I Got Engaged To The Blind Duke - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke Episode 43

Marine went to the end of the line of servants standing on both sides and stood quietly.

The Duke, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, seemed a bit thinner with a sharper jawline.

Had he been through a lot of mental stress? Had he been sleeping properly?

As the Duke slowly walked between them, the servants all bowed their heads in unison.

Marine also took the same posture as them.

However, the Duke’s neat footsteps stopped right in front of her. The Duke seemed to know she was standing here and had come looking for her.

Marine, who had been looking at the feet of the Duke standing motionless in front of her, slowly raised her head. The Duke’s face, standing with his back to the sunlight, was shadowed and she couldn’t read what he wanted at all.

The servants near her bowed their waists even deeper.

Marine looked around awkwardly and spoke with a half-believing heart.

“Welcome back? Duke.”

“I’m back… safely.”

The Duke, who slightly bent his waist near her face, whispered the trailing words.

Marine, who opened her eyes wide, realized it was an answer to what she had said when seeing him off and soon smiled brightly.

“Yes!”

* * *

“Duke, all preparations for departure are complete. I will organize this place and move together with Count Young Master and the Young Ladies. And we are investigating the matter of the mastermind.”

“Tell the spies sent to various ducal houses to investigate thoroughly as well. Anyway, the mastermind is either the Emperor or one of them.”

“Yes. And this is the quarterly report from the Eastern spy. The ‘child’ is growing up well without knowing anything.”

“I see.”

“Yes.”

“Can’t Peridot speak yet?”

“According to the personal physician, it’s a temporary symptom due to shock. It seems time will be needed.”

Oliver reported in a regretful tone.

“I see.”

Now it was time to leave.

“Well, there’s a slight problem.”

Oliver carefully watched the Duke’s expression.

“…”

Gerald waited for the words to follow.

“The eldest Young Lady agreed to move her residence to the Duke’s Castle for safety, but she made conditions. She requested a small annex and wishes no one to approach. She even refused a tutor. After going through this incident, she’s in a state of not trusting anyone.”

“Do as the children want.”

“As for the tutor, we can gradually find one while staying at the Duke’s Castle and taking time, but the biggest problem is that the eldest Young Lady must soon have her debutante ball. We need a noble woman to serve as the eldest Young Lady’s chaperone. Actually, anyone who is an adult noble woman can be a chaperone, but the eldest Young Lady doesn’t want any interaction with any nobles other than people from the Ducal House.”

“No one?”

“Yes. If only there were a Duchess at times like this…”

Oliver trailed off in a self-deprecating voice.

“…”

Gerald fell into thought silently.

* * *

The dark office covered with curtains.

The conversation with Oliver before departing for the Duke’s Castle lingered in Gerald’s mind.

Assigning a tutor could wait as long as needed until the children’s wounds healed.

However, Dia’s chaperone was a different matter.

Having become their guardian, he intended to take perfect care of his nephews. In that case, Dia’s debutante ball was a very important event.

A noble woman who doesn’t have a debutante ball becomes ostracized from noble society. It was unthinkable for his eldest niece to be ignored in noble society.

He needed someone to present as a chaperone for Dia, but his niece didn’t want interaction with nobles from other houses.

He couldn’t just go somewhere and marry any woman right away.

There was no need to go as far as marriage. Even an engagement that could be broken at any time would be good enough.

Gerald pondered and fingered the eye covering placed on his desk. It hadn’t been long since he took this off, but somehow it felt like the very distant past.

At that moment, Gerald’s lips parted at the familiar presence heard from outside.

“Come in.”

“Hello, Duke. You just arrived so you must be tired, right? I thought it would be better for you to sleep early today, so I came a bit early.”

Marine chattered like a bird with words no one asked for while pushing the trolley. Even in the midst of that, she didn’t forget to lower her voice to be considerate of him.

The familiar scent of books and dandelion grass came from her.

The corners of Gerald’s lips rose slightly, but he didn’t realize it himself.

“I’ll put the compress on your eyes. Did you use the one I gave you well?”

“Yes.”

He felt Marine, who had come close, hesitate while trying to put the cloth on his eyes. She seemed to have just noticed that he wasn’t covering his eyes now.

“You don’t cover your eyes anymore? Can I put this on as is?”

“Yes.”

When the cloth filled with dandelion grass was placed over his eyes, his eyelids felt cool.

“Today I’ll tell you the story of the Crown Prince and the beggar.”

She cleared her voice and began reading the fairy tale in a low but clear voice.

Her warm voice tickled his ears. Sleep gradually came, but he held onto his drowsy consciousness because he missed her voice that he was hearing after a long time.

“The Crown Prince disguised as a beggar returned to the Imperial Palace and told the knight: I am the Crown Prince. The knight laughed at the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince who left the Imperial Palace told an old man on the road: I am the Crown Prince. The old man threw stones at him, calling him a liar.”

A life where the real and fake are switched, and the fake becomes real.

He detested lies, but sometimes they were necessary.

Listening to the fairy tale, he realized that a noble woman who could be a fake fiancée was very close by.

A deep smile was carved on the Duke’s lips as he listened to the fairy tale.

* * *

The next morning.

A tea table was set up in the center of the dark office. Flickering candles brightly illuminated the area around the tea table.

Gerald felt Marine’s fidgeting movements as if she was restless and slowly opened his mouth.

“How is life at the Duke’s Castle?”

“Thanks to the Duke’s great consideration, I’m living very comfortably. I’m always grateful.”

It was a typical social response, but why was it so amusing when she said it?

“You like living here?”

Gerald asked once more while thinking about what he was going to say next.

Would she still like it even after hearing his plan?

“Yes. I like it very much.”

“Then let’s get engaged.”

Gerald brought up the main point in a calm tone.

“I didn’t hear you correctly?”

“Is your hearing bad?”

“No. It’s not that…”

“Let’s get engaged.”

“Yes, that word… hiccup.”

At the surprised reaction as expected, Gerald inwardly suppressed his laughter.

“Duke, I think my hearing really is bad after all. I think I should go see the Duke’s Castle personal physician, so I’ll be going now…”

“Sit down.”

“Yes.”

“Shall we return to the main topic?”

“Yes.”

“Your answers are quite short. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Gerald slowly stroked his lips with his long fingers, hiding his smile.

“Yesss.”

Perhaps because of what he had just said, this time she answered very long.

“Short would be better. And naturally, if possible.”

“Yes.”

Gerald pondered how he could persuade her well, then threw out a question first.

“What do you want?”

“I don’t understand what you mean…”

“Lady Marine Schwentz.”

She suddenly stopped breathing. The restless movement of her fidgeting fingers also stopped at the same time.

She needs to breathe though.

He was concerned when she froze, but he pretended not to notice and continued speaking.

“When you hid your nobility and came to work at the Duke’s Castle, you must have had something you wanted, right?”

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