That's why she came to check in person. Hoping that the assassin wasn't among the knights, that Herdin was not involved in her death.
Of course, just imagining that she might face her killer again, thinking that perhaps the husband she once loved might have been involved in her death, made her breath catch and her blood run cold. Her hands trembled. She wanted to run away right then and there.
'No. Nothing will change if I run away.'
Blair clasped her trembling hands together as if to stop herself from fleeing. She recalled the face of the assassin, tracing through her terrible memories.
'That person had an ugly sword scar on the bridge of their nose.'
There were too many knights to examine each one in detail, but it wouldn't be difficult to find someone with a large sword scar on their face.
Blair quickly scanned the faces of the knights.
'...He's not here.'
Fortunately, the assassin didn't seem to be among them.
The possibility that Herdin was involved in her death had decreased a little.
A sigh of relief escaped Blair's lips, which had been nervously biting.
At that moment, Luth approached Herdin.
"Your Excellency. I think it's about time to prepare for lunch attendance."
The butler Mason went ahead to prepare, and Herdin, Blair, and Luth left the training ground after concluding their meeting with the knights.
Walking beside Herdin, Blair noticed beads of sweat on his forehead and offered her handkerchief.
"You'll catch a cold."
But Herdin refused her kindness.
"I'm fine."
His tone was polite, but his attitude was utterly indifferent.
Watching the two of them from behind, Luth found himself breaking out in a cold sweat. Blair, however, seemed unfazed by his rejection and calmly tucked away her handkerchief.
'Who would think they're newlyweds looking at that scene?'
It wasn't that Luth particularly wished for Blair to be loved and treated well by his lord, but seeing her being rejected to her face didn't sit well with him.
Silence fell again among the three people walking towards the main building of the ducal residence.
'...Was the mansion always this far?'
Just as he was desperately wishing for someone to break this chilly silence.
Suddenly, a small shadow that sprang out from the nearby bushes ran quickly and collided with Blair.
"Ta-da! Huh?"
It was a small child, about three years old. It seemed to have come from the annex where the servants stayed.
Luth was shocked to see the child.
He was lucky to have found a master who was generous to his subordinates, but most nobles would fly into a rage if anything even slightly upset them.
How much more so for a member of the royal family? Especially the daughter of the notorious Katrina.
Luth hurriedly picked up the child lying prostrate in front of Blair and bowed his head instead.
"I apologize, Madam. This child is staying in the annex, and must have slipped out while the mother was working. I will take them back and caution the mother..."
"It's alright."
Blair sat down to meet the child's eye level. Then, while personally dusting off the dirt on the child's bottom, she asked,
"Are you okay, little one?"
"Uh-huh."
"What's your name?"
"Jeremy."
"I see, Jeremy. Jeremy, you fell down but didn't cry, you're a very brave child."
"Hehe."
The child beamed at Blair's praise. It was a pure smile, devoid of any prejudice or intention.
Unlike the other people of the ducal family who feared and disliked Blair.
Blair also smiled gently at the child who was smiling brightly at her. It was her first genuine smile since returning to the past.
Luth, who was watching this scene from beside the child, stood up with an embarrassed face. He felt ashamed of himself for assuming that Blair would naturally reject the child.
Next to such a Luth, Herdin was also silently observing the two.
'I thought she was a doll because she rarely shows emotions.'
So she was a woman who could smile like that.
The woman smiling brightly under the sunlight sparkled dazzlingly. It seemed to be because of the snow piled up here and there in the backyard, or perhaps because of her pale face.
At the same time, Luth's wristwatch glinting in the light caught his eye, but Herdin ignored it and continued to take in Blair's appearance for a bit longer.
Search "child" at redcatty [.] com to read ahead up to chap 170.