The carriage had already left the center of the capital behind and was passing by the back of the theater.
Herdin's gaze, which was wandering distractedly through the window, landed on a carriage stopped in that landscape.
Just at that moment, someone descended from him.
That silhouette from behind seemed familiar to him.
A small figure, platinum blonde hair peeking out slightly from beneath a dark green cape, a small white hand glimpsed for an instant.
Herdin's brow furrowed as he immediately recognized that the woman stepping out of the hackney carriage was Blair.
There were no escort knights to be seen around him.
Although, by her order, they were surely secretly protecting her from not far away.
Blair, along with the maid who always accompanied her, entered through the back door of the theater.
—… Your Excellency.
You're not listening to me at all, are you?
Ruth, who was reporting on business, noticed the change and looked at Herdin.
Far from denying it, he pointed to the theater with a gesture of his head.
—Do you know what play they're playing at that theater lately?
Ruth held back a sigh at Herdin's attitude, who did not even pretend to listen, but knowing his recent sensitivity, she responded docilely.
—As far as I know, they are performing a play about a heroic epic set in ancient times, in the time of the divine beasts.
—…
—Although, well, the theater is a cover.
Officially it is a theater, but de facto it is a place of open secret meetings between nobles.
In aristocratic society, loveless marriages of convenience were common, and so was having lovers for both men and women.
But just because it was common didn't mean it was something to be proud of.
The nobles, so concerned with appearances, even though it was an open secret that they had lovers, did not display it openly.
—…Secret meetings?
-Yeah.
I didn't know?
Secret meetings.
Oh.
Suddenly, a name that had once escaped from his wife's lips crossed Herdin's mind.
Herdin's gaze, fixed on the back door of the theater through which Blair had entered, turned icy.
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The theater manager, as if he had been awaiting Blair's arrival, greeted her at the back door.
Once inside, he handed Lina a ticket.
—Miss, you can follow that usher.
-Me too?
Lina opened her round eyes as wide as saucers, surprised by the unexpected proposal.
Blair, sensing the intention to separate her from his side, smiled and said:
—Yes, go and enjoy yourself, Lina.
I have to see someone.
—C-can I do it?
-Yeah.
It's also more comfortable for me this way.
Lina, with the ticket in her hand and her face beaming with excitement, disappeared following the usher.
The manager led Blair to the private room on the upper floor of the theater.
A private room reserved only for VIPs.
Upon entering the room indicated by the manager, Mikhail, who was drinking wine in front of the window with panoramic views of the stage, turned around.
Unlike when they met at the guild, he was wearing a formal suit that at first glance seemed high-priced.
And he wasn't wearing the round glasses he saw him with at the guild either.
Perhaps because the glasses gave him an affable air, without them his face was somewhat sharper than the initial soft impression.
—I hope the road hasn't been too difficult.
—Thank you, it was bearable.
Although it did take him a bit to convince the gentlemen, saying that "he wanted to go and come back without attracting attention."
Once at the theater, she had no major difficulty, since she entered through the back door so as not to be seen and the manager himself escorted her.
Someday he planned to cause a scandal, but now it was too soon.
So he had no choice but to endure certain discomforts.
Mikhail held out his hand to Blair.
Accustomed to her life as an imperial princess, Blair naturally accepted her escort and took her seat.
He offered her a glass of wine already poured.
His bearing denoted great ease in the art of entertaining.
-Thank you.
Blair accepted the glass and asked:
—So, the purchase of the mansion in the kingdom is already concluded?
Mikhail, who was about to present her with the wine, chuckled as Blair got straight to the point.
—Wow, it doesn't even give me a break.
I feel a little hurt.
Blair blinked blankly.
To begin with, wasn't the reason for your meeting the assignment?
They had nothing else to talk about.
Mikhail, still with a smile on his face, took a small coin from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to her.
—First things first: the purchase of the mansion has been successfully completed.
Take this to Agentha, go to the place indicated on the coin and there they will give you the sales documents.
Blair took the proffered coin and examined it.
On the front was something written in Klanian.
Blair, who as an imperial princess had studied foreign languages, read "The Last Cup of Klania" without difficulty.
It had to be a metaphor.
Mikhail then handed him a wooden tablet and added an explanation:
—And this is the identification document you requested.
-Good job.
Tomorrow I will send your fees to the guild through my maid.
—I'm glad I could be of help to you.
Mikhail responded with a slight smile.
Seeing him smile, she thought she caught a glimpse of the affable air he had when he had his glasses on.
Just as Blair was going to ask him about the glasses, a black curtain covered the theater stage.
—It seems that the work is going to start soon.
They waited a moment, the curtain was drawn and the actors appeared on the stage.
Immediately afterwards, a narrator located to one side began to recite, starting the performance.
{In ancient times, there were sacred animals that protected this world.
People called them divine beasts.
Coming from another world, they possessed strength far superior to that of humans or demons.
But they did not covet greater power, nor did they subjugate the weak, but rather they ensured the balance and peace of this world.}
The play was about divine beasts, a story Blair was familiar with from childhood, both from theater and books.
A story that anyone raised on the Western Continent would have heard.
And after marrying, studying the history of the Duchy of Delmark as mistress of the house, he had met her again.
Since Helios, the protagonist of this work, was the divine beast that gave its power to the first Duke of Delmark.
Seeing that story again gave him renewed emotion.
Mikhail, noticing that Blair was concentrating on the play, added an explanation:
—It is the story of Helios, the last divine beast, and his lover, the human knight Arwen.
A quite entertaining work.
The first part of the work narrated how Helios, hostile to humans unlike other divine beasts, gradually opened up and approached Arwen.
The two, still young, forge a friendship thanks to Arwen's sociability and go on adventures together.
To the beat, great music began to play.
Then, through the music, a faint strange noise crept in.
It sounded like a woman crying.
Blair, surprised, turned her head in the direction of the sound.
Blinking in surprise as she looked at the wall, Blair soon realized what the sound was.
At that moment, Mikhail's voice came from behind him.
—This theater is like that.
He, as if he were accustomed to these situations, drank wine naturally and added:
—A place where secret lovers meet and love each other, as suits your assignment, ma'am.
That is why the play has many battle scenes.
So that the bustle of the stage drowns out all kinds of sounds that may escape from the rooms.
Hearing Mikhail's explanation, Blair's face turned red.
She looked away, as if she were embarrassed to even meet his gaze, but her bewildered expression seemed to scream:
«For heaven's sake, how can they do something so unseemly...!»
That someone who was scandalized by so little was planning to fake scandals with several men as a reason for divorce...
That discordance was somehow adorable.
Blair, unable to concentrate on the play, kept looking from side to side.
Mikhail, laughing softly at seeing her like that, changed the subject.
—After the divorce, do you have other plans?
—At the moment, I had thought about starting a business.
I'm still thinking about which one.
Mikhail, who had launched the topic with no other intention than to distract Blair from the noise around him, was internally surprised to hear her response.
He found it curious that someone who had lived his entire life without want wanted to throw himself into business.
—Have you already raised the capital?
—I'm on it.
And to raise that capital, I need your help.
The jewelry and valuables that Blair owned as an imperial princess had almost been used up when Mikhail was entrusted with the work.
So Blair had come up with another plan to raise the seed money.
Using his memories of the future.
But I wasn't going to steal anyone's business idea.
Although he had returned to the past as if by a miracle, he felt that he should not use it solely for his own benefit.
Instead, what I was looking for was…
On one occasion, during a family meal, Ivan complained that his butler had bought cheap paintings.
But the painter of those works, two years later, would rise to fame when he was discovered by the house of the Marquis of Fiace, known for his artistic patronage over generations, and the price of his paintings would skyrocket.
Only then did Ivan dust off the paintings he had cornered in the storage room to show off his artistic eye.
Blair planned to take away some of what would belong to Ivan in the future.
After everything he had taken from her throughout his life, couldn't he keep this as his share?
He justified himself as he pleased.
As a guild master who had traveled to various countries, he recounted stories that inevitably fascinated Blair, and he watched silently as her eyes shone brighter than usual.
Thanks to this, Blair was able to enjoy the rest of the work he had seen in his childhood.
—I'll accompany her.
Mikhail held out his hand to Blair.
She took it and stood up.
But they had barely taken a few steps when Mikhail stopped in front of the door.
—Unfortunately, my escort ends here.
It's not time yet.
Blair, who was watching him silently, suddenly asked:
—Are you noble?
Not even in the future that Blair knew had Mikhail's true identity been revealed.
She assumed he was a commoner, but upon meeting him in person, she found that he mastered noble etiquette perfectly.
At Blair's sudden question, Mikhail smiled.
—I'm glad you see me like this.
He responded softly, avoiding the answer naturally.
Blair, realizing this, did not insist any further.
Mikhail lightly kissed the back of her hand and released her.
"Then we'll see you again soon, ma'am."
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—Welcome, madam.
Arriving at the ducal mansion, Mason and the trained servants greeted her.
Blair, as she entered the residence, asked him:
—And the gentleman?
—His afternoon agenda ended earlier than expected, he returned a moment ago.
Hearing that Herdin was home made Blair's heart skip a beat.
Although nothing had happened with Mikhail at the theater, and although she and Herdin were only pretending to be a contract marriage, she felt uneasy.
As if he had really committed infidelity and returned home.
Although in reality all that was nothing more than part of a plan to grant him the safe divorce he wanted.
Blair climbed the stairs wishing, as she had often lately, that she wouldn't run into Herdin.
But the gods were not on his side.
By the door of his room, Herdin was waiting.
The husband, who had not shown any signs of life in the last fortnight, was waiting there with a cold look.
—Where does it come from?
—…I went to see a play.
I felt overwhelmed by always being at home.
Did you expect me?
—I thought about having dinner together for a change, but I didn't find her in her room.
His voice, deeper than usual, seemed to oppress even the air around him.
Blair motioned to Lina, who was in an awkward situation between them, to go to dinner first, and entered the room with Herdin.
—I was worried that he would leave the carriage and even the knights behind.
At first glance, Herdin seemed to speak as if he genuinely cared about her, but his eyes reflected more suspicion than concern.
The moment she met that gaze, she remembered some words he had once said.
He distrusted her again.
Realizing this, a sudden emotion came over her.
Seeing how someone who had not been seen in fifteen days was distrustful of a simple outing brought back memories of the past.
—Could it be that you can't trust me?
A sharp voice escaped his lips without being able to hide it.
In the past, Blair would have worried about his mood, fearing he had offended him.
But not anymore.
Blair, not caring what he felt, continued in a sarcastic tone:
"Are you worried that he's up to something behind your back?"
…To be continued