Chapter 114. Unbuttoned
2023.12.23.
"You, how are you here..."
The violet eyes that met his trembled without rest.
Herdin quietly observed her face. Her lively expression and complexion showed she was doing better than when she had been by his side.
Feeling relieved at that fact, he mocked himself for it.
To think that the very first emotion he felt upon seeing that face—the face of the woman who had taken his child and run away with another man, turning his insides upside down for the past few months—was relief.
He thought he would be furious the moment he found her.
Seeing how he felt reassured first by her appearance, looking as though she had been eating well, sleeping well, and living well unlike him, he must be significantly crazy for this woman.
He scoffed at himself for being that way.
"By the looks of it, your recuperation was quite enjoyable."
Herdin stroked Blair's lively cheek and added as if muttering.
"Your physical condition seems to have improved a lot as well."
His cool gaze gradually moved down from Blair's face, landing on her now prominently swollen belly.
Feeling that gaze, Blair's heart began to pound anxiously. At the same time, she felt fetal movement.
As if the child recognized its father.
Even though there was no way the movement would be visible from the outside yet, Blair covered her belly, as if afraid Herdin might see it.
At the sight of her trying to protect the child from him, Herdin's brow furrowed before soon relaxing.
He lowered the hand that had been stroking her cheek and said,
"The position of the lady of the house has been vacant for a long time. It's time to return, wife."
"...There is someone waiting for me."
Her expression as she retorted was resolute. The sight of her confidently declaring she would wait for another man right in front of her husband was laughable.
"That bastard isn't coming."
"How would you know that—"
"Why do you think that bastard suddenly disappeared and left you behind? Especially, right before such a good opportunity."
Sensing something from those words, Blair's eyes wavered.
"What did you do to Mikhail?"
"Nothing."
Herdin added in a frigid voice.
"Not yet."
"...Are you going to hurt him?"
Blair's eyes as she asked that were filled with fear. Seeing that, Herdin's lips twisted.
He didn't like hearing Mikhail's name spill from her lips, nor did he like those eyes terrified with worry that the bastard might get hurt.
Especially right in front of him, after meeting for the first time in months.
"If he's a scoundrel who dared to elope with the Duchess, he should rightfully be punished, but if not, there would be no need for that."
Mikhail's fate depended on her answer. Realizing that, Blair's lips trembled faintly.
Herdin looked indifferently into her eyes, which were brimming with resentment toward him, and asked.
"So."
"..."
"Do you love him?"
The answer to that question was already decided.
* * *
Mikhail looked around the deserted alleyway, searching for the source of the gaze that had been watching him and Blair earlier.
He had felt a gaze watching them since daytime.
At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but the moment he felt that gaze once more a little while ago, he was certain it wasn't.
So he left Blair in the crowded square and followed the gaze into the alleyway.
If the Pope was involved, this place was no longer safe either. If Gerard was confirmed to be the mastermind, he had to hurry and take Blair out of this city.
'Where did they disappear to?'
At that moment, a silhouette suddenly loomed before his eyes. For an ordinary person, they hid their presence too quickly and skillfully. A bad premonition crossed his mind.
"You're quick to notice. Guess you're not just some guy who sold drinks?"
With a cheeky voice, Kaligo walked out from the darkness, swinging the sword in his hand. At the same time, a familiar crest drawn on the chest of his robe became visible.
'...The crest of Delmark.'
Recognizing it, Mikhail's expression contorted. The man before him signified two possibilities.
Herdin knew Blair was here.
And perhaps, he might already be here.
'No, he might have intentionally lured me here in the first place.'
If so, there was a high probability she wouldn't be there even if he returned to Blair right now.
Above all, the man in front of him didn't look like he would let him go easily.
Having quickly grasped the situation, Mikhail took out the dagger he carried and lunged at Kaligo first.
Kaligo, who had let his guard down thinking Mikhail had no weapon, barely managed to block the attack by a hair's breadth.
Having blocked Mikhail's attack, Kaligo intuitively knew.
As expected, he's no ordinary bartender.
Fighting a longsword with a dagger was inevitably disadvantageous, but the man before him was covering that disadvantage with speed and pushing him back.
Well, an ordinary bartender wouldn't have the nerve to think about running off with someone else's wife.
"You didn't launch a preemptive attack for nothing."
Interest sparked in him at meeting a worthy opponent after a long time.
Kaligo tightened his grip on his sword and engaged in battle seriously. The relaxed smile disappeared, leaving only a chilling killing intent in its place.
The previously lax atmosphere instantly pulled taut. Only the sharp sound of blades clashing echoed through the alleyway.
After a fierce clash, the first to expose his neck was Kaligo. However, Mikhail's breathing was also uneven.
Mikhail thrust his dagger as if to stab Kaligo's neck and asked,
"Did the Duke come here?"
"Well, you're hardly in a position to ask me things either, are you?"
Only then did Mikhail notice a dagger held in Kaligo's left hand. And that the dagger was aimed precisely at his side.
Seeing that, Mikhail furrowed his brow.
"...Looks like you sold your chivalry?"
"Ah, chivalry. That's extremely important. To greenhorns who've never rolled in real combat."
"..."
"Roll around a battlefield for a few years, and that pathetic chivalry is the first thing you throw away. Because chivalry doesn't save my life or my comrades' lives."
"..."
"By the looks of it, you've rolled in real combat quite a bit too, so isn't it a bit funny to demand chivalry only from me?"
Kaligo shrugged and answered shamelessly. There was not a hint of embarrassment in his attitude.
Just as Mikhail let out a dumbfounded chuckle at that attitude, Kaligo didn't miss the opening and quickly knocked away the dagger aimed at his neck before retreating. Then, spinning the dagger in his hand, he said,
"There was no order to kill, so I won't kill you. Well, I couldn't kill you this time anyway, though."
Kaligo's attitude in admitting his defeat was incredibly refreshing. That somehow rubbed Mikhail the wrong way.
As if reading that displeasure, Kaligo, who was wearing an even more exaggerated smile, soon looked at Mikhail with cold eyes as if the smile had never existed, and warned him.
"If you value your life, you'd better leave this place at once without overreaching. I lost, but my lord never fails when he sets his mind to kill."
Mikhail also knew very well that those words were not a bluff.
"Then, let's make sure we don't meet again."
Having delivered Herdin's message, Kaligo put on a cheeky smile again, even waving his hand, before walking away.
Mikhail watched his retreating back with sharp eyes, then turned to return to the square where Blair would be waiting, only to grit his teeth as he belatedly realized the situation.
Blair would no longer be there.
His footsteps, having lost their destination, stopped as if nailed to the ground.
* * *
The place Herdin brought Blair was the Lord of Nerha's mansion.
As if the maids had been told in advance that she was coming, they immediately guided Blair to the bathroom. They were all unfamiliar faces she had never seen before.
Unable to find a familiar face among them in the end, Blair spoke.
"I would like to bathe alone."
She had become accustomed to bathing alone over the past two months, and she was reluctant to show her body to strangers in an unfamiliar place.
Above all, it was uncomfortable because it felt as if the strangers were monitoring her.
But the reply that came back was firm.
"We apologize. As your body is in a delicate condition, we have received orders to attend to you with utmost care."
Herdin must have told them to keep a close watch on her. The blatant intent suffocated her.
Just as Blair was engaged in a subtle battle of nerves with the maids, the bathroom door opened without warning and Herdin entered.
Startled by his sudden appearance, the maids hastily bowed their heads. They noticed the meaning of his arrival from his robes and quietly left.
Blair stepped back as she saw him approaching, but Herdin strode forward and closed the distance in an instant. At that, Blair's delicate brow furrowed.
"...I want to wash alone."
"That would be problematic, wife."
Herdin trapped the fleeing Blair between the wall and his body, and added as he placed his hand on the buttons of her dress collar.
"I'm afraid my wife might disappear again the moment I take my eyes off her."
His cool gaze dropped from her eyes to the buttons on her collar. Soon, his long fingers skillfully unbuttoned her dress.
Pop.
That small sound ringing in the quiet bathroom pulled the atmosphere between the two taut.
Blair grabbed his hand as he tried to unfasten the next button. At that, Herdin's gaze, which had been on the button, rose again and met her eyes.
Blair glared at him with resentful eyes and asked.
"Why did you come looking for me?"
She had begged him not to look for her.
Herdin answered that question in a nonchalant tone.
"Does a husband need a reason to look for his wife?"
"Our contract is over."
"The contract is over."
At the same time, his large hand touched her swollen belly. Feeling the warmth vividly through the fabric, Blair's body flinched and trembled.
"But the child remains."
Her heart grew terrified at his cold eyes, which contrasted so starkly with that warmth.