Chapter 6. The Duties of a Couple
Herdin knocked and stepped into Blair's bedroom.
Unlike his expectation that she would be startled by his visit or be asleep, Blair was sitting at the table, absorbed in something. Oblivious to his visit.
'What is she doing?'
A glance showed she appeared to be writing something.
'......Small.'
He'd felt it every time he saw her, but seeing her from afar made her frame seem even smaller.
The occasional sound of her dry cough made her seem all the more diminutive.
'Anyway, the room is chilly.'
Despite it being cold winter, the fire in the fireplace had nearly gone out.
White snow piled outside the window, the cool room, and within that landscape, a pale-white woman.
Herdin thought the moniker "snow fairy" suited her rather well as he approached from behind Blair.
Even then, Blair, engrossed in drafting documents, hadn't noticed his presence.
Herdin leaned his upper body over her small back, propped his hand on the desk, and examined what she was writing.
Only then did Blair sense a presence and startle, jerking her head up. As a result, her head thumped against his solid chest.
"Ah."
Simultaneously, his cool blue eyes looking down and her violet eyes looking up met.
"Why do you look so startled? Today is our wedding night, so it's only natural for a married couple to spend the night together."
"......I didn't know you'd come."
"Even though you stayed up waiting?"
At his words that struck the mark, Blair clamped her lips shut.
"I only waited just in case. Since you...... no, since you came, it wouldn't be proper for me to be asleep."
Herdin's gaze deepened at the address "you" that slipped from Blair's lips.
"What is this?"
He asked, having discovered the paper Blair had been writing on.
Blair quickly added an explanation.
"It's a contract. Since it's a contract anyway, I thought it would be good to have it in writing."
Herdin picked up the contract, sat in the chair beside her, and began reading.
"Article 1. The contractor, Blair Somet von Ardel, shall fully cooperate in uncovering the truth behind the Empress's Palace fire incident. The contract period is one year, but regardless of the duration, this marriage contract shall terminate immediately once the truth of the incident is revealed. Responsibility regarding the truth shall follow Imperial law."
His languid, mid-low voice resonated in the quiet room.
"Article 2. During the period of this contract, both parties must respect each other as spouses. The 'respect' referred to herein means fulfilling the responsibilities of a spouse, taking into consideration the other party's dignity. Such as sharing a meal once a week, or attending important banquets or events together."
Listening to the contract clauses, Blair belatedly wanted to revise the contract.
She realized she had unknowingly written her resentment from her past life—when he had ignored and neglected her—into the contract clauses.
Though he wouldn't know what feelings she'd had when writing those clauses in the present......
Thinking that far, Blair smiled bitterly and opened her mouth.
"If you need to adjust anything, feel free to tell me. I wrote this contract on my own, so I'll revise it to reflect your opinion."
At that moment, Herdin, who had been reading the contract, asked.
"What will you do if the contents of the contract are not fulfilled?"
Blair was at a loss for words at his question. She'd considered adjusting the contract terms, but had never considered what would happen if it were violated.
'As he says, there should be a disadvantage for violating the contract if one is to try to keep it.'
Blair pondered for a moment, then opened her mouth with a resolute expression.
"If you don't abide by the contract......"
"If I don't?"
"I won't grant you a divorce."
Since this was a marriage entered into semi-forcibly by imperial decree, continuing this marriage would be dreadful for him.
He would even resent her.
"Ah."
But despite Blair's own formidable threat, he showed no sign of fear.
Was it just her imagination that he seemed to be slightly mocking?
The moment Blair thought so, Herdin began reading the next clause of the contract.
"For the reasons stated above, if the other party desires intimate relations, one must comply up to twice a month and fulfill marital duties......"
Herdin's gaze shifted from the contract to Blair. He set the document down and spoke.
"I assume the 'intimate relations' you speak of doesn't mean fully-grown adults holding hands and sleeping."
Blair appeared slightly flustered by his mocking words, but didn't refute them.
Which meant his guess about the meaning was correct.
"Are you offering to play the role of a bed-warming paramour?"
......Must he go this far?
At this point, he grew curious.
What her "real" purpose was in maintaining this contract marriage, to the extent of offering her body.
So he deliberately provoked her.
And as intended, Blair rose to the bait and snapped.
"Don't speak like that. I just......!"
"Just what?"
Blair, about to retort, couldn't continue and hesitated.
This clause was the most important one for Blair, created to be used when it was time to conceive Asiel.
But she couldn't tell him the truth.
She couldn't spout such absurd stories about regressing, and above all, he absolutely mustn't know of Asiel's existence.
If he learned this truth, would he leave Asiel alone?
To raise the child born between him and Miela as heir, he might try to eliminate Asiel's existence, who would be an obstacle.
That absolutely couldn't happen.
Blair's plan was to conclude all matters related to him before conceiving Asiel, then divorce and leave the Empire before he discovered the pregnancy.
In the end, Blair fabricated a plausible lie.
"I...... just want to be on good terms with you, even if only for this time......"
Herdin sneered at Blair, who kept hiding her true feelings to the end.
"Good terms."
How could we possibly be on good terms?
Because of a single word from your mother, a single statement from you, my late aunt was buried in disgrace underground without even a chance to refute.
While I had to simply accept it without even knowing what the truth was.
Whatever her purpose, the fact that she was willing to offer even her body showed she was quite desperate. That sight was laughable.
You ignored my desperation, and now you come to this.
Her offering herself up willingly—well. That felt like getting the short end of the stick.
If the most precious thing she had was her chastity, then he should take at least that.
That would make it a fair transaction.
Herdin stood up and approached Blair.
At the distance that suddenly narrowed, Blair held her breath.
He was right in front of her nose. At a distance where her breath would reach him if she exhaled.
"Then, in accordance with this clause, I must fulfill my marital duties."
Blair flinched at his hand caressing her cheek and the low voice ringing in her ear. But what surprised her more than that was his words.
She hadn't imagined he would be the first to invoke this clause. She'd put the clause in place, but he no longer needed to pretend to love her.
'I thought it would only be used when I needed to conceive Asiel.'
It was a rather baffling situation for Blair, who had thought he wouldn't even come to the bedroom.
"There's no need to consummate the wedding night necessarily......"
"I want to."
His whispered gaze was fixed on her red lips. The hand cradling her cheek traced her lips with his thumb.
At the heat felt at his fingertips, her heart began to pound rapidly.
At that moment, Herdin, who had been watching Blair's lips, lifted his gaze, and their eyes met.
"Right now."
In his blue eyes, unrefined, intense desire swirled.
Before Blair, startled by the raw desire, could pull away, his approaching lips swallowed hers.
Blair suddenly recalled that he, too, was a man.
'They say men can lie with someone they have no feelings for.'
Right, this isn't love. It's not pretending to love for another purpose either.
It's merely a moment's desire.
Thinking that way actually put her mind at ease. If she could offer her body and meet Asiel again, she could offer it as many times as needed.
Blair gathered her turbulent feelings and closed her eyes as if in resignation.
Herdin parted her lips and invaded her mouth. He sought out her shrinking tongue and tangled with it.
"Mm......"
As the moist flesh rubbed against the soft inner tissue, a moan slipped out unbidden. Her breathing quickened, heat rose in her body. Her mind grew hazy.
His lips were still hot and sweet. Cruelly so.
Herdin lightly gathered Blair into his arms and placed her directly onto his thighs, beginning to devour her in earnest.
Her plump lips, her soft tongue, her quickened breath, the pained moans leaking through her teeth—all of it.
Herdin gripped the plump mound that protruded beyond the slipped shoulder strap of Blair's nightgown.
"Ah......!"
Startled, Blair pulled her lips away and separated. Herdin, about to kiss her again, stopped.
Blair met his eyes and hesitated. His eyes were like the fierce gaze of a beast whose meal had been interrupted.
Even so, he seemed to have no intention of releasing the prey that had entered his arms; the arms holding her were firmly tensed.
As a result, beneath their tightly pressed-together legs, something heavy was felt. Blair's body froze as she realized what it was.
She wanted to get up immediately, but moving would only bring her into closer contact with him, so she couldn't.
Blair subtly avoided his gaze and spoke in a tiny voice.
"Bed...... let's go to the bed."
It was almost a plea.
Herdin stared at Blair for a moment, then lifted her up in his arms as she requested.
Even in that brief moment, he didn't pull his lips away from her nape. He behaved like a suckling beast.
Striding to the bed, Herdin laid Blair down and climbed atop her. Then he began removing her nightgown, which was already half-undone.
His gaze remained fixed on Blair.