasn’t.

‘The symptoms again…’

Just as he was about to question these abnormal symptoms that had become frequent lately, the image of Blair crying became clear again. Her appearance, along with the emotions that had just flooded him, moved him to action.

As Herdin, guided by those emotions, was about to wipe away her tears…

“Ah, ugh…”

Blair, who had been sobbing, suddenly started breathing heavily and grimaced in pain, then collapsed while clutching her stomach.

“Blair!”

Herdin’s eyes shook violently as he reflexively embraced her.