“I apologize, but His Grace has ordered that the Madam is not allowed to go out.”

Blair and Lina, who had been excited about going out after a long time, could only blink their eyes at this unexpected development.

Lina, coming to her senses a beat later, asked on Blair’s behalf.

“Not allowed to go out? Why?”

“It’s a measure to protect the Madam, Lina.”

“If that’s the case, couldn’t the knights accompany her?”

“His Grace has forbidden that as well.”

“I never asked for this kind of protection. If the person in question doesn’t want it, how is this any different from imprisonment? The Madam isn’t a criminal.”

Despite Lina’s somewhat impertinent words, Mason did not get angry or scold her.

“The members of House Delmark simply obey when he commands.”

He merely replied coolly in his usual monotone voice.

“And you too are now a member of House Delmark, Lina.”

As he said this, his face bore the expression of the strict butler who perfectly controlled everything in this mansion.

Although not much different from his usual demeanor, it somehow felt unfamiliar.

“I…!”

As Lina tried to object to Mason’s words, Blair held her back.

Blair quietly shook her head at Lina, who looked at her as if she should be more upset. Then she quietly retreated.

“I understand. I’ll talk to him directly.”

Blair’s lips were tightly pressed as she turned to go up to her room.

* * *

As soon as Herdin got into the carriage, he roughly loosened and removed his cravat. Perhaps due to the rising temperatures in recent days, the piece of cloth constricting his neck felt suffocating.

After removing his cravat, Herdin noticed the letter placed opposite him and his expression hardened.

It was the invitation to the National Foundation Day banquet that Ivan had personally handed to him just moments ago.

‘You must attend this National Foundation Day with Blair without fail.’

His subsequent request was something Herdin had fully anticipated.

‘On a day when the entire empire should be grateful to our ancestors who protected this land and rightfully rejoice and enjoy, we cannot allow such unsavory rumors to spread, can we?’

‘…’

‘As you know, the judge in that case was the Emperor Emeritus. The more the rumors spread, the more it feels like they’re insulting His Majesty who presided over the trial. I don’t like it.’

‘…’

‘I think it would be good to attend that day and put an end to these baseless rumors about us. What do you think, Duke?’

In the end, that was the gist of it.

Since directly addressing the rumors would only invite more suspicion, the idea was to indirectly show that the rumors of discord between the Imperial Family and House Delmark were false by attending the National Foundation Day banquet.

Ivan was finally yanking on the leash he had caught. Though the sight was quite irritating, Herdin decided to go along with it for now.

After all, Ivan’s hold on his leash was only temporary. As soon as he had a pretext to keep Blair by his side, he could throw off this mere leash anytime.

Creating a pretext to keep Blair and then clearing Esmeralda’s false charges would come next.

To buy that time, he could endure this for a while.

The carriage had already arrived at the ducal residence.

As always, it was Mason who greeted Herdin as he got out of the carriage.

“Welcome back, Your Grace.”

“Nothing unusual happened, I presume?”

Knowing that the “unusual” Herdin spoke of related solely to Blair, Mason hesitated for a moment before answering.

Though he had prevented Blair from going out as per his master’s orders, he too thought Herdin’s actions were excessive.

“The Madam wished to go out. So I informed her it was not possible.”

Herdin’s steps faltered for a moment as he entered the mansion, but it was just for an instant.

It was something he had expected to face sooner or later.

“Is she in her room now?”

“I believe so, sir.”

Herdin headed towards Blair’s bedroom, leaving Mason behind.

‘I wonder if she’s thoroughly upset.’

Dealing with her when she was angry was mentally exhausting. Despite appearing so fragile that she might break at the slightest touch, her stubbornness was rarely yielding.

It would be nice if she would just quietly listen this time.

A languid sigh escaped through his teeth as he stuffed his leather gloves into his pocket.

Finally arriving at Blair’s door, Herdin knocked and immediately entered the room.

Passing through the reception room into the bedroom, he saw Blair’s back as she gazed at the scenery of the back garden from the balcony.

That sight seemed to represent her desire to go outside, making her look quite pitiful.

Herdin approached her from behind and lightly tapped on the glass door of the balcony. Blair turned to look at him.

As expected, those beautiful eyes were full of resentment.

It was pointless to pretend not to know at this point.

Herdin spoke first.

“I heard you were trying to go out. Where were you planning to go?”

But instead of an answer, a resentful question came back.

“…Why are you imprisoning me?”

Imprisonment.

It was quite unpleasant to have such a name attached to his actions for her sake, but he decided not to correct it. From her perspective, it could be sufficiently understood that way.

Herdin replied in a calm tone.

“It’s a measure I’ve taken to protect you.”

“There are plenty of other ways besides this. Like assigning knights, or prohibiting me from going to certain dangerous places.”

“That’s not enough.”

If he could, he would like to keep her within his sight all day, in his arms.

But since that was realistically impossible, this was the next best option he had decided on.

Keeping her in the place he considered safest.

However, Blair didn’t seem to see it that way.

“So you want me to stay locked up in this bedroom all day, not going anywhere, just waiting for you?”

“This is to protect you, and you enjoy what we do together. Is it really so unpleasant?”

There wasn’t a hint of mockery in his tone as he said this, which angered Blair even more.

He truly, sincerely, seemed to think there was nothing wrong with imprisoning her under the pretext of protection.

His face, which she thought she had grown accustomed to, suddenly felt unfamiliar.

The fact that her assumption of knowing him well, having lived as his wife over two lifetimes, was merely her own conceit struck her painfully in this moment.

“I’m not your mistress. Don’t speak to me like that.”

After a long moment of her lips trembling, those were the words Blair finally managed to utter.

Herdin sneered at that.

“Wasn’t it you who initially wanted that kind of relationship?”

“…”

“Giving your body to me as I desire, regardless of your own will.”

It was she who had condemned him as a beast driven by lust, who had torn him apart, with that innocent face.

I only became such a man because you wished it, so why is it that all I get in return are eyes full of contempt?

Why do you look more hurt?

“…There was no clause about not being able to go out. Let me go out.”

“What do you plan to do if you go out?”

“…”

“Are you going to get kidnapped again and give them one more reason for rumors?”

Blair’s eyes twisted painfully at his sarcasm.

Herdin looked at Blair, who seemed about to cry at any moment, then sighed as he rubbed his forehead.

It wouldn’t do to make Blair cry here and now.

He didn’t want to argue with her anymore when there was barely enough time to join their bodies. He didn’t want to force himself on her if she was rejecting him either.

After thinking for a moment, Herdin changed his approach.

He approached Blair, who was trembling pitifully, and embraced her.

“I don’t want this.”

Blair tried to push him away to escape his arms, but Herdin easily restrained her hands. Blair then turned her head to avoid his approaching lips.

Herdin grasped her chin to make eye contact and whispered in a softer voice.

“Two weeks.”

Blair’s eyes blinked with a puzzled light at the sudden word from his lips.

Herdin continued as if answering her.

“After the National Foundation Day passes safely in two weeks, I’ll let you go out.”

If he mentioned a date that wasn’t too far off and soothed her appropriately, his naive and kind wife would firmly believe only his words and wait.

Then it would be easier to achieve his goals as well.

Herdin finally leaned in to press his lips against Blair’s, who had stopped resisting.

Blair’s eyes, which had been blinking slowly for a moment, soon closed as if in resignation.

* * *

The next day, when Blair opened her eyes, it was close to noon.

Herdin, who had not left her side for a while, seemed unable to postpone work any longer and had been leaving the mansion every morning recently.

Yet without fail, he would return and take her all night. She was freshly impressed by his seemingly inhuman stamina.

‘Two weeks…’

Left alone in the bath, Blair curled her tired body and mulled over the deadline he had mentioned yesterday.

She had pretended to accept his proposal, knowing she couldn’t defeat him with her own strength, but in truth, she was anxious.

Blair gently caressed her lower abdomen as she sank into thought.

‘What if morning sickness starts in the meantime?’

It would certainly be difficult to deceive not only Herdin, but also Lina and Melly, who served her most closely, for an extended period.

After pondering for a moment, Blair sighed and got up. It was a problem without an answer no matter how much she thought about it.

As she came out of the bath, Melly, who had been waiting outside the door, entered to dry her body and help her into a robe.

“I’ve prepared the meal in your room as you ordered.”

“Thank you.”

The two headed straight to the room after leaving the bathroom.

The moment they entered the bedroom past the reception room, Blair’s eyes began to shake violently as she smelled the soup and fragrant bread.

‘My stomach feels queasy…’

While it could be dismissed as simple loss of appetite, Blair, having gone through her past life, knew exactly what this symptom meant.

This was morning sickness.