I Got Engaged To The Blind Duke - Chapter 115

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke Episode 115

“I am engaged, so I have no intention of having tea time with another woman.”

At the Duke’s words, the two Imperial Princesses sharply turned their gazes to Marine.

Then they looked Marine up and down with piercing eyes.

Marine slightly lowered her head to avoid their gazes.

“Hmm, Lady Schwentz. Are you quite jealous?”

The 4th Princess deliberately widened her eyes even more and asked in a coquettish voice.

Marine took a deep breath inwardly and raised her head.

The Duke was the one who refused, so why are the sparks flying at me?

Just as Marine was about to speak, she saw the 3rd Princess calling the Duke while reaching her hand toward his arm.

Where is that hand heading right now? The Duke hates being touched by anyone other than me!

At that moment, her eyes rolled without her knowing it.

Right. I must fulfill my duty as his fiancée.

Marine placed her hand on his arm before the 3rd Princess could and moved it back so the Princess’s hand couldn’t reach.

“That’s right.”

“Huh?”

The 4th Princess tilted her head with an innocent face as if asking what she meant.

“Your Highness, please forgive my petty heart. I can’t bear to let Gerald out of my sight. So much so that I even asked him to come pick me up from the Imperial Palace like this.”

The two Imperial Princesses looked at Marine with incredulous expressions.

Usually, displaying jealous emotions went against the virtues of noble ladies.

“Gerald, you can’t be with other women without me. Understood?”

After saying those words, she felt upset and unconsciously tightened her grip on his arm.

This should be a perfect performance of loving the Duke, right?

For a moment, she saw the Duke’s lips curve up as if satisfied.

The two Imperial Princesses, who had always only seen the Duke’s stoic face, were captivated by that expression.

Both the 3rd Princess and 4th Princess simultaneously thought they were better than that lacking Lady who couldn’t even hide such ugly emotions as jealousy.

Soon, their desire for him was openly revealed in their eyes.

But then it happened.

“Marine, you really can’t hide your feelings well.”

It was a tone that seemed to blame her, but the smile on his lips was growing deeper.

Marine’s light green eyes looking up at the Duke shook as if hit by an earthquake.

That’s the tone the Duke uses when he’s teasing me!

“You’re showing your love for me too openly in front of the two Imperial Princesses. Do you like me that much?”

“Y-yes.”

I can’t say no here.

“Do you love me?”

This man, really.

Marine looked at him with a bewildered face while firmly squeezing the arm she was holding.

Stop it, really.

When she hesitated to answer, people’s gazes focused on them.

Marine had no choice but to speak.

“…Yes.”

“When I look at other women, do you get so angry you could go crazy?”

“Sigh, yes…”

Marine sighed deeply and answered reluctantly.

She desperately wanted to cut off the Duke’s words.

When she glanced around, Oliver and Dia were watching their conversation with fascinated eyes.

Meanwhile, the two Imperial Princesses had sour expressions.

“Just being in the same space as another woman makes you want to kill her?”

“What?”

Marine’s eyes widened.

Why is the story going that far!

The two Imperial Princesses who were listening looked at Marine with horrified eyes.

Marine looked at the Duke with a terrified face. She had suddenly become someone who wanted to kill other women out of blind jealousy.

“That’s not it. Not to that extent…”

As Marine waved her hands while looking at the two Imperial Princesses, the Duke cut off her words.

“I know your heart completely. Because I’m like that.”

At the terrible possessiveness underlying the Duke’s leisurely voice, everyone present looked at the Duke in surprise.

This man really is incredibly good at acting.

Everyone would think he loves her passionately.

Marine looked up at the Duke with admiring eyes.

“3rd Princess, 4th Princess. My fiancée is too jealous, so may we take our leave now?”

The Duke asked with a smile on his lips.

The Imperial Princesses looked at him with astounded faces.

The Duke was very strange somewhere. Strange enough to completely cool their interest in him.

“…Fine.”

The somewhat deflated Imperial Princesses gave their permission.

Then the Duke moved forward, keeping Marine’s hand on his arm.

Feeling the piercing gazes from behind, she tried to slip her hand away, but the Duke covered her hand with his large one and wouldn’t let go.

Right, it’s easier when you give up.

Marine walked following the Duke in resignation.

* * *

A middle-aged woman with an unremarkable, common appearance that could be seen anywhere stood in front of the Duke’s office.

“Come in.”

“Duke, I greet you after a long time.”

The woman wearing a rough and shabby gray dress lifted her dress hem and curtsied.

Oliver, who made eye contact with her as she raised her head, smiled brightly and nodded in greeting.

“What’s your name this time?”

The Duke asked leisurely.

“It’s Jenny.”

“Right, Jenny. It’s been a while.”

She was sometimes called Camellia, sometimes Iris, and sometimes Jenny.

When Jenny smiled brightly, her brown eyes buried in her eyelid flesh looked kind.

“Have you been well?”

“Yes. How was that place?”

“Last year’s drought was severe, so it was difficult. I lost so much weight too, didn’t I?”

Jenny cupped her plump cheeks with both hands and acted coquettishly. Then when she made eye contact with Oliver, she winked.

“The child?”

“Is having a meal at the inn.”

“Alone?”

“No. Since they’re still very young, there’s someone helping to take care of them.”

“I see.”

Finally, she had arrived in the capital with the ‘child’.

“It will be over soon.”

Her voice carried undisguised regret.

“This was my first mission of this kind, but the time with the child was happy.”

A few years ago, spy Jenny received orders to take care of and raise a child.

She brought a child from the orphanage, had them call her nanny, and raised them with care. She even deliberately gained weight to blend in with the commoners.

She had grown quite attached to the child, but now the time had come to return the child to their rightful place.

“I’ll contact you again.”

“Yes, I’ll be waiting.”

Jenny, who instantly concealed her regret, burst into hearty laughter and left the office.

No matter how attached she had become to the child, she never forgot her true duty.

Gerald stroked the blindfold placed on his desk.

* * *

The week-long debutante ball had ended.

And soon after, the annual noble assembly began.

It was mostly a gathering to honor the Emperor’s achievements and praise the contributions of the four Dukes, but all nobles with titles were required to attend.

Thus, nobles gathered from all regions assembled in the Solar Hall.

The Solar Hall only opened for important events in the Empire.

Especially during the Emperor’s coronation, the white chariot carrying the Crown Prince would pass directly through the building, which was why the main gate was characteristically enormous.

A red carpet stretched long from that main gate to the platform three stories high, with the Emperor’s seat at the very top.

Meanwhile, the ivory marble table directly below was the seat for the four Dukes.

The remaining nobles sat on each floor according to their rank.

Among the over a thousand nobles all seated in their places, one empty seat stood out particularly.

It was the Western Duke’s seat.

The Emperor glared at the empty seat with dissatisfied eyes, then gestured to the elderly chief attendant standing below the platform.

“Where is the Western Duke?”

“We received word that he would arrive soon.”

The chief attendant answered with a flustered expression.

In any case, nothing the Western Duke did pleased him.

Even though he was blind, his sister was dead, and the Duke’s life had plummeted to its worst, his authority showed no signs of breaking, and that stiff neck of his never seemed to bow.

“It’s not like he injured his feet.”

At the Emperor’s low grumbling, the chief attendant quickly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his sweat.

When the Emperor turned his head, he saw the Eastern Archduke sitting with a smiling face.

He should get things done quickly.

“Proceed.”

“Yes.”

The chief attendant stepped forward and looked around at the nobles once.

“We will now proceed with the annual noble assembly.”

The nobles applauded.

“First, there will be the Noel Medal award ceremony. Meron de Stein Lesser Duke, please come forward.”

Since the Lesser Duke had not yet received a ducal title, he walked out from the far end of the first floor rather than from the Dukes’ seats.

He stood before the high platform where the Emperor sat, wearing a dignified smile.

“During the past year, the Eastern Region suffered deeply from drought. In response, Meron de Stein Lesser Duke provided relief to many people by using not his family’s wealth, but his personal fortune. ‘Stein gives.’ I bestow the Noel Medal upon Meron de Stein Lesser Duke, who showed exemplary conduct as the Eastern Archduke, to honor him.”

The Emperor rose from his seat and descended step by step to personally pin the medal the chief attendant offered onto the Lesser Duke’s chest.

“I am grateful for His Majesty the Emperor’s grace.”

The Lesser Duke bowed deeply with a moved expression.

“You’ve worked hard, Lesser Duke.”

The Emperor patted the Lesser Duke’s shoulder.

At this heartwarming scene, thunderous applause erupted.

Meanwhile, the Southern Duke watched the scene without even trying to hide his sneer, and the Northern Duke had an indifferent expression.

The Lesser Duke returned quietly to his seat, still with an excited expression, touching his medal.

The Emperor looked around at the nobles once and spoke solemnly.

“Next, we were going to discuss the Western Duke, but he has not yet arrived. As you all know, since the Duke injured his eyes, the Western Barrier is a concern. So I’m sending the capital defense forces to the west…”

At that moment, along with the sound of horses neighing, a huge cargo wagon entered through the main gate.

The Emperor looked with a surprised face at the cargo wagon stepping on the sacred red carpet.

Next to the coachman wearing a black hood pulled low sat the Western Duke.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————