Chapter 8. His True Intentions
2023.09.08.
"Really, His Grace is too much. How could he leave his bride to sleep alone on their wedding night?"
Lina, who was combing Blair's hair after her bath, fumed. Her voice was indignant, as if she herself had suffered such injustice.
Even though the person in question seemed entirely unbothered, smiling as she listened to the complaints.
"I'm fine. Sleeping separately is more comfortable anyway."
Aside from the consummation night, nobles typically used separate rooms. This wasn't much different.
But Lina's anger didn't subside.
"Still! Yesterday wasn't just any day—it was your wedding night."
"……Lina, you're pressing too hard with the comb. It hurts."
"Gasp, I'm sorry. I got carried away."
The force in Lina's grip, which had been clutching the comb as if to break it, was adjusted, but her anger couldn't be quelled.
"Anyway! You shouldn't do that to a pretty wife who married into this strange mansion full of unfamiliar people, relying on nothing but her husband. That's grounds for revoking his husband qualifications."
"How do you know so much about that when you've never even been married?"
"It's all knowledge gained from books—the repository of knowledge and nourishment for the soul."
Blair smiled, recalling the books with red stickers that Lina would read through the night while squealing and blushing.
"Well, the Duke's appearance is honestly that of a male lead incarnate……. But his character seems like something I'll need to observe a bit longer to judge."
Listening to Lina's chattering, her somewhat dampened mood improved considerably.
As she gazed at her gradually tidying reflection in the mirror, she spotted something shimmering between her neck and collarbone.
'……A magic circle?'
Blair quickly opened her collar to check the spot. But all she saw were the red marks he had left the night before.
Seeing them, memories of last night surfaced, and heat rose to her face.
Blair hastily covered her collar. She must have been mistaken.
Lina tilted her head in curiosity.
"My Lady? Are your clothes uncomfortable?"
"Ah, no. It's nothing."
Shaking her head in embarrassment, Blair suddenly noticed the thin bandage wrapped around Lina's finger.
She hadn't seen it last night when receiving help with her bath.
Blair asked.
"Did you hurt your hand?"
"Ah……."
A momentary flash of panic crossed Lina's face as she was combing.
"I'll call a doctor. Let's get it treated."
At the mention of calling a doctor, Lina jumped up and stopped her.
"Ah, no! I'm fine. It's just a slight cut."
"How did you get hurt?"
"Um, just……. Ah, I got it while working this morning. You know how clumsy I can be."
Lina said she was fine, but Blair's worried gaze didn't withdraw.
Lina had said earlier that she was a bride who came to this unfamiliar place trusting only her husband, but the same was true for Lina.
Her heart ached knowing that the child who had left her familiar space and dear colleagues, trusting only her, had gotten hurt.
Especially since the memories of her past life had resurfaced, making it worse.
'In my past life, I was so consumed by my own situation that I barely paid any attention to Lina.'
Reading Blair's mood, Lina deliberately added in a light tone.
"It's really not something to worry about. I only wrapped the bandage because I was afraid blood might get on Your High— I mean, My Lady's hair."
"……Really?"
"Look, there's no blood seeping through the outside of the bandage, right?"
As she said, it didn't seem like a deep wound.
"Your Highness just needs to worry about how to live well in this mansion, and how to make that handsome-faced Duke cry. That's all you need to concern yourself with."
Lina's playful words eased her mind somewhat, but simultaneously raised a question.
'If it's a cut, that means a knife. Lina isn't in charge of kitchen work, so she wouldn't normally handle knives. Could she be being bullied…….'
But Blair's question didn't linger long.
"Ta-da! All done now. I'll guide you to the dining room."
Lina, having finished styling Blair's hair, helped her up.
Guided by Lina, she descended to the dining room where a waiting servant opened the door.
It was customary for newlyweds to have lunch with the groom's family on their first day.
Thus, while in any other household the first day meal would be bustling with immediate family members, only Herdin sat in the spacious dining room.
He had no family.
Having lost his parents early and with no siblings, Herdin had grown up alone. The person who was like a parent to him was Empress Esmeralda.
Seeing the empty dining room, she felt she could newly understand why he hated her so much. Despite her own feelings of resentment.
The butler who pulled out Blair's chair skillfully filled her glass with an aperitif before leaving the dining room.
With only the two of them left in the dining room, Herdin raised his glass and asked.
"Did you sleep peacefully?"
It was a somewhat absurd question coming from the very person who had cried and tormented Blair all night, only releasing her at dawn, but Blair answered obediently.
"Yes."
With the brief greeting concluded, the meal began.
An overly desolate silence ensued for a newlywed couple who had just gone through their wedding and wedding night yesterday.
It was Herdin who broke the silence first.
"After the meal, the butler will introduce the servants to you."
He continued, skillfully cutting his steak with a knife.
"After the servants' introductions, you'll be given a tour of the mansion. There are no scheduled activities after that, so you may rest."
"Thank you."
"If you have any more questions or anything you'd like to discuss, feel free to speak up."
"How will you handle the investigation of the fire incident from ten years ago?"
His knife, which had been cutting the steak, stopped.
His blue eyes, which had been dry all along, turned toward Blair.
Even though it was a contractual marriage made for that purpose, he hadn't expected her to bring it up right this moment.
Especially at a time when both body and mind would be exhausted from yesterday's wedding and wedding night.
"Since you said you have no memories of that time, I am first looking for a hypnotist."
At the word 'hypnosis,' Blair's body flinched. It was because her past memories had resurfaced.
"Hypnosis…… I've tried it a few times before, but it had no effect."
"Well, it might be different this time."
Herdin responded composedly, but there was a barb in his words. He suspected that Blair hadn't truly lost her memories, but was only pretending to have lost them.
"……You're doubting me."
"How could I trust you?"
His tone was as if asking something so obvious.
One would normally try to hide it if their true intentions were discovered, but he seemed to have no intention of hiding his, remaining calm.
"Whether you truly lost your memories, or whether you're pretending to have lost them for some other reason—only you would know."
The daughter of the imperial family, who was in political opposition to him.
That alone was sufficient reason for him not to trust her.
Blair had fully realized and understood that through her past life.
However, merely thinking about it vaguely and actually facing the other person's raw hostility were two entirely different things.
"Accepting the contract doesn't mean I trust you."
He was right.
This is a contract.
Not a marriage premised on love and trust, but a contract made after weighing the gains and losses. Didn't she propose it first in the first place?
Since they had made a contract, she needed to explain away his suspicions.
Blair calmly accepted his demand.
"……I understand. Then let's try hypnosis first, as you suggested."
On the first day of their new marriage, the couple's intimate first meal ended just like that.
* * *
After finishing the introductions with the servants, the butler, Mason, took charge of guiding her through the mansion.
Having served the Delmarque Ducal family for generations, his loyalty and pride toward the ducal house ran deep, and he knew the history of the ducal house better than even the current head, Herdin.
The mansion tour continued even after dinner ended.
Blair, who had lived in this mansion until her regression, already knew all the information, but she listened attentively to Mason's explanations. Looking around again after returning from death brought fresh emotions.
On the way to Blair's bedroom after the tour concluded, Mason apologized, as if belatedly remembering.
"You must be tired having just had the ceremony yesterday. I think I was too eager and greedy."
"These are things the lady of the house should rightfully know. Thanks to you, I was able to quickly grasp the details of the mansion."
Like most people of the ducal house, Mason wasn't friendly toward Blair, but he had never revealed his personal feelings in front of her.
Even if he found her an unwelcome mistress, Blair didn't want to make uncomfortable the heart of someone who treated her as his master. She had also genuinely enjoyed touring the mansion.
Before long, they arrived in front of Blair's bedroom.
"If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask anytime."
"I'd like to see the servants' roster and the household furnishings ledger."
Mason was surprised by Blair's request.
How much was paid in servants' wages, what the remaining supplies were—matters related to the family's finances were indeed the lady of the house's responsibility.
However, in reality, ladies of noble houses rarely did such work themselves. Examining and managing numbers was a headache-inducing task, so it was usually left to subordinates.
Yet she was saying she would do it herself.
"Are you saying you wish to handle that work yourself?"
"I'm now a member of Delmarque too. I should do my share."
Before her regression, Blair had delegated the internal affairs of the ducal household to Mason, like any other noble lady.
Part of it was because the lady's duties were difficult, but the biggest reason was that the people of the ducal house didn't look favorably upon her meddling in household affairs.
But now, she didn't care what anyone thought. Even if she was a duchess for only a year, she wanted to do her part.
Not to be acknowledged by someone else, but because she no longer wanted to be pathetic in her own eyes.