‘What should I do……’

This was Blair’s first thought when she came to her senses the next day. Recalling the events of the previous night, she felt dizzy trying to figure out how to deal with it.

As if mocking her, her memory remained patchy, though she wished nothing would come to mind at all.

She remembered encountering Wesley on the balcony while trying to sober up alone, and Herdin appearing to punch Wesley.

After leaving the balcony with Herdin, her memories became fragmented.

Though she couldn’t recall their exact conversation, she remembered that he desired her. The kisses and intimate touches they shared.

Then suddenly he pulled away from her lips, and she had no memory after that. She couldn’t remember at all how she returned to the ducal residence.

But one thing seemed clear – she had shown an unseemly side of herself in front of Herdin that she shouldn’t have.

‘I shouldn’t have drunk so much yesterday….’

Blair sighed deeply and hung her head. Her face was reflected in the clear water of the bath.

Though she regretted it, it was something she couldn’t undo. It was something she had to face and get past. In that case, there was no choice but to confront it head-on rather than avoid it.

‘I should apologize properly when I see him.’

Blair wasn’t talented at making excuses or being shameless.

One thing she had learned from living that way her whole life was that it’s better to confront things honestly than to make clumsy excuses.

Having made up her mind, Blair left the bathroom and went down to the dining room. As it was close to noon, Herdin had already finished his meal and was attending to his duties.

Blair sat alone in the dining room and ate. She was never one to eat quickly, but today she was even slower than usual.

Though she had decided to go apologize to Herdin after finishing her meal, it wasn’t something she was looking forward to. She was doing it only because it was easier to take the beating first.

Blair even ate dessert, which she usually only had at tea time, before standing in front of Herdin’s office.

Looking at the door with nervous eyes, Blair took a deep breath and knocked.

“Herdin. Do you have a moment?”

After waiting briefly, the door swung open instead of an answer. The person who opened it was Luth.

“Hello, my lady.”

Seeing Luth’s face, she realized she had forgotten it was still working hours.

She had been so preoccupied with the thought of apologizing to him quickly that she had forgotten such an obvious fact.

Blair felt a bit embarrassed by this realization.

“I’m sorry. I was so distracted that I forgot it was working hours. It’s not urgent, so I’ll come back in the evening.”

“No! It’s fine. Please speak comfortably.”

Luth, who suddenly gained some free time, had a grin from ear to ear. As he was about to leave the office right away, he seemed to remember something and turned back to Herdin.

“Oh, right. What should we do about the matter with Viscount Baldwin’s family? I think it would be best to give them some money and quietly resolve it.”

Blair flinched at hearing the name ‘Baldwin’. The Baldwin viscounty was the family of Wesley, who had been making advances on her last night.

Judging from Luth’s words, it seemed that Wesley, who had been hit by Herdin yesterday, had stirred up some unfavorable public opinion.

“No, just leave it be. He deserved what he got.”

“Won’t it get noisy if we leave it alone?”

“If we put money in his mouth now, he’ll just bark louder next time.”

Luth’s expression showed that he found Herdin’s decision unsatisfactory. It wasn’t wrong, but it didn’t seem like the wisest solution.

However, the lord’s command was always absolute.

“I will obey your order.”

After Luth bowed slightly to Blair and left, only Herdin and Blair remained in the office.

Blair looked at her husband, who was leaning slightly against the office desk.

The woody scent and the smell of a recently extinguished cigar that permeated the air enveloped her. It was a scent she had loved in her past life.

As she was gazing at that scene, Herdin’s gaze, which had been watching the closing door, naturally shifted to Blair.

“It seems you fortunately don’t have a hangover.”

His face was as expressionless as usual, but somehow his gaze felt to Blair like he was interrogating a criminal. It was because she felt guilty.

Blair hesitated for a moment before asking.

“What did the Baldwin viscounty say about yesterday’s incident?”

“There was some noise, but nothing for you to worry about.”

Herdin seemed unconcerned, but Blair bit her lower lip hard.

‘Because of me….’

She didn’t want to be a sinner in front of him anymore. She wanted to be dignified.

In the end, she had become his burden again. It felt as heavy as if a lead weight had settled in her heart.

“Yesterday… I showed an unseemly side of myself. I’m sorry.”

“Do you remember everything that happened yesterday?”

Blair hesitated at Herdin’s question. It was embarrassing to say she remembered, but unfortunately, she was really not talented at lying.

“…I remember bits and pieces. Meeting Lord Baldwin, and you saving me.”

Blair chose to avoid answering instead of lying, which she wasn’t good at. But Herdin didn’t miss that opening.

“And after that?”

Blair couldn’t answer and quietly averted her gaze while pressing her lips tightly together.

Watching her reaction, Herdin straightened up from his leaning position. His height, which was already considerable while leaning, increased even more when he stood up fully.

He strode over and stood in front of Blair.

“The part after that is important.”

He whispered in a low voice as he grasped Blair’s hand.

“What we talked about, what we did.”

His thumb stroked the soft skin on the inside of Blair’s wrist. As if to remind her of last night’s memories.

The place where his hand touched felt as if it was burning. At the same time, the hazy memories of last night became clear.

His lips touching the inside of her wrist, his hot and moist tongue brushing between her fingers, his eyes looking at her as if he would devour her, and…

Even the confusing emotions she felt at that moment.

Reading from Blair’s wavering gaze that she had recalled last night, Herdin asked.

“Your words that you would do it if I wanted – were they sincere?”

He asked once again. Whether she had said something she didn’t mean in her drunken state.

Blair quietly looked up at Herdin’s cool blue eyes gazing down at her, just like last night.

This man desires her. That’s all there is to it. She had been hurt enough in her past life believing that a relationship driven by instinctual desire was love.

She no longer had any lingering attachment to this man.

Unlike before, she didn’t wish for his love, and since she didn’t wish for anything, she wasn’t hurt.

Unlike her past self who wanted to live by his side forever, she was now prepared to disappear from his side at any time.

But if she ran away here, wouldn’t that prove to herself that she still had lingering feelings for him?

With self-assurance and stubbornness, Blair nodded slightly.

“…I’ll prepare and wait for you tonight.”

Herdin’s face contorted for a moment upon hearing Blair’s answer. As if he was the one who was hurt.

But soon he smiled a twisted smile. Surely that must have been the answer he wanted, yet his expression somehow looked angry.

“I want to do it now.”

“Then, to the bedroom-”

“No, here.”

Blair didn’t understand his words at first, or rather, she hoped that they didn’t mean what she thought they meant, as she looked at Herdin.

Even in her past life, although they had countless intimate moments in the short time of less than half a year after their marriage until they had Asiel, they had never done it in the office.

To begin with, it was difficult to leave the bedroom because he wouldn’t let her go.

However, as if confirming that Blair’s understanding was correct, he lightly lifted her up.

It was only after Blair was seated on the office desk, blinking in confusion as she couldn’t grasp the sudden situation, that she came to her senses.

The odds and ends and documents that had been on the desk were now strewn haphazardly on the floor.

Only then did Blair accept the reality and look at Herdin in front of her.

He was gripping both sides of the desk where she was sitting, caging her in with his large body. Vivid desire rippled in his eyes as they met hers.

He was serious.

Blair, realizing this a beat late, pushed away Herdin as he tried to press his lips against hers, panicking.

“We can’t do it here. This is your office, and it’s still broad daylight…”

“This is my office, and I want it now. Isn’t that enough?”

And here you were, going on about contracts and whatnot, acting as if you’d give your all if only I wanted it. Tut-tut, there were suddenly so many reasons why it couldn’t be done.

Herdin grabbed Blair’s hands that were pushing against his shoulders. Her weak gestures only served to stimulate him further.

No, not just her gestures, but her gaze, her voice, her breathing – just everything about her elicited a response from him. Thanks to ‘someone’ who had stirred up his desires with a seductive face last night while drunk.

The desire that had tormented him all night was taut like a bowstring about to snap.

“That’s… hup.”

Herdin swallowed Blair’s lips as she tried to object. It was a polite yet clear rejection, indicating that he wouldn’t listen to any objections.

In Blair’s eyes, which blinked in surprise, his cool eyes were visible.

As their gazes intertwined with those unfathomably deep eyes, her head tilted, and their hot breaths deeply intermingled.

Blair’s body, unable to handle his fierce advance as if he would devour her, kept falling backwards.

Herdin wrapped his arm around her lower back. At a glance, it seemed like he was supporting her, but in reality, he was holding her so she couldn’t escape.

“Haa……”

When Blair finally managed to push him away, gasping for breath, her back and chest were already cool. He had already undone the buttons on her back.

The sight of her clothes half undone was unseemly in the bright sunlight. Moreover, she felt embarrassed by his gaze, which seemed to be admiring her in such a state.