Herdin removed the cigar he was holding in his mouth.

“I was so preoccupied at the time that I didn’t notice the lady, but it’s been bothering me—”

“Your Eminence.”

“Yes?”

“I appreciate your concern, but now doesn’t seem to be the time for leisurely greetings.”

Herdin gestured with his eyes towards where the injured from this incident were gathered. A look of embarrassment crossed Miela’s face.

“Ah… I’m sorry. I just got carried away with happiness at seeing you…”

Miela hesitated for a moment before bowing slightly and adding:

“Well then, I’ll see you again next time.”

She turned and walked away, unable to take her eyes off Herdin until the very end.

Luth watched her retreating figure with sympathetic eyes. It was a scene he had witnessed countless times as Herdin’s aide.

‘It’s just a shame about that woman, unlike the others…’

The fact that she was a priestess with holy power.

In any case, those with holy power were rare and valuable. Having one close by would surely be beneficial.

Yet his lord didn’t even spare a glance, despite her great usefulness.

“Couldn’t you have been a bit warmer to her? She did treat your injuries, after all.”

“That’s why I told her what to do before she got dragged away for neglecting her duties.”

Luth was dumbfounded by Herdin’s nonchalant reply, but it was already in the past.

“Yes, yes. You’re ever so kind.”

Herdin moved towards the tethered horses, ignoring Luth’s halfhearted response.

His thirst for the woman waiting at the mansion had reached its limit of patience, making it impossible to wait for the situation to be resolved.

* * *

Upon returning to the bedroom from Herdin’s private study, Blair handed Mikhail’s letter to Lina.

“Lina, please burn this.”

“Ah, yes.”

Blair approached the window as Lina lit a candle behind her. Her eyes trembled anxiously as she gazed at the scenery outside.

That phrase is engraved on the daggers that your husband, the Duke, bestowed upon several knights who shared life and death with him after the war ended.]

‘So the man who killed me was a knight of Delmark…’

And one of Herdin’s direct subordinates at that…

Blair recalled going to the training grounds right after the wedding to check the faces of the knights.

‘But none of them had a sword scar on the bridge of their nose.’

Did I miss it?

Blair, who had been pacing the room anxiously, checked the clock and immediately left the room, heading down to the first floor of the mansion.

At this time, the knights should be having their midday training in the training grounds. Although she wasn’t a particularly attentive mistress to the knights, it wouldn’t be strange for the lady of the house to check on them.

As Blair, who had come down the stairs, turned her steps towards the back door of the mansion, she heard a bustling sound from the direction of the entrance.

‘Has Herdin returned?’

Just as she was thinking this, she ran into Mason, who was coming out of the first floor.

“Ah, Madam. You’ve come down just in time.”

“Has someone arrived?”

“A few people have come from the main castle. I think they might want to greet you, Madam. If you’re not busy, could you spare a moment?”

As much as she wanted to go straight to the training grounds, it would look odd to ignore them and leave abruptly.

‘It won’t change anything if I’m a few minutes late.’

Blair nodded slightly.

“Alright.”

Blair went out to the mansion’s entrance with Mason. Five mounted knights approached and dismounted in front of her and Mason.

They all had their faces covered with cloaks to shield against the sharp winter wind.

The man standing in the middle of them approached, bantering:

“Oh my. I never imagined the lady would come out to welcome us personally at our first meeting… This is an honor. If I had known, I would have bought a gift on the way.”

Blair, who had been absentmindedly watching the man approach as he lowered the cloak covering his face, suddenly paused. The eyes visible beyond the cloak looked familiar.

‘This person is…’

Blair’s eyes wavered violently as she recognized those eyes.

They were the eyes of the assassin who had killed her.

Although there was no sword scar on the bridge of his nose, it was undoubtedly that man.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Madam. I am Caligo Elfarind, a knight of Delmark.”

He smoothly kissed the back of Blair’s hand. His lips touching her hand felt terrifyingly chilling.

‘I hadn’t considered the possibility that he might be a knight from the main castle.’

Blair’s hand, held by him, trembled. She needed to say something, but it felt as if someone was choking her, making it hard to breathe.

At that moment, the sound of approaching hoofbeats was heard. It was Herdin, Luth, and a few knights. They had returned ahead with Herdin.

Caligo brightened upon seeing Herdin and released Blair’s hand.

“Well, well, even our lord is here to welcome us.”

But Herdin, who had dismounted, passed by Caligo and came straight to Blair.

Blair couldn’t take her eyes off Caligo, even with Herdin’s arrival.

Seeing this, Herdin gave Caligo an order to leave.

“That’s enough greeting for now. Caligo, you must be tired from the long journey. Go rest.”

“Yes, sir. Then, I’ll see you again, Madam.”

Caligo greeted them cheerfully and moved away with the knights who had come with him.

Blair stared blankly at their retreating figures. She looked somehow precarious.

Herdin instinctively tried to embrace Blair, but stopped when he noticed the dirt on his clothes. He took off his leather gloves and held Blair’s hand with his bare hand.

Feeling that warmth, Blair finally lifted her gaze from where it had been fixed and looked at him.

“Are you unwell?”

The hand he held was warm as always, but she feared his warmth.

Afraid that he might suddenly turn and strangle her.

Blair slowly withdrew her hand from his grip and answered.

“…I’m fine.”

Herdin furrowed his brow. Contrary to her words, her expression didn’t look fine at all.

He ordered Lina, who was standing nearby.

“Take the lady to her room.”

Blair looked back as she was being escorted to her room by Lina. Herdin was discussing something with Mason.

Words that she couldn’t ask about or hear the answers to scratched painfully at her throat.

* * *

Back in her room, Blair sat blankly on her bed.

As her emotions settled and her mind cooled, questions and hypotheses began to surface one by one.

‘Why did that man kill me?’

Since there hadn’t been much connection between them, it probably wasn’t due to personal feelings, and it likely wasn’t for personal gain either. An ordinary knight wouldn’t benefit from killing her.

So, Herdin…

Blair stopped her train of thought there.

‘…No, no. Maybe Knight Caligo thought I was a hindrance to Delmark.’

Although he approached her amicably when they met for the first time today, perhaps his deep loyalty to Herdin made him want to eliminate her at any time, acting on his own.

But there was something that didn’t quite fit with this assumption.

‘Before being a duchess, I’m a princess. If something were to happen to me, it would lead to discord with the imperial family. Surely he wouldn’t go that far?’

Hitting a dead end, another hypothesis came to mind.

‘Perhaps he’s a spy planted by a third party who wishes for discord between the imperial family and Delmark.’

Thus, Herdin might have nothing to do with her death. However…

‘…No. I can’t trust anyone.’

She couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that Herdin might be behind it.

Come to think of it, there were many reasons why Herdin might not approve of her.

She was a wife he had acquired semi-forcibly through an enemy family, she had no memory to clear Esmeralda’s unjust accusations, and he had another woman he loved.

He might have tried to kill a useless and interfering wife, blinded by love.

It seemed foolish to have thought, even for a moment, that he might have nothing to do with her death.

Blair fidgeted with her anxious hands as she thought about her future plans.

‘Simply running away without knowing anything won’t solve anything.’

If it was Caligo’s personal feelings or actions born from loyalty, giving up her position as duchess or running away might solve everything, but if there was a separate mastermind behind it, the story changes.

As long as there was a clear purpose behind her death, they might continue to try to kill her.

To avoid death, she first needed to know why she had to die, and to uncover that, she needed to find out about Caligo.

‘Who he’s in league with, and why he killed me.’

Blair decided to request an investigation into Caligo from Mikhail and began to write a letter.

At that moment, she sensed a presence behind her.

“I thought you might have dozed off since you didn’t hear the knock.”

Blair was startled by Herdin’s sudden appearance, quickly covering the letter she was writing as she turned to face him.

Herdin was in a robe, seemingly having just bathed. His gaze was directed at the letter.

Only then did she realize that her actions might appear suspicious, but fortunately, he just looked at it briefly without asking anything.

He gently lifted Blair and sat down on the chair himself. Then he began to untie the laces of her dress. His actions were very natural.

As the dress loosened, her white, round shoulders were revealed. Herdin pressed his lips to those shoulders and asked:

“How are you feeling?”

The hot breath that escaped with his languid baritone tickled her shoulders. Blair still found his uninhibited touch unfamiliar, even though she should have gotten used to it by now.

Realizing that he was asking because he remembered her poor complexion from earlier, Blair answered after a slight delay.

“…I’m fine.”

Taking her words as permission, his hand, which had been holding her waist, moved up to cup her plump mound.