Herdin knocked and entered Blair’s bedroom.

Contrary to his expectation that she would be surprised by his visit or sleeping, Blair was sitting at the table, deeply engrossed in something. Unaware of his presence.

‘What is she doing?’

At a glance, it seemed she was writing something.

‘… She’s so small.’

Every time he saw her, he felt it, but looking at her from afar, he was struck anew by how small her frame appeared.

The occasional dry cough made her seem even smaller.

‘The room is quite chilly.’

Despite the cold winter, the fireplace was almost extinguished.

The white snow piled outside the window, the cool room, and the pale woman in that scenery.

Thinking that the nickname “Snow Fairy” suited her quite well, Herdin approached Blair from behind.

Until then, Blair, focused on writing her document, hadn’t noticed his presence.

Herdin leaned his upper body over her small back, placing his hands on the desk to examine what she was writing.

Only then did Blair sense his presence and startle, lifting her head. In doing so, her head bumped into his firm chest.

“Ah.”

Their eyes met simultaneously – his cool blue eyes looking down, and her violet eyes looking up at him.

“Why do you look so surprised? It’s our wedding night, so it’s natural for a couple to spend the night together.”

“… I didn’t know you were coming.”

“You’ve been waiting up all this time without sleeping?”

At his words hitting the mark, Blair pressed her lips tightly together.

“I was just waiting in case… It wouldn’t be polite to be asleep when you… when you came.”

Herdin’s gaze deepened at the ‘you’ that slipped from Blair’s lips.

“What’s this?”

He asked, noticing the paper Blair had been writing on.

Blair quickly added an explanation.

“It’s a contract. Since this is a contract after all, I thought it would be good to have it in writing.”

Herdin picked up the contract, sat down beside her, and began to read.

“Article 1. The contractor, Blair Sonnet von Ardel, shall cooperate to the best of her ability in uncovering the truth about the Imperial Palace fire incident. The contract period is one year, but regardless of the period, this marriage contract shall terminate immediately upon the revelation of the truth about the incident. Responsibility for the truth shall follow Imperial law.”

His languid baritone voice resonated in the quiet room.

“Article 2. During the contract period, both parties shall respect each other as spouses. Here, ‘respect’ means fulfilling the responsibilities of a spouse while considering the other’s dignity. This includes dining together once a week or attending important banquets and events together.”

Listening to the contract clauses, Blair belatedly wished she could revise the contract.

She realized she had unknowingly written into the contract clauses her resentment over how he had ignored and neglected her in her past life.

Even so, the current him wouldn’t know the feelings with which she had written those clauses…

Having thought that far, Blair opened her mouth with a bitter smile.

“If any adjustments are needed, please feel free to say so. Since I wrote this contract on my own, I’ll revise it to reflect your opinions.”

At that moment, Herdin, who had been reading the contract, asked,

“What will you do if the contents of the contract are not fulfilled?”

Blair was at a loss for words at his question. She had considered adjusting the contract’s contents but had never thought about what would happen if the contract was violated.

‘He’s right, there should be some disadvantage for violating the contract to ensure compliance.’

After pondering for a moment, Blair opened her mouth with a solemn expression.

“If the contract’s contents are not adhered to…”

“Yes?”

“I won’t grant a divorce.”

Given that this marriage was semi-forced by imperial decree, continuing this marriage would be terrible for him.

Especially since he must be resenting her.

“Ah.”

But despite Blair’s attempt at a fearsome threat, he showed no sign of being intimidated.

Rather, it felt as if he was slightly mocking her, or was that just her imagination?

Just as Blair thought this, Herdin began to read the next clause of the contract.

“For the reasons stated above, if one party desires conjugal relations, the other must fulfill their marital duties up to twice a month…”

Herdin’s gaze shifted from the contract to Blair. He put down the contract and spoke.

“I hope by ‘conjugal relations,’ you don’t mean two grown adults merely holding hands while sleeping.”

Blair seemed a bit flustered by his sarcastic remark, but she didn’t refute it.

So his assumption must be correct.

“Are you offering to play the role of a bed-warming concubine?”

… Does it have to go this far?

By this point, he was curious.

What was the ‘real’ purpose for which this woman was trying to maintain this contract marriage, even to the point of offering her body?

So he deliberately provoked her.

And as intended, Blair took the bait and flared up.

“Don’t speak like that. I just…!”

“You just?”

Blair, who had been about to rebut his words, hesitated and couldn’t continue.

This clause was the most important one for Blair, intended to be used when it was time to conceive Asiel.

But she couldn’t tell him the truth.

She couldn’t tell such an outlandish story about how she had returned from the future, and above all, he mustn’t know about Asiel’s existence.

If he found out about this, would he leave Asiel alone?

He might try to eliminate Asiel, who could become an obstacle, in order to make the child born between him and Miela the heir.

That absolutely could not happen.

Blair’s plan was to finish everything related to him before having Asiel, then divorce and leave the empire before he could discover her pregnancy.

In the end, Blair came up with a plausible lie.

“I… I just wanted to maintain a good relationship with you during this time…”

Herdin sneered at Blair, who was still hiding her true intentions.

“A good relationship, huh.”

How could we ever have a good relationship?

With one word from your mother, with one statement from you, my dead aunt was buried in disgrace without a chance to defend herself.

I had to accept it without even knowing what the truth was.

Though he didn’t know what her purpose was, given that she was willing to offer even her body, it seemed quite desperate. It was laughable.

You ignored my desperation, and now…

Simply giving in from his side, well, that feels a bit like losing out.

If her most precious possession is her purity, then he should at least take that.

That would make it a fair trade.

Herdin rose and approached Blair.

With the distance suddenly closed, Blair held her breath.

He was right in front of her. Close enough that their breaths would mingle if she exhaled.

“Then, according to this clause, we should fulfill our marital duties.”

Blair flinched at his touch caressing her cheek and his low voice in her ear. But what surprised her more were his words.

She hadn’t expected him to use this clause first. Although she had created the clause, she thought he no longer needed to pretend to love her.

‘I thought it would only be used when it was time to have Asiel.’

For Blair, who had thought he wouldn’t even come to the bedroom, this was quite a bewildering situation.

“There’s no need to necessarily consummate on the first night…”

“I want to.”

His gaze, as he whispered lowly, was fixed on her red lips. The hand cupping her cheek stroked those lips with his thumb.

Her heart started to pound rapidly at the heat felt from his fingertips.

At that moment, Herdin, who had been staring at Blair’s lips, raised his eyes and their gazes met.

“Right now.”

His blue eyes were rippling with intense, unrefined desire.

Before Blair, startled by his raw desire, could move away, his lips devoured hers.

Blair suddenly remembered that he too was a man.

‘They say men can join bodies even with someone they don’t care for.’

Yes, this isn’t love. It’s not even pretending to love for some other purpose.

It’s just a moment of desire.

Thinking that way made her feel somewhat at ease. If she could give her body to him and meet Asiel again, she was willing to give it as many times as necessary.

Blair cleared her confused mind and closed her eyes in what seemed like resignation.

Herdin parted her lips and invaded her mouth. He sought out her shrinking tongue and entwined it with his.

“Mmm…”

A moan escaped involuntarily as the moist flesh rubbed against her tender inner flesh. Her breathing quickened, and heat rose in her body. Her mind became hazy.

His lips were still hot and sweet. Cruelly so.

Herdin lightly lifted Blair and seated her on his thigh, then began to devour her in earnest.

Her plump lips, her soft tongue, her rapid breaths, the moans that leaked between her teeth, everything.

Herdin grasped the protruding mound visible beyond Blair’s fallen nightgown strap.

“Ah…!”

Startled, Blair broke the kiss. Herdin, who was about to kiss her again, stopped.

Blair hesitated as she met his eyes. His eyes were as fierce as those of a beast interrupted during its meal.

Even so, he seemed to have no intention of letting go of his prey that had fallen into his arms, as his arms holding her were firmly tensed.

Because of this, she could feel something heavy pressed against her legs below. Blair’s body froze as she realized what it was.

She wanted to get up right away, but she couldn’t move for fear of pressing even closer to him.

Blair avoided his gaze and spoke in a tiny voice.

“The bed… let’s go to the bed.”

It was practically a plea.

Herdin stared at Blair for a moment, then lifted her up as she had asked.

Even in that brief moment, he kept his lips buried in the nape of her neck, not letting go. He behaved just like a suckling beast.

Taking long strides to the bed, Herdin laid Blair down and climbed on top of her. Then he began to remove her nightgown, which was already half undone.

His gaze remained fixed on Blair the entire time.