Chapter 95

The man’s eyes, as he asked the question, sank coldly. When Blair didn’t answer right away to such a simple question, Edmund pressed again.

“Did you have a pleasant time as you wished?

Still with her back to the conference room door, Blair narrowed her eyes slightly. Edmund pretended not to know, probing her thoughts. Was he simply asking if she enjoyed meeting the countess today, or was he implying she was with someone other than Josephine? The question left ample room for interpretation.

“Yes.”

So she decided to be honest about her feelings.

“It was a rare outing. It was nice to see a familiar face after so long.”

Edmund stared up at her wordlessly, without even a trace of a smile, then lowered his gaze and let out a short, hollow laugh. He took a cigarette case from his trouser pocket and put one between his lips. With the sound of the lighter igniting, fire caught at the tip, and thick smoke like a sigh spilled from between his lips.

For a while, silence followed. The stillness with no words exchanged felt like the calm before a storm. Blair watched Edmund draw in smoke and exhale it, then shifted her gaze to the ashtray piled with cigarette butts.

Her brows knit on their own. Just how many had he smoked?

“Is the countess doing well?”

“Of course. Josephine is the same as ever. She’s kind and thoughtful.”

“How much so?”

“…What?”

“Enough to introduce a man to a friend worn down by marital discord?”

Blair, who had been answering while maintaining her composure, inhaled sharply. A man. There was no way she didn’t know who he meant.

Blair had never even planned to meet Marcel. And yet Edmund had been bringing him up for some time now, showing clear displeasure. He was the man who went so far as to question her chastity and object to her outing.

She could say with certainty that it was a baseless suspicion and misunderstanding. Still, having ended up meeting Marcel despite herself, Blair couldn’t help but hesitate, caught off guard.

She didn’t know how her momentary stiffening looked to Edmund.

“What’s your intention in asking that?”

“I might have misunderstood.”

“…Misunderstood what?”

“Doesn’t that happen easily? Especially between a married couple.”

“Did you perhaps give orders to have me watched by your attendants?”

“Wouldn’t it be wiser to clear up my misunderstanding first? Rather than me figuring it out on my own, it’s better if you speak up first.”

Edmund deftly returned Blair’s own words to her. The very words she’d spoken before, on the night of their first night together, before they stripped away all the fleeting layers wrapping each other.

“There’s a difference between you noticing things on your own and me being honest with you.”

“The result is the same. I learned the truth either way.”

“No. It’s very different. The former could be deception, but the latter means I didn’t want to deceive you.”

Those were words she’d spoken while hoping the bond connecting her and him would be trust, while desperately wishing her sincerity would reach him.

And that very night, you were the one who deceived me. How dare you?

You don’t even have the right to misunderstand.

“Well.”

Blair snapped back so coldly that even she was surprised.

“I don’t see how it’s any of your concern.”

“….”

“You seem to keep forgetting, Edmund. We’re not a real married couple.”

His chest puffed out as if suppressing rage. Edmund lifted his pale, gleaming eyes after swallowing a silent curse.

“I haven’t forgotten. You keep emphasizing something that’s already obvious.”

“I only thought you might have, since you’ve been saying strange things since last time.”

“….”

“You’re also someone who only cares about facts.”

“Let’s end this.”

Edmund crushed the half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray and shoved his chair back as he stood. The man who instantly dropped his mask strode straight toward her. When his large shadow completely swallowed her from head to toe, Blair instinctively faltered again.

“From now on, don’t meet any man who shows you blatant interest. Not alone, and not even in a group. No exceptions.”

Her head lifted as high as his suddenly looming gaze. The look he gave her, speaking in a tone that was nothing short of a threat, was high-handed.

Blair stood stiffly, catching her breath as she looked into Edmund’s eyes. The defiance curled up inside her suddenly swelled, lifting its head. She absolutely refused to back down here.

“And if I refuse?”

“If you want to dig up my disgusting depths, then go ahead and try.”

Edmund added through clenched teeth, “And my decision stands. Rather than digging up something filthy, it would be wiser to keep quiet and follow your husband’s wishes.”

“You really have a serious case of morbid jealousy.”

“I told you it could sound like a compliment.”

“That’s not normal at all. How could that possibly be a compliment?”

“Do you want to know why?”

Blair, who had been firing back without hesitation, finally fell silent. Fear seized her out of the blue. It was because she saw Edmund’s gray eyes, usually calm and rational, burning red, and instinctively realized what he was about to say.

That was what frightened her. She was afraid he might say he loved her now.

She didn’t think she could believe it. No matter what Edmund said, it would sound like a confession born entirely of calculation.

The duke’s will still lingered vividly in her mind. Those cold lines stating that the heir must produce an heir of his own in order to formally succeed the ducal title.

Edmund needed a woman who would bear him a child to achieve his goal. And conveniently, by his side was a woman who loved him desperately, whom everyone believed without question to be his wife, a woman perfectly suited to play that role.

“I don’t want to know.”

Blair swallowed dryly, took a deep breath, and lowered her gaze. Tears felt like they might burst out at any moment.

“I don’t even want to hear it.”

She couldn’t allow him to whisper love now. That kind of cowardice was unforgivable. She couldn’t let Edmund shake her again.

Blair forced the tears back and met his eyes once more. She decided she needed to step back from this exhausting confrontation.

“To clear up your misunderstanding first, nothing happened. I stayed inside the café the entire time, so I couldn’t have done what you’re imagining. Really.”

The Countess of Gillingham knew Edmund wouldn’t welcome Marcel’s presence, which was why she asked Blair to keep that part a secret.

Blair didn’t want to break that promise, and since nothing questionable happened anyway, there was only one explanation she could insist on.

“I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding you’re having, or how far it goes.”

“….”

“But realistically, what could possibly happen in a café? I swear, nothing….”

“Nothing.”

Edmund finished her sentence for her in a low voice. The man, with the fading cityscape wrapped over his broad shoulders, took one more step closer. Her heart pounded wildly. They were now close enough that their chests almost touched.

“How naive.”

Edmund let out a sneer through his teeth.

“That’s what worries me. Being this naive, I’m concerned some filthy piece of trash with impure intentions might sweet-talk you and swallow you whole.”

“Ed….”

“Was there really nothing at all?”

“How many times do I have to tell you?”

“I see.”

Edmund muttered and fell silent for a moment. He quietly studied her eyes, wet with moisture, then let his gaze slide down along the line of her face, roaming over her breasts as they rose and fell. Blair stiffened as she became aware of his gaze dropping lower and lower.

She had done nothing during today’s outing that deserved suspicion, yet under a gaze that seemed to strip her bare piece by piece, even that certainty began to waver dangerously.

A strange glint flickered in Edmund’s eyes, which had dropped to her toes before snapping back up. With a hint of something between self-mockery and cynicism playing at the corners of his mouth, he said, “May I check?”