I Got Engaged To The Blind Duke - Chapter 218

—————
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 218

* * *

The Knights standing guard at the Crown Prince Palace stepped forward to block the approaching woman.

The Maid standing behind the woman stiffened her expression and stepped forward.

“Are you blocking Her Imperial Majesty’s path right now?”

The Knight bowed politely to the Empress.

“My apologies, Her Imperial Majesty. These are His Majesty the Emperor’s orders that no one may approach.”

“Are you saying that ‘no one’ includes me as well?”

The Empress asked in a calm but dignified voice.

It was then that the Knights exchanged troubled glances with each other.

James, who had been walking from afar, spotted the Empress and hurried over.

“Imperial Guard Captain James Miller greets Her Imperial Majesty.”

“It’s been a while, Sir Miller. I wish to meet the Crown Prince.”

James struggled to hide his troubled expression as he raised his head.

Since the frail Empress had come personally, he couldn’t refuse her firmly.

Eventually, he gestured to the Knights.

“I’ll guard the front, so rest for a moment.”

The Knights tactfully withdrew in haste.

James stepped aside slightly to allow the Empress to enter and closed his eyes.

“I saw nothing.”

“Thank you.”

As the Maid opened the Door, the Empress slowly entered inside.

The Empress’s gaze grew heavy as she surveyed the Palace. The Palace, which had always been modest, felt even more desolate due to the Crown Prince’s confinement.

An Attendant passing through the Corridor was startled to see the Empress and rushed over.

“I greet Her Imperial Majesty.”

“Where is the Crown Prince?”

“He is in his Office. I shall escort you.”

Following the Attendant to the Office, Alexpert hurriedly rose to greet her. The Letter secretly sent by the Duchess of the East remained covered by other Documents on the Desk.

“Mother.”

“Alex.”

The Empress approached the Crown Prince with pitying eyes.

The Crown Prince had lost weight, seemingly having suffered much mental anguish from his confinement.

“What is this state of your face? Are you eating properly?”

“I am fine. And you shouldn’t have come like this. His Majesty ordered that no one should approach.”

Alexpert tried to reassure the Empress while averting his eyes.

However, the Empress’s stern expression did not soften.

This son whom she had always felt sorry for not being able to protect. Confinement and abdication.

“What on earth did you say to make His Majesty confine you and discuss abdication?”

Alexpert’s face darkened.

He wondered if it was alright to reveal the Emperor’s illness.

If he told her that fact, he knew this frail woman would somehow struggle to help him. However, right now it had to be a fight between himself and the Emperor, not between the Emperor and the Empress.

“Tell me. Only then can we figure out some method. Abdication? That cannot happen.”

The Empress’s blue eyes blazed with fury as she firmly grasped the hesitating Crown Prince’s hand.

Not content with hating his son, he was trying to pull him down from his position entirely. Where in the world could such a parent exist?

After much deliberation, Alexpect spoke in a nonchalant tone.

“I defied His Majesty.”

“What?”

The startled Empress asked back with a dazed expression.

The Crown Prince defied the Emperor? The Crown Prince who had never once raised his voice even to the attendants?

Alexpert carefully took her arm and guided her to a chair.

“Mother, I am no longer a young boy. I can go against His Majesty the Emperor’s will. So please just watch over me while pretending not to know.”

“How can I pretend not to know? They’re discussing abdication.”

“That won’t happen. The nobles won’t follow His Majesty the Emperor’s will.”

Alexpert made a bitter expression.

“Did you hear something?”

“Public sentiment is poor due to the Western Duke incident. But since His Majesty mentioned my abdication, it’s no different from directly handing justification to the nobles.”

The Empress looked at him with a surprised expression.

When had her son grown so steadfast? Even though the Emperor had mentioned abdication, he wasn’t frightened and was looking ahead.

The Empress looked at the next Emperor with proud eyes and patted his hand.

“I trust you.”

Alexpert smiled gently and nodded.

* * *

Duke’s Office.

Gerald read through the letter sent by the Emperor with displeased eyes.

Marine asked curiously, seeing his face that clearly showed his dissatisfaction toward the Emperor.

“What does it say?”

“They’re proclaiming you as a saint.”

“Whaat?”

Her startled voice came out strangely.

When did they accuse her of being a witch, and now they’re proclaiming her as a saint?

Gerald coldly raised one corner of his mouth as if he couldn’t contain his sneer.

He held out the letter as if telling her to read it herself, and Marine hurriedly checked the contents.

Soon she opened her mouth with an unpleasant expression.

“How utterly selfish. Why are they going this far? I’m neither a witch nor a saint, so why are they trying to define me as they please?”

“Since using you to control me didn’t work, now he’s using you to seek my forgiveness.”

“Exactly! Why do you keep using me like this?”

“Because you are the most important to me.”

Marine blinked rapidly, looking flustered by Gerald’s sudden confession.

“Could you please not say such romantic things at a time like this?”

Gerald chuckled softly.

“So will you accept it?”

Marine narrowed her eyes with a look of disbelief and tapped the Emperor’s letter.

“I don’t need a saintess fiancée.”

“I don’t want to become some saintess either.”

Marine spoke in a firm voice and nodded her head.

“Since our opinions match, we’ll reject this proposal immediately.”

Gerald took out paper, wrote something, and handed it to Oliver.

Oliver quickly approached and his eyes widened as he looked at the paper Gerald handed him.

On the paper was written very politely to cut the nonsense.

“You’re going to send this?”

“Yes.”

Though he wanted to eliminate the Emperor right away, now was the time to crouch down and wait at the Duke’s estate.

The Crown Prince’s abdication agenda. The nobles’ patience that had exceeded its limits. The Emperor trying to win him over somehow.

That moment he was waiting for didn’t seem far away.

* * *

“Good heavens. Does this make sense? Abdicating His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“This shouldn’t happen. His Majesty the Emperor has lost his sight.”

“We must oppose this. And we must persuade His Highness the Crown Prince.”

The Southern Duke, who had been quiet, spoke softly.

“Now a justification has been created.”

At his words, the nobles looked at each other with gleaming eyes.

Living and dying by a single justification is exactly what this world is about.

But the Emperor had created a legitimate justification for the nobles to rise up himself.

Meanwhile, Eastern Duchess Edena looked at the Southern Duke with a strange expression.

The Southern Duke had changed.

The one who always arrived latest to meetings and interfered with trivial words was now expressing opinions with a calm demeanor.

‘Could it be… has he changed again?’

She remembered meeting the Southern Duke a few years ago. The young Southern Duke was sincere and calm.

Then the Duke she met the following year had changed into someone sharp and selfish.

And today.

Once again, the Southern Duke had changed.

But she couldn’t let go of her last thread of suspicion and needed confirmation.

As if reading her thoughts, the Southern Duke met her eyes with a calm gaze.

“What do you think? Duchess of the East.”

“Five years ago, there was a time when drought struck.”

At her seemingly random words, a subtle smile appeared on the Southern Duke’s lips.

“Do you know who resolved that drought?”

“It was me.”

When the Southern Duke spoke with a confident voice, a gleam appeared in Edena’s eyes.

Five years ago, there was no drought in the Southern Region. That year’s drought had only occurred in the Eastern Region.

And it was the Southern Duke who had helped the Eastern Region.

When she had asked the same question to the Duke who replaced him the following year, he couldn’t understand what she meant. Because the Southern Region had never experienced drought that year.

Edena’s lips curved into a gentle smile.

“You’ve returned.”

“Yes.”

The nobles cast puzzled glances at the cryptic exchange between the two.

“As the Southern Duke said, now that we have justification in our hands, we should wield it.”

Edena spoke to the nobles.

“I agree. The sooner we act on such matters, the better.”

As the Southern Duke expressed his agreement, one noble raised his hand.

“Shouldn’t we try to persuade His Highness the Crown Prince further?”

To this, Edena shook her head with a bitter expression.

She had tried to persuade the Crown Prince through various channels, but all attempts had failed.

They had no choice but to forcibly remove the Emperor and then place the Crown Prince on the throne by force.

“Tonight, let’s begin.”

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