Chapter 29. Because She Was Damn Pretty
2023.09.29.
After the nobles surrounding the two retreated, Herdin handed Katrina a glass of wine and opened his mouth.
"Are you afraid of me, Your Majesty?"
Katrina, who was drinking the wine he gave her, burst into laughter as if she had heard a funny story.
"Afraid? Me? Of you?"
When he looked at Katrina, he saw his wife's face. Blair resembled her. At least, that beautiful face that was called a nation-ruining beauty.
The moment he realized that fact, the woman before him became even more loathsome.
"You're brainwashing me exactly like someone afraid I might discover the truth. Saying that I am the nephew of a criminal, and that you are the one who forgave me and took me in as family. Claiming that is the truth."
Her attempt to suppress his spirit was quite laughable. His mother-in-law seemed to still view him as a fifteen-year-old boy.
Herdin set his empty glass down on the table and added.
"However, when your intentions are too transparent, it only breeds resentment instead."
The smile disappeared from Katrina's face as she looked at him.
"What you know is the truth. That fact will never change."
Katrina's voice was full of conviction, but Herdin, as if he had no more intention of dealing with her, bowed politely and turned away.
Slipping away to a quiet spot in the banquet hall, Herdin soothed his dry throat with wine and surveyed the hall.
His eyes, grown accustomed to Blair's figure, quickly found her even among the crowd of people.
Blair was talking to a woman on one side of the banquet hall. They seemed to be having a quite serious conversation, as both of their expressions looked grave.
But what bothered him more were the bastards hovering around Blair, stealing glances at her.
Like wild beasts, they would rush in the moment she showed an opening, trying to strike up a conversation or even just touch her hand.
Just imagining what thoughts might be inside those skulls made the blood in his entire body run cold.
During the wedding, Blair had stayed by his side, so he hadn't noticed. No matter how filled with those thoughts those bastards were, they couldn't have approached a bride who was married today, especially not with the groom standing right beside her.
However, thinking back to the victory banquet, there had always been plenty of such bastards around Blair. It was just that she herself hadn't noticed.
Just then, someone placed a hand on Herdin's shoulder as he tossed back the rest of his wine like whiskey.
"Is she that good?"
Johannes Felic, the second son of the Marquis Felic.
To Herdin, he was one of the few strange bastards who approached him without fear or hesitation. Even if Johan himself went around proclaiming they were friends.
Without even glancing at Johan, who had appeared out of nowhere spouting nonsense, Herdin asked.
"What."
"Your wife. Even at the victory banquet, you said you weren't, but you couldn't take your eyes off her."
"Nonsense."
The answer flowed out smoothly. Without a hint of hesitation.
Johan looked at Herdin with incredulous eyes.
When he couldn't take his eyes off her even at this moment? When he was glaring with eyes that looked ready to kill the bastards stealing glances at his wife?
Looking at him as if he couldn't understand Herdin's contradictory words and actions, Johan soon guessed his psychology.
"Well, she's honestly pretty. With that face and that body, what man wouldn't fall for her."
He thought Herdin, like any other man, was drawn to Blair's appearance.
'Of course, unlike those other bastards, this guy is attracted to his own wife, so it's legal, but still.'
Even though he had never shown interest in any woman until now, the opponent was a princess called the empire's greatest beauty. It was understandable.
"To exaggerate a bit, if she set her mind to it, she could have every man in this banquet hall kneeling at her feet..."
Johan, who had been rambling as if he understood Herdin's feelings completely, hastily added as he met Herdin's gaze, which had become even more murderous than before.
"Ah, of course, not me. No matter what, I have morals. I'm not the kind of bastard who would have such obscene thoughts about a friend's wife, right?"
Johan quickly raised his glass and brought it close to Herdin's, laughing awkwardly.
Herdin looked at him with the most pathetic eyes in the world. He was dumbfounded by the sight of him stating the obvious as if he had upheld a thousand-year loyalty.
Avoiding Johan's attempt to clink glasses, he set his glass back down and turned away. Johan's glass awkwardly swiped through the air.
"Hey, where are you going? Leaving a friend you haven't seen in a long time."
Hey, Your Grace!
Ignoring Johan's voice calling out to him, Herdin, who had been heading toward the side of the banquet hall where Blair was, came to a halt.
Blair had already disappeared.
* * *
"Haa..."
The breath Blair exhaled spread white into the chilly winter night.
'I'm dizzy...'
She had come out to the balcony to shake off the alcohol in the cold winter wind, but instead, her body flushed with heat, making her feel even more intoxicated. Her mind was hazy.
Blair lightly slapped both her cheeks and let out a deep sigh.
"What do I do? If I go back into the banquet hall like this, I'll be rumored to be a drunkard..."
She usually had a low tolerance, but the root of the problem was that she had unknowingly drunk more than her limit while dealing with people.
Although she felt a bit hazy, she didn't think she was that drunk, but she still couldn't return to the banquet hall in this state.
To the nobles, no matter if it was a banquet, getting so drunk that one became incoherent was considered undignified behavior. Because of that, the wines provided at banquets were mostly light with low alcohol content.
And yet, she had gotten drunk on such wine.
'I need to go back quickly.'
But contrary to her intentions, drowsiness washed over her instead.
It was right when Blair was about to drift off to sleep. Click. The door opened, and someone stepped into the balcony.
"...Rina?"
Blair, thinking it was Rina returning with water, froze when she saw the person approaching her.
"Well, well, who do we have here? Isn't it our Princess?"
It was Wesley, the heir to the Marquis Baldwin. He had been consistently friendly to her since she was a princess, but a strong stench of alcohol wafted from him as he strode closer.
"They say a woman becomes prettier once she gets to know a man, and you've become even more beautiful since getting married."
Wesley's staggering gait and half-unfocused eyes brought on a sinister premonition.
"...I'll be heading back first."
Blair, putting force into her constantly twisting tongue, enunciated her intentions clearly. There was no good in letting the man targeting her know that she was drunk.
However, Wesley didn't seem inclined to let Blair go easily and blocked her path.
"Aw, it's disappointing to leave so coldly when we've run into each other like this. Please spare me some of your time too."
"I'm sorry, but I've been away from my seat for too long..."
"My, aren't you playing hard to get."
Wesley roughly snatched Blair's wrist. Unable to properly control her body due to the alcohol, Blair was pulled along far too easily by his grip.
Startled, Blair tried to pull her captured wrist free, but it only made her gripped wrist hurt more.
"Let go of me!"
"You're no maiden anymore, so why act like such an innocent lady? Let's be honest with our desires, madam."
Just as Wesley was violently dragging the staggering Blair, a hand from someone who had entered through the open balcony grabbed Wesley's wrist. It was a tremendous grip, strong enough to break a wrist if mishandled.
Unable to endure the pain, Wesley let go of Blair's wrist.
"Ugh... Which bastard!"
Wesley lunged to throw a punch at the owner of the hand without a second thought, but faltered when he saw his face. Standing before him was Herdin, with a face colder than the winter wind.
"As for which bastard..."
Herdin kicked Wesley in the abdomen. Wesley rolled clumsily across the balcony floor.
Herdin approached Wesley, who was groaning. In that gap, Wesley tried to get up, but instead of counterattacking, he tripped over Herdin's foot and rolled on the floor once more.
Herdin met his gaze as he sat down and added in a low voice.
"This woman's husband."
Then, raising his fist, he warned.
"Clench your teeth."
It was right at the moment Herdin was about to strike the terrified Wesley.
Hiccup!
A hiccup popped out of Blair's mouth, who had been so surprised by the situation that she couldn't say a word. At the sound, Herdin's fist, which was about to strike Wesley, paused.
"..."
"..."
In the silence, only the sound of Blair's hiccups rang out rhythmically.
Herdin lowered his raised hand. Instead, he grabbed Wesley by the head and whispered into his ear.
"If I hear you barking even one more time, you'd better believe you won't be tasting anything with that tongue ever again."
It was a voice so low that Blair couldn't hear it.
Herdin let go of Wesley's hair as if tossing it away and stood up. Blair was still hiccuping. Even so, she was pretty.
Large, moist eyes that looked as if they would spill over at the slightest touch, white cheeks slightly flushed from the cold wind, small lips parted slightly in surprise.
Looking at her, Johan's words suddenly came to mind.
'Well, she's honestly pretty. With that face and that body, what man wouldn't fall for her.'
Yes, that was it.
Because she was damn pretty, this whole mess happened in the end.
Just thinking that every bastard in the banquet hall harbored obscene desires like Wesley and was visually molesting and coveting her made him feel the impulse to gouge out all their eyes.
Before that could happen, he wanted to lock this woman up where his eyes could reach. A place where no one else could see her.
Of course, he knew it was a crazy thought.
Suppressing his crazy thoughts and seething emotions, Herdin took Blair's hand.
"...Follow me."