Lend Me Your Husband
Blair seized the moment and slipped out of his arms, heading toward the greenhouse.
She didn’t look back even once.
If she looked back, if their eyes met, she had a feeling he would devour her right there.
Thump, thump—her startled heart pounded.
Fortunately, he didn’t follow.
Realizing that, Blair’s steps gradually slowed.
Now completely alone, Blair reached up and touched the back of her neck where his lips had brushed.
“…It’s hot.”
The spot his lips had touched strangely burned.
Blair looked confused as she kept touching that place.
Until the sensation disappeared.
* * *
Time passed quickly, and before long it was the day of the banquet.
After the maids left to finish the final preparations, Blair remained alone in the bedroom and looked at the back of her neck in the mirror.
Fortunately, the mark Heredin had left had faded and was barely visible.
Blair had only noticed the mark the next morning when she was getting ready after the painter had visited.
“My lady, shall we leave your hair down today?”
Melly had asked carefully while brushing Blair’s hair.
When Blair asked why—unaware of the mark on the back of her neck—Melly had awkwardly mumbled something in embarrassment.
Only then had Blair realized that Heredin had left a mark there.
“Still, it’s a relief it disappeared before the banquet.”
Feeling reassured, she looked out the window.
The sky had already begun to darken, and the banquet time was approaching.
Just as Blair stood up from the dressing table to go check the final preparations, Lina’s voice came from outside.
“My lady, everything is ready.”
Blair immediately left the bedroom.
When she stood on the staircase, she saw the servants gathered in the lobby on the first floor.
On their chests were silver brooches shaped like the wings of a divine beast—the symbol of Delmark.
They were items Blair had specially commissioned for the banquet.
They had been made so that everyone attending the banquet would see that this was Delmark, and so the servants themselves would feel a stronger sense of belonging to the house.
Blair looked down at the sight with satisfaction and asked herself a question.
Is it perfect?
In her previous life, she had asked herself that question countless times.
And she had constantly heard answers from others.
But now she didn’t need anyone else’s answer.
To her eyes, it was already perfect.
To her heart, it was already satisfying.
That alone was enough.
Blair descended the stairs and stood before them.
“You’ve all worked hard preparing for this.”
She looked at each of the servants lined up before her.
Among them there were surely those who disliked her, and perhaps those who had grown fond of her.
And she herself was only the mistress of the ducal house for a limited time.
But today, setting all that aside, everyone here was Delmark.
Blair smiled gently at them.
“Then let us begin welcoming our guests.”
* * *
The banquet was a success.
“I was worried since the mansion had gone so long without a mistress, but after seeing it myself, I don’t feel that at all.”
“I can tell how much effort you put into preparing this, my lady.”
Every noble Blair spoke with praised both the banquet she had prepared and the ducal residence.
Most of them belonged to families aligned with the imperial faction.
The retainers of Delmark, just like in her previous life, smiled outwardly while still seeming displeased with her behind the scenes—but it no longer mattered.
Blair herself had nothing to be ashamed of.
“That’s right—even this single glass of wine shows how much thought you put into it.
It’s hard to believe this is the first banquet you’ve hosted.”
Listening to the noblewoman lavish praise with every sip of wine, Blair answered inwardly.
‘Of course.
It’s not my first banquet.’
But keeping that secret buried, Blair simply smiled politely at them.
Just as she had always lived—with elegance and dignity befitting a princess.
After chatting for a while, the noblewomen eventually left, and Blair found herself alone for a moment.
Pretending to sip wine, she slipped away to a quiet corner of the hall.
She had attended countless state events, so dealing with people was nothing new to her—but familiarity did not make it any less exhausting.
As Blair looked around the lively banquet hall, her eyes found her husband.
Even among the many guests, he stood out.
It wasn’t just because they were wearing matching outfits.
His height, taller than most, and a face worthy of the title “the most handsome man in the empire” certainly played a part—but more than that, it was his presence.
An aura that naturally dominated the surroundings without him doing anything.
He looked like a mature man, completely different from the unstable boy she remembered from childhood.
In the past, Blair had fallen in love with him at first sight when he returned as an adult from the victory banquet.
At the time she had denied her feelings because of guilt.
Yet now, living her second life after returning to the past, her heart still beat faster whenever she looked at him.
Pathetically so.
Blair looked away as if refusing to acknowledge that fact.
Just then, a familiar face approached her.
“It’s been a while, Blair.”
Rachel Selden.
She was the daughter of a marquis who had been Blair’s father’s younger brother—and Blair’s cousin.
The moment Blair saw her face, she suddenly remembered.
What had happened at this banquet in her previous life.
Back then, faced with Rachel’s absurd request, Blair had been unable to say a single word.
Rachel had been just as absolute a presence to Blair as Katrina.
While Blair recovered from the fire at the Empress Palace that had weakened her body, Rachel had taken control of the social circle among noble children.
By the time Blair recovered and returned to society years later, she had almost no friends left.
Rachel had taken pity on her, allowing Blair to join her group and making Blair dependent on her.
Blair had no choice but to cling to Rachel.
And that relationship had become a habit.
Even after they grew up.
Although Blair had refused Rachel’s outrageous request back then, the fact that she hadn’t been able to speak back to her left Blair with deep self-loathing.
Blair tightened her grip on the wine glass in her hand and looked at Rachel.
Her gaze toward Rachel was cold.
“You’re right.
It has been a long time.
Why didn’t you come to my wedding?
I really wanted your congratulations.”
Rachel’s expression twisted at Blair’s question.
In truth, Blair already knew why she hadn’t attended.
Since childhood, many noble ladies had admired Heredin.
Even while avoiding him because of the dark rumors surrounding the tragedy of Delmark.
But after Heredin returned as a war hero, they openly adored him.
Rachel had been one of them.
Perhaps Rachel had been bitter that Blair—whom she had always considered beneath her—had become the wife of the man she herself couldn’t have.
Rachel forced her expression back into place and replied,
“I really wanted to go, but I was very ill.
This cold was terrible.
But congratulations on your marriage, even if it’s late.”
“Thank you.”
Rachel picked up a glass of wine from the table and stood beside Blair.
As she sipped her wine and looked around the hall, her gaze stopped on Heredin.
Even now, among the crowd, the man radiated a striking presence.
No—perhaps now that he belonged to someone else, he seemed even more desirable.
Rachel couldn’t take her eyes off him through the rim of her glass as she asked Blair,
“Does the Duke treat you well?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good.
But don’t trust him too much.
He’s the nephew of the woman who once tried to kill you.”
Pretending to worry about Blair, Rachel deliberately brought up her greatest weakness.
But instead of showing the hurt expression she expected, Blair simply drank her wine calmly.
Blair’s indifferent reaction felt unusual.
Still, Rachel was certain Blair would never defy her.
After all, she had spent years carefully cultivating their relationship.
“Well, with a face and body like that, it must be nice seeing him every day.
There are plenty of women who end up becoming old men’s second wives.
Don’t you think?
I’d give anything just to date a man like him once.”
“….”
“So, Blair.”
Rachel began in a suggestive voice after studying Blair’s expression.
“Could you lend me your husband for just one night?
I’ll handle the rest afterward.”
Rachel made the request casually, as if asking to borrow a toy.
Just like when she used to take Blair’s jewelry as a child.
You don’t really need to give permission—but since it’s you, I’m telling you first…
She whispered words that sounded gentle on the surface.
Rachel had already begun planning what she would do afterward before even hearing Blair’s answer.
Of course, before the marriage Heredin had never given her a chance no matter how much she approached him.
But now that he had taken Blair as his wife, things would be different.
Since he harbored resentment toward the Grand Empress Dowager’s family, he might even choose another woman just to oppose Blair.
Blair set her empty wine glass down on the table and looked at Rachel with cold eyes.
“How vulgar, Rachel.”
“…What?”
“In case you forgot, he’s my husband.
And he’s not an object you can borrow.”
Rachel’s face stiffened at Blair’s unexpected response.
Blair refusing her had never been part of the plan.
Blair Sonette von Ardel had never been able to defy her.
Until now, that had always been the case.
Rachel laughed in disbelief.
“So what?
Because he’s your husband, no one can touch him?”
“That’s right.
That’s exactly what I wanted to say.”
From long ago—
Even if you don’t remember