"Really, Your Excellency is too much. How could he leave his bride, who spent the first night with him, to sleep alone?"
Rina, brushing Blair's hair after her bath, fumed. Her voice was indignant as if she had been the one wronged.
The person in question, however, smiled nonchalantly while listening to the gossip.
"I'm fine. It's more comfortable to sleep separately anyway."
Nobles used separate rooms except on their wedding night anyway. This wasn't much different.
But Rina's anger didn't subside.
"Even so! Yesterday wasn't just any day—it was the first night."
"...Rina, the brush hurts because you're putting too much force into it."
"Oh, sorry! I got too excited."
Rina adjusted her strength on the brush she had been gripping as if to snap it, but her anger hadn't cooled.
"Anyway! To treat a beautiful wife who came to this unfamiliar mansion full of strangers, trusting only her husband—it's grounds for revoking husband privileges, this is."
"How does an unmarried girl like you know so much about this?"
"It's all knowledge from books, the repository of wisdom and nourishment for the heart."
Blair recalled the book with red stickers that Rina had stayed up all night blushing over and laughed.
"Well, His Excellency's looks are honestly like the male lead himself... But his character, I'll have to observe a bit more."
Listening to Rina's chatter lifted Blair's somewhat sunken mood considerably.
As she gazed at her gradually tidied reflection in the mirror, something sparkling between her neck and collarbone caught her eye.
'...A magic circle?'
Blair quickly opened her collar to check. But all she saw were the red marks he had left last night.
Seeing them brought back memories of the night before, heating her face.
Blair hurriedly covered her collar. She must have seen wrong.
Rina tilted her head curiously.
"Madam? Is the dress uncomfortable?"
"Oh, no. It's nothing."
Shaking her head in embarrassment, Blair suddenly noticed the thin bandage wrapped around Rina's finger.
It hadn't been there last night during her bath.
Blair asked,
"Did you hurt your hand?"
"Oh..."
A flicker of panic crossed Rina's face as she brushed her hair.
"I'll call the doctor. Let's get it treated."
At the mention of summoning a doctor, Rina jumped up in protest.
"No, no! It's fine. It's just a little cut."
"How did you get hurt?"
"Uh, just... This morning while working. As you know, I'm a bit clumsy."
Though Rina insisted it was fine, Blair's worried gaze didn't lift.
Rina had just said she was a bride who came trusting only her husband to this unfamiliar place—Rina was the same.
Her heart ached seeing the child who had left her familiar space and companions, trusting only her, get hurt.
Especially since memories of her previous life resurfaced.
'In my previous life, I was too caught up in my own situation to pay much attention to Rina.'
Reading Blair's concern, Rina deliberately added in a light tone,
"It's not worth worrying over. I just wrapped a bandage so blood wouldn't get on Your Highness—no, Madam's—hair."
"...Really?"
"See, there's no blood on the outside of the bandage, right?"
As she said, it didn't seem like a deep wound.
"Your Highness just needs to worry about how to survive in this mansion and how to make that handsome-faced Duke swoon."
Rina's playful words eased her mind a bit, but also sparked a question.
'A cut means a knife. Rina isn't in charge of the kitchen, so she rarely handles knives. Could she be getting bullied...?'
But Blair's doubt didn't linger long.
"Ta-da! All done. I'll escort you to the dining room."
Finishing her hair, Rina pulled Blair to her feet.
Guided by Rina to the dining room, a waiting servant opened the door.
On the first day of marriage, it was customary for the newlyweds to have luncheon with the groom's family.
In most families, the table would be bustling with immediate relatives, but the vast dining room held only Herdin seated alone.
He had no family.
Growing up alone without siblings, having lost his parents early, Herdin had seen Empress Esmeralda as a parent figure.
Seeing the empty dining room, Blair felt she could newly understand why he hated her so much. Regardless of her resentment toward him.
The butler who pulled out Blair's chair skillfully filled her glass with aperitif before leaving the dining room.
Left alone, Herdin lifted his glass and asked,
"Did you sleep well?"
It was a slightly amusing question coming from the culprit who had tormented her all night until dawn, but Blair answered obediently.
"Yes."
With that short exchange of greetings, the meal began.
For newlyweds who had just had their wedding and first night the day before, the silence was excessively dry.
Herdin broke the silence first.
"After the meal, the butler will introduce you to the servants."
He continued, skillfully slicing his steak with his knife.
"After the servant introductions, he'll give you a tour of the mansion, and there's nothing after that, so you can rest."
"Thank you."
"Feel free to ask if you have any questions or things to discuss."
"How will you investigate the fire from ten years ago?"
His knife paused mid-slice.
His ever-dry blue eyes turned to Blair.
Though it was a contract marriage for that purpose, he hadn't expected her to bring it up right away today.
Especially right after the wedding and first night, when both body and mind would be weary.
"Since you say you have no memories of it, we're first securing a hypnotist."
At the word 'hypnotist,' Blair's body flinched. Memories of the past resurfaced.
"Hypnosis... I tried it several times before, but it had no effect."
"Who knows, it might be different this time."
Herdin replied nonchalantly, but his words carried a bite. He suspected Blair wasn't truly amnesiac but pretending for some other reason.
"...You doubt me."
"How could I trust you?"
His tone implied it was obvious.
One might hide their true feelings if exposed, but he stated his candidly without intent to conceal.
"Whether you truly lost your memories or are pretending for another reason, only you know."
The daughter of the imperial family, political enemies.
That alone was reason enough for his distrust.
Blair had fully realized and internalized it through her regression.
But vaguely thinking about it and facing his raw hostility directly were different matters.
"Accepting the contract doesn't mean I trust you."
He was right.
This was a contract.
Not a marriage premised on love and trust, but one calculated on gains and losses. Hadn't she proposed it first?
Having contracted, she needed to justify herself against his suspicions.
Blair calmly acquiesced to his demand.
"...I understand. Then, as you say, let's try hypnosis first."
Thus, the newlyweds' first intimate meal on their first day ended.
* * *
After the servant introductions, butler Mason took charge of the mansion tour.
Having served the del Mark Duke family for generations, he held deep loyalty and pride toward it, knowing its history better than even the current head, Herdin.
The tour continued until dinner.
Blair, who had lived in this mansion until her regression, already knew it all, but she listened attentively to Mason. Revisiting after returning from death brought new emotions.
On the way back to Blair's bedroom after the tour, Mason apologized as if it had just occurred to him.
"You must be tired after the ceremony yesterday, yet I got carried away and overdid it."
"As the lady of the house, these are things I should know. Thanks to you, I grasped the mansion's ins and outs quickly."
Like most in the duke's household, Mason wasn't friendly toward Blair, but he had never shown personal feelings before her.
Even as an unwelcome lady, Blair didn't want to burden his sense of duty in treating her as mistress. The tour had actually been enjoyable.
They soon arrived at Blair's bedroom door.
"If you have any further questions, please ask anytime."
"I'd like the servant roster and household inventory ledger."
Mason was surprised by Blair's request.
Matters like servant salaries and inventory levels were indeed the lady's duties.
However, noble ladies rarely handled them personally. Managing numbers was headache-inducing, usually delegated to subordinates.
Yet she wanted to do it herself.
"You mean to handle it personally?"
"I'm part of del Mark now. I should do my share."
The pre-regression Blair had left internal affairs to Mason, like most noble ladies.
It was partly because the duties were daunting, but mainly because the household disliked her involvement.
But now, she didn't care what others thought. Even as a one-year duchess, she wanted to fulfill her role.
Not for others' approval, but so she wouldn't feel pathetic toward herself anymore.