Melly, who had almost run to Blair's room, knocked on the door, but there was no answer from inside.
Unable to wait any longer, she opened the door and entered, feeling the warm air touch her skin. The fireplace, which had been out when Melly left, was now blazing. And in front of it...
"Oh my goodness, Madam!"
Blair lay unconscious in front of the fireplace.
Herdin came up immediately upon hearing the news, followed by the doctor.
"It seems she lost consciousness due to emotional shock. There are no other abnormalities, so she should be fine with some rest."
After the doctor finished his examination and left, silence fell over the room. It was Lina's crying that broke the silence.
"Your Highness..."
Lina, unable to approach Blair's side where Herdin was sitting firmly, sobbed while sniffling tears and mucus.
Herdin's expression hardened at the title that fell from Lina's lips.
It had been over a month since Blair became his wife, yet she was still calling him 'Your Highness'. Even her sobbing irritated him.
Herdin ordered without turning around.
"... Luth. Take her out."
Luth, noticing Herdin's bad mood, quickly took Lina and Melly out of the room. Finally, only the two of them were left in the room.
Perhaps it was his mood, but Blair's white face looked even paler than usual. Yet her expression was peaceful.
Seeing the woman sleeping peacefully after turning the mansion upside down made his anger rise.
He couldn't understand why someone who was afraid of fire and wouldn't even go near the fireplace had collapsed in front of it.
'Surely not...'
As Herdin was trying to guess the reason, Blair's gently closed eyelids moved and then opened.
Blair's eyes, which had been blinking slowly, turned to Herdin beside her.
The first emotion that struck him when their eyes met was relief. The anger that had been rising until just now dissipated hopelessly.
Blair, who had been staring at him blankly, opened her mouth.
"... Did I faint?"
"Did you deliberately approach the fireplace knowing this would happen?"
"I wanted to find my memories. It's not something I can keep buried forever, pretending not to know..."
The moment the word 'memories' flowed from her lips, his heart sank.
A woman who was afraid to even light a fireplace in the cold winter had lit it with her own hands.
Because of those memories.
Because of him, who had doubted and pressured her.
Her voice was calm, without a trace of resentment. Or perhaps she was too exhausted from the recent accident to be angry anymore.
Herdin gritted his teeth and clenched his fist until the veins on the back of his hand stood out.
"That doesn't mean you need to use such a reckless method to find them. So, don't ever do this again."
Over his cold voice, memories of her past life overlapped.
It had been the same in her past life.
When she realized that he had pretended to love her to extract the truth from her, and when she knew he was distancing himself because it seemed hopeless.
Then too, Blair had recklessly undergone hypnosis and fallen ill from the aftermath, and Herdin had admonished her when she woke up. Just like now.
'Don't do anything more. Just, stay still. Like you've always done.'
The memory of that day when she stopped clashing with him, afraid of their end.
But now, she didn't want to do that anymore.
"... What if I never find my memories that way?"
"There must be another way. Isn't Lady Lorelaine making efforts?"
"Do you expect memories that haven't returned for ten years to come back with just a few conversations, while I continue to face your suspicion all this time?"
Blair's calm voice suddenly rose. At the same time, her breathing quickened.
Search "child" at redcatty [.] com to read ahead up to chap 170.