Herdin, having finished his bath, emerged from the bathroom with a towel draped over his damp hair.

The late afternoon sun was casting shadows in the corridor. It was the time when the shadows at one’s feet were beginning to lengthen.

Herdin walked towards Blair’s bedroom while roughly drying his hair with the towel. It felt all too natural.

Just as he turned into the corridor where Blair’s bedroom was located, he overheard the whispering voices of maids cleaning nearby.

“What could His Lordship be thinking? To be so protective of a woman who might be the enemy’s daughter. What if she suddenly becomes pregnant…”

“Perhaps the Imperial family ordered the Lady to do so? After all, it was His Imperial Majesty who proposed this marriage. They might be trying to seduce His Lordship to prevent the marriage from being called off.”

“…To get pregnant?”

“Yes. Even if it’s true that the Empress Dowager assassinated the late Empress, they couldn’t possibly cast out a woman carrying the Delmark bloodline, could they? That must be their aim.”

“Your deductive skills are quite impressive.”

Unaware that someone had approached from behind, the whispering maids turned around in shock at the sudden voice.

Herdin was leaning casually against the wall, fixing them with a cold stare. It was unclear how long he had been listening.

His firm body, visible through the loosely tied robe, topped by his beautiful face.
That face, which they usually blushed at while stealing glances, now looked terribly chilling.

“That’s not why we stocked the library with detective novels.”

“Y-Your Lordship.”

“It seems in your eyes, I appear to be a fool completely oblivious to such intentions and falling prey to seduction.”

“Th-that’s not what we meant…! We were just worried about Your Lordship and the Delmark family…”

“I wasn’t aware that Delmark’s status had fallen so low that mere maids need to worry about it… How unpleasant.”

Though his voice was languid and emotionless, the anger it contained was palpable to the maids. It was the instinct of the weak.

“Your Lordship, what are you doing he—”

As Luth, who had finished the task Herdin had assigned him, approached, the pale-faced maids hurriedly fell to their knees.

“We have committed a mortal sin! Please, please forgive us just this once, Your Lordship!”

“We lowly ones spoke out of turn, not knowing our place. Please, show mercy just this once…”

Herdin looked down at the pleading maids with indifferent eyes before turning away.

“Luth.”

“Yes?”

“Cut them.”

Luth alternated his gaze between Herdin’s retreating back and the despairing maids with a troubled expression, without a moment’s hesitation.

While the maids were certainly in the wrong, the punishment seemed too severe for a mere slip of the tongue, making him feel uneasy.

However, a lord’s command is absolute in any situation.

After asking for the names of the maids to relay to Mason, Luth followed behind Herdin a beat later.

Sensing his presence, Herdin spoke without turning around.

“On your way, tell Mason to ensure that outside rumors don’t creep into the mansion.”

“Yes, understood.”

By then, the two had arrived at the door of Blair’s bedroom. Herdin stopped and asked,

“So, what’s the matter?”

“Ah, we just received word from Lord Caligo. He said they’ve secured the testimony of the coin minter. As expected, the one who commissioned the coins was Viscount Vernon.”

It was confirmed that the person who paid the pawnshop and the one who commissioned the coins were the same.

With this, and the testimony of the soldier who first obtained the coin, they could prove in court that Katrina was involved in the incident from ten years ago in some way.

This completed the preparations to clear Esmeralda’s false charges.

However, Herdin’s hesitation stemmed from a different reason.

“And…”

Luth continued, pulling something out of his inner pocket.

“This is what you ordered this morning.”

What Luth placed in Herdin’s hand was a small medicine bottle. Inside were pills that looked identical to the ones he had given before.

It was what Herdin had ordered to be procured as quickly as possible before he set out to subdue the demon this morning.

“Are you sure it’s harmless to humans?”

“Yes. It’s just candy shaped like pills. But what do you intend to use it for?”

Herdin just fiddled with the bottle without answering. Sensing that he shouldn’t ask any further, Luth changed the subject.

“Well, anyway, the preparations are almost complete now… I hope we can soon clear Her Majesty the Empress’s grievance.”

“…Yes, soon.”

Putting the medicine bottle in his robe pocket, Herdin turned towards Blair’s door and dismissed Luth.

“You may go now.”

Leaving Luth bowing his head behind him, he entered the room.

Passing through the reception room and entering further, the scene of the bedroom with lazy afternoon sunlight streaming through the balcony window unfolded.

In that peaceful scene, Blair had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Herdin approached her side and took in the scene, pondering what he was trying to protect by building this solid castle.

After gazing at the sleeping Blair for a moment, Herdin took out the medicine bottle he had received from Luth from his pocket.

It was identical in shape to the contents of Blair’s medicine bottle that was always on the bedside table.

He hesitated for a while.

Even though he thought he would do whatever it took to keep her from going to that man, to make her stay by his side, he couldn’t bring himself to touch that medicine bottle.

‘Could I bear to watch you resent me for the rest of your life?’

That question held him back.

Even at this moment, when he had impulsively prepared fake medicine after seeing the empty bedroom last night.

Just then, Blair’s eyelids fluttered.

“Mmm…”

Seeing this, Herdin’s hand quickly knocked the medicine bottle on the bedside table to the floor. Then he placed the bottle in his hand on the bedside table.

The medicine bottle that fell onto the thick carpet below the bed rolled quietly and touched his feet. At the same time, Blair opened her eyes.

“…Herdin?”

Her violet eyes, filled with light, slowly focused, and soon his figure came into view.

“What time is it now?”

Her eyes holding his image, her defenseless face still drowsy with sleep, her soft whispering voice.

Seeing her alive and moving, the conclusion was reached so quickly that all his previous hesitation seemed futile.

It was a problem not worth agonizing over in the first place.

“There’s still time before dinner, so you can sleep a bit more.”

Herdin answered thus, kicking the fallen medicine bottle under the bed with his foot, and as he reached out to her disheveled hair, he thought:

Rather than letting you go, I’d rather become the world’s biggest bastard.

* * *

On a rare day when Herdin was away.

After lunch, Blair sat by the sunny window with an open book, but unable to resist the drowsiness washing over her, she was nodding off.

“…my lady.”

A faint voice was heard in her sleep, but she struggled to wake up.

At that moment, a careful hand grasped her shoulder.

“My lady?”

“…Ah.”

Blair finally awoke with a start. Before her eyes was Lina, looking concerned.

“Are you feeling unwell? You’ve seemed quite tired lately…”

“Ah, no. I think I’ve just become lazy from staying at home all the time. And it’s getting a bit warmer too.”

Blair hurriedly reassured Lina, fearing she might call for the doctor. But her hand unconsciously moved to her lower abdomen.

The reason for her increasing drowsiness lately was probably what was in her belly.

‘It’s been at least a fortnight since the day Asiel was conceived…’

Since pregnancy is counted from the first day of the last menstrual period, it was about time for symptoms to appear.

Of course, there wasn’t much difference from premenstrual symptoms yet, but Blair, with memories from her past life, was almost certain.

But the more certain she became about the pregnancy, the more anxious she felt along with the relief.

‘If it really is Asiel, morning sickness should start soon…’

Herdin’s promised deadline was until the trial ended.

But while pregnancy symptoms were starting to appear little by little, there was still no sign of the trial beginning.

Moreover, by now there should have been contact from Mikhail, but there had been no news at all.

She knew there wasn’t much she could do directly in this situation, but with nothing being resolved or progressing, she was starting to feel anxious.

“My lady, how about going out for a change?”

Blair snapped out of her thoughts at Lina’s suggestion.

“Going out?”

“The Founding Day festival will be held soon. When I passed through the square yesterday, the festivities were in full swing. They were selling delicious food and putting on performances.”

Lina’s eyes sparkled with anticipation as she talked about the scene she had witnessed yesterday.

“How about dressing lightly and going out for a bit with the knights? It must be stifling to stay in the mansion all the time.”

After pondering Lina’s words for a moment, Blair nodded readily.

“Yes, let’s do that. It sounds like a good idea.”

It would be a good opportunity to get some fresh air, and also to ask Lina to relay a message to Mikhail to prepare for departure at any time.

However, the two women’s excited plans were thwarted by a single word from Mason.