“This concludes today’s meeting.”

The cabinet meeting ended.

Herdin leisurely rose from his seat and left the conference room with Luth. As soon as they exited, the first thing visible was the window in the corridor.

The weather was gloomy. Judging by the ominous dark clouds, it seemed rain would fall soon.

Noticing his gaze, Luth remarked:

“The weather seemed to be improving, but it looks like we’ll have spring rain.”

Herdin gazed at the view of the imperial palace beyond the window. Though obscured by trees, the Empress’s Palace would be there. And Blair would likely be there now.

‘Someone came from the Lorelaine County, and yesterday a person from the palace visited the county. And today, the Empress Dowager summoned the lady.’

Before marriage, he thought Katrina adored her daughter dearly.

Her daughter always wore expensive clothes, adorned costly jewelry, and smiled brightly among people praising her.

He didn’t know then that appearances weren’t everything.

Blair’s demeanor at the first banquet after marrying Ivan and Katrina, and her behavior at Katrina’s birthday celebration.

The reality of the mother-daughter relationship he saw up close was different from what he had thought.

Only then did he realize the strangeness in Katrina’s attitude towards her daughter. And Blair’s attitude towards her as well.

Although he couldn’t judge everything based on those brief, fragmented moments, he could tell their relationship wasn’t typical of mother and daughter.

Suddenly, he recalled Blair’s appearance at the banquet.

Her image of speaking calmly while her hands trembled beneath the table.

“……”

Lost in thought as he walked down the corridor, Herdin noticed something and stopped.

Rain had begun to fall.

* * *

After finishing her conversation with Katrina and leaving the Empress’s Palace, Blair encountered an unexpected variable.

Spring rain.

Blair halted in front of the sudden rain. A maid from the Empress’s Palace who spotted her immediately ran into the rain to call for a carriage.

Having left in a hurry after finishing her talk with Katrina, there hadn’t been time to have a carriage waiting, so Blair had to stand idly at the entrance waiting for one.

A maid from the Empress’s Palace watching Blair cautiously spoke up.

“My lady, it’s still chilly. Why don’t you wait inside?”

“It’s alright. The carriage will be here soon anyway. The air is crisp, so I’ll stay like this.”

Blair refused the maid’s suggestion and absentmindedly watched the light drizzle while waiting for the carriage.

‘What would change now by digging into that? Would that dead woman come back to life?’

Katrina was not just refusing to approach the truth of that incident from ten years ago, but even fearing it.

If what she said was the truth of that incident, she had nothing to fear.

The moment she saw her, Blair finally properly faced the possibility she had been avoiding for the past ten years.

Perhaps her mother had used her.

Even the accident that day, maybe even her life.

At the same time, her mother’s face, undeniably similar to her own, became chilling.

How could she do that?

How could Mother do that to me?

Of course, it’s just a possibility. It might not be the truth. It might just be her own suspicion.

But this too might be her rationalization, not wanting to be abandoned by her mother.

She thought she only needed Asiel. And that thought remains unchanged even now.

But what is this emptiness she feels?

This feeling of being left alone in the world.

‘…Asiel.’

Blair caressed her empty belly, recalling the face of the child who had giggled at her.

My baby.

Since no trace of that child remained in this world she had returned to the past, she at least stroked the womb that had once held him.

But her slim belly, with nothing to touch but her own flesh, only increased the emptiness.

If she could meet Asiel again, if she could hold that child, her only blood relative, in her arms again… it felt like this overwhelming emptiness would disappear. It seemed like the emotions of this moment would become nothing.

For when she saw that child, breathing and smiling brightly, trusting only her, it felt like she could overcome anything.

So now, without that child, she couldn’t help but feel this way.

At the moment when the rainy scenery filled Blair’s empty purple eyes, a carriage stopped in front of the Empress’s Palace.

The family crest with the wings of a divine beast.

Though it bore the same Delmark Duchy crest as the carriage she had arrived in, it wasn’t the one she had come in.

The carriage door opened and a familiar face stepped out.

Herdin strode towards Blair, holding an umbrella. Blair stared blankly at him as he approached.

She had quarreled with him.

He suspects her. Because she is Katrina’s daughter.

Probably even at this moment, he’s suspecting her. Wondering what they talked about, if she had given in to her mother.

And he might have killed her in her past life.

Nevertheless, the moment he appeared before her, her world finally had two people in it.

Herdin, who had walked over with neither leisurely nor hurried steps, stopped in front of Blair.

Blair looked up at him with disbelieving eyes. Under the umbrella, piercingly blue eyes gazed at her steadily.

After observing her for a moment, he held out his hand.

“Shall we go?”

Blair alternately looked at the large hand extended to her and at him, then placed her hand on his.

The large hand enveloped hers and gently pulled her under the umbrella. At the same time, the umbrella tilted towards her.

Blair boarded the carriage with him. Luth moved to the carriage Blair had arrived in. Soon, the carriage departed.

Only silence filled the carriage.

Blair glanced sideways at Herdin. He just stared at the window where raindrops were streaming down, saying nothing.

‘I thought he would surely ask about the conversation with Mother.’

If he had, she could have answered nonchalantly. Blair found this silence uncomfortable. Fearing he might be quietly growing his suspicions.

Finally, Blair spoke first.

“Mother… seems to have planted someone in the mansion. She knew I was consulting with Lady Lorelaine.”

Only then did Herdin’s gaze, which had been directed out the window, turn to Blair. There was no surprise on his face. He seemed to have already expected it.

“And……”

Blair, who had been answering questions that weren’t asked, was about to say more but closed her mouth.

If she mentioned that Katrina had told her to stop trying to recover her memories, it would be tantamount to revealing to Herdin that there was a possibility Katrina had been involved in Esmeralda’s death in some way.

How would he react if he considered that possibility?

He must have already been suspicious of his stepmother, but turning a mere hunch into near-certain doubt was an entirely different matter.

Nevertheless, Blair continued speaking.

“…And, she told me to stop trying to recover my memories.”

She had decided to find the truth no matter what, and he was a partner in uncovering that truth.

“Of course, regardless of Mother’s wishes, I will definitely recover my memories—”

“I know.”

A calm, low voice interrupted Blair’s words. The look in his eyes also didn’t doubt or question her like before.

“You don’t need to explain further to me.”

Blair looked at him with eyes that couldn’t understand.

“Then why……”

It was an unfinished question asking why he had come to pick her up if that wasn’t what he was curious about.

Instead of answering, Herdin, who had been quietly looking down at Blair’s pale face, noticed a small raindrop clinging to her hair.

Seeing his hand approach, Blair reflexively closed her eyes.

He brushed away the raindrop hanging near her temple with his index finger. His gaze, which had been on the raindrop, immediately returned to Blair, and their eyes met.

Only then did Herdin answer in a dry voice.

“Just because it’s raining.”

* * *

“You called for me, Your Grace.”

That night, Herdin summoned Caligo to his office.

“Caligo, track the Empress Dowager’s movements for the time being.”

The day of the accident.

Blair had gone to the Empress’s Palace secretly without telling Katrina, but Katrina said she had heard from a maid she had planted in the Princess’s Palace that Blair had gone to the Empress’s Palace. The maid also testified as such.

Katrina used that fact to dismiss suspicions directed at her.

If she had really tried to kill Esmeralda, would she have attempted such a thing on that particular day, knowing full well that her daughter was at the Empress’s Palace?

In fact, she had even gone to the temple that night to save Blair, who had been severely injured.

But until now, Herdin had believed without doubt that Katrina was the culprit. He thought the maid’s testimony was false, and that Blair too was pretending to have lost her memory to comfortably cover up her mother’s crime despite knowing it.

However, there was one more possibility that everyone had missed, unable to go against filial piety.

‘The possibility that woman had used even her daughter’s life.’

Blair probably thought so too.

She wouldn’t have thought her mother would use her life.

‘No, she wouldn’t have wanted to think about it.’

Because she wouldn’t have the confidence to accept it if it were the truth.

After considering that possibility, he hesitated. About letting her recover her memories.

Still, he had no intention of stopping here.

Whatever the truth is, he must know. Why his aunt had to die. Why Delmark had to bear such infamy.

Even if Blair gets hurt in the process, it’s a truth she should rightfully accept.

‘Either way, we can’t rely solely on her memories.’

Having reached that conclusion, Herdin continued speaking.

“I’ve thoroughly stirred up that woman’s emotions. If she’s the culprit, she’ll want to double-check. She’ll be anxious, wondering if she missed anything.”

“……”

“Keep an eye on all the witnesses involved at that time too, and report if you notice anything suspicious.”

Caligo’s eyes, upon receiving Herdin’s order, shone sharply, unlike usual.

He bowed his head with a serious expression.

“I receive your command.”