Chapter 169.
2024.02.16.
"……Herdin?"
At her husband's unexpected appearance, Blair's eyes widened.
Rather than answering, Herdin wrapped his arm around her shoulder and spoke to the man.
"If you refuse, wouldn't it seem like you have other motives?"
At first glance, the words sounded like a joke, but not a trace of humor could be found in the eyes that met his. The intimidation flowing from that bizarre dissonance crushed the man.
Herdin held out a gold coin to him.
"So take it."
The man swallowed unconsciously.
On the surface, it appeared that the nobleman before him was bestowing excessive favor upon him, but for some reason, he felt a coerciveness that couldn't be refused.
"Th-thank you, Your Excellency."
Unable to refuse twice, the man accepted the gold coin Herdin offered. However, Herdin's gaze directed at the man was not withdrawn.
Though his eyes were calm and unreadable, the man couldn't bring himself to meet them and bowed his head.
It felt like being thrown before a starving beast.
"Then…… have a good day."
The man bowed deeply in greeting and retreated as if fleeing.
Blair, who hadn't noticed the subtle psychological warfare between Herdin and the man, watched him leave with a hint of regret at not being able to properly say goodbye, then looked up.
"What brings you here?"
Herdin's expression, meeting her eyes, relaxed leisurely as if it had never been tense. His innocent wife didn't seem to realize that he had come all this way solely to see her.
He kissed the back of her hand, which she had already intertwined with his, and answered.
"Because I missed you."
Oh my.
The ladies who heard his answer fluttered with envy.
However, the very person with such a husband was flustered by his overt display of affection and only reddened her face. It was just like her, who was usually embarrassed by displays of affection even in front of their son.
While Blair stood speechless with embarrassment, Herdin asked for Monica's understanding.
"Then may I take my wife and leave first, madam?"
"Oh my, of course. When a husband wants to take his wife away, what grounds do I have to stop him?"
Monica sent Blair off with a playful remark about teaching her own husband a thing or two.
After exchanging farewells with the ladies, the two made their way to the carriage together.
Once in the carriage, Herdin brought up something he had briefly heard during the greetings with the ladies earlier.
"Do you have other plans tomorrow as well?"
"Yes. We're going to see an opera."
In Blair's hand as she answered was the sketchbook the painter had given her earlier. As if it were a precious gift, she held it herself instead of giving it to her maid.
As the carriage departed, Blair seemed to remember something and opened the sketchbook to look at the drawings. There were a few more sketches the painter had drawn previously in the sketchbook.
A faint smile spread across her lips as she looked at them. Herdin's eyes narrowed as he watched her appearance.
After watching her for a moment, Herdin leaned toward her to snatch the sketchbook—
"Do you want to look together?"
Blair, unaware of his intent, pushed the sketchbook toward him and leaned against his shoulder.
"Thank you, Herdin. Thanks to you, I've been able to have time to look back on my life."
Blair looked up at him and smiled radiantly.
Herdin, staring at such a wife, let out a hollow laugh.
His innocent wife, smiling without even knowing what twisted desires he harbored, was outrageous—yet even that appearance was so lovely.
When she smiled this prettily, he had no choice but to play the good husband whether he liked it or not.
His shameless hand, which had been about to undo the laces on the back of Blair's dress, lost its purpose and dropped.
He couldn't bring himself to violate his wife who was smiling like a child.
At least for this moment.
Herdin, who had been quietly watching Blair chattering about the painter's sketches, asked her as she looked up, sensing his gaze.
"Shall we go together tomorrow?"
* * *
The next day, Herdin had procured tickets for the husbands as well. All for private rooms, no less.
Since it wasn't easy to get private room tickets the day before, the ladies, who had planned to watch the opera from regular seats, rejoiced at the unexpected proposal.
"It would have been nice if Asiel came along too."
Even after entering the space where just the two of them could watch the opera, Blair thought of their child. Unaware of her husband's dark intentions in getting private room tickets.
Soon, the opera began.
Grand music and singing that filled the theater resonated, and the actors' passionate performances that captivated the audience unfolded.
Regardless of all that, Herdin's gaze was fixed solely on Blair beside him.
But Blair was so focused on the opera that she didn't notice his gaze. It was the same even when Herdin fiddled with her hair or held her hand as signals.
Eventually, seeing his wife's eyes redden at the protagonist's hardships, Herdin burst into a hollow laugh.
He felt a sense of absurdity, as if he were the only one who turned into a beast in heat at every opportunity.
……Of course, he was indeed a beast.
His innocent, naive wife, with a sexually frustrated beast right beside her, immersed herself completely in the opera. Crying along with the protagonist, laughing along as well.
Since he was the one who had suggested she try various things in the first place, Herdin, unable to disturb her any further, set aside half his greed and quietly observed his wife's appearance.
He had no interest in watching operas. Since it wasn't the affair of close friends or relatives, laughing and crying over a fictional story was incomprehensible from his standpoint.
But Blair's eyes as she watched the opera sparkled more than ever. It was a sight he couldn't see when the three of them went to watch plays or concerts together with Asiel.
In that appearance, Herdin saw her from over ten years ago, when they first met.
The eleven-year-old girl full of dreams who wanted to leave the empire and travel the wider world.
His first love who had asked him to take her to that world.
Seeing that appearance, he thought it was good that they came to watch the opera together. He also thought it was fortunate that other bastards couldn't see this sight.
'……As long as you're happy.'
Herdin decided to postpone the kiss as he watched his wife enjoying herself like a child.
However, less than two hours later, Herdin came to regret bringing Blair to the opera.
* * *
After the play ended, the ladies had time to greet the actors. Blair and Herdin were among them.
The ladies all approached the actor who played the male lead to offer their greetings.
"Oh my, I was truly amazed. How can you pull off such action while singing without wavering……."
"And the action doesn't suffer for it either. The stamina to perform so passionately for two whole hours is impressive."
"Haha, it's thanks to my colleagues who supported me well whenever I was struggling. Still, I'm glad I was able to present an unforgettable performance to you ladies. Honestly, I really suffered to build that stamina, but I feel it was worth the hardship."
The actor who was currently drawing popularity in the theater district skillfully fielded the ladies' compliments, fostering a harmonious atmosphere.
Unaware that the glares of the husbands watching their wives from behind were growing sharper.
Whether the atmosphere of their party turned hostile or not, Herdin didn't care.
His quiet wife, no matter how much she liked that actor, wasn't the type to approach and initiate conversation. So it had nothing to do with him.
But the moment Herdin let his guard down, Blair, who had been quietly observing the situation beside him, headed somewhere.
Where she approached was the actor who had played the villainous second male lead.
"I enjoyed watching it. Thanks to you, I watched with bated breath and tension."
"Ah……."
The actor, who thought no one would pay attention since he was a villain and a supporting character, seemed flustered by the unexpected praise, but soon adapted like a professional and responded to the greeting.
"Thank you for your kind words, madam. It is truly a great honor for me to be able to leave you with good memories."
On the man's bright smiling face, not a trace of the villain from earlier could be found.
From that appearance alone, completely different from his stage persona, Blair felt she could understand how hard he had worked for this play. Furthermore, her heart raced for no reason, as if she had caught a glimpse of the reason for living of a complete stranger.
So she definitely wanted to encourage him.
Because she knew that her seemingly insignificant words would become the strength for this person to passionately perform in future operas as well.
And because she wanted many people to enjoy this opera and feel the same emotion she did.
However, unlike the harmonious atmosphere between the two, Herdin's lips twisted as he watched his wife's unexpected behavior.
"Ha."
It seemed his wife had a taste for those innocent, foolish-looking simpletons.
Yesterday's painter, and now this bastard too.
He watched quietly, thinking she would just exchange brief greetings and wrap it up, but when he saw Blair trying to offer her handkerchief upon discovering a torn wound on the back of the actor's hand, his barely suppressed temper twisted.
Herdin strode forward and grabbed her hand. Then he coldly declared to the actor who was looking at him with bewildered eyes.
"If you're a gentleman, you should also know how to refuse a favor that cannot be returned."
Those words meant that the actor would not be able to return Blair's handkerchief. Because he would not allow it.
Herdin, who had inadvertently revealed his sharpened emotions, belatedly mocked himself, but it was already spilled water. Such a sight from himself was unsightly.
He swallowed his arbitrarily surging emotions and said to Blair, who was staring at him with startled eyes.
"……I'll be waiting outside, so take your time coming out."
Then he turned away first, leaving Blair behind. For the first time in a while, he craved the cigar he had quit around the time their child was born.