INDC 08

~Chapter 08~

I Only Need the Duke’s Child Episode 8. His True Feelings

Rina, who was brushing Blair’s hair after she finished bathing, burst out indignantly.

Her voice sounded as though she herself had been wronged.

Even though the person actually involved was smiling as if nothing was wrong while listening to the gossip.
“I’m fine.

It’s actually more comfortable sleeping separately.”
After all, among nobles it was common to use separate rooms except on nights meant for sharing a bed.

It was not that different.

But Rina’s anger would not subside.
“Still!

Yesterday wasn’t just any day, it was your first night.”
“…Rina, you’re putting too much force into the brush. It hurts.”
“Ah! I’m sorry.

I got carried away.”
Though the strength in Rina’s hand, which had been gripping the brush as if it might break, was controlled, her anger had not cooled.
“Anyway!

You shouldn’t do that to a lovely wife who came to a strange estate full of unfamiliar people relying only on her husband.

It’s grounds for revoking his qualifications as a husband.”
“How do you know so well when you’ve never even been married?”
“It’s all knowledge gained from books, the treasury of wisdom and nourishment for the heart.”
Blair laughed as she remembered the book with the red sticker that Rina had read all night while squealing and blushing.
“Well, the Duke’s appearance honestly is like a male protagonist straight out of a novel…

But his character will need to be observed a little longer.”
Listening to Rina chatter like that lifted Blair’s somewhat subdued mood.

As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, gradually being tidied up, she noticed something sparkling between her neck and collarbone.
‘…A magic circle?’
Blair quickly opened her collar to check the spot.

But all she saw were the red marks he had left the previous night.

Seeing them made the memories of last night return, and heat rose to her face.

Blair hurriedly covered her collar.

She must have seen it wrong.

Rina tilted her head in confusion.
“My lady?

Are your clothes uncomfortable?”
“Ah, no.

It’s nothing.”
Shaking her head awkwardly, Blair suddenly noticed the thin bandage wrapped around Rina’s finger.

She had not seen it last night when Rina had assisted with her bath.

Blair asked,
“Did you hurt your hand?”
“Ah…”
For a moment, a flustered expression crossed Rina’s face as she brushed Blair’s hair.
“I’ll call a doctor.

You should have it treated.”
At the mention of calling a doctor, Rina jumped in alarm and tried to stop her.
“N-no!

It’s fine.

It’s just a small cut.”
“How did you get hurt?”
“Uh, just…

Ah, I did it while working this morning.

You know how clumsy I can be.”
Though Rina insisted she was fine, Blair’s worried gaze did not withdraw.

A moment ago Rina had said Blair was a bride who came to this unfamiliar place relying on her husband, but the same could be said of Rina.

The girl had left her familiar surroundings and beloved colleagues, trusting only Blair.

Thinking she had been hurt made Blair uneasy.

Especially because memories of her previous life surfaced.
‘In my previous life, I was so consumed by my own situation that I hardly paid any attention to Rina.’
Reading Blair’s mood, Rina deliberately added in a light tone.
“It’s really nothing to worry about.

Your Highness—no, my lady—I just wrapped it because I didn’t want blood getting on your hair.”
“…Really?”
“See? There’s no blood on the outside of the bandage.”
Just as she said, it did not seem like a deep wound.
“Your Highness just needs to worry about how to live well in this estate and how to make that Duke with the pretty face cry.”
Rina’s playful words reassured Blair somewhat, but at the same time a question arose.
‘If it’s a cut, that means a knife.

Rina isn’t in charge of kitchen work, so she wouldn’t normally handle knives.

Could it be she’s being bullied…?’
But Blair’s suspicion did not continue for long.
“Ta-da!

All done.

I’ll guide you to the dining room.”
Rina finished styling Blair’s hair and helped her up.

As Blair followed Rina downstairs to the dining room, a waiting servant opened the door.

On the first day of marriage, it was customary for the newlyweds to have lunch with the groom’s family.

In most families, the first meal after the wedding would be bustling with close relatives, but in the large dining hall only Heredin was seated.

He had no family.

With no siblings and having lost his parents early, Heredin had grown up alone.

To him, the person who had been like a parent was Empress Esmeralda.

Seeing the empty dining hall, Blair felt she could understand once again why he hated her so much.

Even aside from the resentment she felt toward him.

The butler who pulled out Blair’s chair skillfully filled her glass with an aperitif and then left the dining room.

Once only the two of them remained, Heredin lifted his glass and asked,
“Did you sleep well?”
It was a rather amusing question coming from the very person who had tormented Blair until dawn and only released her then, but Blair answered calmly.
“Yes.”
With that brief greeting over, the meal began.

For a couple who had just had their wedding and first night the day before, the silence between them was excessively bleak.

It was Heredin who broke the silence first.
“After the meal, the butler will introduce the servants.”
He continued speaking as he skillfully cut his steak with a knife.
“After greeting the servants, you will be shown around the estate, and there is nothing scheduled afterward, so you may rest.”
“Thank you.”
“If you have any questions or anything you wish to say, speak freely.”
“How do you plan to investigate the fire incident from ten years ago?”
The knife cutting his steak stopped.

His blue eyes, which had remained dry the entire time, turned toward Blair.

Even if their contract marriage had been formed for that purpose, he had not expected her to bring it up today.

Especially when they would both be physically and mentally tired after the wedding and first night just yesterday.
“You said you have no memory of that time, so first I am searching for a hypnotist.”
At the word ‘hypnosis,’ Blair’s body flinched.

Memories of the past surfaced.
“Hypnosis… I tried it several times before, but it had no effect.”
“Well, perhaps this time it will be different.”
Heredin replied casually, but there was an edge to his words.

He suspected that Blair had not truly lost her memory, but was only pretending to have lost it.
“…You doubt me.”
“How could I possibly trust you?”
His tone was as if the question were obvious.

One might expect him to hide his true feelings if they were revealed, but he seemed to have no intention of concealing them.
“Only you know whether you truly lost your memory or if you’re pretending for some other reason.”
The daughter of the imperial family, a political enemy.

That alone was more than enough reason for him not to trust her.

Blair had already experienced and learned that thoroughly in her previous life.

But merely thinking about it vaguely and facing the other person’s raw hostility in reality were entirely different matters.
“Accepting the contract does not mean I trust you.”
He was right.

This was a contract.

Not a marriage based on love and trust, but an agreement made by weighing benefits and losses.

Was she not the one who proposed it first?

Since they had made a contract, she had to respond to his suspicion.

Blair calmly accepted his demand.
“…All right.

Then as you say, let’s try hypnosis first.”
Thus the newlyweds’ quiet first meal ended.

* * *

After greeting the servants, the butler Mason took charge of guiding her around the estate.

His family had served the House of Delmark for generations, and he possessed deep loyalty and pride toward the house. In fact, he knew more about the house’s history than Heredin, its current head.

The tour of the estate continued until after dinner.

Blair had already known all the information since she had lived in this estate before her return in time, but she listened attentively to Mason’s explanations.

Seeing everything again after returning from death gave her a strange sense of nostalgia.

On the way to Blair’s bedroom after the tour ended, Mason apologized as if something had just occurred to him.
“You must be tired after the ceremony just yesterday, yet I became overzealous because I was eager.”
“These are things the lady of the house should naturally know.

Thanks to you, I was able to understand the estate thoroughly and quickly.”
Like most of the people of the ducal house, Mason was not particularly friendly toward Blair, but he had never shown personal emotions in front of her.

Even if she was not a welcome mistress, Blair did not want to make him uncomfortable when he treated her properly as the lady of the house.

Besides, touring the estate had genuinely been interesting.

Before long, they arrived at Blair’s bedroom.
“If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask at any time.”
“I would like to see the servants’ roster and the household inventory ledger.”
Mason was surprised by Blair’s request.

Matters related to the family’s finances—such as how much wages were paid to servants or the remaining quantities of supplies—were indeed duties of the lady of the house.

However, in reality, noble ladies rarely handled such tasks themselves.

Examining and managing numbers was quite troublesome, so it was usually left to subordinates.

Yet she was saying she would handle it herself.
“Do you mean you will personally manage those matters?”
“I am now a member of the House of Delmark as well.

I should do my part.”
Before her return, Blair had entrusted the internal affairs of the ducal household to Mason, like other noblewomen.

Partly because the duties of the lady of the house were difficult, but more than anything because the people of the ducal house did not look kindly on her interfering with household matters.

But now she did not care how anyone viewed it.

Even if she would only be the Duchess for one year, she wanted to fulfill her role.

Not to gain recognition from someone else, but because she no longer wanted to feel pathetic in her own eyes.