* * *
“Ugh……”
As Blair pulled her pillow close in her sleep, she felt something strange and snapped her eyes open.
What she had thought was a pillow was Headrin.
The man who had become her husband, both in her past life and in this one.
He was lying beside her, fast asleep. Just like in her past life, back when he had been acting out his love for her.
The warmth radiating from him was pleasant. So pleasant that she wanted to fall back asleep just like this.
That was why she hated it.
She was afraid of becoming accustomed to this warmth all over again.
Afraid of mistaking this warmth for love.
Blair sat up, intending to leave the bed. At that moment, the fireplace came into her line of sight.
The crimson flames were burning fiercely, consuming the firewood.
Seeing that, Blair gasped, her breath catching in her throat.
Fire.
The disaster that had burned her happy days to ash.
The terror that those flames would consume everything she had once again washed over her. Her breathing grew rapid, and her vision began to blur.
Just then, a large hand blocked her view, and he pulled her back down.
When Blair finally managed to clear her head, Headrin’s face was right before her eyes.
“Are you afraid?”
Ordinarily, that should have been the case. She was deathly afraid of fire, after all.
But her racing heart began to calm. Her breathing returned to normal.
Simply because he was by her side.
It was a strange thing.
Headrin, having checked on Blair’s state, closed his eyes and said in a low, muffled voice.
“Go back to sleep.”
Blair hesitated for a moment and tried to pull away, but the arm wrapped around her waist was firm, as if it had no intention of letting her go.
Even though Blair remained stiff, Headrin opened his eyes and said.
“I’ll use that clause about sharing a room that we mentioned in our contract tonight.”
Blair flinched at his words.
She had thought that he might demand to share a room someday, but she hadn’t expected it to be tonight. The two of them had just fought and reconciled, and she had only just woken up after losing consciousness.
But if he desired it, she had no intention of refusing. If she wanted to demand he share a room with her when she had Asiel, she had to accept his requests without refusal.
“Then…… I’ll go wash up first. I couldn’t wash up after going out……”
Headrin’s gaze, assessing the meaning behind Blair’s words, turned icy before he let out a scoff as if he were dumbfounded.
“It seems you take me for a piece of trash who would vent his lust on a patient.”
“……I didn’t think that. It’s part of the contract, so I must keep my word—”
“Enough.”
That contract again.
At the word ‘contract’ that habitually slipped from Blair’s lips, Headrin’s brow furrowed for an instant, but he quickly smoothed his expression.
He was the one who had brought up that clause in the first place, after all.
“What I meant was, literally, just sleeping together.”
Why on earth……?
Unable to fathom his intentions, Blair cast a silent, questioning look at him.
Headrin sighed and added an explanation.
“You can’t sleep if you keep the fireplace on by yourself.”
The pupils of Blair’s eyes, staring at him, blinked slowly.
It was strange. There was no benefit to him in just sleeping together without doing anything.
So this was solely for her sake.
“I won’t do anything, so just go to sleep.”
As if that statement were sincere, he pulled the blanket that had slid off Blair’s body back over her, then took his hand off her and lay down further away.
Though they were close enough to touch if either of them moved, he truly seemed intent on sleeping just like this.
Blair stared blankly at the side of Headrin’s face as he kept his eyes closed.
The air in the room, warmed by the fireplace, was cozy; the blanket he had covered her with was soft; and the warmth of the person next to her, even without touching, provided a sense of stability.
Even so, I still hate you.
But today was truly difficult. I was so exhausted. So……
‘Wouldn’t just today be alright?’
Watching him, Blair blinked slowly before drifting off into slumber.
It had been a warm night, for the first time in a very long time.
* * *
The next morning, when Blair woke up, Headrin had already left the room.
The fireplace was extinguished, but heat still lingered in the room. It seemed he had been guarding the fireplace until just moments ago.
After Blair pulled the bell cord and waited a moment, Lina entered carrying a silver basin with washing water.
Lina’s eyes welled up with tears the moment she saw Blair. Her face clearly showed how much she had suffered last night.
“Why, why did you do that. You, who are so afraid of fire……. You should have called for me if you wanted the fireplace on.”
“I’m sorry. You were worried, weren’t you?”
Blair did not mention what frame of mind she had been in when she turned the fireplace on by herself.
Speaking ill of Headrin would only reveal her own lack of character, and it had already been resolved well enough.
Blair comforted Lina and asked.
“How is Pippi?”
Unless there was something else going on, Blair usually took care of the baby sable’s meals herself.
It wasn’t out of responsibility or duty, but simply because she liked watching that small creature, who resembled Asiel, grow up.
“Ah, Mely went to feed it milk a little while ago.”
Hearing Lina’s answer, Blair asked back with a slightly surprised expression.
“Did you forgive Mely?”
“……Should I not have forgiven her?”
Lina looked ready to cast Mely out that very instant if Blair told her to.
Blair smiled and shook her head.
“No, don’t do that. As long as you’re alright with it, I’m fine. I want you to get along well with others, too.”
“But she did wrong by you, My Lady.”
Blair took Lina’s hand and continued in a gentle voice.
“Lina, everyone makes mistakes.”
“…….”
“Of course, there are mistakes that can never be forgiven no matter what you do, but there are also those that can be set right, even if it’s late.”
“…….”
“If a person’s entire being were determined by a single mistake, people would just give up on everything after one error. Even when they could have done better.”
“…….”
“It’s true that Mely was wrong, but I don’t think it was an irreparable mistake. And above all, she is repenting for it herself.”
Last night, on the way back from Blair’s room to the servant quarters, Mely had apologized to Lina.
Recalling that, Lina nodded slowly, accepting Blair’s words.
Blair smiled brightly and asked.
“So, why don’t you give her a chance to set her wrong right?”
“Phew, our Lady is too kind for her own good.”
Lina sighed as she grumbled, but a faint smile bloomed on her face as she spoke.
“Well, still…… like you said, My Lady, she didn’t seem like a bad kid. She was the one who discovered you had collapsed yesterday and took action first.”
“Is that so? I should thank Mely.”
She felt a quiet sense of pride in the fact that her actions, different from her past life, had caused a change.
Blair washed her face with the rosewater Lina had prepared and listened to the trivial stories of the residence.
Once she had finished washing her face and dried the water with a towel, Lina let out a small gasp, as if she had just remembered something.
“Oh, right! His Grace asked me to tell him when you wake up. He said you should eat the meal you missed yesterday together.”
“……He did?”
That meant Headrin hadn’t eaten yet.
After lightly tidying up her skin and changing her clothes, Blair went straight down to the dining room. Mason bowed in greeting upon seeing her and immediately opened the door.
In the dining room, Headrin sat there, wearing his usual shirt and vest.
“I hope you slept peacefully.”
He was dressed impeccably, yet as he tipped his wine glass with a languid expression, he gave off a vibe reminiscent of a rake of high society.
Even when showing courtesy, even when dressed neatly, there was that sharp, inherent nature of the man that could not be hidden.
An atmosphere that made one inevitably captivated by the danger, even when knowing it—perhaps, even because it was dangerous.
It was an impression that hadn’t changed much from when she had first met him as a child.
Blair realized this anew as she took her seat next to him.
“Yes, thanks to you.”
Once Blair was seated, the dishes began to arrive. Only the sound of silverware clinking against plates rang out in the dining room.
Headrin was never one to start a conversation, so the silence was familiar to Blair. The only difference from before was that after last night, the silence no longer felt uncomfortable.
Blair, who had been cautiously watching Headrin while chewing on a small piece of her steak, carefully brought it up.
“Headrin. About what we talked about yesterday.”
His gaze turned to her in lieu of a response.
“I understand that from your perspective, I could be suspicious enough.”
They had talked about it yesterday, but since it had ended with his apology, she felt she should provide a response of her own.
“But I will never do anything to cause you harm. I stake everything I have on that.”
Blair’s expression as she said this was quite determined. The corners of Headrin’s mouth tilted upward as he watched her.
“Does that ‘everything’ include you as well?”
“Pardon?”
“Is there anything in this world more precious than ‘me’? If you swear while staking everything, yet leave out the most valuable thing, it lacks credibility.”
Blair looked at him with confused eyes.
He had clearly said yesterday that he wouldn’t doubt her anymore, yet he was changing his tune after only a single day.
But seeing his expression, which was looser than usual, he didn’t seem to be truly suspicious or upset.
Even so, Blair answered with sincerity.
“……Of course it includes me. My statement that I want to maintain a good relationship with you is also sincere.”
Headrin chuckled at the sight of her.
A woman who couldn’t tell him everything, yet asked him to trust her.
It was absurd, but…… he would choose to trust her for now. Besides, he hadn’t smelled the scent of any other bastard on her yesterday.
Just as Headrin was staring at Blair with an intrigued look, tapping on his wine glass, a knock sounded and Mason entered.
“An invitation has arrived for you both.”
The invitation he held out bore the imperial seal. It was an invitation to Katrina’s birthday banquet.