Chapter 8: His True Feelings
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 8: His True Feelings
“Honestly, the Duke is just too much. How could he leave his bride to sleep alone on their first night?”
Lina fumed as she combed Blair’s hair after her bath. Her voice was so full of indignation, one might have thought she was the one who had been wronged.
The person at the center of it all, however, simply smiled as she listened to the complaint, seemingly unbothered.
“I’m fine. Besides, it’s more comfortable to sleep separately.”
After all, nobles used separate chambers except on the night of consummation. This was hardly any different.
But Lina’s anger was not so easily quelled.
“Still! Yesterday wasn’t just any other day—it was your first night.”
“…Lina, you’re pulling too hard. It hurts.”
“Oh! I’m so sorry. I got carried away.”
Lina, who had been gripping the comb as if to shatter it, eased her hold but couldn’t seem to swallow her anger.
“Anyway! He shouldn’t treat his beautiful wife like this, a woman who came to this strange mansion full of strangers with only her husband to rely on. That’s grounds for having his husband license revoked, it is.”
“How would a young, unmarried lady like you know so much about that?”
“It’s all knowledge I’ve gleaned from books—a treasure trove of wisdom for the soul.”
Blair smiled, recalling the books with red stickers that Lina would read all night, squealing and blushing.
“Well, I’ll admit the Duke has the looks of a story’s hero, but… I think we’ll have to wait and see about his character.”
Listening to Lina chatter on, Blair’s spirits, which had been somewhat low, began to lift.
As she watched her reflection in the mirror gradually come together, she saw something glitter between her neck and collarbone.
…A magic circle?
Blair quickly pulled down the collar of her gown to check the spot. But all she could see were the red marks he had left the night before.
The sight of them brought back memories of last night, and heat rushed to her face.
Blair hastily covered her collar again. She must have been mistaken.
Lina tilted her head, looking puzzled.
“Madam? Is your dress uncomfortable?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
Shaking her head in embarrassment, Blair suddenly noticed a thin bandage wrapped around Lina’s finger. She hadn’t seen it last night when Lina had been helping her with her bath.
Blair asked, “Did you hurt your hand?”
“Ah…”
For a moment, a look of panic flashed across Lina’s face as she continued combing.
“I’ll call a doctor. Let’s get it treated.”
At the mention of a doctor, Lina jumped and adamantly refused.
“N-No! It’s fine. It’s just a small cut.”
“How did you get hurt?”
“Uh, it was just… Ah, it happened while I was working this morning. You know how clumsy I can be.”
Lina insisted she was fine, but Blair’s worried gaze lingered.
A moment ago, Lina had called her a bride who had come to this strange place trusting only in her husband, but the same was true for Lina herself. It weighed on her mind that this girl, who had left her familiar home and dear colleagues behind to follow her, had gotten hurt.
The memory of her past life made it all the more concerning.
In my past life, I was so caught up in my own situation that I barely paid any attention to Lina.
As if reading Blair’s thoughts, Lina added in a deliberately light tone, “It’s nothing to worry about at all. Your High—I mean, Madam, I just wrapped it so I wouldn’t get any blood on your hair.”
“…Really?”
“See? There’s no blood soaking through the bandage.”
As she said, the wound didn’t seem to be deep.
“All you need to worry about, Madam, is how you’re going to survive in this mansion and how you’re going to make that pretty-faced Duke cry.”
Lina’s playful words put her a little at ease, but at the same time, a question arose.
If it’s a cut, that means a knife was involved. Lina isn’t in charge of kitchen work, so she wouldn’t have much reason to handle a knife. Could it be… she’s being bullied?
But Blair’s suspicion was cut short.
“Ta-da! All done. I’ll escort you to the dining hall.”
Having finished with Blair’s hair, Lina helped her to her feet. As she was led down to the dining hall, a waiting servant opened the door.
It was customary for a newlywed couple to have lunch with the groom’s family on their first day. On such an occasion, the dining table of any other family would have been bustling with close relatives, but in the vast hall, only Herdin sat alone.
He had no family.
An only child whose parents had died early, Herdin had grown up alone. The closest thing he’d had to a parent was Empress Esmeralda.
Seeing the empty dining hall, she felt she could understand anew why he hated her so much—apart from her own resentment toward him.
The butler who pulled out Blair’s chair expertly filled her glass with an aperitif before exiting the room.
Once they were alone, Herdin raised his glass and asked, “Did you sleep well?”
It was a ridiculous question coming from the very person who had made Blair weep and tormented her until just before dawn, but Blair answered meekly.
“Yes.”
With that brief exchange, the meal began.
A silence far too bleak for a newlywed couple who had just held their wedding and spent their first night together descended upon them.
It was Herdin who broke the silence first.
“After the meal, the butler will introduce you to the staff.”
He continued speaking as he skillfully cut his steak.
“After the introductions, you will be given a tour of the mansion. There is nothing scheduled after that, so you may rest.”
“Thank you.”
“If you have any other questions or anything you wish to say, feel free to speak.”
“How do you plan to investigate the fire from ten years ago?”
The knife slicing through his steak stopped.
His impassive blue eyes turned to Blair.
Although their contract marriage was for this very purpose, he hadn’t expected her to bring it up today of all days—especially when she must be exhausted, both physically and mentally, from the wedding and their first night.
“Since you said you have no memory of the event, we are currently looking for a hypnotist.”
At the word ‘hypnosis,’ Blair’s body flinched. A memory from the past had surfaced.
“Hypnosis… I’ve tried it several times before, but it had no effect.”
“Well, perhaps this time will be different.”
Herdin replied nonchalantly, but his words were pointed. He suspected that Blair wasn’t truly suffering from amnesia but was merely pretending for her own reasons.
“…You suspect me.”
“How could I possibly trust you?”
His tone made it clear he found the question absurd. Most people would try to hide their true feelings when confronted, but he seemed to have no intention of concealing his.
“Only you would know whether you’ve truly lost your memories or if you’re just pretending for some other reason.”
The daughter of the Imperial Family, his political enemy. That alone was reason enough not to trust her.
Blair had fully understood this through her past life. But there was a vast difference between knowing it in theory and facing someone’s raw hostility head-on.
“Just because I accepted the contract does not mean I trust you.”
He was right. This was a contract. Not a marriage based on love and trust, but an agreement made after weighing the pros and cons. Hadn’t she been the one to propose it in the first place?
Since they had a contract, she had a duty to clear his suspicions.
Blair calmly accepted his demand.
“…I understand. Then, as you say, let’s try hypnosis first.”
And so, the couple’s first meal together as newlyweds came to a close.
*
After the introductions with the staff were over, the butler, Mason, took charge of the mansion tour.
His family had served the House of Delmark for generations, and as such, he held a deep loyalty and pride for the Ducal Family. He knew the history of the house even better than its current head, Herdin.
The tour of the mansion continued until after dinner.
Blair, who had lived in this mansion until her regression, already knew everything, but she listened attentively to Mason’s explanations. Seeing it all again after returning from death gave her a new perspective.
As they walked toward Blair’s bedroom after the tour, Mason apologized as if he had just remembered.
“You must be tired after yesterday’s ceremony. I fear I was overeager and got carried away.”
“It’s only natural for the lady of the house to know these things. Thanks to you, I was able to quickly grasp the ins and outs of the mansion.”
Like most of the Ducal Family’s people, Mason was not particularly friendly toward Blair, but he never let his personal feelings show in her presence. Even if she was an unwelcome master, Blair didn’t want to make him uncomfortable when he treated her with the respect due to her position. And in truth, she had enjoyed the tour.
Before long, they arrived in front of Blair’s bedroom.
“If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask me at any time.”
“I’d like to see the staff roster and the household inventory ledger.”
Mason was surprised by Blair’s request.
It was indeed the duty of the lady of the house to handle matters related to the family’s finances, such as servant wages and household supplies. In reality, however, the lady of a noble house rarely did such work herself. Reviewing and managing numbers was a headache, so it was usually left to subordinates.
Yet here she was, saying she would do it herself.
“Are you saying you wish to handle that work personally, Madam?”
“I am a member of the House of Delmark now. It’s only right that I do my part.”
Before her regression, Blair, like any other noble lady, had entrusted the internal affairs of the Ducal Mansion to Mason. Part of it was because the duties of the lady of the house were difficult, but the biggest reason was that the people of the Ducal Family did not look kindly upon her meddling in household affairs.
But now, she didn’t care what anyone thought. Though she was only the Duchess for a year, she wanted to do her part.
Not to gain anyone else’s approval, but because she no longer wanted to feel so small in her own eyes.