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Chapter 19
The Motherless Child
“Is it difficult? This is really quite simple.”
His cold gaze, his mocking voice, cut through Blair like claws. Blair’s eyes wavered under that look.
“…He doesn’t trust me.”
His sincerity struck her more clearly than ever.
She had been mistaken. The reason he sided with her over Lina wasn’t out of any real favor—it was simply because he couldn’t stand the insolence of his servants. Insulting his wife, however, was no different from insulting him.
Her expectations of herself now seemed laughable.
Blair avoided his gaze and lowered her eyes. Her eyelashes trembled as she slowly closed and opened them.
She pushed away from his chest and freed herself from his embrace.
“…I’m sorry. I had a dream.”
Her voice, barely audible, betrayed her trembling. Without another word, Blair turned and left the room.
Behind the closed door, Herdin watched her retreating figure, then drained the remaining whiskey in his glass.
The liquor burned like fire in his empty stomach.
In the quiet winter forest, the sound of hooves echoed.
Startled mountain birds flew off, and the tiny shock caused snow, heavily accumulated on the trees, to tumble down in soft showers.
The winter hunt was proceeding smoothly this year as well.
As the first event of the New Year festival, each noble house was tasked with catching their offering for the gods at the royal hunting grounds.
Unlike other hunts, the winter hunt wasn’t a collective effort; each house hunted separately.
The rarer the prey, the more the gods would be impressed, leading noble families into a quiet competition for the best catch. It was a matter of family pride.
Because this was a competition between noble houses, ladies and young noblewomen also rode alongside their husbands and families. Blair was among them.
Herdin’s gaze, scanning the snow-covered field for prey, turned toward Blair following behind him. Seeing her flushed face from the cold, yesterday’s memory flashed across his mind:
“Beasts will appear in the hunting grounds tomorrow.”
If that were true, then dangerous creatures could appear today. It was strange that she had voluntarily come to such a dangerous place.
What on earth is she thinking?
Herdin let out a low sigh and called the commander of Delmarc’s knights trailing behind him.
“Kyle.”
Hearing his call, the knight guided his horse closer.
“Ensure the Duchess’s protection is absolute.”
“Understood, sir.”
The commander signaled to his subordinates, pointing to Blair and relaying Herdin’s command. Understanding the order, the knights positioned themselves around her.
A small cough came from behind Herdin. His brows furrowed, and his eyes scanning the snowfield for prey sharpened.
It was then that the distant scream of an animal reached him.
Kweeek!
It sounded like a wild boar.
The fluttering of startled birds and Blair’s sharp intake of breath could be heard.
The boar’s cries continued, repeated, as the hunter failed to kill it in one shot. The sound grated on Herdin.
Foolish creature. How many arrows wasted over just one prey.
As he scoffed at the incompetent marksman, one of the knights shouted urgently.
“Your Grace, a white ermine over there!”
Following the knight’s gaze, a white ermine wandered across the snow.
Ermine fur was expensive, and white ermine was the most prized. It would make a perfect offering to the gods.
Herdin drew his bow and shot. The arrow flew straight, piercing the ermine and spraying its blood across the white snow.
Just as Herdin turned to leave, satisfied that the ermine was no longer moving, a hollow old tree caught his eye.
Dismounting, he approached and saw a tiny ermine inside, not yet able to open its eyes.
“…There was a baby.”
Herdin drew a dagger from his belt. Behind him, Blair’s voice rang out.
“Herdin… what are you doing?”
“In a situation without its mother, this one would soon become prey. It’s better for it to die with its mother than suffer alone.”
“No!”
Blair urgently dismounted and grabbed the dagger from his hand. Herdin’s brows tightened.
“What are you doing?”
“It might survive, you know.”
“A newborn that hasn’t even opened its eyes, in the middle of winter when finding food is almost impossible?”
“Even if, as you say, its fate is to die soon, that is no reason to call it mercy. Living even one more day is better.”
Herdin chuckled. Naive optimism, or hypocrisy—it was the kind of thing he despised.
Do you think it would feel the same if a wolf tore it apart alive?
Herdin deliberately chose raw words to provoke her, to break her optimism or hypocrisy. But…
“I’ll raise it.”
The woman who always yielded to him now stood firm, unflinching, her eyes sharper than ever.
She looked exactly like a mother protecting her child. The sight irritated him.
What could such a small creature possibly matter?
“Well, I wonder if this one would want to be raised by someone who ignored its mother’s death.”
Herdin taunted, reminding Blair of her own position. Even a small creature with feelings would choose death over being in the hands of its enemy, just as he despised his fake wife of the imperial family.
Blair understood the implication, her expression flickering briefly, but she didn’t back down.
Watching the knights collect the mother ermine’s body, Blair spoke quietly, her gaze deep.
“…Still, its mother would want it to survive, even if only like this.”
One knight, looking awkward at the tense standoff between lord and lady, cautiously intervened.
“Your Grace… as the Duchess says, raising it might not be a bad idea. It’s a white ermine, so you could raise it and later use its fur…”
Receiving Blair’s scornful glare, the knight realized his mistake and fell silent.
Herdin sighed, letting go of Blair’s hand, turning away.
Blair, understanding the gesture, carefully lifted the baby ermine from the nest. Its tiny body radiated warmth despite being smaller than her palm.
The blind little creature cried pitifully, searching for its mother. Seeing it, Blair’s throat tightened.
What would Asiel have become after I died?
She thought of Asiel, left alone after her death. Perhaps intruders killed him afterward. Even if he survived, to Herdin, who loved Miela, he would have been an annoyance.
Either way, it was clear the child’s fate would not have been happy.
For the first time, she felt resentment toward him.
Watching Herdin’s retreating back, Blair snapped back to the present at the ermine’s pitiful cries. She removed her gloves and carefully placed the ermine inside.
A knight reached out.
“Duchess, I’ll carry it for you. You should mount first.”
“No. I’ll carry it.”
“But it will be difficult to ride like that, and dangerous…”
“I’ll walk.”
Blair stood firm despite the knight’s worry.
As the knight hesitated, Herdin rode closer, overhearing their conversation. He approached and gently lifted Blair onto his horse.
“Herdin…?”
Startled, Blair blinked.
Herdin mounted behind her, giving the knight an order.
“Follow the Duchess’s instructions.”
Supporting Blair with one arm while holding the reins with the other, he guided the horse forward. His cold eyes stared straight ahead, but his grip around her waist was firm, unyielding.
Blair, looking at him who didn’t meet her eyes, lowered her head. She should be thankful that he bore the burden for her sake, yet the cries of the baby ermine choked her into silence.
Even so, the cold man’s embrace was warm, and instinctively, she felt safe in it.
The winter forest’s wind passed over the two in silence. When Blair coughed, Herdin placed his fur-lined hood over her.
“Why did you follow me here when beasts are supposed to appear? You could have stayed behind.”
His tone was less mocking than displeased, annoyed that she had come along.
Come to think of it…
No beasts had appeared yet. Birds occasionally flew off, but no screams were heard.
Since I accompanied the hunt today, different from the past, could the future have changed too?
If so, it’s best to claim it was just a dream.
Blair was about to respond when something appeared through the coniferous trees.
Her eyes widened violently.
Between the trees, a giant pair of eyes appeared.
The eyes moved, meeting Blair’s gaze. A chill ran down her spine.
