1. Unexpected Guest

The Eleanor Empire, except for the rugged mountains to the north, was surrounded by sea on three sides. Naturally, this allowed for rapid development in trade, commerce, and maritime technology. Especially the imperial capital, Blue Port, located in a position where the cultures of the East and West converge. It truly lived up to its nickname as the ‘City of the Blue Flower’ passed down from ancient times.

Blue Port had a significant presence of female merchants. This was due to the nature of coastal areas where women often sustained their livelihoods while their sailor husbands were away.

This year, Blair Cavendish, a twenty-two-year-old woman, was also a registered merchant.

During the time when Blair had just become a merchant, she used to travel back and forth between cities with great enthusiasm. But her activities now were not as vigorous as before because her in-laws did not approve of her involvement in commerce.

But Blair enjoyed working outside. And being cooped up in the mansion all day made her feel particularly stifled.

Fortunately, her considerate husband respected all her opinions. When she expressed her desire to become a merchant, he handed over ownership of their business to her.

Thanks to this, she could maintain the family business as a merchant. Despite operating under her husband’s name, Blair diligently met payment deadlines and maintained the quality of goods under ‘Cavendish Merchants,’ earning a good reputation despite its small scale.

In the capital of the empire, the city center of Blue Port. Blair pushed open the door of a shop and entered. As she did, the paper hanging at the entrance made a crisp sound.

“Hello, Mr. Louis.”

When Blair entered, the shop owner Louis greeted her with a bright smile.

“Mrs. Cavendish! It’s been a while.”

Louis’s shop in the city center dealt with quality wines. Inside the shop, the sweet scent of grapes mixed with the robust aroma of oak wafted through the air.

“Actually, today is our wedding anniversary. Do you have any good wine?”

“On a day like this, we have just the right one!”

As she inquired and looked around the wine cellar, the owner promptly responded.

Blair bought a moderately sweet and flavorful wine recommended by the shop owner. Of course, there were quite good vintage wines in the wine cellar of the mansion as well. And she could just ask household staff to buy wine. But she wanted to choose it herself.

She always felt sorry for her husband, Adrian Cavendish.

Blair was a wife who could not fulfill her duties as a wife.

Strangely, she did not sleep well with her husband. Whenever she undressed and lay on the bed, she trembled. But her kind husband did not scold her. He would hold her warmly and comfort her. He would wait until she was ready.

Wives are obligated to comply with their husband’s requests when it comes to intimacy. It was a time-honored tradition in both the East and the West. It was enough reason for divorce. But her husband never blamed or pressured her.

Today is their third wedding anniversary.

Every year on this day, the couple would enter the same bedroom as if it were an annual event. However, last year and the year before were failures. They did not consummate their relationship.

Her husband, Adrian Cavendish, was a young and handsome viscount. He was twenty-six years old, four years older than her. He was a young man with thick golden blond hair that hinted at bronze, fair and clear skin, taller and more robust than most others.

So, the secret of their marriage was something whose cause was completely unknown.

‘This anniversary should not just pass by.’

Her husband was a viscount. He needed an heir…

For a long time, her husband’s family didn’t pressure her, saying she was still young. But this year marked their third year of marriage. It was a task that she could not postpone any longer.

Rattle, rattle.

In the carriage on the way home, Blair caressed the wine nestled in her arms and looked out the window. The flowing scenery seemed picturesque. She arrived home after admiring the cypress trees swaying in the wind along the road with vacant eyes.

As Blair entered the mansion, the servants welcomed her with bright smiles as the mistress of the house.

“Madam, welcome back.”

She handed over her coat and took a few steps. She felt tired from wandering around the market too much. If she took a brief nap now, she could wake up before her husband returned home in the evening.

* * *

When Blair woke up, the purple darkness lay outside the window like a curtain.

“Oh… Did I oversleep?”

She went to the bathroom connected to the bedroom to wash up, muttering to herself. She briefly considered calling a maid but decided against it. She did not mind bathing alone. Her family was a modest noble family, and they had never employed many maids.

Blair dried her hair and briefly dressed in front of the vanity. She usually didn’t wear heavy makeup, but today she lightly applied lipstick. Blair glanced at her reflection in the mirror, and she saw a woman with long blonde hair cascading down to her waist and blue eyes staring back at her.

It’s probably better not to wear underwear…? I’ll end up taking it off anyway.

Blair wrapped herself in a purple silk robe over her damp skin. The thin and soft fabric felt pleasantly against her skin.

She glanced around the room for a moment.

“Oh, I need to get the wine.”

She pulled the golden rope hanging from the ceiling. She was going to deliberately request to bring chilled wine and glasses.

“…”

But no matter how long she waited, the maids did not come.

“Louise! Leona!”

Blair called out loudly for the maids, but there was no response.

‘Could my husband have asked them to leave work early today? But there are maids who live in the mansion.’

With a puzzled expression, Blair went downstairs to the first floor, fetched two glasses and wine from the kitchen, and then ascended the stairs again. Only the sound of her slippers echoed through the quiet mansion.

‘Hmm?’

When she reached the second floor, Blair paused in the hallway leading to her bedroom.

…It was strange. The mansion felt oddly different today. There was a slightly wider corridor between the staircase and the bedrooms. This place she walked through every day seemed unfamiliar today.

‘Was this corridor always this dark…?’

As she walked slowly, the old wooden floor creaked with each step.

Then it happened.

Squelch.

“…Huh?”

Bending down to investigate the sound of liquid, Blair noticed red liquid inside her slippers. Red droplets were spreading around the slippers on the floor.

‘…Did I spill the wine?’

She lifted the bottom of the bottle to inspect but found no scratches. Blair followed the trail of red liquid on the floor, leading to the second-floor reception room.

Creak. Creak.

With each step she took, the air that touched her skin felt chilly. Come to think of it, the air inside the mansion was cold.

‘Is the fireplace out…?’

With a creak, she pushed open the heavy door of the grand reception room, and a familiar sight came into view. On the wall facing the door were framed paintings and a fireplace, with a few single sofas draped in green velvet and mahogany tables in front.

Blair slowly lowered her gaze, conscious of an inexplicable chill. A pool of red liquid had gathered under the table, and beside it lay her brown-haired maid, Leonora, with her nose bloodied.

“….Aaaaah!!”

With a reflexive, tearing scream, Blair quickly approached the fallen maid. Leonora, with a large wound on her back, was covered in blood. Her pale skin was chillingly cold, and when Blair touched her chest, she felt no heartbeat.

“…Is she dead?”

It wasn’t just Leonora. There were at least three more bodies in maid uniforms.

“Oh, Heavens. What happened in this mansion while I was asleep?”

Frantically scanning the surroundings, Blair spotted a dark figure in the distance and froze, halting all movements. There stood a large figure leaning against the fireplace. Squinting and focusing hard, she made out the outline of a man leaning against the fireplace with his arms crossed. The man’s height resembled that of her husband.

“Adrian? Is that you…?”

Blair cautiously asked with a trembling voice. But there was no response.

The mansion shrouded in darkness made it difficult to see what was in front of her. Who extinguished all the candles on the walls? Summoning her courage, Blair approached the man in the darkness.

“Honey…?”

As she took a step forward and asked again, the man in front of the fireplace remained silent.

“…”

Every cell in Blair’s body warned her to stop her steps. Cold sweat ran down her spine unnoticed. Though the man’s face was still obscured by darkness, she could sense it. That man wasn’t her beloved husband. The wine glass in Blair’s hand trembled and clinked, making a clear sound.

As Blair halted her steps, the man finally moved. With his arms crossed, he slowly shifted his position in the darkness.

When the large figure took a step forward, creak… The floor made a heavy sound, unlike when she moved.

Creak…

As he took one more step towards her, bathed in moonlight streaming through the window, his face was finally revealed. Dark hair like the night sky, thick eyebrows, eyes that seemed cold with a slightly raised end, a tall nose, and golden irises.

“…Ah.”

When Blair met eyes with the man, a shiver ran through her.

…Crash!

Blair’s hand weakened, and the wine glass fell to the floor with a dismal sound. Sticky and sharp fragments scattered around, painting the entire reception room in crimson red.

“…Hello, Blair.”

A deep rumble emanated from the man’s lips bathed in moonlight. As he approached, a pungent and intense smell of blood engulfed her.

“…Oh my god.”

Blair mumbled, covering her mouth with her free hand.

“Are you doing well after abandoning me, Blair?”

The man asked with a vague smile.

In Blair’s eyes, which had now grown accustomed to the darkness, the man’s appearance became clear. A face with bold features, golden eyes that seemed to shine, and a deep voice reminiscent of a cave. Everything was just as it was three years ago.