~Chapter 31~
I Only Need the Duke’s Child – Episode 31. I Want to Do It Right Now
The next day, the first thought Blair had after coming to her senses was that.
When she recalled what had happened the day before, her mind went blank at how she should deal with it.
It would have been better if she remembered nothing at all, but as if mocking her, fragments of memory remained here and there.
That she had been alone on the balcony to sober up and ran into Wesley, and that Herdin appeared and struck Wesley.
And after leaving the balcony with Herdin, her memory was broken into scattered pieces.
She couldn’t remember exactly what they had talked about, but she did remember that he had wanted her.
The kisses they shared, the touches between them.
Then suddenly he had pulled his lips away and stepped back, and after that she remembered nothing.
She had no memory at all of how she returned to the ducal residence.
But one thing seemed certain.
That she had made a disgraceful spectacle of herself in front of Herdin.
‘I shouldn’t have drunk that much yesterday….’
Blair let out a sigh and lowered her head deeply.
Her face was reflected in the clear water of the bath.
She regretted it, but what was done could not be undone.
It was something she would have to face once and get past.
Then there was no choice but to confront it rather than avoid it.
‘I should face him and apologize properly.’
Blair had no talent for being crafty or shameless.
The one thing she had learned while living her entire life was that honestly confronting something was better than clumsily trying to be clever.
Having made up her mind, Blair left the bathroom and went down to the dining room.
Since it was already close to noon, Herdin had finished eating and was already working in his office.
Blair sat alone in the dining room and ate.
She had never been someone who ate quickly, but today she was even slower than usual.
She had decided to go apologize to Herdin once she finished eating, but that did not mean she was happy about it.
It was simply that it felt easier to be struck first.
Blair even ate dessert, which she normally only had during tea time, before standing in front of Herdin’s office.
Staring at the door with nervous eyes, Blair took a deep breath and knocked.
“Herdin.
Do you have a moment?”
After waiting briefly, the door suddenly swung open instead of a reply.
The one who opened it was Ruth.
“Good day, Madam.”
Seeing Ruth’s face, Blair suddenly realized that it was currently working hours.
She had been so obsessed with apologizing to him as quickly as possible that she had forgotten such an obvious fact.
Blair felt a little embarrassed about it.
“I’m sorry.
I was so distracted that I forgot it was working hours.
It’s not urgent, so I’ll come back this evening.”
“No!
It’s fine.
Please speak comfortably.”
Having suddenly gained a break, Ruth was grinning from ear to ear.
Just as Ruth was about to leave the office immediately, he seemed to remember something and turned back to Herdin.
“Ah, right.
Then what should we do about the Baldwin Marquis family?
In my opinion, it might be best to give them some money and quietly wrap it up.”
When Blair heard the name “Baldwin,” she flinched.
The Baldwin Marquis family was the family of Wesley, who had been pestering her the previous night.
Judging from Ruth’s words, it seemed that Wesley, who had been beaten by Herdin yesterday, had stirred up some unpleasant rumors.
“No, just leave it.
He deserved to be hit.”
“Won’t it become noisy if we leave it alone?”
“If we stuff money into that mouth, he’ll bark even louder next time.”
Ruth looked unconvinced by Herdin’s decision.
It wasn’t wrong, but it didn’t seem like the wisest solution either.
But his lord’s command was always absolute.
“As you command.”
After bowing his head to Blair, Ruth left, and only Herdin and Blair remained in the office.
Blair looked at her husband leaning casually against the desk.
The scent of wood lingering around and the smell of the cigar he had just put out surrounded her.
It was a scent she had loved in her previous life.
As she quietly admired that scene, Herdin’s gaze, which had been watching the closing door, naturally shifted to Blair.
“It seems you don’t have a hangover.”
He wore the same indifferent expression as usual, yet somehow his gaze felt to Blair as if he were interrogating a criminal.
It was because she had something to feel guilty about.
After hesitating for a moment, Blair asked,
“Did the Baldwin Marquis family say anything about what happened yesterday?”
“There was a bit of noise, but it’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Herdin acted as if it were nothing, but Blair bit down on her lower lip.
‘Because of me….’
She didn’t want to stand before him as a sinner anymore.
She wanted to be proud.
But in the end, she had become his burden again.
Her heart felt heavy, as if a lump of lead had settled inside it.
“Yesterday… I made a disgraceful scene.
I’m sorry.”
“Do you remember everything that happened yesterday?”
At Herdin’s question, Blair froze.
It was embarrassing to say she remembered, but unfortunately she was truly terrible at lying.
“…I remember bits and pieces.
Meeting Lord Baldwin, and that you saved me.”
Instead of lying poorly, Blair chose to avoid the answer.
But Herdin did not miss that gap.
“And after that?”
Blair couldn’t answer and quietly avoided his gaze, pressing her lips together.
Watching her, Herdin straightened his body from where he had been leaning.
He had already been tall while leaning, but when he stood up fully he seemed even taller.
He strode forward and stopped in front of Blair.
“What happened after that is the important part.”
He whispered in a low voice and grabbed Blair’s hand.
“What we talked about, and what we did.”
His thumb brushed against the tender skin on the inside of Blair’s wrist.
As if reminding her of last night’s memories.
The place where his hand touched burned as if scorched.
At the same time, the hazy memories of last night became vivid.
His lips touching the inside of her wrist, the hot, wet tongue sliding between her fingers, the gaze with which he looked at her as if he might swallow her whole, and…
Even the confusing emotions she had felt in that moment.
Reading from Blair’s wavering eyes that she had remembered last night, Herdin asked,
“When you said I could do it if I wanted.
Were you serious?”
He asked once more.
To see if she had spoken words she didn’t truly mean because she was drunk.
Blair quietly looked up at Herdin’s cold blue eyes looking down at her just as they had the previous night.
This man desired her.
That was all.
It had been enough in her previous life to mistake a relationship driven by instinctive desire for love and end up wounded.
She had no lingering attachment to this man anymore.
Unlike before, she did not wish for his love, and since she desired nothing, she would not be hurt either.
Unlike before, when she had wanted to spend eternity by his side, she was now prepared to disappear from his side at any time.
But if she ran away here, wouldn’t that only prove to herself that she still had lingering feelings for him?
With stubborn determination and confidence in herself, Blair gave a small nod.
“…I’ll prepare and wait tonight.”
The moment Herdin heard Blair’s answer, his face twisted.
As if he had been hurt.
But soon he formed a crooked smile.
It was certainly the answer he had wanted, yet for some reason his expression looked angry.
“I want to do it right now.”
“Then, the bedroom—”
“No, here.”
Blair couldn’t understand his words at once—more precisely, she hoped they didn’t mean what she thought they meant—and looked at Herdin.
Even in her previous life, during the short time of less than half a year after their marriage before conceiving Asiel, they had slept together countless times, but never in the office.
To begin with, he hardly let her leave the bedroom.
But as if confirming that her understanding was correct, he lightly lifted Blair into his arms.
Blair, blinking blankly because she couldn’t grasp the sudden situation, only came to her senses after being seated on the office desk.
The clutter and documents that had been on the desk were now scattered carelessly across the floor.
Only then did Blair accept reality and look at Herdin in front of her.
Gripping both sides of the desk where she sat, his large body caged her in.
Clear desire flickered in his eyes as they met.
He was serious.
Blair gasped a moment too late and pushed away Herdin as he tried to press his lips against hers.
“You can’t here.
This is the office, and it’s still broad daylight….”
“This is my office, and I want it right now.
Isn’t that enough?”
Earlier she had talked about contracts and everything else, acting as if she would give him all of herself if he wanted it.
Yet now she was chattering endlessly about all the reasons it couldn’t happen.
Herdin grabbed Blair’s hands that were pushing against his shoulders.
Her weak gestures only provoked him further.
Not only the gestures, but her gaze, her voice, her breathing—everything about her stirred him.
Because some drunken ‘someone’ had stirred up his desire last night with a bewitching face.
The desire that had tormented him all night was stretched tight like a bowstring ready to snap.
“That’s… ah.”
Herdin swallowed Blair’s lips as she tried to argue.
It was a polite yet unmistakable refusal to hear any objections.
In Blair’s startled blinking eyes, she saw his cold gaze.
Their gazes tangled in those eyes whose depth could not be measured, her head tilted back, and their hot breaths intertwined deeply.
Unable to handle the way he lunged at her as if to devour her, Blair’s body kept collapsing backward.
Herdin wrapped an arm around her back.
It seemed as if he were supporting her, but in truth he was holding her so she could not escape.
“Haa….”
By the time Blair, breathless, managed to push him away, her back and chest already felt cool.
He had undone the buttons on the back of her clothes in the meantime.
Her half-undressed appearance exposed under the sunlight felt shameful.
Moreover, the way he stared at her as if admiring the sight made her even more embarrassed.
