"Is it difficult? This is quite simple."
His cold gaze and mocking voice scratched Blair as they passed by. Blair's eyes wavered as she looked at him.
'...You don't trust me.'
His true feelings came across more clearly than ever before.
She had been mistaken.
Taking her side in Lina's matter was merely because he couldn't tolerate the servants' impudence. Insulting her, his wife, was no different from insulting him.
She felt foolish for having had expectations.
Blair lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze. Her eyelashes trembled as she slowly closed and opened her eyes.
Blair pushed against his chest and escaped from his embrace.
"...I'm sorry. I had a dream."
Her voice, barely audible, was trembling uncontrollably. Blair turned around and left the room.
Herdin, watching her retreating figure through the closing door, drained the remaining whiskey in his glass.
The alcohol poured into his empty stomach felt as hot as swallowing a ball of fire.
* * *
The sound of horse hooves echoed through the quiet winter forest.
Startled birds took flight. Even that small disturbance caused the heavy white snow piled on the trees to fall with a thud.
This year's winter hunt was progressing smoothly as well.
The first event of the New Year's ritual was for each family to catch their first live sacrifice to offer to the gods in the imperial hunting grounds.
Unlike other hunting festivals, the winter hunt was conducted by individual families rather than as a collective effort.
It was said that the more precious the sacrifice, the more pleased the gods would be, so the nobles who set out on the hunt subtly competed to catch better game. It was an event that put family pride on the line.
As it was a family competition event, even noble ladies and young misses exceptionally rode horses alongside their husbands and families. Blair was one of them.
Herdin, who had been scanning the snow-white field for prey, turned his gaze to Blair following behind him. Seeing her face flushed from the cold, he was suddenly reminded of yesterday.
'Tomorrow, beasts will appear in the hunting grounds.'
If that was true, it meant that beasts would appear here today. It was strange that she, knowing this fact, had willingly followed him to this dangerous place.
'What on earth is she thinking?'
Herdin let out a quiet sigh and called for the captain of the Delmark knights who had been following behind him.
"Kyle."
The knight who heard his call urged his horse closer to him.
"Take utmost care in guarding the Duchess."
"I obey your command."
The captain of the knights conveyed Herdin's order to his subordinates with a nod, gesturing towards Blair. Understanding the meaning, the knights approached Blair's side.
A small coughing sound came from behind Herdin's back. Hearing this, Herdin's brow furrowed. His gaze searching for prey on the snow-white field became more urgent.
It was then that the cry of a beast was heard from afar.
Kwee-eek!
It sounded like the cry of a wild boar.
Along with the sound of birds taking flight, the sound of Blair drawing in a startled breath was heard.
But the boar's cry didn't stop at once, continuing repeatedly. It was the sound of someone repeatedly shooting arrows, unable to take down the prey with one shot. The noise was grating.
Stupid fool. How many arrows are they wasting, unable to catch just one?
As Herdin was mocking the unknown incompetent archer, one of the knights suddenly shouted urgently.
"Your Grace, there's a white marten over there!"
In the direction the knight was pointing, a marten could be seen wandering in the snow-white field.
Marten fur is expensive. Among them, white marten fur is the most valuable. That would be suitable as an offering to the gods.
Herdin immediately drew his bow and shot at the marten.
The arrow flew true, piercing the marten, and its blood spattered on the white snow.
As Herdin was about to turn his horse back after confirming the marten was no longer moving, a hollow tree trunk caught his eye.
As he dismounted and approached, he saw a baby marten, its eyes not yet open, inside the hollow.
'...There was a baby.'
Herdin drew a dagger from his breast. At that moment, Blair's voice came from behind him.
"Herdin. What... are you doing?"
"Without a mother to care for it, it will soon become prey for predators. Rather than that, it would be better for this little one to die now with its mother."
"No!"
Blair hurriedly dismounted and grabbed his hand holding the dagger. Herdin's brow furrowed.
"What are you doing?"
"It might survive, you know."
"A suckling that hasn't even opened its eyes yet, in this winter when it's hard to find food?"
"Even if it's destined to die soon as you say, you can't call that mercy. It's better to live even one more day."
Herdin scoffed. Was it baseless optimism, or hypocrisy? Either way, it was the kind of thing he despised.
"Do you think it would feel the same while being chewed alive by wolves?"
Herdin deliberately chose raw words to provoke her. To break either her optimism or hypocrisy. But...
"I'll raise it."
The woman who always seemed to yield to his will was now standing up to him without backing down. With eyes sharper than ever before.
She looked like a mother protecting her young. He found the sight distasteful.
All this fuss over such a lowly creature.
"Well, I wonder if that creature would want to be taken in by someone who stood by and watched its mother die."
Herdin retorted sarcastically, reminding Blair of her position.
If even such a lowly creature had thoughts and feelings, it would rather die than be taken in by the hands of its enemy. Just as he loathed the imperial family and his fake wife who was a member of it.
Blair's expression twisted slightly as she caught the meaning of his words, but she still didn't back down.
Blair looked at the mother marten's corpse being collected by the knights with sunken eyes and said,
"...Still, this child's mother would want it to survive, even like that."
Search "child" at redcatty [.] com to read ahead up to chap 170.