~Chapter 42~
Preparing the Banquet
The next morning, Blair came down to the dining room and ate with Heredin as usual.
The only sound in the dining room was the faint clinking of their cutlery.
In the silence that had now become familiar, Blair recalled a conversation she had with Agnes a few days ago.
After their counseling session ended, Blair had asked when the hypnosis could be attempted.
Agnes had replied with a troubled expression.
“You must first obtain His Grace’s consent for that.
When the counseling began, His Grace specifically ordered it.”
Blair had assumed Heredin wanted to observe the hypnosis process like before.
In any case, it seemed Agnes would not proceed without his consent, so Blair had withdrawn without protest.
But after meeting Katrina yesterday, she had become impatient.
It wasn’t just because of the contract with Heredin.
She was curious.
What was the truth that Katrina feared so much?
“Heredin.”
Instead of answering, Heredin simply lifted his gaze and looked at her.
Blair immediately got to the point.
“I heard that your consent is required if hypnosis is to be performed.
Could you give your permission?”
Heredin’s gaze paused as he listened silently.
Blair continued,
“They say my condition has improved a lot through counseling, so if we try hypnosis again—”
“No.”
Heredin answered firmly before she could even finish.
Blair looked at him with confusion.
It was a silent question asking why.
“I heard you’re planning to hold a banquet soon.
It would be troublesome if you became ill again like last time.”
Only then did Blair recall the banquet plans she had completely forgotten while preoccupied with meeting Katrina yesterday.
Mason must have already reported it to Heredin.
“There’s no need to rush while risking disrupting other schedules.”
“Then will you allow it after the banquet is over?”
“Perhaps.”
Heredin answered casually and lifted his glass of water to drink.
Blair’s elegant brows furrowed slightly at his vague response.
At the same time, her small lips pressed together in displeasure.
It seemed to be an unconscious reaction.
Watching her through the glass, the corner of Heredin’s lips lifted slightly, though it was hidden by the cup.
He set the glass down and added after a moment,
“We’ll see when the time comes.”
Blair clearly didn’t like the answer, but she seemed to give up trying to persuade him further and continued eating.
Once the meal ended and they stood up from the table, Heredin spoke again.
“Oh, and today Ruth will help you prepare for the banquet.”
Blair’s eyes widened at the unexpected announcement.
* * *
Ruth’s expression was dark as he walked toward the reception room where Blair was waiting.
He looked like a child heading toward a chore he didn’t want to do.
Letting out a deep sigh, Ruth recalled the conversation he had just had with Heredin.
“Mason has collapsed.
It seems his body isn’t what it used to be.”
“Well, he is getting older.
Is it serious?”
“The medicine seems to be working, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Mason’s situation aside, so today you’ll have to help Blair.”
“Yes. …Wait, what?!”
Ruth blinked in confusion for a moment before finally understanding what Heredin meant.
“She said she’ll start preparing for the banquet today.”
Ruth was uncomfortable around Blair.
Whenever he stood before her, he put on a polite social smile and treated her with the courtesy appropriate for his lord’s wife, but that was all.
She was still someone he had to serve.
During the past few months, watching Blair through Heredin’s shoulder, she didn’t seem like the typical members of the imperial family.
Even so, she was still someone from the imperial house, and therefore someone who had to be watched cautiously.
Ruth disliked that contradiction.
The more he realized Blair was different from the rest of the imperial family, the less he wanted to get close to her.
“I don’t even live in this mansion anymore.”
“You don’t now.
But you lived here for a long time.
In this place.”
Originally a pickpocket from the back alleys, Ruth had been brought to the ducal mansion and raised by Heredin’s mother, Eloise.
Because of her kindness, Ruth had lived in this mansion for many years.
Until Heredin returned from war, became the duke, and Ruth himself was granted a title and became independent.
In fact, apart from Heredin—and perhaps Mason—there was no one who knew the internal affairs of the mansion better than Ruth.
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“It’s not like you’ll be following me to hunt demonic beasts.”
Heredin was scheduled to go to the outskirts of the capital today to subjugate demonic beasts.
As spring approached and the weather warmed, reports had come in that beasts emerging from hibernation were beginning to appear.
And so Heredin left, handing Ruth this troublesome task.
“…Sigh.”
Ruth had arrived in front of the reception room before he even realized it and let out a deep sigh.
Just as he reached for the doorknob—
“Sir Ruth.”
“Ah!”
Ruth shouted in surprise at the voice that came from right beside him.
Blair was just as startled by his loud reaction.
“I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Ruth worried for a moment that Blair might have heard his sigh or sensed his discomfort toward her.
But Blair’s face showed only surprise.
Fortunately, she hadn’t noticed.
“N-no, it’s fine.
I was distracted and didn’t realize you were here.”
Ruth had been about to enter the reception room but realized there was no need and stopped.
“Shall we start by looking at the banquet hall?”
The two began touring the mansion together.
Starting with the banquet hall, then the lounges where guests could rest, and even the balcony.
Ruth had worried the atmosphere would be awkward, but once the conversation turned to the banquet preparations, the discussion flowed naturally.
Walking beside Blair, Ruth noted down in his notebook the areas that needed repair or additional decoration as she pointed them out.
And as he listened, he studied her.
Blair was far more skilled and meticulous in preparing the banquet than he had expected.
‘I heard she rarely hosted banquets when she was a princess, but she looks like someone who has done this many times.’
Ruth inwardly admired Blair’s work as he followed behind her.
Next they visited the gallery, where one could learn about the history of the House of Delmark.
Inside the gallery were various paintings—from portraits of past Dukes of Delmark to portraits of Heredin’s parents and Heredin himself.
When a banquet was held, this gallery was also opened to guests.
Although a banquet might simply be a day of entertainment for attendees, for the host family it was also an opportunity to present their house.
Even though few people paid much attention to it, it was an important place for the host family.
As they entered the gallery, the first thing they saw was a huge tapestry embroidered with the wings of a divine beast.
‘The crest of Delmark.’
Blair knew the origin of that crest.
Long ago, when demonic beasts and demons wreaked havoc upon the world—
Divine beasts lived in this world.
Like the demonic beasts, they had crossed over from another world, but unlike them they stood on humanity’s side and protected the peace and order of this world.
Gradually the world regained stability, and the divine beasts said their task was finished and left.
However, even after the others departed, the last divine beast remained in this world because he had fallen in love with a human woman.
In the final war, he lost that beloved woman and fell into deep grief.
Before leaving this world, he wished to pass a portion of his power to the first emperor, who had been his lover’s comrade.
Though his beloved had died, he knew she had loved humanity.
But that great power had two flaws.
The first was that because such extraordinary power was being contained in a human body, there was a risk of losing control if it was not handled properly.
The second was that although the power could surpass normal limits under special circumstances, the price for that power was the lifespan of the person one loved.
Because it was an unnatural power that disrupted the balance of the world, such restrictions had been imposed.
However, the emperor refused to inherit the power.
The emperor was the center of the nation.
If a leader who must never waver lost control of such power, it would become a crisis for the entire country.
Instead, he entrusted the power to the person he trusted most.
His close friend and loyal knight—the first Duke of Delmark.
Thus, the symbol of Delmark became not the divine beast itself, but the wings of the divine beast.
Wings that would protect the world the divine beasts had left behind.
In this way, the power of the divine beast was passed down through the direct descendants of Delmark.
At some point, however, one of the dukes of Delmark who lost his beloved because of the price of that power removed the second restriction.
Hoping that his descendants would never suffer the same grief.
People condemned it as an extremely selfish decision, but no one knew how to restore the restriction once it had vanished.
As a result, the descendants of Delmark could no longer use the power that exceeded their limits.
Even so, they still possessed the power of the divine beast, so they remained strong and the House of Delmark continued to prosper.
That was everything Blair knew about the story.
‘That’s why I worried so much…’
While others envied and admired him for possessing power no one else could rival, Blair had always worried about him.
The weight of that power—given to him to protect others—was so heavy.
She feared it might one day consume him.
Just like his father, who had met a tragic end crushed beneath that power.
She feared he might leave her in sorrow as well.
But because she knew it was a wound he never wished to recall, she could never bring herself to speak of that worry.
“This is the portrait of the first head of the house.”
Ruth guided Blair through the gallery, briefly explaining each portrait.
Knowing the history of the family one belonged to was basic knowledge for the Duchess.
Of course, Blair—having returned from the future—already knew all of this.
When Ruth finished explaining that portrait, Blair moved on to the next.
And then her steps suddenly halted.
‘This painting…’