Chapter 34. Magic of Time
Barely managing to pull the blanket up, Blair curled back into bed and waited for Lina. The room was still warm from the lingering heat of the fireplace. Herdin must have lit it in the morning and put it out before leaving.
A sudden thought crossed her mind.
'Herdin doesn't seem like the mastermind behind the stranger.'
He had honestly admitted his faults and apologized. He had stayed by her side, who feared fire. Even if he had hated her, he didn't seem like the type to kill her.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep with such thoughts, a knock came along with Lina's voice.
"My lady, I'm coming in!"
Lina, carrying washwater, entered the room.
As Blair lifted herself up, she happened to glance down at her body. Red marks were scattered all over, like flowers in bloom. The traces of the night that had once embarrassed her in her past life were now familiar.
"Lina, could you hand me some clothes?"
"Ah, yes!"
Lina, having set down the washwater, quickly brought new clothes.
"Thank you."
Blair took the clothes Lina offered and put them on. But Lina, who would usually chatter away and keep the conversation going, was somehow quiet.
Finding this odd, Blair looked at Lina and saw that she was desperately avoiding her gaze.
It was only then that Blair realized Lina was embarrassed after seeing the marks left on her body.
'Even in my past life, Lina became suddenly quiet while attending to me in the mornings shortly after I got married.'
Blair held back a smile and asked Lina.
"Where is the Duke?"
"Ah. He left about an hour ago. The imperial family sent a knight, saying magical beasts have appeared in the outskirts."
Blair's expression hardened at the news.
Maintaining order in the capital was strictly the duty of the Imperial Knight Order.
However, even in her past life, Ivan had used Herdin as if he were his own knight. Claiming he needed help, saying that the knights of the North, where magical beasts frequently appeared, would be far more skilled in combat against them.
Herdin, knowing that the people would suffer needless harm if he didn't step forward, would often do so without showing any displeasure.
Blair had hated that.
She hated seeing the people get hurt, she hated seeing the imperial knights get hurt, but she also hated seeing Herdin endure unjust treatment.
'Once I divorce him, he'll lose the pretext to ask my brother too.'
With that thought, she couldn't just sit still any longer.
Blair hastily put on her clothes and got out of bed. At that moment, her legs gave out and she flopped down onto the floor.
Startled, Lina hurried to support Blair.
"My lady! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"Why don't you just rest today? It's not like you have a busy schedule anyway... And... well... you've been overdoing it lately..."
"No. I'll be fine soon."
Blair lifted herself up, ignoring Lina's worried gaze. She felt like laughing, sensing that Lina was resentful of Herdin, the culprit behind her current state.
Lina, worried that Blair was pushing herself, brought the washwater closer to the bed. She even tried to dissuade Blair from going to the dining hall, bringing her meals to the bed instead.
After finishing her meal under Lina's overprotective care, Blair felt her stamina had recovered a little.
Only then did Blair start her day.
She dropped by the room where Pipipi stayed to check how much it had grown and played with it briefly before heading to the mansion's library. Her purpose was to study the neighboring countries.
'I plan to stay in the Kingdom of Clania until I give birth to Asiel, but since I don't know where I'll settle after that, it would be good to learn about the countries surrounding the Empire.'
However, the book Blair was looking for wasn't in the mansion's library.
The librarian wore a troubled expression.
"It seems one of the servants has borrowed it. It's on the borrowing list, so I can go retrieve it right away."
Although it had become somewhat more common nowadays, books were still expensive items. Because of this, nobles didn't allow their servants to access the library.
But Herdin had left the library open for free use. So that everyone residing in Delmark could comfortably read books at any time.
Blair didn't want to go against his wishes.
"No, there's no need for that. It's not urgent, so the person who borrowed it first should read it."
At that, Mason, who had been watching from the side, suggested to Blair.
"My lady, how about searching in His Excellency's personal study?"
Herdin's personal study was connected to his office. It was designed so that he could easily go in and out whenever he needed materials while working.
Feeling like it would be invading his personal space, Blair had never been there in her past life.
"Is it alright for me to go in?"
Mason gazed quietly at Blair, who asked cautiously.
Most of the people in the ducal house had been wary of her.
Being the emperor's sister, they couldn't openly harm her, but they weren't friendly enough to have human interactions with her either.
Blair didn't try to win their favor or walk on eggshells around them, but perhaps because she knew her own situation, a certain carefulness permeated her actions.
Like a person in someone else's home.
Mason too had initially felt some reluctance when he first came to serve her as the lady of the house, but after watching her by her side for the past few months, he thought he could understand.
Esmeralda's feelings in cherishing the daughter of her enemy.
How could one not adore a child who learned and tried so hard at everything, who rejoiced purely at a single word of praise.
Blair resembled Esmeralda, who had raised her with her heart, more than her own mother.
Others might scoff if they heard it, but to Mason, who had long passed the age of forty and was no longer swayed by the world's prejudices, that was how Blair appeared.
Since it was a covenant made before the gods, he hoped that such a person would adapt well to this ducal house, and to his master.
"My lady, you are the mistress of this Delmark. There is nowhere in this mansion you cannot go, and nothing you cannot use."
As if to reassure Blair, he added, "His Excellency hasn't said anything particular about the study either."
Hearing that, Blair headed straight to Herdin's office with Mason. But the moment she stepped into the office, she regretted it.
The office, which had been in a total mess that day ten days ago, was neatly organized as if nothing had happened. Her face flushed hot.
Embarrassed, Blair quickly averted her gaze.
Mason found this strange and asked.
"My lady? Is something the matter?"
"...No, it's nothing."
I shouldn't even come near the office for a while...
With that thought, Blair followed behind Mason. The passage to the personal study was on the right side of the office.
"Then please call me if you need anything."
Mason guided her there and then stepped back.
Upon opening the door and entering, the full view of a large room surrounded by bookshelves on all walls unfolded before her.
The study was spacious and quiet, appearing clean at first glance, but upon closer inspection, unorganized books were scattered here and there. Since Herdin was the only one who used this study, they must be books he had been reading.
'I thought he'd prefer everything neatly organized.'
Finding this unexpected side of him intriguing, Blair looked around the study and found the bookshelf where history books of various countries were gathered. The books she was looking for were there.
After pulling out a few volumes and looking around for more books worth reading, a nearby bookshelf caught her eye.
'What kind of books are on this shelf?'
Usually, the category of books was written in the center of a bookshelf, but this one had nothing written on it. That made her even more curious.
Blair moved to that bookshelf. It was filled with books written in an unfamiliar language.
Blair recognized what language it was at a glance.
"Ancient language?"
Books written in the ancient language were typically magic tomes. That meant all the books on this bookshelf were magic tomes.
'Come to think of it...'
Suddenly, his appearance at the New Year's Festival came to mind. The way he wielded both a sword and magic simultaneously.
Those born chosen by mana study magic through magic tomes and are reborn as true mages. Since Herdin was both a swordsman and a mage, he too must have studied magic tomes like any other mage.
It newly sank in that he was the Empire's only magic swordsman possessing overwhelming power. At the same time, her interest in the magic tomes before her grew. It was because a childhood dream suddenly came to mind.
When she was young and didn't know that not just anyone could become a mage, Blair had wanted to become one.
She thought that if she became a mage, she could grant any wish, even those physically impossible.
So she had eagerly read the magic tomes in the imperial palace library. She had thought that learning magic tomes would make her a mage, deciphering the ancient language she couldn't even understand by consulting a dictionary.
In the end, she didn't become a mage, but thanks to that, she became able to decipher a little of the difficult ancient language.
As Blair examined the bookshelf full of magic tomes, she discovered a magic tome placed on top of the other books.
Blair pulled out that magic tome. It must have been left in that state for quite a while, as a layer of dust had accumulated on top, making her cough.
Blair coughed and brushed off the dust before examining the book's cover.
<∞>
Unlike other books that usually had titles written on them, only a small symbol was drawn alone on the black cover. It was the symbol representing infinity.
'Infinity? What kind of magic uses such a cover?'
With curiosity, she turned past the cover, and the very first page of the book appeared. Ancient language was written on the faded paper, proving that it was a very old book.
Blair recalled her childhood memories and deciphered the text.
"Magic... of Time."
What kind of magic could the Magic of Time possibly be?
She had barely managed to read the title of this magic tome, but it only became more puzzling.
It was just as Blair was about to turn to the next page.