Chapter 85. Stay By My Side, Quietly
"Then please wait comfortably, Madam."
After the chief steward of the Imperial Palace who had guided her to the reception room left, a maid brought tea shortly after. Once the maid departed as well, Blair was left alone in the spacious reception room.
Blair sipped her tea and waited for Ivan. Having come to visit the busy Emperor without an appointment, waiting indefinitely was her only option.
Just as Blair, exhausted from waiting, began to nod off, the door of the reception room opened. Hearing the sound, Blair snapped awake.
Ivan strode over and sat across from Blair, gazing at his younger sister with a peculiar expression.
"Well, isn't this something. You coming to find me first."
The two were siblings whose relationship could hardly be called close.
Ivan occasionally resented Blair, who sometimes outshone him, and Blair feared and avoided such an older brother—though to be precise, she feared Katrina, who doted on her son and disapproved of her daughter.
Consequently, Blair had never quite fit in between the two, spending her entire life as mere ornamentation constituting a respectable-looking family.
"I'm sorry for dropping by suddenly without any notice."
"Well, I have no reason not to spare a sliver of time for my only sibling. I am curious what brought you here in such haste."
A maid who entered at that moment served tea before Ivan and refilled Blair's cup before leaving the reception room.
Blair gazed quietly at Ivan lifting his teacup, then cautiously broached the subject.
"Stop mobilizing him for magical beast subjugation."
At Blair's words, Ivan smiled crookedly, as if to ask if she had come all this way just to say that.
Yet, as always, he replied nonchalantly in the tone of a doting older brother instructing his ignorant younger sister.
"Subjugating magical beasts is the specialty of the Duke who governs the North. I am merely receiving some assistance."
"Defending the North is the North's affair. The Capital is clearly Your Majesty's jurisdiction, and therefore the Imperial Knights' duty."
"I don't see what's so wrong about family helping each other. It's not as if I'm trying to fill my own greed, but rather helping weak and powerless people."
Family.
An excruciating word brought up whenever they tried to bind her, whenever they tried to use Herdin.
Every time Ivan and Katrina invoked the word 'family' to control Herdin, it had been horrifying to feel like she had become the collar fastened around his neck.
In her past life, she had felt self-loathing at that truth, yet turned a blind eye to it.
Because she loved him, because she couldn't bear to let him go.
Even knowing that the collar called 'family' was strangling not only her own neck but his as well.
But in this life, she had no such intention.
"…Then, if you are no longer family, will you also stop shifting your responsibilities onto him under the pretext of 'family'?"
A scoff burst from Ivan's lips as he met Blair's audacious gaze. But the expression of the kind older brother he'd been wearing instantly turned coldly stern.
Insolent thing.
Blair had seemed fragile since childhood, but occasionally she would behave this audaciously, turning Ivan and Katrina's insides inside out.
And every time she did, Ivan never let such Blair be.
Trampling her, suppressing her, ensuring she wouldn't even dare defy his will for a while.
"Have you fallen so completely for that bastard that you'd go beyond slandering the mother who birthed you, and now want to sever ties entirely?"
"That's not slander, it's the truth."
"And how would you know that?"
"That day, Her Majesty the Empress wasn't trying to harm me—she was protecting me. And she wasn't driven to suicide; she was murdered."
At that, Ivan's pupils flickered for a moment.
Those words meant that Blair had recovered her memories of the fire incident.
'I knew that bastard Herdin Delmark was in cahoots with her, but I didn't expect she'd actually recover her memories.'
At the same time, it made sense.
During their previous conversation, Herdin's attitude as he insisted with certainty on Esmeralda's false accusation.
It wasn't simply defending Esmeralda as he usually did, but because he had secured testimony.
"Whether Mother directly participated in that incident is still unknown, but at least one thing is certain."
"…."
"That the truth of the incident was concealed, and Her Majesty the Empress was falsely accused."
"…And so, you're determined to make Mother a criminal?"
"I'm not making Mother a criminal. The truth is simply being revealed at last."
"Then your conscience must be greatly eased. Though you'll certainly regret it."
Ivan deliberately provoked Blair's guilt.
The younger sister he knew was a child always thirsting for even a sliver of her mother's affection.
He didn't know what words Herdin used to persuade Blair to recover her memories and reveal the truth, but if it were Blair, she would surely waver at Katrina's words.
But Blair's actual reaction veered exactly from his expectations.
Blair answered in a calm voice.
"…If it's regret, I've already felt it for a very long time."
Probably much longer than her brother could imagine.
"For not revealing it sooner."
Throughout my two lifetimes.
It wasn't that people's condemnation didn't hurt. But even if I faced the condemnation of many more, I would not regret this.
Because I simply did what I ought to have done.
Flustered by Blair's unexpected reaction, Ivan nonetheless quickly changed his strategy.
Ivan set down his teacup and spoke with the expression of a worried older brother.
"Blair, I'm saying this because I worry for you too."
"…."
"Once you burn yourself to implement justice, then what? Do you think Delmark will leave you alone as the daughter of their enemy?"
"…Since I cannot sever the bond of blood, I must sever the bond of marriage instead. Even as a child, it is my duty to atone for my mother's sins."
"Did the Duke of Delmark agree to this?"
Blair hesitated for a moment before answering.
"He will wish for it more earnestly than anyone."
Ivan's brow furrowed slightly.
During his previous conversation with Herdin, he had shown great agitation at Ivan's suggestion of divorce from Blair.
'Either Blair is misunderstanding something, or…'
After pondering for a moment while stroking his mouth, Ivan opened his mouth to subtly probe Blair.
"Then, what about you?"
At the question thrown back, Blair's hand holding the teacup paused.
"Will you really be alright severing your marital ties with that man?"
"…."
"As your brother, I'll search diligently for your next marriage prospect, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a better position than Duchess of Delmark. As you know, many are reluctant to take a woman who has passed through another man's hands."
That was a fact Blair knew as well.
If she remarried, it would be a concubine position for a high-ranking noble at best.
But for Blair, who planned to leave the Capital and go into hiding immediately upon divorce—remarriage was out of the question—it was a matter of no concern.
"It doesn't matter."
At Blair's answer, the corner of Ivan's mouth, which had been stroking his lips, rose slightly.
Blair didn't know Herdin's feelings. Or else, she had no intention of accepting those feelings.
Either way, things had gotten interesting.
The less attachment Blair had to him, the more Herdin would hand over his leash to Ivan to prevent the divorce.
"Then, Brother. Before you are Mother's son, as the supreme ruler of this Empire, I trust you will deliver a fair and just judgment."
As if to say she had spoken her piece, Blair set down her teacup and concluded the conversation.
Ivan smiled broadly and answered leisurely.
"Well, I don't think that will happen."
Blair felt uneasy about Ivan's meaningful smile, but she didn't think too deeply about it.
Currently, Herdin was rushing about to find solid evidence of the fire incident, and the truth would soon be revealed.
When that happened, even Ivan would have no choice.
"You must be busy, so I apologize for dropping in so suddenly. If you have nothing more to say, I'll take my leave."
Blair waited a bit longer for Ivan's response, then quietly rose and paid her respects.
Should I tighten the leash a bit more?
Ivan watched Blair's back as she walked toward the reception room door with eyes full of interest, then called out to her.
"Blair."
Blair, who had been about to grasp the doorknob, turned back to look at him.
"Let me give you one piece of advice as your brother."
Ivan continued, wearing his usual kind older brother's smile.
"Be careful of that bastard."
"…."
"That bastard is no ordinary madman."
Blair looked at him for a moment, then turned away without any reaction and left the reception room.
Ivan smiled as he watched the door close.
"This is going to get interesting."
Tap, tap. The sound of his long fingers drumming on the armrest of the chair rang out cheerfully.
* * *
Warm afternoon sunlight poured down the empty corridor.
In the tranquil scenery, only Blair's footsteps echoed rhythmically—until another set of footsteps mingled from the far end of the corridor.
Feeling a sense of déjà vu from those footsteps, Blair lifted her gaze and saw a familiar face approaching.
"…Herdin?"
He strode over, seized Blair's wrist, and began dragging her along.
Blair, flustered by his unexpected appearance, was dragged along by him. Her roughly grasped wrist throbbed with pain.
"Herdin, it hurts. Let go of my hand and…"
At that moment, he—who had been striding without regard for Blair's shorter stride—released her wrist and pinned her against the wall, trapping her between his body and the wall.
Under the warm sunlight, his cold eyes that met hers felt chilling to the point of eeriness.
"How could you come here alone without any fear?"
Blair looked up at him with confused eyes. She couldn't understand why he, who had appeared so suddenly, was angry.
"This is the Imperial Palace, and His Majesty is my brother. There's no reason I can't visit, and in this Imperial Palace, there's no one who would dare harm me."
Brother.
At that title slipping from Blair's lips, Herdin scoffed coldly.
That thing is called a brother.
I wish you weren't that bastard's sister.
Her words, which made him conscious of the reality he wanted to deny, and that title—annoyance surged anew, ridiculously so.
"Have you forgotten? What your mother tried to do to you."
At his words, Blair's eyes contorted painfully.
Though it was an undeniable reality, his unfiltered words, as always, dug into her wounds.
"It's dangerous outside. So…"
His hand cradling her cheek was cold. Like his eyes that met hers. His gaze warning of danger felt even more dangerous.
"Stay by my side, quietly."
His voice, as if suppressing emotion, was too.
At that sight, why did the words she had heard from Ivan just moments ago come to mind?