Chapter 61

Isabelle’s lips curved into a long smile. Seeing that expression up close made Blair’s chest turn cold, as if she’d been given ill news rather than something joyful.

“May I ask what kind of news it is?”

Unable to suppress her curiosity, Blair asked carefully. Isabelle let out a soft laugh and continued eating with elegant composure.

“You’ll find out soon enough anyway. Isn’t a surprise more fun?”

She then cast a fond look at Rufus seated beside her. Even Blair could tell that Isabelle’s eyes sparkled with boundless affection as she looked at her son. In contrast, Rufus neither smiled nor reacted in agreement, only moving his cutlery, which made the dynamic between mother and son all the more unsettling.

“By the way, I hear your husband will be coming home late tonight. It’s your honeymoon period, and yet he’s already leaving his wife lonely. Isn’t that a bit much?”

The moment she brought Edmund up, Isabelle’s expression shifted in an instant. Even if he wasn’t her biological child, he was still her son, yet she showed no attempt to hide such blatant discrimination. And she did so right in front of his wife.

Blair calmly concealed her expression and responded, “It’s alright, Your Grace. He makes sure to keep me informed so I don’t feel neglected.”

“Oh? Then perhaps he isn’t all that busy after all.”

“…He’s devoting himself to work for the sake of the family, and even if he comes home late, he always returns to my side. There’s no reason for me to feel lonely.”

“Well, if that’s the case, then that’s a relief. Some wives feel empty even when their husbands are beside them, but you’re the opposite. How curious. Rufus, don’t you think so too?”

Isabelle deftly drew Rufus into the conversation. He brought a large piece of steak, still glistening with red juices, to his mouth and gave a vague nod.

“I agree with Mother.”

“My good boy.”

Blair glanced between the two of them, then quietly resumed her meal. Someone had once said that sitting at a dining table bearing the name Libert meant enduring its weight. Now she understood exactly what that meant through Isabelle’s presence alone. With a single word and a fleeting glance, the duchess could shake another person’s heart, then savor the unease and agitation she caused as if they were part of the meal.

Even receiving affection from such a person would be suffocating. What would it be like, then, to be subjected to persecution mixed with words closer to a curse? Whenever Blair recalled the venom Isabelle had poured on Edmund on their wedding day, her chest froze solid.

“By the way, my dear.”

Isabelle leaned forward slightly and asked with a sly smile. Blair was seized once more by a sense of foreboding.

“Yes, Your Grace?”

“It’s the sort of news one ought to hear during a honeymoon. Yet I haven’t heard it at all.”

Blair blinked, not understanding at first. Then her face flushed hot all at once. Seeing her unable to hide her embarrassment, Isabelle waved her hand lightly.

“It’s something family can talk about, isn’t it? Don’t you think so, Rufus?”

“Of course.”

“Still, it seems that, unfortunately, there’s no news of a new life between you two yet. Am I being too hasty?”

“…Ah… well, Your Grace.”

Blair broke into a cold sweat, set down her cutlery, and dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. Then, just as she always did when lying, she lowered her gaze, her cheeks reddening. She hoped it would look like simple shyness.

“We’re both healthy, and our relationship is… good. So we’re just hoping that before long… there’ll be some good news.”

“Very well. If there is any news, be sure to tell me as well.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“I mean it. What do men who think everything ends once they’ve set the mood possibly know? Carrying a child is something only women can truly understand. That path is lonelier and more frightening than you might expect. Don’t try to endure it all on your own. If you ever need help, come to me anytime.”

Blair nodded with a demure smile. As she did, a dangerous thought crossed her mind: if she were truly planning a pregnancy, and if she were a naïve woman with no one to rely on, she might really have wanted to lean on Isabelle.

***

That night, even after finishing her bath and getting ready for bed, Blair found herself lingering by the window for no reason. From her bedroom window, she couldn’t even see vehicles entering the estate, yet perhaps because there was someone she was waiting for, she kept gazing out beyond the glass.

Edmund had said he would return in the middle of the night, once his work was done. If that was the case, would he knock on her bedroom door again to say good night? That thought came unbidden.

After staring outside for quite some time, Blair was just about to head to bed when she suddenly stopped. In the distance, near the glass greenhouse, two figures moving caught her eye.

Because the greenhouse was brightly lit even at night, it wasn’t hard to make out who they were. One was a maid wearing a white apron, and the man facing her was unmistakably Rufus.

‘What on earth is he doing?’

She couldn’t hear any sounds, but something was clearly wrong. Rufus grabbed the maid’s upper arm, and the maid’s movements as she twisted her body to break free were plainly visible.

Blair’s heart dropped. A cold chill ran down her spine. Come to think of it, Milia had mentioned earlier while helping her bathe that she needed to tend to the greenhouse tulips that night.

‘Why would Rufus be with Milia… what is going on?’

All at once, the uncomfortable encounter in the library flashed through her mind like lightning. She didn’t hesitate long. Grabbing a shawl, Blair hurried out of her bedroom.

Since it was an hour when everyone should have been asleep, she ran through the darkened corridors. After rushing down the stairs and crossing the hall, Blair grabbed one of the guards standing watch at the main building’s entrance.

“What’s the matter?”

“Where is Albert right now?”

“The butler is in his quarters. What’s wrong?”

To reach the senior staff quarters, one had to pass through the long corridor on the right. Growing impatient, Blair asked again.

“Then can you follow me for a moment?”

“…Pardon?”

“Hurry, please. And open the door.”

The guard looked confused, but after glancing once at his colleague, he began pulling the door open. Blair looked up anxiously at the massive entrance door that normally required two grown men to push open.

With the guard in tow, she hastened toward the greenhouse. As they drew closer, the noise grew louder, confirming that she hadn’t been mistaken. Even then, Blair still clung to a faint hope that it wasn’t what she feared.

The moment she reached the greenhouse and heard Milia’s sobbing voice, Blair shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Milia!”

Rufus flinched and turned around. At the same time, Milia came into view, standing before him. Her tear-soaked face and the maid’s uniform pulled down to her collarbones made it easy to guess what had been happening.

“What… what is going on here?”

Rufus, who had been silent until then, casually let go of the maid’s arm. A vile smile crept across his lips.

“It’s nothing serious. The maid neglected her assigned duties, so I was merely reprimanding her for a moment.”

“Milia, come here.”

The maid hurriedly ran over to Blair’s side. Blair was only slightly taller than Milia and just as slender, but she straightened her shoulders and planted both feet firmly on the ground, trying not to show fear.

“You say she neglected her duties? Even so, was it really necessary to reprimand a maid to the point of making her cry at such a late hour?”

“What’s all this fuss over scolding a single maid? More importantly, why should I have to explain myself to my brother’s wife?”

“I have a responsibility to protect my maid. I witnessed an unjust reprimand, so I couldn’t simply look away.”

“Before that, she’s my maid. She belongs to the ducal estate. Perhaps you should reconsider the hierarchy of this house before daring to question me.”

Rufus cast an irritated glance at the guard standing behind Blair.

“Sam, what are you doing here?”

“…Ah.”

“Come here. I was just about to take a stroll through the garden.”

The hesitant guard glanced at Blair, then stepped forward toward Rufus. Blair looked back and forth between him and Rufus with eyes full of disbelief.

As if nothing had happened, Rufus turned to leave in the opposite direction, then suddenly seemed to remember something and looked back at her.

“Have you been introduced? This is Sam. His family has devoted itself honorably to ours since my father’s generation, and his service has been recognized with my mother’s generous patronage.”

With that, as if to say that this trivial disturbance should end here, Rufus flashed a grin and turned away, walking off. The guard Blair had brought as a witness and escort followed after Rufus. Watching the two men go with her mouth slightly open, Blair soon reached out and took Milia’s trembling hands.

“Let’s go back to my bedroom.”

***

Near midnight, alone together in the bedroom, Milia remained silent for a long time. As Blair poured her some tea, she asked carefully, “Can you tell me what happened with Sir Rufus?”

Milia wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Her shoulders shook as they rose and fell. The maid’s eyes wavered anxiously, unable to continue her words with ease.