Herdin was a chain smoker.
It seems that after getting married he held back for a while, but in the end he couldn't last even a few months and went back to his old ways.
That was about two weeks ago, give or take.
Is it a coincidence that the dates coincide?>Although it doesn't seem like a coincidence, because His Excellency has also become more irritable around that time.
Ruth, who had been thinking for a moment, dismissed the question that had arisen.
He shouldn't try to find out about the couple's situation, nor did he need to.
Herdin, who had put out his cigar, asked:
—How did it go?
—It has been resolved well, as you wished.
The price has been closed and the transaction has been started.
-Well done.
You can go now.
Ruth, who was looking at the cigar smoke that filled the office, was about to complain, but she stopped.
Herdin was a fairly tolerant man with his subordinates, but that didn't mean he wasn't scary.
He didn't know why, but Herdin was in a bad mood, so it was best not to do anything that would irritate him.
—So, see you tomorrow.
Ruth picked up the documents and bowed her head.
Herdin nodded slightly instead of saying goodbye.
Ruth left the office, and there was only such silence in the room that you could hear the ticking of the clock.
Herdin's gaze, who was smoking a cigar, fell on the table.
Suddenly, on the perfectly organized table, Blair's image appeared to him.
The woman spread out on her table.
Just imagining it made his desire boil like an ache.
His irritation was rising.
He hadn't looked for Blair for fifteen days now.
Even if she didn't resist, that didn't mean it wasn't forced.
He knew that she was enduring those nights stoically, and that made him bitter.
It was as if he had opened a gift box and found it empty.
Herdin put out the cigar in his mouth and stood up.
Glancing absentmindedly out the window, he saw Blair.
Blair was with Agnes.
It seemed like they were coming back from the greenhouse after the session.
When he saw her face, he remembered that face with which she had looked at him with eyes that were about to cry.
Also his trembling voice.
His words have no attacking force.
His gaze has no strength.
Therefore, those things did not affect him at all.
But the fact that his wife spoke as if those words and that look were a great attack seemed ridiculous to him and at the same time outraged him.
That's why I couldn't stop thinking about it.
The moment Herdin looked away from that face.
Something stirred inside him as if stirring his insides, and suddenly everything turned white.
At the same time, Blair's face appeared.
The Blair of the memory was wearing a wedding dress.
But that memory was not the wedding he remembered.
Because the tension was clearly visible on Blair's face under the raised veil.
She looked up slightly, her eyes met his, she was stunned for a moment, and then, as if reacting, she hurriedly looked away.
The moment Herdin realized that fact, the memories that had arisen suddenly disappeared as if erased with a eraser.
What are these memories?
Why do things that aren't my memories keep coming to mind?
As he gathered his confused feelings, he heard a knock on the door.
-Excellence.
Can I come in?
It was Agnes's voice.
-Happens.
Herdin sat leaning against the window frame.
Agnes, who entered the office, began to tell him the content of today's session.
Leaving out what he had promised to keep secret from Blair.
The truth is that telling Herdin that would be more useful to them, but I wasn't going to do it.
This is a matter of two.
Intervening without the other party wanting it is arrogance and disrespectful.
When the report was finished, Herdin, who had been listening silently, changed the subject.
—There is something I want to ask you.
-Tell me.
—Is déjà vu only felt when a similar situation occurs?
Herdin asked, puzzled by the memories that had suddenly surfaced before Agnes arrived.
The first thing he thought when those memories came to mind was that, although they were things he had not experienced, he felt as if he had already experienced them.
A symptom similar to that was déjà vu.
-Yeah.
Because before that situation occurs, you don't feel déjà vu.
But seeing that the memories that came to him each time were completely different from the current situation, he seemed to move away from déjà vu.
So how on earth should he understand these memories that suddenly come to him?
At that moment, he remembered the words Blair had once said.
can see the future.>As unlikely as it was, perhaps he too had come to be able to see whether it was that future or an illusion.
But Herdin, irritated, closed his eyes and erased that voice.
To seriously consider, if only for a moment, that he could see the future, such madness.
It couldn't be true, and it shouldn't be.
Agnes, who was looking at Herdin strangely, asked:
—Do you have a problem?
—…No, it seems like I'm a little tired lately.
—If you need my help, tell me at any time.
—I will do so.
You can withdraw.
Agnes said goodbye and left the office.
Herdin ran his hand through his hair and leaned his throbbing head against the cold window.
The cold relieved his headache a little.
After cooling his head, Herdin stood up and headed to the library.
I had a lot to investigate.
—
Agnes's carriage arrived at the Lauraelain mansion.
The servants and the butler who were waiting for the lady's return received Agnes, who was getting out of the carriage.
"He's back, ma'am."
But their faces were strangely gloomy.
Before Agnes could ask, noticing this atmosphere, the butler spoke first:
—There is a visitor waiting.
Normally, when visiting a noble house, no matter how familiar it may be, it is good manners to make an appointment at least two days in advance.
But since there was no such date, either it's someone unpleasant with no manners, or it's someone who doesn't need to have manners with her.
A person came to mind.
—Has anyone from the Imperial Family come?
-Yeah.
The Countess of Magrid has come.
Agnes' expression hardened.
…To be continued