As she approached the direction of the sound, she saw Herdin vomiting in a corner of the garden.

Blair hurriedly went over to Herdin.

“Are you alr—”

But just as she was about to pat his back, Herdin roughly pushed Blair away.

“Get lost!”

Struck by Herdin’s emotional outburst, Blair fell backwards with a thud.

Her buttocks ached from the fall, but the shock of the situation was greater than the pain. It was the first time someone had shown her such clear hostility.

Though this situation was bewildering, worry for Herdin took precedence. Blair, who had been blinking in a daze, sprang to her feet.

“Are you okay?”

Herdin’s eyes wavered for a moment upon seeing Blair fall, but soon turned cold again. And he came on even stronger.

“Didn’t you hear me say get lost?”

He had long since abandoned any courtesy towards the Imperial Princess.

Herdin took a step closer to Blair threateningly and spat out:

“Get lost if you don’t want to die.”

A clear killing intent could be felt in Herdin’s voice as he spoke.

Blair instinctively shrank back at the killing intent she had never encountered before, but once she saw his eyes, she couldn’t run away. No, she didn’t want to.

Though he was saying harsh words, for some reason the boy’s contorted blue eyes looked terribly lonely.

Suddenly, she recalled what Esmeralda had said yesterday.

‘Honestly, Herdin isn’t an affectionate child. That child has many emotional wounds, so he’s not good at dealing with people.’

Certainly, Herdin was neither affectionate as she said, nor did he seem like a good person as Blair had lied about.

But…

‘He’s not a bad person either.’

Just a boy who found it difficult to bear the sadness left behind.

“Wait a moment!”

Blair, who had been staring up at Herdin, seemed to recall something and turned to run back into the banquet hall. Then she hurriedly came out with her belongings.

She had been taught that running around clumsily was unladylike, but Blair was in a hurry. Like when she would go to get food for the cat that appeared in the backyard.

“Haa… Haa…”

When she returned to the backyard, Herdin was nowhere to be seen.

Blair, who had been wandering around the garden, found him on the opposite side of the wall where Herdin had first been. Herdin was sitting against the wall with his face buried in his knees.

‘Is he in a lot of pain?’

Recalling how Herdin had been retching, Blair approached him wondering if she should have brought medicine instead.

At that moment, a sigh followed by the rough voice characteristic of a pubescent boy came from Herdin, who had his face buried in his knees.

“…Why have you come again, Your Highness.”

Though he was clearly annoyed, this time he made an effort to use polite speech.

Before he could push her away again, Blair quickly placed her item in his hand that was stretched out over his knees.

“I’ll lend you this.”

Only then did Herdin lift his head to look at what was in his hand. It was a pair of fur earmuffs.

“They’re rabbit fur earmuffs. You can’t hear sounds well when you wear them.”

These earmuffs would block out those whispers, at least a little. Since it’s winter, no one would think it strange for him to be wearing earmuffs.

“And they’re warm, and super soft.”

The rabbit fur earmuffs were fluffy. So pleasant to the touch that you’d want to keep feeling them. Touching that fur would often make her feel better.

‘Then it should improve the Duke’s mood too, right?’

As Herdin looked back and forth between the earmuffs and Blair with her eyes sparkling in bewilderment, just as he was about to say something—

“Imperial Princess! Are you here?”

The voice of a maid looking for Blair was heard.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Blair jumped to her feet. If Herdin was discovered hiding here, it would undo all his efforts to act normal at the banquet today.

“I’ll keep today a secret.”

Blair quickly ran around the corner towards the maid, leaving Herdin behind. Her hand that had been holding the earmuffs felt empty, but her heart was light.

That night, before falling asleep, Blair made a wish as always.

Please make Mother love me.

Please let Mother and Her Majesty the Empress become friends.

To the wishes she made every day, she added one more special wish for someone else that day.

Even though she didn’t like that person who stole Her Majesty the Empress’s attention…

‘Still, please make Duke Delmark happy.’

* * *

“So Her Majesty the Dowager Empress arranged your first meeting with the Duke?”

Agnes showed interest and listened attentively to Blair’s story, even though it had nothing to do with her.

What Blair told Agnes was only that she had played cards with him the day before the New Year’s Festival, and that Herdin had attended the banquet. Just that much. She didn’t mention that he had run away from the banquet that day.

It was an old incident, and even if someone were to find out now that he had run away that night, no one could laugh at who he is now.

After all, Herdin is now the Empire’s finest knight and a war hero.

But even though the secret of that night no longer held any meaning, she didn’t want to throw his wounds out as gossip for others.

“A connection from childhood leading to marriage, it’s quite a romantic story.”

“Is it?”

“Of course. It’s the kind of story every girl dreams of at least once. And to think the other party is the Duke… Of course, what completed that romance was your love, Madam.”

Blair looked at Agnes with eyes that asked what she meant.

“Because it’s you who kept that memory, Madam. For the New Year’s Festival, there must have been plenty of other memories, but you remember it centered around the Duke, don’t you?”

Blair’s eyes blinked slowly in surprise at Agnes’s words. It was a perspective she had never considered before.

Agnes smiled gently and said:

“It seems you love the Duke very much, Madam.”

Blair, who had been pondering those words in a daze, smiled palely.

Yes, she ‘had loved’ him. Perhaps, as Agnes said, she had been drawn to him from that New Year’s Festival.

But not anymore.

However, as the Duke’s wife, she couldn’t tell a stranger that she didn’t love the Duke. Still, there was one thing she could say for certain…

“…I loved that time.”

The me who liked you so purely back then, when those feelings weren’t a sin.

Agnes nodded at Blair’s words.

“Memories of happy moments can sometimes become the strength to live an entire life. I hope you make such empowering memories at this year’s New Year’s Festival too, Madam.”

This year’s New Year’s Festival was something Blair had already experienced once.

‘Come to think of it, what happened at this year’s New Year’s Festival?’

Blair paused as she tried to recall the memories of the past.

Only then did she remember. On the day of the New Year’s Festival around this time before her regression, there had been an accident.

* * *

That night, Blair was pacing around her room, touching her lips with her fingertips. It was because of the sudden memory of the New Year’s Festival before her regression.

There had been an accident at the New Year’s Festival around this time before her regression.

An accident where a monster appeared at the imperial hunting grounds where the heads of each family and their wives had gone to obtain offerings for the gods.

The reason Blair hadn’t immediately remembered that incident was because she had caught a cold and couldn’t attend the New Year’s Festival that day.

All she knew was what she heard from Lina the next morning when her fever broke.

That Herdin, who was there, had slain the monster, and thanks to him there were some injuries but no fatalities. Herdin himself had returned covered in the monster’s blood, but was uninjured.

‘What should I do…?’

If things flowed exactly the same as in the past, it would pass without major problems, but what if it flowed differently due to her intervention that had already occurred? Conversely, what if things went wrong while trying to prevent it?

Numerous possibilities jumbled Blair’s mind. She couldn’t tell what the right answer was.

Above all, the reason she hesitated to reveal knowledge of future events was that there was no way to explain how she came to know this fact.

Other than the story that she had regressed.

Would Herdin really believe such an absurd story that she had returned to the past?

‘But he believed me about Lina’s incident.’

He embraced her and punished the maids without asking or questioning anything.

Then maybe, he might believe her this time too. Even though it was an incomparably more absurd story than Lina’s incident.

However, even if he didn’t believe it, she had to tell him.

Usually, the outcome is better when you know about an event that will happen and prepare for it, rather than being completely unaware.

By now, Herdin should have returned home.

After much deliberation, Blair went to Herdin’s room. But there was no response even after knocking several times.

‘Is he already asleep?’

He wasn’t one to sleep so early, but it was possible considering tomorrow’s schedule.

Just as she was debating whether to return to her room:

“What brings you here at this hour?”

Blair turned towards the voice and met eyes with Herdin, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching her.

He was dressed in a loose nightgown, as if he had just finished bathing.

The moment she met his blue eyes shrouded in darkness, she felt as if she had locked eyes with a predator watching its prey.

“…I have something important to tell you.”

Blair’s white cheeks were flushed red from the cold wind as she spoke with gravity. Herdin stared at her for a moment before entering the room.

Blair followed him into the bedroom. The warm air inside the heated room thawed her cold body.

Herdin approached the table with large strides, moistened his throat with whiskey, and turned to Blair.

“So, what is it you wanted to say?”

“A monster will appear at the hunting grounds tomorrow. I think it would be good to scout the area before the hunt begins to prevent it in advance.”

Herdin frowned at this sudden statement.

“Where did you hear that?”

It was the reaction she had expected.

After hesitating for a moment, Blair cautiously began:

“I… can see the future.”

Herdin, who had been staring at Blair as she spouted this nonsense, burst into laughter. He recalled what Luth had said about Blair visiting the guild a few nights ago.

What could be the reason for coming at this late hour to spout such nonsense? What scheme could she be hiding behind that clear face?

The crooked smile that had spread across Herdin’s lips disappeared, leaving only a cold gaze.

“You expect me to believe that.”

“It may sound like impossible nonsense, but there’s no harm in preventing it in advance…”

Blair stopped mid-sentence as she saw him suddenly step close. Her instincts made her back away from his chilling aura.

Herdin grabbed her waist, cutting off her retreat.

“Herd—”

As she tried to push him away in surprise, his lips approached hers. So close that she was afraid to move her lips lest they touch.

Stopping his lips at that distance, Herdin whispered:

“Then, try guessing what I’ll do next.”

His ice-blue eyes pierced down like daggers.