INDC 27

~Chapter 27~

   A Warm Night

Blair, who had been hugging the pillow in her sleep, felt something strange and abruptly opened her eyes.

What she had thought was a pillow was Herdin.

The man who had become her husband in both her past life and this one.

He was lying beside her, asleep.

Just like in her previous life, when he pretended to love her.

The warmth she felt from him was comforting.

Enough that she wanted to fall asleep again like this.

That was why she hated it.

Because she feared she might become accustomed to this warmth again.

Because she feared she might mistake this warmth for love.

Blair tried to rise from the bed.

At that moment, the fireplace came into her view.

The red flames burning fiercely as the firewood crackled.

Seeing it, Blair involuntarily gasped.

The disaster that had burned away her happy days.

The fear that those flames might burn everything she had again swallowed her whole.

Gradually her breathing quickened, and her vision blurred.

At that moment, a large hand covered her sight and laid her down again.

When Blair barely regained her senses, Herdin’s face was in front of her.
“Are you afraid?”

Normally, she should have been.

Because she was terribly afraid of fire.

But the heart that had been pounding rapidly gradually calmed.

Her breathing returned as well.

Simply because he was beside her.

It was strange.

After confirming her condition, Herdin closed his eyes and spoke in a low, husky voice.
“Go back to sleep.”

Blair hesitated for a moment and tried to move away from him, but the arm wrapped around her waist was firm, as if it had no intention of letting her go.

Still, when Blair remained stiff, Herdin opened the eyes he had closed and said,
“The shared-bed clause mentioned in the contract—I’ll use it today.”

Blair flinched at his words.

She had thought that one day he might request to share a bed, but she had never expected it to be today.

The two of them had only just argued and reconciled today, and she herself had fainted earlier.

But if he wanted it, she had no intention of refusing.

Because when the time came for her to ask him for a shared bed in order to conceive Asiel, she would have to accept his request as well.
“Then… I’ll wash up first.

I came back from going out and haven’t washed yet…”

At Blair’s words, Herdin’s eyes, which had been trying to interpret her meaning, sank coldly, and he let out a laugh of disbelief.
“You must think I’m trash who vents my lust on a patient.”

“…I didn’t think that.

This is part of the contract, so we should keep our promise—”

“Enough.”

That damned contract again.

The word “contract,” which slipped habitually from Blair’s lips, made Herdin’s brow twitch for a moment, but he soon relaxed his expression.

After all, he was the one who had brought up the contract clause first.

“What I meant was literally just sleeping together.”

Why…?

Unable to understand his intention, Blair looked at him with silent question in her eyes.

Herdin sighed and added an explanation.
“You can’t sleep if you’re alone with the fireplace on.”

Blair’s eyes slowly blinked as she looked at him.

It was strange.

Simply sleeping together without doing anything brought him no benefit at all.

So this was solely for her sake.

“I won’t do anything, so just sleep.”

As if his words were sincere, he pulled the blanket that had slipped from Blair’s body back over her, then removed his hand and lay down a short distance away.

They were close enough that even the slightest movement would make them touch, but it seemed he truly intended to sleep like this.

Blair stared blankly at Herdin’s side profile with his eyes closed.

The air in the room warmed by the fireplace was comfortable, the blanket he had pulled over her was cozy, and even the warmth of the person beside her—though they did not touch—gave her a sense of security.

Even so, I still hate you.

But today was really hard.

I’m too tired.

So…

‘Just for today, wouldn’t it be alright?’

Blair blinked slowly as she looked at him, then soon fell into sleep.

It was a warm night for the first time in a very long while.
* * *
The next morning, when Blair woke up, Herdin had already left the room.

The fireplace had gone out, but warmth still lingered in the room.

As if he had been tending the fire until just recently.

When Blair pulled the bell rope and waited a moment, Lina entered carrying a silver basin filled with water for washing.

The moment Lina saw Blair, tears welled up in her eyes.

Her face showed clearly how worried she had been last night.
“W-why did you do that?

You’re someone who’s afraid of fire…

If you wanted the fireplace lit, you should have called me.”

“I’m sorry.

You were worried, weren’t you?”

Blair did not explain why she had lit the fireplace herself.

Complaining about Herdin would only expose her own weakness, and besides, the matter had already been resolved.

After comforting Lina, Blair asked,
“What about Pippi?”

Unless something special happened, Blair personally took care of feeding the baby sable.

Not out of responsibility or duty, but simply because she liked watching the little creature—who reminded her of Asiel—grow.
“Oh, Melly just went to feed it milk.”

Hearing Lina’s answer, Blair asked with a slightly surprised expression,
“Did you forgive Melly?”

“…Should I not forgive her after all?”

Lina looked ready to throw Melly out immediately if Blair said so.

Blair smiled and shook her head.
“No, don’t do that.

If you’re fine with it, then I’m fine.

I’d like you to get along well with others too.”

“But she did something wrong to you too, Madam.”

Blair took Lina’s hand and spoke gently.
“Lina, everyone makes mistakes.”

“….”

“Of course, there are mistakes that can never be forgiven no matter what, but there are also ones that can be corrected even if it’s late.”

“….”

“If a person were judged entirely by a single mistake, people would give up everything after making just one mistake.

Even if they could become better.”

“….”

“Melly did something wrong, but I don’t think it was something beyond redemption.

And more importantly, she’s sincerely regretting it.”

The night before, on the way back to the servants’ quarters after leaving Blair’s room together, Melly had apologized to Lina.

Remembering that, Lina slowly nodded in agreement with Blair’s words.

Blair smiled and asked,
“So why not give her a chance to correct her mistake?”

“Sigh, our Madam is too kind for her own good.”

Lina sighed and grumbled, but a faint smile spread across her face as she spoke.

“Well, still… I don’t think she’s a bad girl like you said.

After all, she was the one who found you collapsed yesterday and took action first.”

“Really?

Then I should thank Melly.”

The fact that her different choices compared to her previous life had created different changes filled her with quiet satisfaction.

Blair washed her face with the rose water Lina had prepared while listening to the small stories Lina shared about the mansion.

Just as Blair finished washing and wiped the moisture from her face with a towel, Lina suddenly exclaimed as if remembering something.
“Oh, right!

His Grace asked me to tell you when you woke up.

He said to have the meal together that you couldn’t eat yesterday.”

“…He did?”

That meant Herdin had not eaten yet.

Blair quickly tidied her appearance, changed her clothes, and went straight down to the dining room.

Seeing her, Mason bowed and immediately opened the door for her.

Inside the dining room, he sat as usual, wearing a shirt and vest.

“Did you sleep well?”

Though his attire was impeccably neat, the languid expression on his face as he tilted a wine glass gave him the impression of a libertine of high society.

Even with proper manners and tidy clothes, the sharp nature of this man could not be hidden.

The kind of dangerous aura that might attract someone even more precisely because it was dangerous.

It was not much different from the impression she had when she first met him as a child.

Blair sat beside him, newly aware of that fact.
“Yes, thanks to you.”

Once Blair sat down, the dishes began to arrive.

Only the clinking of utensils echoed at the table.

Herdin was never one to start conversations, so the silence was familiar to Blair.

The only difference from before was that after last night, the silence no longer felt uncomfortable.

Blair carefully cut her steak into small pieces, chewing slowly while watching Herdin’s mood before cautiously speaking.
“Herdin.

About what we talked about yesterday.”

Instead of answering, his gaze turned toward her.

“I understand that from your perspective, I might seem suspicious enough.”

She had said it yesterday as well, but since it ended with his apology, she felt she should respond in her own way.

“But I will never do anything that harms you.

I swear on everything I have.”

Blair’s expression as she said that was rather solemn.

Herdin’s lips curved slightly as he looked at her.
“Does that ‘everything’ include yourself?”

“What?”

“What in this world is more precious than ‘me’?

If you swear on everything but conveniently exclude the most precious thing, it doesn’t sound very convincing.”

Blair looked at him with confused eyes.

Just yesterday he had said he would not doubt her anymore, yet now he seemed to be changing his words after only a day.

But seeing his expression more relaxed than usual, it did not seem like he truly doubted her or was in a bad mood.

Still, Blair answered sincerely.
“…Of course it includes me.

And it’s also true that I want to maintain a good relationship with you.”

Herdin chuckled softly as he looked at Blair.

A woman who cannot tell him everything honestly, yet asks him to trust her.

It was absurd… but perhaps he would trust her for now.

After all, last night he had not smelled another man on her.

Just as Herdin tapped the wine glass in his hand while looking at Blair with interested eyes—

There was a knock, and Mason entered.
“An invitation has arrived for the two of you.”

The invitation he presented bore the imperial crest.

It was an invitation to Katrina’s birthday banquet.