A week passed. A week filled with sudden, recurring attacks and relentless battles with hyperventilation.
Word arrived that Blair, who had been completely out of contact, had finally returned. It was barely minutes later when he stormed into the annex. The servants didn’t even have time to notify their mistress before Blair flung open the door and barged inside.
“Odelliana!” he called out, his voice sharp with urgency.
It seemed almost a family trait for the people of this household to appear unannounced. Odelliana’s eyes flicked toward Blair. While a small part of her felt relief to see him after weeks of silence, mistrust quickly smothered any fleeting joy.
“Are you all right? They said you collapsed!” he pressed, his gaze scanning her for signs of injury.
Blair turned to Marlena, who stood calmly by the bedside. “Marlena, what’s her condition?”
“She’s still experiencing attacks and hyperventilation,” Marlena replied evenly, her hands clasped in front of her. “But the frequency has been decreasing. You needn’t worry too much.”
“Is she improving, then? What’s the cause?”
“She appears to have developed an ailment of the heart,” Marlena explained. “I suspect it stems from extreme anxiety.”
“Out of nowhere?” Blair asked, his brow furrowing deeply. “She’s been fine until now…”
“Perhaps it’s the culmination of stress finally reaching its breaking point,” Marlena replied with a sigh.
Blair’s expression darkened, and he stepped closer to the bed. His hand reached out, trembling slightly, as if hesitant to touch her. “Odelliana…” he murmured.
Before his fingers could brush hers, Odelliana slapped his hand away. It wasn’t planned—it was pure instinct, a visceral rejection her body seemed to act on before her mind could catch up.
The sound of the slap echoed briefly in the room, and both of them froze. Blair’s eyes widened in shock, his hand hovering mid-air, while Odelliana stared at him, equally stunned by her own reaction.
“Ah… You must’ve felt uneasy because I was away for so long. That’s why your health deteriorated, isn’t it?” Blair’s voice was soft, almost tentative, as if testing the waters of her mood.
Odelliana didn’t respond, her silence heavy and pointed.
“I’m sorry, Odelliana,” he said after a pause, his tone weighted with guilt. “I should’ve sent word, but I was… overwhelmed.”
Her gaze finally shifted toward him, sharp and unyielding. “What… have you been doing all this time?”
Her voice, cracked and hoarse from days of screaming during her attacks, carried an edge of reproach that cut deeper than her words. Blair winced, his troubled expression betraying his discomfort.
“I was in Eisenwald,” he admitted quietly.
“Eisenwald?” she echoed.
Blair nodded, avoiding her gaze. “Odelliana, you told me to have a serious discussion with Adolf, remember? He offered me the position of Lord of Eisenwald. The previous lord’s misdeeds left the position vacant, and with the household wiped out, there’s no one left to inherit the title.”
“So you traveled all the way to that distant place?” Her voice rose slightly, raspy but cutting. “Without saying a word?”
“I had to see it for myself,” Blair replied, his tone calm but resolute. “The position of lord isn’t something to take lightly—it involves the well-being of every person in the territory. I couldn’t make a decision of this magnitude without understanding the situation firsthand.”
It was such a Blair-like decision. Thorough, considerate, and unrelenting in his sense of duty. His integrity left her momentarily speechless, even stripping her of the energy to argue further.
“The city without a lord is in chaos,” he continued, his voice tinged with regret. “Public order is unstable… It’s a situation that demands immediate resolution.”
Odelliana’s heart sank slightly, but she forced herself to ask, “So, after seeing it for yourself, have you made up your mind?”
As the question lingered in the air, a flicker of anxiety stirred within her. She feared his answer, dreaded the possibility that he might still consider independence premature.
The truth was, Blair was her only realistic means of escaping this house safely. While she had considered attempting a secret escape with Matthias once he returned, she didn’t want to burden him unnecessarily from the start.
“This seems like a good opportunity,” Blair said, his voice steady but contemplative. “I think I’ll give it a shot.”
Odelliana raised an eyebrow but said nothing, her silence urging him to continue.
“Like you said, it’s about time I gained my independence. Besides,” Blair added with a faint, wry smile, “staying here would only worsen your health.”
Odelliana’s eyes softened slightly. “Really?”
“However,” he began, his tone firm, “our parents will never allow me to leave with you. We’ll need to figure out a way to leave in secret. I’m thinking of discussing it with Adolf, but unfortunately, he’s away at the moment. He’s overseeing the knight examinations as an examiner.”
Adolf attending the knight examinations made perfect sense. In her previous life, he had always personally supervised the exams, diligently managing and monitoring them.
Set to succeed Duke Schaller as the lord of the western continent, Adolf had consistently shown a deep interest in nurturing knights. If Matthias had caught Adolf Schaller’s eye before Jocelyn discovered him, Adolf would undoubtedly have recognized Matthias’s potential and taken him in as a knight by his side.
“Does the young Lord Schaller know about Matthias?” Odelliana asked, tilting her head slightly.
“I haven’t mentioned it explicitly,” Blair admitted, “but since I submitted his application, Adolf will find out soon enough.”
Odelliana nodded thoughtfully. “I hope Adolf sees Matthias in a favorable light.”
“Adolf is a fair person,” Blair replied, his confidence unwavering. “Even if he knows I brought Matthias in, he’d never grant special treatment for something so trivial.”
“I know,” Odelliana said, a small smile tugging at her lips.
Precisely because Adolf was such a person, she thought, he would be more likely to recognize Matthias’s true value.
Blair becoming the lord of Eisenwald under the Schaller duchy and Matthias catching Adolf Schaller’s attention to join the Schaller Knights—that was the most ideal outcome she could envision. So far, everything seemed to be progressing smoothly.
But can I really trust Blair?
“Brother,” she called softly.
“Yes?” he responded.
“…Never mind.”
The words lingered on her tongue, but she swallowed them. Even if she suspected that he knew about the beast’s curse and the truth behind Odette’s heart, there wasn’t much she could do about it now. This wasn’t the time to confront him. She decided to revisit the matter after leaving the Grüsewald estate. For now, with Blair choosing the path of independence, her only option was to rely on him.
“Thank you,” she said at last, her tone quieter than she intended.
Blair hesitated for a moment before cautiously extending his hand. His movements were careful, almost tentative, as though he feared another rejection. His touch was gentle as he smoothed her disheveled hair, his fingers trembling ever so slightly.
“Don’t worry too much, Odelliana,” he murmured. “I’ll take responsibility for you until the very end.”
Odelliana’s eyes lingered on him, her expression unreadable.
I hope what you just said isn’t a lie.
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