Mason immediately agreed with Blair’s words.

“I will submit the documents by tomorrow so that you can review them right away.”

“You’ll probably find many areas where I’m lacking. Please teach me a lot in the future.”

Mason was inwardly surprised by Blair’s attitude.

He had thought she would never touch complicated and difficult matters, having grown up as a cherished imperial princess. Moreover, unlike someone raised in privilege, she was not ashamed of her own shortcomings and was willing to learn.

Some might think such behavior lowers one’s status, but in his eyes, this made her appear even more noble.

“I look forward to working with you as well, my lady.”

The Mason that Blair knew was someone who rarely showed his emotions. But for a moment, she felt his gaze soften.

After Mason finished his greeting and withdrew, Blair returned to her bedroom after finishing her bath. It was still too early to sleep.

Blair decided to organize her plans for the future.

She had proposed a one-year contract marriage to Herdin, but in fact, she had conceived Asiel around early summer.

Herdin must not notice Asiel’s existence, so everything had to be wrapped up by early pregnancy at the latest.

‘Half a year from now.’

Before then, three things needed to be resolved.

First was finding the memories of the fire incident.

Herdin would lead this, so she didn’t need to plan anything separately.

Second was preparing for divorce.

To get a divorce in the empire, the emperor’s consent is required. But would Ivan, who had pushed for this marriage targeting Herdin in the first place, really agree to their divorce?

He would absolutely not consent to a divorce based on Herdin’s faults.

‘I must make it my fault, and in a way that public opinion forces him to consent to the divorce.’

The clever solution she came up with was a ‘scandal’.

Causing a scandal with another man.

But if such a scandal broke out, that man would be punished. So Blair decided to increase the scale of the scandal.

If there was only one man involved, the arrow would point to him, but what if there were multiple men?

Then people would naturally turn their arrows towards the promiscuous imperial princess who played with multiple men despite being married, rather than the men who committed adultery with her.

That was the development Blair hoped for.

In the unlikely event that things went wrong and Asiel’s existence became known, she could also lie that he was their child.

‘For that, I need to bribe several men first.’

After divorcing due to an unsavory scandal, she wouldn’t be able to live in the empire, at least not in this system. If unlucky, she could even be imprisoned by Ivan or Katrina.

But as long as she was legally the Duchess of Delmark, even the imperial family couldn’t touch her, so she had to leave the empire as soon as the divorce was finalized.

Therefore, she needed a new identity and residence that no one knew about. For when that time came.

The guild was where she could get all of this.

‘I should visit the guild soon.’

And lastly, third was finding the culprit behind her death in her previous life.

The chances of a thug killing her out of personal feelings were low. There must be someone behind it.

She needed to find the mastermind and figure out why they killed her. Because in this life, she absolutely did not want to leave Asiel alone.

‘For now, let’s start with the closest place.’

Blair made plans to visit the knights’ training grounds tomorrow morning and lay down on the bed. Then, suddenly remembering last night along with the contract, she got up from the bed and took out the contract she had put in the drawer. The signature line on the contract was still blank.

* * *

After finishing his bath, Herdin was reviewing documents in his office with a cigar in his mouth.

Although there was nothing urgent since he had already dealt with important documents before the wedding, he chose work over rest. It was to forget the thoughts that had been plaguing him since this morning.

In the quiet study where darkness had settled, only the sound of rustling papers being turned could be heard.

Knock knock―

Suddenly, a knocking sound broke the silence.

‘Is it Mason?’

Luth had been complaining that he had been suffering from excessive work throughout the wedding preparations, so he had been sent home early today and wouldn’t dare show his face in the office again on his own.

“Come in.”

But the one who entered the office was neither Luth nor Mason, but Blair.

Herdin’s eyes paused, looking at the unexpected visitor.

A rolled-up paper was clutched in Blair’s hand.

She coughed lightly at the cigar smoke permeating the office, and only approached him after her coughing subsided.

“I was so overwhelmed yesterday that I remembered we didn’t finish the contract.”

Herdin looked at the paper Blair placed before him with somewhat bewildered eyes.

What was this scrap of paper supposed to be?

She acted as if this paper would guarantee everything.

An innocent and persistent woman.

Herdin picked up his quill pen, intending to sign quickly and send this innocent wife back to her room.

At that moment, Blair grabbed his hand to stop him.

“Wait a moment, Herdin.”

The woman’s hand holding his was cold. Cold enough to be irritating.

“We should review the contract thoroughly.”

“Didn’t we do that yesterday?”

“I might have completely changed the contents since then.”

Does a mouse worry about a cat?

The woman seemed to think she had enough power to cause him tremendous harm.

With wrists that looked like they would snap if squeezed.

‘I thought she was an innocent princess. But she won’t be easily scammed anywhere.’

Herdin thought this as he looked over the contract again.

“There’s an added clause.”

Blair pointed to a clause in the contract with her slender finger.

“When this contract ends, please write a letter of recommendation so that Lina can find a good job.”

“You mean that girl you brought from the imperial palace?”

“Yes. She’s sociable and good at her work, so she’ll do her fair share wherever she goes.”

Herdin’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Blair.

‘She’s planning to abandon even her only confidant and leave.’

Was she planning to elope with a hidden lover?

About twenty years ago, in the neighboring kingdom of Derant, there was an incident where a princess fell in love with a knight and refused the marriage arranged by the king, fleeing.

The knight was executed for that, and the princess, having lost her lover, stopped eating and drinking, eventually taking her own life.

Scandals arising from relationships between high-status women and low-status men weren’t very common, but they weren’t extremely rare either.

There was a possibility that Blair could also be the protagonist of such a scandal. Given that last night seemed to be her first time spending the night with a man, maybe not.

‘…Either way, it’s none of my business.’

As long as the purpose of this contract marriage could be achieved, it didn’t matter either way.

Herdin finished signing both copies of the contract and returned one to Blair.

“It seems quite late. If you’re done with your business, please go back and rest now.”

It was a polite way of asking her to leave.

But Blair seemed to have more business left.

“As you surely know, there’s a luncheon at the imperial palace tomorrow.”

It was customary to have meals with the groom’s family on the first day of marriage, and with the bride’s family on the second day. This was a fact Herdin was aware of.

“I remember.”

“You don’t have to attend other banquets or appointments if you don’t want to. But I’d appreciate it if you could attend appointments related to my brother or the imperial family together as much as possible.”

It was a request based on memories from her previous life.

In her past life, after he distanced himself from her, he hardly attended banquets or meals with the imperial family.

“There must be no faults from you as a husband, so that my brother will have no choice but to agree to the divorce when this contract ends.”

Although Herdin Delmark was a war hero, he was still a subject of the emperor.

Without the emperor’s permission, he couldn’t dare remove the emperor’s only sister from her position as duchess.

So the end of this marriage had to be concluded as entirely Blair’s fault. For that, it was best if Herdin didn’t show even a small flaw.

He added one more impression about Blair besides pretty, small, innocent, and persistent.

A capable woman.

“That’s a reasonable point. I’ll keep that in mind as well.”

With her business concluded, Blair withdrew as if she had been waiting for this moment. She remembered his earlier request for her to leave.

“Then… good night, Herdin.”

Blair carefully rolled up her copy of the contract and quietly left the office.

Herdin chuckled as he looked at the contract his fake wife had left behind.

“Ha.”

He had come to the office to shake off the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind all day, only for the source of those thoughts to come to him on her own.

That source was none other than Blair.

All day long, his fake wife had occupied his thoughts.

Her snow-white and soft skin, her tearful face and voice, her ample bosom that didn’t match her slender body, and…

The dizzying pleasure her body gave, plunging him into an endless sweet mire.

Unlike himself, she seemed to have completely forgotten about last night, coming to find him at this hour without any fear. And in nightwear that revealed her figure, no less.

Not knowing what improper things were happening in his mind about her.

However, at the same time, a dirty desire to make that clear face cry and defile it again prodded at him.

What was he, a dog in heat?

He thought his thirst for the woman would be quenched after biting, sucking, and taking her to his heart’s content all night. But that was his mistake.

What he had drunk wasn’t water, but seawater. The more he drank, the more he craved.

It had been the same last night.

At first, it was curiosity. He wondered what kind of expression that doll-like woman would make in bed.

But the moment he embraced her, curiosity disappeared and only desire for pleasure remained.

After taking the woman in a mess all night like that, he finally came to his senses when he saw the dawn breaking. Shocked at himself for still feeling lust even after seeing the woman who had fallen asleep as if unconscious, he had fled the room.

She’s a woman he should hate. The daughter of an enemy he should despise. He must never forget that fact.

Yet even as he reminds himself of this fact, the heat in his body that has arbitrarily recalled last night doesn’t cool down.

“…Am I going crazy?”

Herdin exhaled painfully as he got up. And headed to the bathroom again.