The name of the woman Herdin had brought was Miela, a face Blair had seen once or twice while going back and forth to the temple.
Her occupation was priestess. It was a job befitting her angelic face.
Miela, who had gone north on a mission by the goddess's will, had discovered the Delmark Knight Order, which had suffered great damage from a magic beast attack at just the right time, and provided aid.
From that incident, Herdin had highly regarded her skills and hired her as an assistant for magic beast subjugation, keeping her by his side, and brought her with him when returning to the Capital.
An excellent talent and a liege with the eye to recognize her.
On the surface, that was their only relationship, but the servants gossiped freely about the two.
'His Excellency and Lady Miela—don't you think there's something between them?'
'His Excellency and Lady Miela? I'm not sure.'
'His Excellency's like that. He never shows his emotions. But doesn't Lady Miela seem to like him?'
'That's... true. She didn't return to the temple even after coming back to the Capital, and is staying here.'
'Soon His Excellency will fall for Lady Miela too. With a woman that beautiful and capable saying she likes him.'
'Yeah. No matter what, she's better than the enemy's daughter.'
The maids' giggling voices while cleaning reached Blair's ears as well.
But Blair pretended not to hear, blocking her ears. She feared that reacting would be like admitting the rumors were true.
Thus, the suffocating summer passed, autumn went by, and a bleak winter returned.
Herdin, back from the main estate, never sought her out first, just as always after her pregnancy.
He was always busy with outside duties, and even when Blair went to him, he rarely met her.
At first, Blair tried to restore their relationship, but eventually gave up visiting him.
The one fortunate thing was that he occasionally showed interest in Asiel. Though Asiel didn't even recognize the stranger as his father.
That day, Blair went to Herdin's office, betting on that faint interest.
Asiel's birthday was in half a month. Blair planned to suggest they go down to the Holstein villa to spend family time together for his birthday.
Blair paused as she was about to knock on the door of Herdin's office. The door was slightly ajar.
"Her—"
Seeing the scene through the open gap, Blair swallowed the name she was about to call.
Miela was in Herdin's arms.
Blair's eyes began to shake aimlessly as she looked at the two.
"Ah...."
To escape the unbelievable reality, Blair instinctively stepped back. At that moment, her eyes met Herdin's, who was looking toward the door.
He seemed momentarily startled but didn't avoid her gaze. As if he had no intention of doing so.
He pulled Miela, leaning in his arms, closer. His cool gaze remained fixed on Blair beyond the door.
As if deliberately showing her.
Blair stumbled backward and returned to her room. She couldn't remember how she had made it back.
Her feet ached; looking down, one indoor slipper was missing, probably dropped on the way, and her breath was choked up to her throat.
"Haa, haa...."
The moment she closed the door, the tears she had held back burst forth.
She couldn't forget Herdin's eyes looking at her while holding Miela.
Imagining him embracing another woman with the tender touch that once held her, whispering to another with the languid voice that whispered to her, suffocated her.
Even if that tenderness had only been a fleeting moment right after marriage, she still loved him.
She had fled from that spot, but she couldn't escape the reality she faced.
"Ha, euk.... Hic...."
Her respiratory system, badly damaged in the fire incident a dozen years ago, couldn't withstand that brief sprint and crying, leaving her gasping.
Blair pounded her chest, unable even to breathe properly, and cried.
More than the bruised chest from pounding until it hurt, her heart ached more.
* * *
The next day, Blair left a message via the butler saying, 'I want to spend Asiel's birthday at the villa, so please come on the day even if you're busy,' and fled to Holstein with Asiel.
Even so, she secretly hoped he would come and explain that what she saw that day was nothing, a misunderstanding.
But not even a single letter came from Herdin by Asiel's birthday.
To Blair, who couldn't leave the window overlooking the villa's main gate despite her dead eyes, a small shadow toddled over.
"Mama! Mama!"
It was Asiel, dressed up grandly for his birthday.
Blair, as if she had never worn a sorrowful expression, smiled and picked up Asiel.
"My son, you look so handsome in your pretty clothes today? Oh, so handsome."
Asiel, receiving a barrage of kisses from his mother and giggling happily, suddenly seemed to remember something and pointed outside with his tiny hand.
"Dada?"
He remembered his mother holding him every evening, pacing by the window waiting for Daddy.
At the word from Asiel's mouth, Blair's face, which had been smiling nonchalantly, twisted for a moment.
"...Yeah, Daddy will come soon. It's our baby's birthday, so he'll definitely come."
At that moment, as she repeated the hope she wanted to believe, like consoling herself, a knock sounded.
It was the butler.
Seeing Asiel in Blair's arms, he delivered the news with a troubled expression.
"Madam, His Excellency says his schedule has been delayed. So for this birthday, just the two of you..."
At that news, the light faded from Blair's eyes, where she had held a sliver of hope.
* * *
"Sweet dreams, my baby."
Blair gently kissed the small head of Asiel, who had fallen asleep in her arms, and laid him in the cradle.
The child sucked on his finger with a peaceful face, sound asleep.
Blair touched his tiny hands and feet with a faint smile, then returned to her room.
Only then did the smile disappear from Blair's lips, which she had consciously maintained in front of the child.
The room, where she always stayed alone, felt newly lonely and silent.
Sometimes, when the emptiness grew too large, she brought Asiel to her room and slept holding him, but today she deliberately left him in his room.
Because the tears she had held back seemed about to burst.
Because she didn't want to show this side of herself to Asiel.
Because she hoped that lovely child would never know his mother like this.
"Haa..."
Blair collapsed onto the sofa.
The child had celebrated his second birthday modestly but happily. Surrounded by servants giving congratulations, eating delicious foods, and receiving heaps of birthday gifts from the retainers.
It was a perfect birthday.
If only his father Herdin had been there.
The child laughed gleefully as if happy just with his mother, but whenever servants came and went opening the door, he looked for Herdin, wondering if Daddy had come.
Each time she saw that, Blair's heart crumbled miserably.
She could understand Herdin neglecting her. But she couldn't tolerate his indifference even to Asiel.
'Asiel doesn't know anything. He's at an age where he needs all the love from Mom and Dad....'
Her heart tore apart feeling that Herdin's neglect of Asiel was all her fault.
Suddenly, she regretted loving that indifferent man.
'If I could go back to the past, I wouldn't love that man then.'
At that moment, as Blair swallowed her rising tears. Creak—the sound of the door opening echoed in the quiet room.
Blair lifted her head, thinking it couldn't be.
"...Herdin?"
But what she faced looking toward the door was a man in a black mask.
The intruder's face was hard to see, obscured by the mask and darkness. But his black eyes reflected in the moonlight on the sword and the hideous knife scar on his nose bridge were clearly visible.
Blair's heart sank upon facing the intruder.
Seeing the man striding toward her, Blair almost screamed instinctively but remembered Asiel sleeping in the next room and clamped her mouth shut.
If she screamed, the child would wake.
If the child cried, this man might notice and go kill him. That absolutely couldn't happen.
Blair turned her trembling body and ran to the bell cord by the bed.
But at that moment.
Stab—
Cold, chilling metal pierced her back.
"Ah..."
With excruciating pain, something hot gushed from her mouth.
Bright red blood.
But Blair gritted her teeth and staggered to the bed.
And desperately shook the bell cord.
Help.
Please, someone protect my baby.
Blair collapsed onto the bed, unable to hold out any longer, but didn't let go of the bell cord she gripped.
Even until the assailant, arriving a step late, pulled out the dagger from her.
At the same time, footsteps of several people sounded from the corridor.
The assailant, retrieving the dagger, vanished over the balcony.
Blair blankly watched the assailant's retreating figure over the balcony.
The unique pattern engraved on the dagger hilt the assailant sheathed glinted in the moonlight before disappearing.
Only after his figure completely vanished did Blair release the bell cord she had gripped so tightly.
'Thank goodness. I didn't put Asiel in my room tonight....'
Gradually, she felt the shadow of death drawing near.
I can't die like this.
Our baby, who will look for Mommy—what should I do, he'll be so pitiful.
There's still so much I want to do for him as his mom....
Blair pictured Asiel's face lingering like an afterimage, then finally let her heavily enduring eyelids fall.