Chap 3

If it were the usual Blair who knew her mother's feelings, it would have been a request she wouldn't have made in the first place, but her fear of childbirth had grown so much that she couldn't help but ask.

But her birth mother had refused as expected.

"If you're a woman, everyone goes through it once. What's there to be afraid of? Besides, what can I do if I go there?" was the content of the reply that came back. Along with the palace's midwife she had sent.

So, she wanted to ask her husband for a favor. It would be fine for him to be by her side for a few days when the baby is born.

But in front of his indifferent response, Blair couldn't say anything. The movements of the baby that had been wriggling so far also stopped. Tears welled up in her eyes.

It would be really pitiful.

Blair, trying to suppress the emotions welling up to her throat, looked out the window.

Before she knew it, the carriage had arrived at the mansion.

Herdin, with an impassive face, stared at Blair's belly for a moment, then greeted her with a greeting that could be done to a complete stranger.

"Please have a safe delivery."

The butler opened the carriage door.

Now it was really time to part with him, but Blair hesitated.

There were many things she wanted to say, but all that remained were things she couldn't say.

Looking at him, with only her lips quivering, Blair managed to think of one thing she could ask of him.

"…A name. Please give this child a name."

As if he couldn't refuse even that, he seemed to hesitate for a moment before offering two names.

"If it's a girl, how about Diana, and if it's a boy, Asiel?"

Here's the English translation of the provided Korean paragraph:

He added that if Blair wanted a different name, it wouldn't matter, but Blair named the newborn Asiel.

Because it was the first thing her father gave her son.

However, Herdin did not come to the townhouse even after Asiel was born. It was only after another six months that he returned.

"Madam, His Grace will be arriving soon!"

Maid Lena entered the room and delivered the news.

Blair kissed her chubby-cheeked baby and whispered to him.

"Asiel, Daddy's coming."

"Daddy?"

Blair carried Asiel downstairs. All the servants who were waiting for the master's return were there.

Finally, in the distance, along with the sound of hoofbeats, the carriage came into view.

Blair knew it was a futile hope, but her heart swelled at the reunion with him.

She knew he blamed her. She also remembered countless nights of tears holding a crying baby alone.

But now, there was Asiel between them.

No matter how much she hated him, he was the father of her child, and she was the mother of the child.

Blair wanted to build a complete family with him now. Even if it was for the sake of this lovely child.

She thought he would willingly agree if he saw a child who resembled him so much.

As the carriage soon arrived in front of the mansion, the carriage door opened, and Herdin got off.

Blair, forgetting all her resentment, eagerly approached him to show him Asiel.

"Herd―"

But Herdin, instead of Blair and Asiel, reached out his hand towards the inside of the carriage.

The person who took his hand and got off the carriage was a beautiful woman with dazzling silver hair. She stood beside Herdin.

The servants of the Duke's house began to murmur.

A woman who rode in the same carriage as the master.

They didn't know her identity, but from the way she was treated, they could guess that she was a precious person to Herdin.

Blair's steps, which were approaching them, suddenly stopped. Her violet eyes began to tremble as she looked at them.

The cool interior of Herdin and the golden aura of the beautiful woman beside him reached Blair at the same time.

"Hello, madam."

The angelic woman greeted her with a smile. Her golden aura shone like jewelry.

Blair stared blankly at the woman brought by her husband.

She felt suffocated in the humid late summer air filled with heat, more so than the summer a year ago when he had left.