Chapter 117. Starving Beast
2023.12.26.
"Du-Duke."
Startled by Herdin's sudden appearance, Beatrice hastily tried to lower her hand, but Herdin grabbed her wrist tightly.
Beatrice's face contorted in pain.
"I asked you. What were you trying to do to my wife."
"It, it seems there was a misunderstanding. I thought she was a woman from the brothel..."
"It seems the lady's eyes saw me as a bastard mad with lust who would bring such lowly women to the master's house as a guest."
"Th-that's not what I meant...!"
At Herdin's blunt words, Beatrice looked as if she might burst into tears.
She felt wronged. She could never have imagined that the Duchess, who was said to have run off with another man, would be here in Nerha of all places, and in the annex of his own house no less.
Searching for an excuse, Beatrice finally realized there was no way to dress up her slip of the tongue, and hung her head with tearful eyes.
"...I'm sorry. I spoke out of turn."
However, Herdin didn't seem satisfied with that, showing no particular reaction.
When Beatrice looked at him with anxious eyes, he gestured toward Blair with a tilt of his chin.
"I believe the order of your apology is wrong."
"Pardon...?"
"You should apologize to my wife first. You dared to insult the Duchess as a woman from the brothel, and on top of that, nearly laid hands on her."
Beatrice looked back at Blair with a reluctant face.
It was all because of that woman. If she had just properly revealed her identity, this wouldn't have happened.
Looking at Beatrice, whose displeasure was evident, Blair tried to dissuade Herdin.
"Herdin, that's enough. The misunderstanding has been cleared up."
It wasn't that Blair thought well of Beatrice either, but doing this put Herdin in a difficult position. This side was a guest, and she was undeniably the mistress of this house.
She didn't want to escalate things any further.
However, Herdin didn't seem to think that way.
"Apologize. My wife seems quite startled by your rudeness."
Beatrice ultimately couldn't withstand Herdin's severity and bowed her head to Blair.
"...I have been rude, Madam."
Herdin's expression remained stiff, but as if deciding to end it there, he withdrew his gaze from Beatrice.
"I don't know what business brought you here, but it seems we need to spend time as a couple today, so next time."
Carrying Blair in his arms, he issued a brief dismissal to Beatrice and passed by her.
As soon as they reached the corridor, Blair grabbed his shoulder.
"Put me down. I can walk on my own."
"Why didn't you tell me that you are the Duchess?"
His expression was cold as he pressed the question. It seemed he thought she had deliberately hidden the fact that she was the Duchess.
That wasn't true, but Blair didn't want to explain.
If she said she had revealed to him that she was his Duchess, it would be like admitting with her own mouth that she was still his wife.
Because she hated her situation where only by being his wife could her safety be guaranteed.
She didn't want to rely on him at all.
"...I didn't want to say it."
"Even if you were mistaken for a woman from the brothel?"
Blair didn't answer. Taking her silence as affirmation, Herdin's lips twisted.
He could see right through her true feelings—that she would rather be taken for a woman from the brothel than be his wife.
Ignoring Blair's demand to be put down, Herdin returned to the bedroom and set her down on the bed.
Blair thought he would leave the room immediately, but contrary to her expectations, he climbed onto the bed.
Before Blair, sensing a sinister premonition belatedly, could retreat, Herdin leaned his body toward her.
His hot breath brushed past from close range. Yet the blue eyes that met hers were cold.
"What are you doing right now—"
"Then it doesn't matter if I hold you."
Herdin pulled Blair by the waist, blocking her escape route.
Truthfully, his body had wanted her since last night. No, even when she wasn't by his side, he had explored and violated the version of her in his imagination.
Now, with the real her before him, the heat in his body grew beyond control. He craved her like a starving beast.
If you don't want to be my wife even if it means becoming such a woman, then I should treat you as you wish, shouldn't I?
"Herdin... Hmph!"
Herdin, consumed by desire, devoured Blair's small lips.
The lips he had only explored in his imagination while she was away were far softer and sweeter than he had imagined.
He bit and sucked at her like a starving beast. Blair, struggling against his rough kiss devoid of any consideration, soon stopped resisting as if giving up.
Taking that as permission, Herdin pushed up Blair's chemise and began to caress her round belly. It was the first time he felt it with skin rather than over clothes.
His hand stroking her belly gradually moved down and touched the thin fabric.
Herdin pulled his lips away to gauge her reaction.
At that moment, what caught his eye was Blair's impassive gaze.
Those eyes no longer held the shame about this intimate act like before, nor the look of not knowing what to do.
From her lips, glistening with his saliva, a voice utterly mismatched flowed out—dry.
"After you do it, will you let me go?"
At that question, it felt as if the blood in his entire body ran cold.
As a guest, he couldn't keep a brothel woman in the master's house. Of course, such a woman couldn't become the Duchess either.
She wanted to leave his side even if it meant doing this.
Her powerless words, carrying her true feelings, brutally slashed his emotions.
Staring at her indifferent eyes for a while, Herdin finally pulled himself up.
"...Wash up and let's have a meal together."
Leaving the room, he went straight to the bathroom. Only then did he notice the state of his own body, still craving her.
Herdin sneered at himself as he took off his robe and stepped into the bath.
Whether it was because of the steam filling the bathroom or because he had gone mad with desire for her, the heat in his body wouldn't subside.
Swallowing a groan, he finally began to soothe his boiling desire.
The wet sound of friction echoed through the bathroom as his breathing grew increasingly rough. A thick voice spilled from between his clenched teeth.
"Haah, Blair..."
Even the face that came to mind at this moment was beautiful. Miserably so.
* * *
When Blair, who had taken a nap, woke up, it was late afternoon.
Sensing the atmosphere had grown quieter than the morning, Blair looked around the annex to shake off the drowsiness.
It didn't take long to survey the interior of the annex, which was luxurious but not large.
Touring the annex with slow steps, Blair realized something. That Herdin wasn't here.
Blair asked the maid waiting nearby.
"Where did he... I mean, where did the Duke go?"
"He went to look around the port with the Lord of Nerha. There will be a banquet at the mansion this evening, so he should return before then."
"Then I have free time until evening."
After thinking for a moment, Blair cautiously brought up the topic to the maid.
"Could I briefly visit the house where I was staying? I have a marten I was raising there, and I want to bring it myself."
The maid looked troubled but didn't flatly refuse.
"Please wait a moment."
The maid, who had gone to consult the knights, returned with an answer.
"We will escort you as soon as you are ready to go out."
Blair was inwardly surprised by the unexpectedly smooth permission.
Given that Herdin had confined her before, she thought he would naturally prohibit going out this time as well. She had mentioned it without much expectation, never thinking it would be so readily accepted.
When Blair came out after making simple preparations to go out, a carriage was waiting. The carriage carrying her headed straight for its destination.
Blair stared blankly at the scenery of Nerha passing outside the window.
Though she could go outside if she just opened the door, right now she couldn't run away.
'With this body, I'd be caught quickly anyway.'
Then would she be able to run away after the child was born?
No, before that, what if Herdin fell in love with Miella?
Then in this life, could she calmly watch him love someone else by his side?
While feeling daunted by the cruel reality where she could neither run nor accept it, the carriage arrived.
Stepping down from the carriage, Blair looked up at the house blankly.
She had lived in this house until just yesterday, but the past two months she spent here felt distant after only one night.
Blair stopped the knights who were about to knock on the door of the house right away.
"That animal is a wild beast. It will attack if strangers appear. I'll bring it out, so please wait a moment."
"We'll load the luggage in the meantime."
When Blair knocked on the door, the door opened and Anna appeared.
Her eyes, looking at Blair, were full of worry.
"Anna, I'm sorry. Can I come in for a moment?"
Anna, who had scanned the maids and knights standing behind Blair, quietly opened the door.
The maids who entered the house with Blair went up to the room on the second floor according to her instructions.
Watching that, Blair followed up the stairs and said to Anna.
"I'll just bring Pibi and come right out."
Anna looked at Blair with worried eyes, then nodded.
Going up to the second floor, Blair passed her own room where the maids were busy packing, and stepped into Pibi's room.
Then Pibi, who had been playing riding on a wooden toy set up in the room, recognized Blair and ran toward her.
"Pibi!"
And beside Pibi...
"Madam."
Mikhail was waiting.