“Mmm…”

Blair woke up to the sound of birds chirping.

However, feeling the cool temperature, she burrowed back into the blanket. It felt good to be buried in the cozy warmth.

After curling up under the covers for a moment, Blair rose at the sound of birds chirping once again.

Just then, she felt the baby in her belly stirring as if it had also woken up.

Blair stroked her belly and greeted the child.

“Good morning, little one. Did you sleep well too?”

After a brief moment of prenatal communication, Blair got out of bed and opened the window. Though the weather was chilly, the crisp morning breeze felt refreshing.

As did the clear sky without a single cloud.

“The weather is nice.”

It was a three to four-hour carriage ride from Libren to Ikar. Not a very long journey, but quite arduous for a heavily pregnant woman.

So after arriving, she had been resting at home for three days straight and hadn’t toured the village yet.

‘I should look around the village today.’

And take Pipi, who must have been restless being cooped up inside, for a walk.

Blair tidied up the bed, closed the window, and headed downstairs. From the staircase leading to the first floor, the peaceful morning sounds of clattering dishes could be pleasantly heard.

As she entered the kitchen, a middle-aged woman preparing the meal greeted her.

“Oh, you’re up?”

“Did you sleep well, Nilda?”

Nilda was a servant hired in Ikar.

Blair wanted to call Anna again because she was comfortable with her, but Anna was Mikhail’s person, so it didn’t seem right. If she hadn’t known his feelings, perhaps, but now that she knew, it was even more out of the question.

“Of course. Did you sleep comfortably too, miss?”

“I told you not to call me miss.”

Nilda laughed heartily at Blair’s embarrassment at being called “miss.”

“But you’re too young to be called madam. Once the baby is born, no one will question me calling you miss.”

Blair smiled as if conceding defeat.

From what she had observed during their few days together, Nilda had a generous and affectionate personality. Though it had only been a few days, Blair had taken a liking to the woman who was like an aunt to her.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“Oh my, for an expectant mother, eating well and resting well is the best help. Please, have a seat.”

As Blair was about to sit at the table, waved off by Nilda, she froze upon noticing the lit fireplace in the living room. Her heart sank and then began to race rapidly.

As her breathing gradually quickened, suddenly a voice from her memories echoed.

‘It’s okay.’

She slowly steadied her breathing as that voice had once taught her.

Just then, Nilda, who was bringing out the food, noticed Blair standing still and looked puzzled. When she followed Blair’s gaze to the fireplace, she was startled.

“Oh goodness, look at me! I meant to turn it off earlier, but… I’m so sorry, miss.”

Only then did Nilda hurriedly move to extinguish the fireplace. Blair grabbed her arm.

“…It’s alright.”

Though her gaze was still fixed on the fireplace, her breathing gradually stabilized.

Blair added with a faint smile, trying to appear fine:

“I think I’m okay.”

After calming the startled Nilda, Blair sat down and stared blankly at the fireplace. Looking at a lit fireplace was something she couldn’t have imagined doing before.

‘Is this the result of practicing lighting fires with Herdin?’

Realizing she could handle fire herself, her sense of fear diminished greatly.

Though he was no longer by her side, what he had taught her remained in her memories, protecting her.

This newfound realization made her heart ache. However, she was soon distracted from her thoughts as breakfast preparations were completed.

Blair finished her meal while listening to Nilda’s stories about the village.

Afterwards, as she was preparing to take raw meat upstairs for Pipi, there was a sudden knock and a woman’s voice was heard.

“Are you there?”

Blair blinked and looked at the door.

Since she didn’t know anyone in the village, there shouldn’t be anyone visiting yet.

Seeing Nilda washing dishes, Blair put down the bowl with Pipi’s food and stepped forward.

“I’ll go check.”

Looking through the window next to the door, she saw two women standing there. Being close to the door, their faces weren’t clearly visible.

‘But why does that voice sound so familiar…’

Feeling an inexplicable sense of déjà vu, Blair opened the door and finally realized the source of that feeling.

Blair’s eyes widened in surprise as she recognized the visitors.

“…Lina?”

“My lady!”

Behind the tearful Lina, Mellie was also visible, quietly showing her delight.

Lina, who was about to embrace Blair with uncontrollable sobs, hesitated upon seeing her swollen belly. Then she burst into tears again.

“Oh my, you’re already full-term! You must have gone through so much alone!”

“How did you two get here…?”

In place of Lina, who was crying while hugging Blair’s neck, Mellie, standing behind, answered with a smile.

“His Grace sent us.”

Simultaneously, Lina also replied.

“We were fired!”

“What?”

“Now we have nowhere to go. We’ll live with you forever, my lady!”

Mellie burst out laughing at Lina’s complaint and added slyly.

“To be precise, we weren’t fired, just transferred to a new post.”

“Ah…”

Blair was conflicted between feeling happy to see them and knowing she couldn’t be entirely pleased.

‘I didn’t want to owe him any more, given that we agreed to divorce…’

But facing the two who had come a long way to find her, the joy of seeing them outweighed that concern.

As if reading Blair’s mind, Lina looked at her nervously and asked.

“You won’t send us away, will you…?”

Seeing Lina’s anxious eyes looking up at her, Blair finally acknowledged her own feelings.

Her desire to be with these two outweighed any considerations about her relationship with Herdin.

Blair smiled as if admitting defeat and patted Lina’s back.

“Welcome, both of you.”

Only then did bright smiles spread across Lina and Mellie’s faces.

* * *

“Then please wait a moment.”

The servant who put down the teacup left the reception room. Herdin stared blankly at his reflection in the teacup before picking it up.

The very next day after Blair left the mansion in Libren, he had moved up his schedule that was originally planned for the following week and came straight to the capital.

If he had stayed there any longer, he felt he might have ignored his promise to her and gone to find her again.

In his past life and this life, for two lifetimes, he had prioritized only his own feelings and forced them upon her. Rationalizing himself with the excuse that it was for her sake.

So if separation was her wish, he should respect that wish now, even if it tore his heart apart.

Of course, it would be difficult at first, but with time, he would get used to her absence.

…Yes, surely that would be the case.

As he was thinking this way and unconsciously recalling her again, chiding himself for doing so, the door to the reception room opened.

“You look a bit thinner. Is it because of the long journey, or was there a big battle?”

Those were Ivan’s first words as he quickly assessed Herdin’s complexion.

“Thank you for your concern.”

Herdin replied in a dry tone and handed him documents summarizing the recent incident. Ivan, who had been skimming the documents perfunctorily at first, furrowed his brow.

After grasping the facts that Gerard had caused the accident that killed the previous Duke and Duchess of Delmark and used black magic, and that Miela had slandered Blair to drive a wedge between her and Nerha, Ivan put down the documents.

“I had a feeling the Pope didn’t sit well with me… My intuition was right. He was far more sinister and dangerous than expected. We nearly had a war, didn’t we?”

Despite his words of relief, there was a hint of regret in his eyes.

That was understandable, given that what he had so earnestly desired was to obtain Nerha’s port through war with Klania.

But since Gerard had attacked Nerha first, and Herdin’s conflict with Nerha was due to Miela’s meddling, the responsibility lay with the Temple, not Nerha.

Herdin ignored Ivan’s greed, pretending not to notice, and mentioned Miela’s disposition.

“I plan to put the High Priestess on trial as soon as discussions with the Temple are concluded.”

“We’ll have to discuss that with the Temple as well. We can’t let a traitor who dared to instigate war go unpunished just because she’s a servant of God.”

Ivan needed a means to demonstrate his righteousness in his relationship with Klania, and from the Temple’s perspective, Miela wasn’t valuable enough to protect at the risk of confrontation with the Emperor.

So Miela would be punished as a traitor.

If lucky, she might become a healing slave in the border region; if unlucky, she would be executed.

It was a fitting punishment for that woman.

“By the way, I heard Blair didn’t come with you.”

Ivan, having finished discussing the recent incident, brought up another topic. Perhaps one he had been waiting for even more than the recent incident.

“Her belly must be quite big by now, so it would have been difficult to make the long journey. Is she planning to give birth in Libren?”

Ivan’s eyes glinted with greed at the prospect of a niece or nephew to bind Delmark.

Herdin stared at those eyes for a moment before speaking.

“My wife wishes for a divorce.”

Ivan, momentarily surprised by this unexpected news, soon put on a relaxed smile.

The more Blair wanted a divorce, the more Herdin would want him to prevent it.

“It seems that child is still talking nonsense. Don’t worry, I’ll reason with her.”

“There’s no need for that.”

Herdin firmly cut off Ivan’s words.

“I intend to respect my wife’s wishes.”

“What do you mean…”

Only then did Ivan’s expression contort as he understood Herdin’s intention.

Herdin, who was about to reach into his inner pocket, hesitated, then lowered his hand and stood up.

“I’ll visit you when the documents are ready.”

He left the reception room, leaving behind Ivan who was letting out a hollow laugh.

A rustling sound could be heard from Herdin’s inner pocket as he boarded the carriage. He took it out.

It was the divorce application that Blair had written, now complete with his signature.

He stared at the document for a moment, then closed his eyes in irritation with a sigh.

Surely, he had promised to accept the divorce with her.

What is it that I want to do now?