IONDC 10

Chapter 10

The One Who Killed Me

2023.09.10

The next morning.

The knights of Delmark stood at the training grounds at dawn, all of them pale-faced.

“Argh!”

One of their comrades was sent sprawling after dropping his sword, unable to even land a single counterattack.

Standing before him was Herden.

With cold eyes, he looked down at the fallen knight and gestured toward one side of the training ground.

There, several knights were already lined up, heads pressed to the ground in disciplinary positions.

All of them were those who had failed to land even a single proper counterattack against Herden.

“Next.”

At his command, the next knight stepped forward with a frightened expression.

The other knights looked at him as though he were marching toward his execution. At the same time, their gazes carried pity, as if watching a condemned man on his final day.

Resigned, they looked between their unfortunate comrade and Herden standing before him.

The war hero.

The Empire’s only current sword mage, blessed with divine beast power.

‘Is there even a knight in this empire—or this entire continent—who could beat him…?’

Especially those who had fought alongside Herden on the battlefield knew his skill all too well.

Surviving without being sent to the disciplinary line after even one counterattack was already considered lucky.

The face they usually admired for its divine perfection—sometimes cursing the Creator’s unfair favoritism—now looked like the face of a reaper.

As they silently prayed for the souls of their comrades being unilaterally beaten by Herden, one knight waiting his turn glanced at the others.

“Hey, who is it?”

“What?”

“Who pissed off His Grace?”

“What do you mean? No one did anything. He’s been busy with wedding preparations and the wedding itself—we barely even saw him.”

“Then why is the groom, who should be enjoying his honeymoon, wasting his energy here on the second morning after the wedding?”

“If you were forced to marry your enemy’s daughter, would you be in the mood for a honeymoon?”

That made sense.

The hostility between the imperial family and the Delmark ducal house was well known among nobles of the Empire.

Thinking it over, one knight suddenly exploded in frustration.

“Then take it out on them, not us!”

“How would we know?”

The knights shrugged helplessly.

Then one of them noticed someone beside him and looked over.

‘Do you know, Vice Captain?’

But the aide, Ruth, simply shrugged as well.

While they were being relentlessly beaten at dawn for reasons they couldn’t understand—

“Eh?”

The knights standing near the entrance of the training grounds began to stir.

At the same moment Herden finished knocking down another opponent, a faint cough echoed.

Herden immediately turned toward the sound.

Mason, the butler, was entering the training grounds with Blair.

“Why are you here, Mason?”

The question was directed at the butler—but effectively aimed at Blair.

Blair answered in his place.

“I already met the servants yesterday, but I didn’t get to meet the knights. Since I have some time before going to the palace, I thought I’d greet you all.”

But no one welcomed her beyond briefly glancing at her beauty.

‘Is she here to act as our mistress too?’

Though they had just been beaten half to death by Herden, they were comrades who had survived the battlefield together.

The stronger their loyalty to Herden, the greater their resistance toward the imperial family—and Blair, as part of it.

She must have known that. Was she naïve—or just foolish?

Despite that, Herden stepped forward to introduce her.

“You’ve probably seen her around, but haven’t been formally introduced.”

“…”

“Greet her. She is the Duchess you will be serving from now on.”

At their lord’s words, even the knights who had been indifferent now bowed formally.

“The loyal blades of Delmark greet the Duchess.”

“Nice to meet you all. I apologize for coming so suddenly, and thank you for welcoming me. I look forward to working with you.”

Blair smiled faintly, but her gaze quietly scanned each of them.

The truth was, she had come here for a different reason.

In her past life, she had tried to earn recognition as the lady of the house—but these men had always disliked her.

There was no need to win over people she would never see again once this contract marriage ended.

Her real purpose was—

‘Maybe the one who killed me is among them.’

The Delmark duchy was one of the Empire’s three great ducal houses, and its knights were strong enough to rival the imperial knights, having fought in real wars.

The assassin who killed Blair had infiltrated her villa despite such tight security.

That was one of the reasons she suspected Herden in her previous life.

Either the assassin was a top-tier expert capable of breaching such defenses—or someone with easy access.

In that case, the killer might have been someone from within the ducal household.

Servants were easier to identify since she had seen most of them in daily life.

But knights were different. She rarely interacted with them, meaning she might not recognize the murderer even if he stood among them.

That was why she had come—to check.

She prayed the killer was not here… and that Herden had nothing to do with her death.

Just imagining meeting her murderer—or suspecting that the man she once loved might be involved—made her breath tighten and her blood run cold.

Her hands trembled.

‘I can’t run away. If I do, nothing will change.’

Steeling herself, she searched the knights’ faces.

‘…Not here.’

Fortunately, none of them seemed to be the assassin.

That slightly reduced the chance that Herden was involved in her death.

Blair let out a relieved breath.

At that moment, Ruth approached Herden.

“Your Grace, it’s time to prepare for the luncheon.”

Mason left first to prepare, while Herden, Blair, and Ruth exited the training grounds after finishing the introductions.

Walking beside Herden, Blair noticed sweat on his forehead and offered a handkerchief.

“You’ll catch a cold.”

But Herden declined.

“I’m fine.”

Polite words—but indifferent in tone.

Ruth, watching from behind, broke into a cold sweat on their behalf.

‘Who would call that a newlywed couple?’

He hadn’t expected them to be affectionate—but still, the rejection felt awkward.

Silence fell again as they walked toward the main building.

‘…Was the mansion always this far?’

Just as Blair silently hoped someone would break the silence—

Something suddenly burst out of the nearby bushes and collided with her.

“Tatata! Ung?”

It was a child, about three years old, likely from the servants’ quarters.

Ruth panicked.

If nobles were displeased, they could become furious over the smallest thing. And this was the Emperor’s sister’s daughter.

He quickly bowed and reached for the child.

“I apologize, my lady—this child must have wandered off while his mother was working. I’ll return him immediately and reprimand her—”

“I’m fine.”

Blair knelt to the child’s level instead.

She brushed the dirt off his bottom and asked gently,

“Are you okay, little one?”

“Ung.”

“What’s your name?”

“Jeremy.”

“Jeremy, huh. You’re very brave for not crying after falling.”

“Hehe.”

The child smiled brightly—pure, unguarded.

Unlike the wary gazes of the knights, there was no fear in his eyes.

Blair smiled back—her first genuine smile since returning to the past.

Ruth awkwardly straightened up, ashamed for assuming she would react harshly.

Herden watched them silently.

‘She really is like a doll that never shows emotion…’

So she could smile like that too.

Under the sunlight, her smile sparkled—perhaps because of the snow in the courtyard, or perhaps because of her pale skin.

The light reflected off Ruth’s watch for a moment, but Herden ignored it.

Instead, he kept watching Blair a little longer.