Chapter 66. Means of Divorce
2023.11.05.
Herdin sat on the chair beside the bed, gazing silently at the sleeping Blair.
She slept peacefully, unaware of his persistent gaze. Sometimes her small lips moved as if she were talking in her dream, and sometimes she tossed and turned.
As a result, the blanket slipped down, revealing her pale shoulder and the slender nape of her neck leading from it.
There, the red marks he had left last night remained clearly visible. His eyes darkened at the sight. Memories of last night came flooding back.
The scent of her flesh that drove him crazy, the soft skin that gently touched his, the voice calling his name, the eyes looking at him.
At the same time, heat rushed to his lower abdomen again, as if satisfying his greed all night hadn't been enough.
He turned his gaze away with self-mockery, feeling like a madman getting aroused at the sight of his sleeping wife. Then he noticed something on the side table.
It was a geography book.
Containing information not only about the countries near Ardel, but also about the eastern continent across the sea and the island nations.
Herdin's eyes turned cold at the sight of it.
Just as he was about to open the book, a low voice reached his ears.
"……Herdin?"
Blair, who had opened her eyes at some point, was looking at him.
Blair rubbed her eyes, still heavy with sleep, and asked.
"Didn't you say there was a meeting at the imperial palace today?"
"I had some time left."
Herdin set the book back down and sat on the bed. Then, as if it were the natural course of action, he leaned down and captured Blair's defenseless lips.
Her breathing quickly grew ragged, and a pained moan slipped from between her lips.
At the same time, Herdin's hand, which had slipped under the blanket, caressed her body.
This much was a familiar morning scene that often occurred.
But when he fully leaned his tilted upper body forward and positioned himself over her, Blair, who had been entrusting herself to him in a drowsy state, quietly avoided his touch and hid her body under the blanket.
Herdin stared at her silently instead of asking.
Blair shrank away from his gaze and answered the unspoken question.
"Just, a little…… I'm not feeling well."
Herdin touched Blair's forehead. Fortunately, she didn't have a fever, but considering her normally weak constitution, it made sense.
Herdin straightened up and covered her with the blanket.
"I'll call the physician."
"No, it's fine. It's not that bad."
When Blair strongly dissuaded him, Herdin observed her complexion for a moment before stepping back.
"Tell me right away if you're not feeling well."
"……I will."
"I'll be off now."
After his figure disappeared from view, the sound of a door opening and closing was heard. Silence filled the room where she was left alone.
Blair fell into thought, recalling Herdin's appearance just a moment ago.
'It must have been around this time.'
When he started to distance himself from her.
In her previous life, it was around this time, when the cherry blossoms were falling, that Herdin began to distance himself from her.
But in this life, there wasn't even a sign of that yet.
She didn't know the detailed reason why he, who had been pretending to love her to extract the truth from her, had suddenly changed his mind.
'Did the future change because I agreed to cooperate in revealing the truth about the Empress Palace incident?'
It was good that he was favorable toward her, but if the future had changed, that was problematic in its own way.
The timing of conceiving Asiel was some time after Herdin started distancing himself from her.
After distancing himself from her for a while, he came home one rainy night reeking of alcohol.
It was unlike him, as no one could match him with an ordinary tolerance for alcohol.
Blair, who had just come out of her room to go to the library, ran into him, and Herdin took her straight to her room and held her.
The child conceived that night, which was quite impulsive.
That was why Blair remembered the exact day she conceived Asiel.
But if she spent every night with him like now, it was hard to gauge when she should stop taking contraceptives. The effects of the medicine didn't disappear immediately just because she stopped taking it.
'Should I find an excuse to push him away for a while?'
After thinking for a moment, Blair put off the thought and pulled the bell cord. First, she needed to start her day slowly. She had an appointment today.
Blair got out of bed, put on her loungewear, and approached the drawer. Inside was a note she had received from Mikhail a few days ago.
[1 PM, Vermont Street]
Herdin seemed reluctant to cause a scandal as a means of divorce, but she couldn't think of any other alternative.
Then for now, this method was the best she could do.
Just then, a knock was heard. It must be Lina or Melly bringing water for washing.
Blair put Mikhail's note back in the drawer and turned to the door.
"Come in."
* * *
If you go two alleys in from the capital's square, a street with few pedestrians even at midday unfolds.
There, all sorts of illegal activities such as gambling, drugs, and loan sharking ran rampant.
Just as the backside of light is the darkest.
As befitting a place where illegal activities took place, it was much busier at night than during the quiet day. Of course, they kept their shops nominally open during daylight hours, but actual customers were rare.
Today as well, the man who had been dozing off with the guild door open as usual jumped up when he heard the bell on the door ring.
"Welcome―"
Boredom returned to the man's eyes when he saw the customer who entered.
The customer who visited in broad daylight had her face obscured by a robe hood, making it hard to see clearly, but from her build and the impression glimpsed, it was clear she was a woman.
The man, who had tensed up to greet a customer, lost his enthusiasm.
The requests young women made were mostly frivolous and annoying tasks.
Follow my husband who seems to be cheating, collect evidence, identify the other woman, and so on.
Moreover, since men usually held the financial power, women didn't have much money at their disposal, and naturally, the commission fees were relatively small.
He had to risk getting entangled in a melodrama for that small commission fee.
Especially since the woman before him didn't look wealthy from her attire.
The man assumed this customer would be the same and asked while picking his ear with a face full of annoyance.
"What business do you have?"
"I'd like you to monitor someone. I'll pay the commission fee handsomely."
The woman casually placed a heavy pouch on the counter. It was a pouch filled with gold coins.
The man, who had expected small change or a few crude accessories, widened his eyes.
"This is the cost incurred during surveillance and the advance payment. Additional amounts will be added each time you produce results."
The man swallowed hard at the large sum relative to the commission, but couldn't hide his suspicious gaze as he asked.
"Can you really afford to pay more commission fees?"
Then the woman wordlessly took something out from inside her clothes and showed it.
"Would this be enough to serve as a measure of trust?"
"This is……"
The man was surprised when he saw what the woman presented.
A badge symbolizing a god.
It was a token bestowed only upon priests who possessed divine power, those chosen by the gods.
If she was a priest, her identity was certain as she belonged to a temple, and since she received a considerable salary every month, her ability to pay the commission fees could also be proven.
"Who is the surveillance target?"
The man's tone suddenly became polite.
The woman's red lips, revealed beneath the hood, hesitated for a moment before offering a familiar name.
"Please monitor the current Duchess of Delmark, Blair Delmark. Who she meets, where she goes."
The man gulped. The name that slipped from the woman's mouth was also that of a big shot.
"I'll visit every week, so you can report then."
The woman, having finished her commission, turned around and left the guild. The hired carriage waiting in front departed as soon as she boarded.
Only then did the woman remove her robe's hood. Dazzling silver hair flowed out from under the removed hood.
Miella looked at the scenery outside the carriage, which had somehow arrived at the square.
The sunlight was warm, the breeze was cool. It felt as if a god was watching over her. She had a premonition that everything would go well.
'There's no one who doesn't have dust come out when shaken. With this, I should be able to find a way to save the Duke from an unhappy marriage.'
Just as Miella was harboring hopeful expectations, the carriage stopped. It seemed another carriage was passing on the street ahead.
Miella, who had been observing outside the stopped carriage, inadvertently shifted her gaze to the carriage next to hers.
And there, she discovered an unexpected person.
'……The Duchess?'
Her face wasn't clearly visible since she had turned her head to talk to the person beside her, but that side profile was definitely Blair's.
And the person next to her was not Herdin, but an unfamiliar man.
The man, with an exceptionally handsome appearance, was talking to Blair with a smile.
Miella couldn't take her eyes off the unexpected situation when she suddenly made eye contact with the man who had been looking at Blair. At the same time, the man's green eyes turned icy cold.
Just as Blair, noticing the change in his gaze, was about to turn toward Miella, the approaching man pulled the carriage curtain shut.
Soon, the stopped carriage departed and moved away.
Miella, who had been blankly watching the passing carriage, realized only then.
This was an opportunity.
* * *
The place they arrived at with Mikhail was a small villa located in a forest on the outskirts of the capital.
"Some nobles use such villas under the pretext of business and enjoy affairs here,"
Mikhail briefly explained to Blair, who was examining the villa with curious eyes, then got off the carriage first and escorted her.