Chapter 46. Operation Commences
2023.10.16.
"How well do you know him to make such an assertion?"
"Because there has been nothing of the sort between us that you imagine."
"I don't know about until now, but it will be from now on. All men are like that."
"……."
"He's only thinking about how to have his way with that woman in his head."
Herdin tucked a stray lock of hair behind the ear of Blair, who was pressing her lips tightly together in displeasure, and added,
"Not that Her Royal Highness, who has been so sheltered, could possibly imagine such a thing."
Though the action seemed gentle at first glance, his downward gaze and the words spilling from his lips were utterly frigid.
"But when a pretty, wealthy woman who treats him with basic human dignity appears right before his eyes in such a situation."
"……."
"Do you think that bastard would be any different?"
Blair's anxiously wavering gaze finally distorted as if she were about to cry. As if she herself had been insulted.
All because of a mere commoner.
"From now on, take a knight with you when you meet him."
Herdin unilaterally concluded the conversation and took Blair's hand. It was meant as an escort, but Blair snatched her captured hand back from him.
Herdin's icy gaze turned to Blair. Blair looked straight up at him and spoke.
"You have no right to insult him based on mere speculation."
The woman's body was trembling visibly as she said that. Just like that time at the imperial palace luncheon when she rebutted her own brother.
Her terrified eyes were filled with a sense of justice. She never backed down. Not when it was something she believed was right.
That sight was newly laughable and irritating.
"I cannot agree with your opinion."
Blair, who firmly expressed her view in a quiet voice, left him behind and headed for the carriage she had rented.
Herdin burst into laughter as he watched her carriage depart first.
* * *
"Then shall I put your hair up today as well?"
Melly asked, seating Blair in front of the mirror. Blair gave a small nod.
"Yes, please."
Long hair is pretty but difficult to manage. Since there was a lot to do to prepare for the banquet today, it was better to just put it up entirely so it wouldn't get in the way.
Rustle, rustle. The sound of hair being brushed filled the room on this peaceful morning.
It was time for Melly and Lina to brush Blair's hair, and for Blair to review her schedule for the day.
After organizing today's tasks in her head and looking at Melly in the mirror, Blair suddenly seemed to recall something and called out to her.
"Melly."
"Yes?"
Blair, who was about to ask what she was curious about, only moved her lips before closing them again. Instead, she shook her head.
"No, it's nothing."
She actually wanted to ask if Herdin had gone out.
After Blair returned to the mansion first by rental carriage yesterday, Herdin must have had other business, as he didn't return to the mansion until late at night, long past dinner time. So there was no chance of running into him.
Usually, she would have breakfast with him every other day, but today she didn't want to see him.
His insulting of Mikhail to his face was an action that shouldn't have been taken.
Was it simply because he had high status and Mikhail was a commoner that he insulted him like that?
Such behavior is wrong.
She was disappointed that he, of all people, had spoken in such a manner.
'But I shouldn't show it in front of these girls.'
Because that would be behavior unbecoming of her dignity.
"All done, my lady."
"Thank you."
Blair, having finished dressing, left the room and stood at the stairs leading down to the first floor.
When she was about halfway down the stairs, she saw Herdin and Ruth coming down the opposite staircase.
They must have spotted her as well, as Herdin's gaze turned in her direction. Blair's footsteps abruptly stopped as her eyes suddenly met his.
Herdin's gaze, which had lingered on Blair for a moment, returned to Ruth.
Blair, who slowly descended the stairs again, arrived at the first floor a beat earlier and waited for him. Even though her heart was uncomfortable, now that they had run into each other like this, she couldn't very well skip the farewell.
Herdin, having reached the first floor, brushed past her. Just as Blair, who had received Ruth's greeting, was about to follow behind him, a cold voice reached her ears.
"There is no need for you to see me out."
He walked away with long strides. Even though his pace wasn't particularly fast, his long legs carried him far away in just a few steps.
Ruth looked even more flustered, bowed silently, and followed behind Herdin.
Blair, watching Herdin's back with displeased eyes as he left the mansion with Mason seeing him out, eventually turned toward the dining room.
He was the one who had done wrong, and he was the one who had picked a fight first in front of others. There was no need for her to be the only one trying to accommodate his tune.
However, Melly's eyes, watching her, were full of concern.
* * *
"This really won't do."
Lina, who was having lunch on a garden bench in the noticeably milder weather, tilted her head at Melly's abruptly spoken words.
"What won't?"
"His Excellency and my lady. It doesn't seem like they've reconciled yet, does it?"
Right after the wedding, they had barely seen each other's faces a few times, so it could be chalked up to awkwardness from having married as strangers, but ever since the day Blair collapsed in front of the fireplace, the two seemed to be getting along well.
'For a while, they didn't come out of the bedroom, so I was actually worried about the madam...'
But starting one day, Herdin stopped visiting the bedroom, and the atmosphere froze cold as well. Anyone could see they were a quarreling couple.
Still, the day they returned together from the Grand Empress Dowager's palace, I thought they might have reconciled... but upon observing a bit more, that didn't seem to be the case either.
Especially after the day they visited the art gallery a few days ago, Blair seemed to be deliberately avoiding meal times.
Originally, servants were not supposed to pretend to hear anything beyond their masters' orders, nor were they to speak unless asked. But that didn't mean they were blind and deaf to what was plainly visible and audible.
The two had a major fight. That was certain.
Even so, it wasn't the place of servants like them to interfere. A married couple's fight was entirely the business of the two people involved.
However, when that period stretched to nearly a month, Melly slowly began to worry about Blair.
Ever since the maids had been caught by Herdin after secretly harassing Lina, while they weren't exactly warm, the ostracism had disappeared.
'But if their cold war continues like this...'
Melly didn't want Blair to go through the same things as before again.
It was partly due to the lingering guilt from the past, and partly due to the pure affection that had grown for Blair.
But Lina was a staunch anti-Herdin faction.
"It's unconditionally His Excellency's fault. Unconditionally! Unconditionally! The madam is right."
"No, I'm not trying to argue about who's right or wrong. That's their business, so it's not for us to judge. What I'm saying is, we can't just leave them like this."
"Then?"
"Whether they reconcile or have a bigger fight, they need to face each other for anything to happen, right?"
But Lina, who was absolutely on Blair's side, furrowed her brow.
"Why should the madam make that effort? The frustrating one should do it."
"The madam must be frustrated too, she just doesn't express it. Still, he is her husband."
Lina couldn't criticize Herdin any further and clamped her mouth shut.
Melly was right. No matter how close Blair was to her, she was still a master and Lina a maid.
The only family Blair could rely on in this mansion was Herdin, just that one person.
Lina was still displeased with Herdin, but for Blair's sake, she decided to listen to more of Melly's idea.
"Anyway, so?"
"How about we create some time for the two of them to be together?"
"How are we supposed to do that?"
"Um, well..."
Melly, who was pondering with a serious face for a moment, let out a small exclamation as if something had occurred to her.
* * *
This is a development different from my past life.
Blair stared at the scene unfolding before her with surprised eyes.
In the sitting room of the bedroom, where she had been summoned while preparing for the banquet, Baroness Shionel and her assistants were taking out the completed dress and men's formal wear, preparing them.
This much was the scene Blair had expected before coming to the bedroom.
Except for her husband, who was sitting casually beside her, watching the same scene.
Blair glanced at Herdin with confused eyes.
'Why is this person here?'
The origin of the incident was a week ago.
Baroness Shionel had come to the ducal residence to prepare clothes for the banquet.
'Madam, how about a couple's outfit like this? It's trending among young lovers and newlyweds these days. Even in crowded places like banquets, it makes it instantly clear that this man is my man, you see.'
The baroness had suggested a couple's outfit in her past life as well.
Upon hearing that, Blair had the couple's outfit made according to her opinion. A new bride in love was anxious to show off her love, her husband.
But now that she had returned to the past, she knew all of it was futile.
Blair expressed her desire to make a normal dress instead of a couple's outfit.
However, Melly and Lina, who had been listening to their conversation from behind, suddenly interjected.
'My lady, I want to see you wearing a couple's outfit.'
'This is your very first banquet as a duchess. Wouldn't it be better to dress up so that the two masters of the ducal household stand out?'
After thinking for a moment, Blair readily decided to accept the two's earnest proposal.
She didn't particularly want to make a couple's outfit, but there was no special reason to refuse their request either.
'And anyway, wearing matching clothes at a banquet would look nice.'
Instead, this time she chose a different design from her past life. Wearing the same design of clothes twice would be boring.
Whatever the process, the result flowed the same as her past life with them making a couple's outfit, so she thought the future that would follow would be the same as well.
In her past life, he had only put on the couple's outfit on the day of the banquet.
So to put it another way, his appearance at the fitting of the completed clothes before the banquet was something that didn't happen in her past life.