I’ll Be Leaving Soon Anyway
In the painting, an extraordinarily handsome man and a beautiful woman sat side by side at a glance.
And on the woman’s lap was a boy who looked about three or four years old.
They were already people Blair knew, but Ruth, who had no way of knowing that, quickly explained who they were.
“That’s the former Duke and Duchess.
And this child is His Grace as he is now.”
The three family members in the painting were smiling happily, completely unaware of the misfortune awaiting them in the future.
Knowing the tragedy that followed made the family portrait before her all the more striking.
But there was another reason Blair couldn’t take her eyes off the painting.
Blair looked at baby Herdin in the portrait with longing eyes.
Slightly curly black hair, soft and glossy, milky plump cheeks, large clear eyes, even the shape of his mouth when he smiled.
Except for the color of the eyes he inherited from his mother, Asiel had been born looking exactly like his father, Herdin.
‘Asiel…’
Every time she barely managed to recall the child whose memory was fading day by day, her heart ached.
‘I’m glad you resemble your father.’
At least this way, I can imagine what you look like.
Just as Blair was immersed in longing—
Ruth, who assumed she couldn’t take her eyes off the portrait for another reason, suddenly interrupted without reading the mood.
“The former Duchess was truly beautiful, wasn’t she?
And the former Duke—well, there’s no need to say more.
He looks exactly like His Grace now.”
“……”
“His Grace’s atmosphere is completely different now, but isn’t it amazing how you can still see some of that face from back then?”
Ruth’s expression as he talked about the former Duke and Duchess and Herdin looked undeniably happy.
How strong must that feeling be for him to reveal it even in front of someone who made him uncomfortable?
Blair realized that the emotion wasn’t simple loyalty, but a deep trust and affection from one human being toward another.
That pure feeling made her smile.
“You must have truly served the former Duke and Duchess with all your heart.”
Only then did Ruth snap back to his senses and hurriedly try to organize his words.
“Well… they were my benefactors.”
“Do I make you uncomfortable?”
At Blair’s sudden blunt question, Ruth choked and coughed.
‘Did she hear me sigh earlier…?’
He quickly glanced at Blair to see if she had been offended, but Blair was looking at him with clear eyes, without the slightest sign of displeasure.
That made him feel even more uncomfortable.
After briefly debating whether he should tell the truth or make an obvious lie, Ruth scratched his cheek and answered.
“Well… it’s not Madam’s fault.”
I just dislike your background.
Blair immediately understood the words he left unsaid.
Blair understood Ruth.
Lina disliked Herdin.
Simply because she liked Blair more.
Ruth was the same.
Simply because he liked Herdin more than her.
Of course, she knew that disliking someone because of their background was never the right thing to do.
‘But at least he’s different from the others who gossip about me behind my back.’
Most people disliked her not because of loyalty to Herdin, but simply because they disliked her.
But Ruth’s feelings were purely born from loyalty.
A clean emotion that would disappear once things between Herdin and herself were settled.
Not that she intended to defend him for it.
“I know.”
Blair said calmly, even with a faint smile.
“But don’t be so wary of me.
I’ll leave cleanly without causing any harm to Delmark.”
“Leave?”
When Ruth asked in confusion, Blair also looked surprised and asked back,
“Oh.
Didn’t he tell you?”
“I’m not sure what you’re referring to…”
“That our marriage is a contract.”
“A contract… marriage?”
Seeing Ruth’s face as if it were the first time he had ever heard such a thing, Blair nodded.
Ruth repeated the word silently in his head, and a moment later he understood its meaning and was shocked.
‘Hmm, that lounge earlier felt a bit too bleak. Maybe it would be better to hang a few more paintings.’
Meanwhile, Blair, who had just dropped a bombshell on Ruth, seemed completely unaware and left the gallery thinking she should go meet Mikhail, who should be contacting her soon.
* * *
That evening, Herdin returned to the mansion after finishing the demonic beast subjugation and found Ruth in the office.
Normally he would have gone home long ago, so the fact that he was still here meant he had something to say.
‘Or something happened with Blair.’
Herdin casually asked Ruth, who approached him with a serious expression.
“Not leaving yet?”
“Your Grace.
Is what Madam said true?”
“What?”
“That you two are in a contract marriage.”
The hand that had been roughly drying his wet hair with the towel on his head suddenly stopped.
His eyes turned sharp in an instant.
“…She told you that?”
“My goodness, it’s true?
You didn’t even tell me something this important!
And this contract marriage—when the agreed period ends…”
Herdin didn’t hear a single word of Ruth’s scolding.
“Wait, where are you going?”
Ignoring Ruth’s words, Herdin stormed out of the office.
In the process, the towel fell, but he didn’t care.
His steps headed straight toward Blair’s bedroom.
Without knocking, Herdin barged into the bedroom.
What he saw was Blair changing out of her bathrobe into a bed robe.
The glimpse of bare skin visible through the robe she had not yet tied made Herdin stop for a moment.
“Ah—!”
Lina, who had been attending her, almost screamed at Herdin’s sudden intrusion but quickly shut her mouth when she realized he was Blair’s husband.
After all, there was nothing strange about a husband seeing his wife’s body.
Still, she hurriedly tied Blair’s robe shut.
The person whose body had been seen seemed more surprised by his sudden appearance than by the fact that he had seen her body.
“Lina, you may go now.”
Lina bowed politely to the two of them and quietly left.
Only Blair and Herdin remained in the room.
Herdin had been about to immediately question Blair, but when he saw Blair looking up at him with clear eyes, he closed his mouth.
Because he remembered once seeing tears in those eyes.
Suppressing the surge of emotions he himself couldn’t understand, Herdin finally spoke again in a lowered voice.
“…I heard you told Ruth about our contract.”
“Ah…
I thought Sir Ruth already knew.
And I thought it would be alright if he did.”
It wasn’t something that absolutely had to be hidden.
As she said, Ruth was his close aide, and he wasn’t someone who would spread a secret that could become his master’s weakness.
As Herdin swallowed emotions he couldn’t define, his gaze fell on Blair’s lips.
Only then did he realize the reason for his anger.
It was because those lips had casually spoken about the end of their contract.
‘We’re going to divorce.
Just like the contract says.’
Just like the time he had heard those words before.
The woman standing before him now, the woman within arm’s reach if he extended his hand—
Suddenly felt unbearably distant.
…As if she might disappear just like that.
That couldn’t be allowed.
That would be breaking the contract.
None of the conditions he had set for the contract had been fulfilled yet.
He couldn’t even freely take the warmth of this woman who had come with the contract like a small reward.
The anger from that must be the name of the uncontrollable emotion shaking him now.
Having finally reached a conclusion about his feelings, he cupped Blair’s cheek and forced her to meet his gaze.
The look in his eyes was twisted as he looked down at her.
“Does this contract seem like a joke to you?”
At his cold tone, Blair’s eyes trembled slightly.
But Herdin did not stop.
No—because of that, he couldn’t stop.
Because he never wanted to hear those lips speak about the end of the contract again.
“You seem to have forgotten, but this is a scheme to deceive the Emperor.
Not some childish game.”
“……”
“Never mention the contract in front of anyone else again.”
His cold voice fell silent.
Blair’s trembling eyes soon stilled.
After a moment of agitation, she nodded calmly as she always did.
“I’ll be careful from now on.”
It seemed she understood his words.
It was certainly the answer he had wanted.
Yet Herdin instead felt as though a thirst that had never been quenched was rising again.
His throat burned with emptiness.
But he had no justification to remain angry in front of a woman who had agreed with him.
“…Rest well.”
Suppressing his emotions, Herdin left the bedroom.
A sigh slipped from between his lips as he roughly ran a hand through his hair.
The emotions that had been raging like a madman lately were extremely unpleasant.
* * *
“We’ve arrived.”
The hired carriage Blair rode stopped in front of the art gallery.
Today’s meeting place with Mikhail was this private gallery.
The theater where they had met before was a well-known place for secret rendezvous, so they had met secretly.
But since this time it was an art gallery, they decided to meet normally.
If someone recognized them, she could simply say he was helping her with an auction.
Even so, she wanted to avoid attracting unnecessary attention, so Blair checked the veil hat she was wearing one more time before opening the carriage door.
At that moment, a large hand was extended toward her