Through the shaking carriage window, the panorama of the Princess Palace was visible.

Herdin’s assistant, Luth Fenril, began to grumble while looking at the Princess Palace with disapproving eyes.

“His Majesty the Emperor is truly shameless. How can he even mention marriage? He was toasting when the Delmark family was falling into decline.”

About ten years ago.

After losing both parents and his aunt, the Empress, young Herdin was left alone, and the Delmark Duchy was as precarious as a candle in the wind.

But when Herdin achieved great merit in the war and was hailed as a hero, Emperor Ivan came with a proposal of marriage to his sister.

It was an obvious attempt to subtly absorb Herdin’s influence.

“Thanks to that, Her Highness the Princess is the real winner. She gets to sit back and obtain the empire’s most eligible bachelor as her husband.”

Luth thought unfavorably of Blair, whom he had never even properly conversed with.

With such a mother and brother, one could guess what the Princess would be like. No doubt cut from the same cloth.

“That’s why I said what I said. You should have quickly found a suitable young lady and married her.”

But unlike the grumbling Luth, Herdin seemed unmoved by the situation and remained silent.

This sight made Luth even more infuriated.

“Are you not even angry, Your Grace?”

“Luth.”

Herdin, who had been sitting with his arms crossed and silent despite Luth’s tirade, cut off his words by calling his name.

His gaze was still fixed outside the window.

At the same time, the carriage carrying the two men passed through the main gate of the Princess Palace.

“From here on, it’s the Princess Palace.”

Though his voice carried no emotion, Luth knew the implied meaning of those words and closed his mouth.

“…I apologize.”

At last, the carriage came to a stop.

The steward of the Princess Palace, who had been waiting for them, guided them to the reception room.

Herdin entered alone, leaving Luth behind.

“Her Highness the Princess will be here shortly.”

After the steward left, Herdin was left alone in the empty reception room.

As he picked up the teacup brought by a maid to wet his throat, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him. Herdin stood up to pay his respects to the Princess and turned around.

A delicate and pitiable beauty was entering through the open door.

Blair Sonnet von Ardel.

This was the name of the mistress of this Princess Palace and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the woman he would marry.

The woman before his eyes was as beautiful as if a doll that little girls play with had been brought to life.

Indeed, she was worthy of being called the daughter of the Empress Dowager known for her legendary beauty, but her beauty evoked no emotion in Herdin.

No, rather…

‘It would be more fitting to call it a terrible face that makes one recall the past.’

Herdin hid his twisted smile as he kissed the back of Blair’s hand.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”

At that moment, Blair’s mysterious purple eyes, which met his, contorted for an instant.

It was an expression that seemed almost sad.

But when Herdin raised his head again, the emotion that had filled Blair’s eyes had vanished.

“Thank you for making time in your busy schedule, Duke Delmark.”

Blair naturally took the seat of honor.

Following her graceful movements, her soft platinum blonde hair and the lace of her dress fluttered gently.

Silence fell between the two as they sat facing each other. They merely lifted their teacups to wet their throats, without speaking.

Usually, in such unfamiliar situations, the lower-ranking person would initiate conversation with trivial daily topics.

But Herdin seemed to have no intention of doing so.

In the end, it was Blair who spoke first, as she fiddled with the rim of her teacup while staring intently at his face.

“I’ll get straight to the point.”

Blair set down her teacup and continued speaking.

“I don’t intend to refuse the marriage proposed by my brother.”

Up to that point, it was what Herdin had expected. Even for someone like her, it would be difficult to refuse the Emperor’s command.

But what followed was something he hadn’t anticipated at all.

“One year.”

At the sudden word that popped out of Blair’s mouth, Herdin looked at her with a puzzled light in his eyes.

“Please maintain this marriage with me for exactly one year.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“After a year passes, I’ll divorce you due to my own fault. I won’t change my mind and cling to you, nor will I bother you with reasons like love or anything of the sort.”

Herdin’s fine brows furrowed.

‘A contract marriage for one year, what on earth is she plotting?’

As if reading his mind, Blair presented a proposal that he absolutely could not refuse.

“The fire incident at the Empress’s Palace ten years ago.”

At the unexpected topic that flowed from her lips, Herdin’s eyes sank into a cold gaze.

“If you accept my proposal, I will cooperate to the fullest in uncovering ‘the inside story of that day.'”

A cold sneer escaped Herdin’s lips.

After keeping her mouth shut for a whole decade, what nerve did she have to bring up that story now?

Herdin still vividly remembered the emotions from ten years ago.

When the Empress was accused of being the culprit in the Empress’s Palace incident, Herdin sent numerous letters to Blair, the only witness, to clear his aunt’s false accusation.

But no answer came.

He heard her answer on the day of the trial for the Empress’s Palace incident.

Unable to enter the courtroom due to his young age, Herdin heard Blair’s voice through the slightly open courtroom door.

‘I don’t… remember anything.’

Lies.

You don’t remember, that’s all lies, isn’t it? You ended up siding with your mother after all, didn’t you?

The memory of that day remained with Herdin even now, ten years later, as a piercing sense of betrayal and resentment.

‘But, it’s not a bad proposal.’

He couldn’t refuse the Emperor’s command anyway. Or more precisely, he had no intention of refusing.

The Emperor had agreed to allow an increase in the duchy’s military force on the condition that he become part of the imperial family.

Currently, the Delmark forces were reduced to half of what they were in the previous generation.

Public opinion that the duchy might revolt, using the Empress Esmeralda’s treason as an excuse, played a large role in this process.

Even so, they still possessed an enormous force compared to other houses, but it was overwhelming to guard the northern border and suppress magical beasts.

Although Herdin was a great war hero and magic swordsman, he couldn’t handle everything alone.

Even knowing it was the Emperor’s trap, the military increase was an offer Herdin absolutely could not refuse.

And now, to be able to uncover the truth of ‘that day’ along with it.

He didn’t know what the Princess’s ulterior motive was in proposing this contract marriage, but if he could somehow use her to find out the truth and then divorce cleanly, there could be no better outcome.

He looked at Blair for a moment and asked.

“Why do you want such a marriage, Your Highness?”

“Because marriage is the only legal way for a princess to leave the imperial palace.”

“If that’s the reason, wouldn’t it be better to marry someone who will cherish and love you?”

No matter how royal she might be, the life of a divorced woman wouldn’t be smooth sailing.

There would be plenty of people willing to cherish and love her, the Emperor’s sister and the daughter of the Empress Dowager. If she wasn’t satisfied, she could even choose someone she wanted herself.

Herdin couldn’t understand Blair’s intentions in choosing him among the numerous options.

There would be far better choices than a predetermined end to a marriage with him, a political opponent.

Blair didn’t answer promptly, staring fixedly at Herdin.

As her purple, luminous eyes that captured his image blinked slowly, strange emotions flitted across them.

They seemed momentarily sad, as if resenting him for asking such a question.

“I don’t believe in such things.”

“…”

“I prefer relationships with clear beginnings and ends, rather than those that speak of illusory eternities. Relationships where you can take as much as you give.”

Blair spoke firmly while gazing at the man across from her.

Once, she too had been excited by the gaze of this accomplished man, just like other young ladies. There was a time when she believed in love and eternity.

But that’s only in the past now.

“I think you would do that for me.”

Herdin didn’t take his eyes off Blair’s face as she spoke. Over her pale face, the image of a young Blair from the past overlapped.

‘When I grow up, I want to leave the imperial palace. I’ll travel the wide world, beyond the system!’

The moment he recalled that face, his mood twisted, but Herdin readily answered.

“I accept that proposal.”

“Thank you.”

“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll take my leave now.”

Checking the clock, Herdin stood up as soon as Blair gave her permission.

As Blair watched his back disappear through the door, the resentment towards him that she had been hiding showed in her eyes.

There was a question she couldn’t ask.

A question she couldn’t get an answer to from him now.

Herdin.

Did you kill me?

* * *

The wedding preparations progressed quickly.

Time flew by, and soon it was the day before the wedding.

Blair visited the imperial mausoleum.

The tombstone before her eyes bore the name of the former empress.

The Emperor had stripped her of her position as empress and the imperial family name, but in his mercy, he allowed her to be buried in the imperial mausoleum.

Whether it was truly merciful to have her honor buried in the ground and, not content with that, to be interred here unable to return to her homeland, is uncertain.

Blair placed a single flower, neatly wrapped in paper that she had plucked from the greenhouse, at the base of the tombstone.

Katrina didn’t approve of Blair coming here.

From her perspective, it was bad enough that Blair was her political rival, but to visit the grave of a woman who had tried to kill her daughter was even worse.

But Blair found it hard to believe that fact.

‘Blair.’

If the warm embrace that had always comforted her when she was pushed aside in favor of her brother Ivan was all a lie, it was terrifying to contemplate.

When she was young, she didn’t try to recover her memories.

She was simply scared.

Whichever was the truth, she would lose one mother.

But years after that incident, when she encountered Herdin at a banquet.

Blair decided to face the truth she had been avoiding.

She brought a hypnotist to the Princess Palace to undergo hypnosis, but it only had adverse effects, damaging her health.

Then, after marrying Herdin and falling in love with him, she covered up those memories again.

She was afraid of losing him, no matter what the hidden truth might be.

However, when she learned that her beloved had actually been harboring hatred for her indifference for many years.

When she realized that he had pretended to love her in order to uncover the truth from her.

Blair wanted to give him everything he desired, even knowing his love was false. She wanted to cling to his love even in that way.

Belatedly, she tried to recover her memories again, but what she got in return was…

‘Ha, after turning a blind eye for ten years, do you now feel guilty?’

‘…’

‘Don’t do anything more. Just, stay still. Like you’ve done all this time.’

In front of his cold gaze, Blair completely crumbled.

If Esmeralda’s crime was a false accusation, Herdin would despise her indifference even more, and even if it were true, he wouldn’t love her.

So Blair let go of everything related to the memories of that day. As her beloved husband wished.

Thus, in her past life, she had given up on recovering those memories.

‘But nothing will change if I just keep avoiding it. In this life, I’ll face the truth and move forward.’

Whatever the truth hidden in the buried memories might be.

As Blair was organizing her future plans in her mind, she heard hurried footsteps behind her.