Herdin couldn’t take his eyes off the place where Blair should have been as he dismounted from his horse and asked the knight in front of him.

“…My wife.”

“W-well…”

“Speak. Don’t make me ask twice.”

“…She hasn’t been seen for about an hour, sir.”

At the news delivered by the knight, Herdin felt the blood in his body turn cold, then boil again.

Herdin closed his eyes slowly, suppressing the rising anger. The emotion he held back felt hot enough to scorch his throat.

“Explain the situation. What happened?”

The knight quickly explained the situation.

The child of Viscount Seldon had gone missing, and Blair along with other noble ladies had all lent their family’s knights to search for the child. While Lina had briefly left her post due to an upset stomach, Blair had disappeared.

“…Any witnesses?”

“Everyone was so busy looking for the child, it seems no one witnessed anything.”

After hearing the full story, Herdin opened his eyes. His piercing blue eyes fixed on them.

“Since when did you start serving Viscount Seldon as your lord?”

His low voice dripped with killing intent.

Intimidated by his presence, the knights involuntarily flinched. It was the instinct of beasts recognizing a stronger predator. Like fearing death itself.

They were suddenly reminded that their usually generous lord was, at his core, the cold and cruel ruler of the North.

The knights could not even utter an apology and simply bowed their heads.

Lina, standing beside them, also trembled under the pressure. But more terrifying than that was the fear that Blair might have come to harm due to her negligence.

In an atmosphere where it wouldn’t be strange if someone died at any moment, a woman’s voice interjected.

“I came to express my gratitude… Has the Duchess not returned yet?”

It was Rachel Seldon.

She was holding a child in her arms. It was her niece who had been reported missing.

Herdin furrowed his brow at her words.

“…What do you mean, not returned?”

“I saw her entering the forest with one of the knights earlier.”

Herdin’s expression hardened.

A knight?

Could that knight be the one called Asiel?

“My lady. Do you remember which family the knight belonged to?”

“Things were so hectic, I didn’t notice the family crest. I assumed he was a Delmark knight… Has something happened to the Duchess?”

Rachel’s words caused Delmark’s knights and Lina to become agitated.

A noblewoman disappearing with a knight during a picnic.

The truth may be unknown, but it was the perfect setup for a scandal.

Noticing this, Lina hurriedly stepped in front of Herdin.

“N-no, Your Grace! It’s a misunderstanding! Madam isn’t that kind of person.”

“She knew I’d be back soon, there’s no way she would leave without saying anything to me—”

“Shut your mouth.”

Herdin coldly cut off Lina’s defense of Blair. Lina closed her mouth with a frightened expression.

In this situation, strong denial would only breed suspicion.

Especially in front of outsiders who weren’t Delmark people, they shouldn’t give any cause for doubt.

His rationality, barely maintained, began to rapidly turn his cooled mind.

Lina’s words were right.

Even if she had a passionate lover, Blair wasn’t someone who would carelessly show it like this.

And it wasn’t a good time to create a scandal according to her plan. They hadn’t yet uncovered the truth behind the Empress Dowager incident.

‘I don’t want to live covering things up without knowing anything anymore, because it’s too hard, too scary.’

Yes, she had definitely said that.

But…

‘Can I trust her?’

Me, that woman?

What if she had already achieved the purpose of this contract marriage? If there was no reason to maintain this contract marriage anymore?

Regardless of what the truth behind the Empress Dowager incident was, she might try to create a scandal and leave his side.

The only proof of this contract was that measly piece of paper.

Doubt spread like wildfire in an instant.

‘…No, that’s not what’s important right now.’

First, he needed to bring Blair before his eyes. Who she was with, what she was doing, that was the most important thing.

As Herdin composed himself and turned to head back towards the forest, Rachel, who had been watching him, smiled understandingly and said,

“She’ll be back soon. The Blair I know is that kind of friend.”

“That’s right, our noble Duchess wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Wesley, who had suddenly appeared, chimed in agreement.

“Ah, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I just happened to overhear while passing by.”

Herdin looked at Wesley with cold eyes.

Wesley hesitated for a moment under that gaze, but soon added with a glib smile,

“Perhaps the Duchess just went for a short walk and lost her way?”

“Y-yes, that must be it.”

Lina, not knowing who Wesley was, desperately agreed with his words.

Pleased with Lina’s agreement, Wesley patted her shoulder and said to Herdin,

“Since it’s come to this, I’ll send out our knights to help as well. We should find her quickly before this becomes a bigger issue.”

Herdin stared at Wesley with icy eyes as he spoke as if bestowing a great favor, then mounted his horse and headed into the forest.

* * *

Wesley took Herdin’s lack of response as agreement and arbitrarily began deploying the Viscount’s knights to search for Blair.

‘She should be around here somewhere.’

As Wesley leisurely looked around while entering deeper into the forest, he finally found what he was looking for.

In an area overgrown with wild trees, there was a dilapidated cabin. It was originally used as a dwelling for forest keepers.

Wesley raised the corners of his mouth upon discovering it.

In that abandoned cabin, Blair, who had been kidnapped on his orders, was probably there.

Wesley had instructed the kidnapper, disguised as a knight, to bring Blair to this cabin. And when they heard the sound of horses, to stage the situation.

As if the two had been intimate.

‘I wonder what state that once-noble Duchess will be in.’

And the expression of Herdin when he sees his wife like that.

The anticipation alone was enough to make it hard to contain himself.

Wesley tried to suppress his rising smile as he asked Herdin, who was riding ahead,

“I think I heard voices from that abandoned cabin. Shall we take a look?”

Silently dismounting from his horse, Herdin took the lead towards the cabin. Wesley followed, anticipating his reaction.

At that moment, the sound of Herdin’s footsteps, who had entered the cabin first, suddenly stopped.

‘Did he see?’

Wesley entered the cabin, expecting to see Blair in a disheveled state and Herdin’s shocked expression at the sight.

But contrary to his expectations, Wesley’s face hardened as soon as he entered the cabin.

‘What in the world…’

There was no one there.

* * *

Thirty minutes earlier.

Blair opened her eyes with difficulty, as if waking from a deep sleep.

The first thing she saw was a crumbling ceiling adorned with cobwebs. Sunlight seeping through the cracks in the ceiling reflected off the cobwebs, making them sparkle.

‘Where am I…?’

As Blair blinked, trying to focus her blurry vision, she finally realized that she had a gag in her mouth.

At the same time, her last memory returned.

While briefly waiting for Lina, just as she was about to get out of the carriage and go to where Viscountess Seldon was. Someone had covered her mouth from behind.

She had been kidnapped by someone.

As reality dawned on her, her heart began to race.

‘Who? Why?’

At that moment, she heard footsteps approaching from behind, along with an unfamiliar man’s voice.

“Isn’t it about time she woke up?”

Blair quickly closed her eyes before the man could see her.

The man, who had come close with large strides, roughly lifted Blair’s chin.

“She’s disgustingly pretty, isn’t she?”

“…”

“It’s a bit boring to just look.”

The man’s coarse fingers caressed Blair’s lips. Although the touch, laden with lecherous desire, made her skin crawl, Blair desperately endured it.

Based on the man’s words from earlier, waiting for her to wake up, and her instinctive intuition, she felt that it would be dangerous to be caught awake now.

“Hmm, I should relieve myself before she wakes up.”

The man left Blair and walked away. Soon, the sound of water falling could be heard. Hearing this, Blair slightly opened her eyes.

The man was urinating in a corner of the abandoned cabin.

Although he was wearing a knight’s uniform, he didn’t seem to be a real knight. The family crest embroidered on the right arm of the knight’s uniform looked plausible at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it was very crude.

Blair quickly surveyed her surroundings. Fortunately, her arms and legs were not tied. The man probably thought he could subdue a single woman by himself.

And nearby, she spotted a fairly large wooden plank.

‘Could I knock him out if I hit him on the head with that?’

But what if he doesn’t faint with one hit? Then she would be caught by that man.

‘He probably won’t kill me even if he catches me.’

If he had intended to kill her, he would have done so already. Or maybe he was waiting for the right time to kill her.

In any case, it meant that killing her immediately would be inconvenient for him.

If so, it was worth a try.

The sound of water gradually decreased.

Blair quietly stood up, holding her breath, and picked up the wooden plank. It was quite heavy, but she thought she could swing it using both hands.

She would only have one chance.

Blair swallowed hard and raised the wooden plank.

But just as she was about to bring it down on the man’s head…

“Oh? You were awake?”

The man turned around with a smile.