Chapter 9. The Body's Heat That Won't Subside
2023.09.09.
Mason readily agreed to Blair's words.
"I will submit the documents by tomorrow so you can review them immediately."
"You'll probably see many shortcomings in me. Please teach me a lot from now on."
Mason was inwardly surprised by Blair's attitude.
He had thought she, raised as a precious imperial princess, would never touch anything complex or difficult. Moreover, unlike someone raised in luxury, she didn't feel ashamed of her own inadequacies and was willing to learn.
Some might think showing such a side was beneath one's dignity, but to his eyes, that very attitude seemed even more noble.
"I look forward to working with you as well, My Lady."
The Mason that Blair knew was not one to easily reveal his emotions. But for a brief moment, his gaze seemed to soften.
After Mason bowed and withdrew, Blair finished her bath and returned to the bedroom. It was still too early to sleep.
Blair decided to organize her plans for the future.
She had proposed a one-year contract marriage to Herdin, but in reality, the time she conceived Asiel was around early summer.
Herdin must not notice Asiel's existence, so everything had to be concluded by early pregnancy at the latest.
'Half a year from now.'
Before that, she had to resolve three things.
First, recovering the memories of the fire incident.
Herdin would take the lead on this, so she didn't need to plan anything separately.
Second, preparing for divorce.
To get a divorce in the Empire, one needed the Emperor's consent. But would Ivan, who had pushed for this marriage targeting Herdin in the first place, ever agree to their divorce?
At the very least, he would never agree to a divorce due to Herdin's shortcomings.
'I must make it so they have no choice but to agree to the divorce, definitely because of my flaws, and driven by public opinion.'
The brilliant idea she came up with was a 'scandal.'
Creating a scandal involving other men.
But if such a scandal broke out, those men would be punished. So Blair decided to scale up the scandal even further.
If there was only one man involved, the arrows would point at him, but what if there were multiple?
Then people would naturally redirect their arrows not at the men who committed adultery with the princess, but at the depraved princess who cavorted with multiple men while having a husband.
That was exactly the development Blair desired.
And in the off chance that things went wrong and Asiel's existence was revealed, she could pass the child off as theirs.
'For that, I first need to bribe multiple men.'
After divorcing through a disgraceful scandal, she wouldn't be able to stay in the Empire, or at least in this capital. If she was unlucky, she could be confined by Ivan or Katerina.
But as long as she was legally the Duchess of Delmark, even the Imperial family couldn't touch her, so she had to leave the capital the moment the divorce was finalized.
Therefore, she needed a new identity and residence prepared for that time. One that no one knew about.
The place where she could obtain all of this was the Guild.
'I should stop by the Guild soon.'
And finally, the third thing—finding the mastermind who killed her in her previous life.
The probability that a stranger killed her out of personal animosity was low. There had to be someone behind it.
She had to find the mastermind and discover the reason they killed her. Because in this life, she absolutely refused to leave Asiel alone.
'For now, let's start from the closest place.'
Blair planned to stop by the knight order's training grounds tomorrow morning and lay down on the bed. Just then, the contract came to mind along with the memory of last night.
Rising from the bed, Blair took out the contract she had stored in the drawer. The signature line on the contract was still empty.
* * *
After finishing his bath, Herdin was reviewing documents in his office with a cigar between his lips.
He had already processed the important documents before the wedding, so there were no urgent matters, but he chose work over rest. It was to forget the thoughts that had been tormenting him since this morning.
In the quiet study where darkness had settled, only the rustling sound of turning pages filled the room.
Knock, knock—
A sudden knocking sound shattered the silence.
'Mason?'
Ruth had complained about 'suffering from excessive work the entire time preparing for the wedding,' so he had sent him home early today. He wouldn't be loitering around the office on his own volition.
"Come in."
But the one who entered the office was neither Ruth nor Mason—it was Blair.
Herdin's gaze paused as he looked at the unexpected visitor.
A rolled-up paper was clutched in Blair's hand.
She coughed softly at the cigar smoke permeating the office, and only after the coughing subsided did she approach him.
"I realized I didn't finish the contract yesterday because I was so distracted."
Herdin looked at the paper Blair placed before him with somewhat bewildered eyes.
Over a mere scrap of paper.
She acted as if this paper would guarantee everything.
An innocent and persistent woman.
Herdin picked up the quill, intending to sign quickly and send this naive wife back to her room.
Just then, Blair grabbed his hand to stop him.
"Wait, Herdin."
The woman's hand that grabbed his was cold. Enough to grate on his nerves.
"You have to review a contract thoroughly."
"Didn't we do that yesterday?"
"I might have changed it to something completely different in the meantime."
Is the mouse worrying about the cat?
It seemed the woman thought she possessed the power to cause him immense harm.
Despite having wrists that looked like they would snap if squeezed.
'I thought she was a naive princess. But I suppose she won't get scammed anywhere.'
Thinking that, Herdin examined the contract again.
"There's an additional clause."
Blair pointed precisely at a contract clause with her slender finger.
"When this contract ends, please write a letter of recommendation so Rina can find a good position."
"Are you referring to the child you brought from the Imperial Palace?"
"Yes. She's sociable and hardworking, so she'll do well wherever she goes."
Herdin's eyes narrowed as he looked at Blair.
'She's planning to abandon even her only confidant and leave.'
Is she planning to elope with a hidden lover?
Some twenty years ago, in the neighboring Kingdom of Derant, a princess fell in love with a knight and fled, refusing the marriage arrangement made by the king.
Because of that, the knight was executed, and the princess, having lost her lover, refused to eat and eventually took her own life.
Scandals arising from forbidden love between a high-born woman and a low-born man weren't exactly common, but they weren't extremely rare either.
It was possible Blair could be the protagonist of such a scandal. Though considering last night was her first night spending with a man, perhaps not.
'...Either way, it has nothing to do with me.'
As long as the purpose of this contract marriage was achieved, nothing else mattered.
Herdin finished signing both copies of the contract and handed one back to Blair.
"It seems quite late. If you're done with your business, please go back and rest."
It was a polite dismissal.
But it seemed Blair still had business remaining.
"As you're surely aware, there's a luncheon at the Imperial Palace tomorrow."
On the first day of marriage, the couple dines with the groom's family, and on the second day, with the bride's family. That was the custom, and it was something Herdin knew as well.
"I remember."
"You don't necessarily have to attend other banquets or appointments. But I would appreciate it if you could accompany me as much as possible for appointments related to my brother or the Imperial family."
It was a request based on her memories of her past life.
In her previous life, after he distanced himself from her, he rarely attended banquets or meals with the Imperial family.
"There must not be a single misstep on your part as my husband, so that when this contract ends, my brother will have no choice but to agree to the divorce."
Though Herdin Delmark was a war hero, he was ultimately a subject of the Emperor.
Without the Emperor's permission, he could not dare to strip the Emperor's only sister from the position of Duchess.
Therefore, the end of this marriage had to be tied up entirely as Blair's fault. For that, it was better for Herdin not to show even the slightest flaw.
He added one more impression of Blair beyond pretty, small, innocent, and persistent.
A shrewd woman.
"That makes sense. I'll keep that in mind as well."
With her business concluded, Blair promptly withdrew, remembering his earlier dismissal.
"Then... good night, Herdin."
Blair carefully rolled up her contract and quietly left the office.
Herdin let out a scoff as he looked at the contract his fake wife had left behind.
"Ha."
He had come to his office to shake off the thoughts that had been ravaging his mind all day, only for the very source of those thoughts to come to him on her own.
That source was Blair.
All day today, his mind had been occupied by his fake wife.
Pale, soft skin, her tearful face and voice, the plump breasts that didn't suit her slender body, and...
The dizzying pleasure her body gave him, plunging him into an endless sweet mire.
It was absurd to see this woman visit him at this hour, seemingly having completely forgotten last night's events. And in a negligee that clearly revealed her figure, no less.
Unaware of what disrespectful things were happening in his mind about her.
Yet at the same time, a filthy desire to make that innocent face cry and soil it again goaded him on.
What was he, some dog in heat?
He had thought that biting, sucking, and holding the woman all night to his heart's content would quench his thirst for her. But he had been mistaken.
What he had swallowed wasn't water but seawater. The more he drank, the more he thirsted.
It had been the same last night.
At first, it was curiosity. He wondered what kind of expression this doll-like woman would make in bed.
But the moment he held her, the curiosity vanished, leaving only desire for pleasure.
He ravaged the woman all night, only coming to his senses when dawn broke. Appalled that he still felt lust looking at the woman who had fallen asleep as if fainting, he had fled the room like a runaway.
She was a woman deserving of hatred. The daughter of an enemy deserving of loathing. He must never, ever forget that fact.
But even in this moment of reminding himself of that truth, the heat of his body that recklessly recalled last night wouldn't subside.
"...Am I crazy?"
Herdin let out a tormented breath and rose. And headed for the bathroom once again.