Chapter 118: Responsibility for One's Choices
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 118: Responsibility for One's Choices
Blair stared at Mikhail, her eyes wide with shock.
“……Mikhail.”
Mikhail coaxed Pippi into the bag. Having grown close to him over the past two months, Pippi crawled inside without protest.
“I knew you wouldn’t leave without the creature you cherish so dearly, my lady. I just didn’t expect you to bring them along as well.”
Mikhail handed the bag containing Pippi to Blair.
“I can handle that many guards. I’ll shake them off for you.”
Realizing he was trying to help her escape, Blair quickly cut him off.
“No. It’s okay now.”
“……Is it because of your condition?”
Of course, that was a major factor, but there was a far more important reason she had to refuse his help.
“I don’t want to drag you into this anymore. This is between him and me, and it’s a problem I have to solve on my own.”
At Blair’s resolute words, Mikhail’s expression hardened.
Her words felt less like concern for him and more like she was drawing a line—a line making it clear he could never interfere in matters between her and Herdin.
“What if I want to interfere?”
“……”
“Aren’t my feelings for you reason enough to get involved?”
Just as Blair was about to reply, the closed door behind her swung open.
The person who stepped through the doorway was…
“My wife claimed there was nothing between you two. It seems that isn’t the case, is it?”
“……Herdin?”
Blair’s eyes widened at the sight of the man who shouldn't have been there.
Only then did she realize why the knights had so readily agreed to let her go out. Her every move was being reported directly to Herdin.
Herdin approached Blair, turned her to face him, and pulled her into his embrace, as if determined to shield her completely from Mikhail’s gaze.
Mikhail looked at Herdin without a hint of surprise.
“Indeed, there is nothing between us. My feelings, however, are another matter.”
At that response, a chilling, murderous intent flickered in Herdin’s eyes.
Yet, even in the face of that fierce aura, Mikhail calmly continued.
“It is exactly as Your Grace just heard.”
“……”
“I dare to love the Duchess.”
In that instant, a sharp blade of mana erupted from Herdin. It flew like a dagger, grazing Mikhail’s cheek before embedding itself in the wall behind him.
Startled, Blair grabbed Herdin’s arm and shrieked his name.
“Herdin!”
Beads of blood welled up on Mikhail’s cheek, trickling down in a crimson stream. Blair’s face turned deathly pale with shock.
There was no way Herdin, a master of magic, had missed by accident. He had deliberately grazed him—a clear warning that the next strike would be for his throat.
Yet Mikhail, the target of the attack, didn’t even blink as he glared back at Herdin.
Herdin smirked at his defiance.
Look at this.
It was a stark contrast to how he had acted when they first met, feigning a gentle and sweet demeanor in front of Blair.
Well, I suppose it takes that kind of audacity to touch another man’s woman. Fearless bastard.
“I’ve disliked you from the moment I first saw you.”
“……”
“A lowly wretch like you… how dare you.”
“……”
“How should I punish the scoundrel who dared to run away with another man’s wife?”
Once again, Herdin’s mana surged around him.
Mikhail showed no sign of backing down. Just as the tension between the two men reached its boiling point, Blair threw herself between them.
“Stop it, please!”
Herdin’s mana, which had been crackling with the intent to strike, faltered. His expression hardened as he looked at Blair.
Even Mikhail, who had remained calm under Herdin’s murderous aura, showed a flicker of agitation at her intervention.
Sweeping his bangs back in irritation, Herdin swallowed a sigh and spoke to her in a much softer voice.
“Come here, Blair.”
But Blair didn’t budge, just as she always refused to back down when she believed she was right.
“I was the one who wanted to run away. I was the one who asked for help. And I was the one who used his feelings.”
“……”
“He is my savior, and I owe him a great apology.”
Staring at Herdin with resolute eyes, Blair made her bargain.
“If you spare him, I’ll do whatever you want. So please, just let me say a final goodbye. I beg you.”
A plea.
At her desperate gaze, Herdin let out a cold laugh. She had hated and resented him for so long, yet here she was, begging him to save this bastard.
Whether driven by guilt or responsibility, how was she any different from a woman begging for her lover’s life?
He loathed the sight of it, but a dark, insidious thought crept into his mind: if he could use those feelings to keep her by his side, he would gladly do so.
Breaking the taut silence, Herdin finally sighed.
“Five minutes.”
At his words, the threatening surge of mana around him vanished. Blair’s eyes widened.
“If you take any longer than that, he dies.”
Herdin cast a frigid glance at Mikhail, who stood behind Blair, then turned and walked out of the room.
Hearing the door close, Blair turned back to Mikhail. Her face twisted in anguish at the sight of the wound on his cheek.
“……I’m so sorry. This is because of me.”
“It’s not your fault, my lady.”
“But—”
“Besides, it’s nothing. You know that, don’t you? A wound like this is nothing to me.”
Since Mikhail possessed divine power, he could heal it instantly. Still, Blair’s heart remained heavy. Just because a wound could be healed didn’t mean the pain of receiving it never existed.
As if to prove his point, Mikhail quickly healed the cut with his divine power. “Did you decide not to run away because of me?” he asked.
Blair shook her head.
“It’s not because of you. I was slow to realize it, but this isn’t a problem I can solve by relying on someone else.”
“……”
“Thank you for everything. And I’m sorry.”
She fell silent, as if there was nothing more to say. Watching her, Mikhail swallowed a sigh.
In the end, he had failed to win her heart. If she returned to Herdin now, she might get caught in Gerard’s conspiracy and find herself in grave danger.
But he couldn’t tell her about Gerard.
If Herdin found out, confronting Gerard in his current state could trigger a mana rampage, which would put Blair in even greater peril. Above all, even if Herdin—so obsessed he could only prioritize his own feelings—learned about the black magic circle, it was unlikely he would ever let her go.
Keeping the truth buried, Mikhail asked, “Even if staying by his side puts you in danger, you’ll still go back?”
At the loaded question, Blair blinked in surprise, then fell into thought. The answer came easily.
Even knowing what happened in her past life, she had returned to Herdin’s side to meet her child, and she had fallen in love with him all over again. None of this had been forced upon her; her present was the result of her own choices.
Her voice was calm as she stated the decision she had come to once more.
“I must take responsibility for that danger, too. After all, this is the result of my own choices.”
Having said her piece, Blair picked up the bag containing Pippi and quietly turned away.
Mikhail’s lips parted as he watched her retreat, but in the end, he kept his mouth shut, leaving the black magic circle unmentioned.
Only when the door finally clicked shut did he let out a self-deprecating chuckle. He couldn’t tell Blair about the black magic circle. No, he didn’t want to tell her.
He hated the thought of her discovering the truth of Herdin’s love for her, and he loathed the idea of watching her find happiness by his side.
Even if it meant putting her safety on the line.
He had wanted to be a good person for her, of all people, but in the end, it seemed he couldn’t defy the selfish nature of humanity.
Still, that didn’t mean he intended to stand by and watch her get swept up in Gerard’s conspiracy.
Wiping the last of the blood from his face with the back of his hand, Mikhail’s eyes gleamed coldly.
There was still one way left to save her.
* * *
Pippi, who had been wriggling uncomfortably in the unfamiliar bag, finally quieted down, having seemingly fallen asleep.
Herdin stared at the now-silent bag before shifting his gaze to Blair. She sat beside him, looking out the carriage window, her hand habitually and gently stroking her swollen belly. Watching her intently, Herdin asked, “Is it moving?”
Blair, who hadn’t spared him a single glance throughout the ride, turned to look at him with puzzled eyes.
Herdin glanced toward her belly and clarified, “The baby.”
Understanding his question, Blair gave a small nod.
“Yes, occasionally.”
Just as Herdin reached out, Blair curled inward slightly, shielding her stomach.
“……Only faintly. You won’t be able to feel it yet.”
It was her way of telling him not to touch.
Reading her intention, Herdin’s brow furrowed. Ignoring her silent plea, he placed his hand on her belly anyway.
Blair flinched at his touch but didn’t push his hand away.
Herdin gazed down at her anxious face, then leaned in close to her lips and whispered, “Kiss me.”
At his sudden demand, Blair’s eyes blinked in confusion.
“You must pay the price for the favor I granted you.”
His low voice was a hot breath against her lips, sending a dizzying sensation through her.