Chapter 4. Did you kill me?
2023.09.04.
Through the swaying carriage window, the full view of the Imperial Princess Palace came into sight.
Herdin's adjutant, Ruth Penril, began to grumble as he looked at the Imperial Princess Palace with displeased eyes.
"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor is truly shameless. How could he bring up marriage? He drank toasts when the Delmarq family's power was waning, yet now..."
Over ten years ago.
The Delmarq Dukedom, left only with the young Herdin who had lost his parents and even his aunt, the Empress, was as precarious as a candle in the wind.
However, when Herdin achieved distinguished merit in the war and was revered as a hero, Emperor Ivan proposed a marriage with his younger sister.
It was a proposal with an obvious intention to quietly absorb Herdin's prestige.
"Thanks to that, only Her Highness the Imperial Princess completely hit the jackpot. She gained the empire's best groom as her husband just by sitting there."
Ruth thought poorly of Blair, whom he had never even properly conversed with.
Wasn't it obvious with an Imperial Princess who had such a mother and brother? They were clearly cut from the same cloth.
"That's exactly what I said. You should have quickly scouted for a suitable young lady and married her."
However, unlike the grumbling Ruth, Herdin remained silent, as if he had no interest in this situation whatsoever.
That sight only made Ruth more frustrated.
"Are you not even angry, Your Grace?"
"Ruth."
Herdin, who had been sitting quietly with his arms crossed despite Ruth's rant, cut him off by calling his name.
His gaze was still fixed out the window.
At the same time, the carriage carrying the two men passed through the main gate of the Imperial Princess Palace.
"From here on, it is the Imperial Princess Palace."
It was a voice devoid of any emotion, but Ruth, knowing the implied meaning behind those words, closed his mouth.
"...My apologies."
Soon, the carriage came to a stop.
The chief steward of the Imperial Princess Palace, who had been waiting for them, guided them to the reception room.
Herdin left Ruth behind and entered alone.
"Her Highness the Imperial Princess will be here shortly."
As the chief steward left, Herdin was left alone in the empty reception room.
Just as he picked up the teacup brought by the maid and moistened his throat, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him. Herdin stood up and turned around to pay his respects to the Imperial Princess.
Through the open door, a frail beauty with a petite figure was entering.
Blair Sonnet von Ardel.
The master of this Imperial Princess Palace, and likely the name of the woman he would marry unless something unexpected happened.
The woman before him was as beautiful as a doll played with by little girls, brought to life as a human.
She certainly lived up to being the daughter of the Grand Empress, who was called a beauty that could ruin a nation, but it was a beauty that failed to stir any emotion in Herdin.
No, rather...
'It would be more fitting to call it a horrific face that forces me to relive the past.'
Herdin hid his twisted smile and kissed the back of Blair's hand.
"I greet Her Highness the Imperial Princess."
At that moment, the subtle violet eyes of Blair, which met his, distorted for a brief second.
It was an expression that looked somewhat sad.
However, when Herdin raised his head again, the emotion filling Blair's eyes had vanished.
"Thank you for making time even though you must be busy, Duke Delmarq."
Blair naturally took the seat of honor.
Following her elegant movements, her soft platinum hair and the lace of her dress fluttered gracefully.
Silence hung between the two sitting across from each other. They merely picked up the teacups placed before them and moistened their throats, saying nothing.
Usually, in an awkward relationship where they didn't know each other well, the lower-ranking person would open the conversation with small talk about trivial daily matters.
But Herdin didn't seem to have any intention of doing so.
In the end, the one who spoke first was Blair, who had been staring intently at his face while tracing the rim of her teacup.
"Let me get straight to the point."
Blair set down her teacup and continued.
"The marriage my brother proposed, I have no intention of refusing it."
That much was within Herdin's expectations. No matter who she was, it would be difficult to refuse the Emperor's command.
However, what followed was something he hadn't expected at all.
"One year."
At the abrupt, unexpected word that popped out of Blair's mouth, Herdin looked at her with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
"Maintain this marriage with me for just one year."
"...What do you mean?"
"After one year passes, I will divorce you due to my own faults. I won't change my mind and cling to you, nor will I annoy you with talk of love or anything like that."
Herdin's handsome brows furrowed.
'A one-year contract marriage... what is she plotting?'
As if reading his mind, Blair made an offer he couldn't possibly refuse.
"The Empress Palace fire incident from ten years ago."
At the unexpected story that spilled from her lips, Herdin's gaze grew icy cold.
"If you accept my proposal, I will fully cooperate in uncovering 'the truth of that day.'"
A cold sneer escaped Herdin's lips.
She had kept her mouth shut for a whole ten years, so what shame did she have to bring that up?
Herdin still vividly remembered the emotions from ten years ago.
When the Empress was pointed out as the culprit of the Empress Palace incident, Herdin sent multiple letters to Blair, the only witness, to clear his aunt's false charge.
But no answer returned.
He heard her answer on the day the trial for the Empress Palace incident was held.
Unable to enter the courtroom due to being too young, Herdin heard Blair's voice through the slightly open courtroom doors.
'I don't... remember anything.'
Lies.
Saying you don't remember, that's all a lie, right? In the end, you took your mother's side, didn't you?
The memory of that day remained with Herdin as a piercing sense of betrayal and resentment even now, ten years later.
'But... it's not a bad proposal.'
He couldn't refuse the Emperor's command anyway. No, to be precise, he had no intention of refusing it.
The Emperor had agreed to permit the increase of the Dukedom's military forces on the condition that he become part of the Imperial family.
Currently, Delmarq's military force had been reduced to half compared to the previous generation.
In that process, public opinion played a large role—claiming that the Dukedom had the potential to start a rebellion, using Empress Esmeralda's treason as an excuse.
Even so, while they possessed an immense military force compared to other families, it was still not enough to keep the northern borders in check and subjugate demonic beasts.
Even though Herdin was a great war hero and a magic swordsman, he couldn't block everything on his own.
Even knowing it was the Emperor's trap, the increase in military forces was an offer he absolutely couldn't refuse.
But to think he could also uncover the truth of 'that day' along with it.
He didn't know what the Imperial Princess's true intentions were in proposing a contract marriage, but if he could somehow use her to discover the truth and then get a clean divorce, there would be no better outcome.
He looked at Blair for a moment before asking.
"Why do you want such a marriage?"
"Because marriage is the only legal way for an Imperial Princess to leave the Imperial Palace."
"If that's the reason, wouldn't it be better to marry someone who will cherish and love you, Your Highness?"
Even for royalty, the life of a divorcée wouldn't be smooth.
There would be plenty of people willing to cherish and love her, the Emperor's sister and the Grand Empress's daughter. If she wasn't satisfied, she could even personally choose someone she wanted.
Herdin couldn't understand Blair's intentions in choosing him out of the countless options available.
There must be far better options than a marriage with a predetermined end to someone who was practically an enemy.
Blair didn't answer readily and just stared at Herdin.
Every time her radiant violet eyes, which captured his figure, blinked slowly, peculiar emotions brushed past.
It was a gaze that seemed momentarily sad, yet also seemed to resent him for asking such a question.
"I don't believe in such things."
"..."
"I prefer a relationship with a clear beginning and end over one that speaks of illusory eternities. A relationship where I can take as much as I give."
Blair spoke resolutely as she gazed at the man across from her.
Once, she too had thrilled at the attention of this conceited man, just like many other young ladies. She had believed in love and eternity.
But that was only in the past now.
"Because I thought you would do that for me, Duke."
Herdin didn't take his eyes off Blair's face as she said that. Over her pale face, the image of the young Blair from the past overlapped.
'When I become an adult, I want to leave the Imperial Palace. Leaving the capital, I will travel the wide world!'
Recalling that face twisted his mood, but Herdin answered readily.
"I will accept that proposal."
"Thank you."
"If you have nothing more to say, I will take my leave."
Having checked the time, Herdin stood up as soon as Blair gave her permission.
In Blair's eyes, as she watched his back disappear beyond the door, the resentment she had been hiding toward him was revealed.
There is a question she couldn't ask.
A question she couldn't hear the answer to from the current him.
Herdin.
Did you kill me?
* * *
Wedding preparations proceeded quickly.
Time flowed swiftly, and before long, it was the day before the wedding.
Blair visited the Imperial Palace cemetery.
[Esmeralda Delmarq]
The late Empress's name was inscribed on the tombstone before her.
The Emperor had stripped her of her position as Empress and her Imperial surname, but showed mercy by allowing her to be buried in the Imperial cemetery.
Though she didn't know if having her honor dragged through the mud, and on top of that, being buried here without being able to return to her homeland was truly mercy.
Blair set down a single flower, plucked from the greenhouse and neatly wrapped in paper, beneath the tombstone.
Katrina disapproved of Blair coming here.
From her perspective, not only was the woman her rival, but Blair was visiting the grave of the woman who tried to kill her daughter, so it was understandable.
But Blair found it hard to believe that fact.
'Blair.'
If that warm embrace, which always held her when she was pushed aside by her brother Ivan, was all a lie, it would be terrifying.
When she was young, she made no effort to recover her memories.
She was simply afraid.
Regardless of which side was the truth, she would lose a mother.
But on the day she encountered Herdin at a banquet a few years after that incident.
Blair resolved to face the truth she had been avoiding.
So she called a hypnotist to the Imperial Princess Palace and underwent hypnosis, but it only had the opposite effect of harming her health.
Then, after marrying Herdin and falling in love with him, she buried those memories again.
Because she was afraid of losing him, no matter what the hidden truth was.
However, when she learned that the man she loved had actually hated her indifference for a long time.
When she realized he had feigned love to uncover the truth from her.
Even knowing his love was false, Blair wanted to give him everything he desired. She wanted to cling to his love even if it meant doing so.
She belatedly tried to recover her memories again, but what returned was...
'Hah, you ignored me for ten years, and now you're feeling guilty?'
'...'
'Don't do anything anymore. Just stay still. Just like you have until now.'
Blair completely broke down in front of his cold gaze.
If Esmeralda's crime was a false charge, Herdin would despise her indifference even more, and even if it were true, he would never love her.
So Blair let go of everything regarding the memories of that day. Just as her beloved husband wished.
Thus, it was a memory she had given up on recovering in her past life.
'But merely avoiding it changes nothing. In this life, I will face the truth and move forward.'
Whatever the truth may be within the buried memories.
Just as Blair was organizing her future plans in her head, she heard urgent footsteps from behind.