I Got Engaged To The Blind Duke - Chapter 44

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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 44

“When you hid your noble status and came to work at the Duke’s Castle, you must have had something you wanted, didn’t you?”

“H-how did you… *hiccup*”

Gerald leaned back loosely in his chair and parted his red lips.

“If you believed you could deceive House Vines so easily, should I call that naive?”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I needed money…”

She readily admitted her wrongdoing.

“You infiltrated the Ducal House because of money?”

Gerald tilted his head further toward her to read her reaction.

“…It wasn’t infiltration, it was employment.”

She muttered in a timid voice.

“You stayed by my side because of money too?”

“…I wasn’t staying by your side, I was assisting you.”

She answered with a voice full of indignation. She spoke quite well despite trembling.

“You whispered beside me because of money too?”

“…The whispering was because you don’t like loud noises, Duke.”

Even though he was openly teasing her, she didn’t notice at all.

Gerald found himself smiling without realizing it.

“So all of that was because of money?”

“Yes.”

“Then how much would it take?”

“…What do you mean?”

“I told you earlier. Let’s get engaged. How much would it take for you to agree to an employment engagement?”

“Whaaaat?”

“Quietly.”

She quickly lowered her voice and asked again.

“I’m too slow to understand what Duke means?”

“Didn’t you say you liked living at the Duke’s Castle? Congratulations. You’ll be able to continue living in your favorite place.”

“Actually, now that I think about it, it doesn’t seem that great…”

“Really? Hmm, if you deceive the Ducal House, where would you…”

“But! The Duke’s Castle is the best, Duke! Did I mention before? That I want to be buried in this beautiful and wonderful Ducal House?”

“No, I didn’t hear that.”

Gerald chuckled and no longer hid his smile.

“Oh my, I thought I had already said it. That I would serve Duke wholeheartedly until I’m buried here…”

Gerald cut off her earnest words that seemed as sincere as possible.

“I don’t need bones, I want a fiancée.”

“By any chance, do I have the right to refuse?”

She asked timidly with a trembling voice.

“Does it seem like you do?”

When the same answer she heard when asking if she could change her wish came back, Marine mumbled with a dejected face.

“…No.”

Instead of forgiving her for deceiving him all this time, he wanted an employment engagement.

Employment engagement.

It was quite an unfamiliar term. But it was like the contract marriages and contract engagements she’d seen countless times in novels in her past life.

Was this possible? There was no such content in the novel.

Marine forcibly held back her desire to tear at her hair and slightly raised her hand.

“Um, I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“When did you know I was a noble? Why did you just watch until now?”

“From the beginning. Are you asking why someone who deceived me kept deceiving me until now?”

When he showed cynicism, Marine closed her mouth quietly with an embarrassed expression.

An awkward silence settled between the two.

Marine quietly raised her hand again.

“Um, may I ask why you want to have a contract engag- I mean, employment engagement with me? If Duke proposed, all the Young Ladies in the Western Region would accept.”

“I need a temporary fiancée. There happens to be a Noble Lady working temporarily around me, doesn’t there? A Noble Lady who even has the sin of daring to deceive the Duke.”

Wow, I don’t know who that is, but they’re perfect for the job.

That’s me.

Marine sniffled inwardly because she had sinned against the Duke.

“My nephews will be coming soon.”

“Yes.”

Duke Vines would become the children’s guardian.

“I need someone to teach those children. I also need a chaperone for the eldest’s debutante.”

Suddenly a new job opportunity appeared before her eyes.

“By any chance, did you mistake a governess for a fiancée? I think that could happen sometimes.”

I absolutely don’t think that could happen.

But when a superior’s superior talks nonsense, it’s necessary to humor them.

“Temporary. Do I look like someone who would talk nonsense enough to confuse those two things?”

Kyaa! Mind reading? It must be mind reading after all!

Marine glanced at the Duke while gently placing both hands on her chest.

It was her will to somehow not let him read her mind.

“I have many enemies.”

“Yes…”

At the sudden random confession, Marine awkwardly trailed off.

“So I plan to hold a very grand party to celebrate the engagement.”

“Whaaaat?”

Just accepting the employment engagement was mentally burdensome enough, and now a grand party?

Why was he talking about a grand party after discussing enemies?

Was this Duke really sane?

He had lost his sister not long ago. Yet he was holding a grand party for an engagement?

In Noble Society, rumors would spread that the Duke was ignoring the dead Count and Countess and was crazy about a woman.

Marine stared at the Duke with an incredulous expression, then felt a chill run through her at a sudden realization.

What if the Count and Countess’s death was the work of enemies?

In the novel, it was only briefly mentioned as an accident, so she naturally thought it was accidental death.

But if they really killed the Count and Countess on purpose, who would it be? The Imperial Faction? The Noble Faction?

Marine looked at the Duke’s complexion with pitying eyes.

“You seem to like grand parties.”

No, why can’t you read minds at times like this?

“I don’t!”

Marine shook her head vigorously with an bewildered face.

“Your reaction is quite passionate.”

A smile appeared at the Duke’s lips and quickly disappeared.

“That’s a normal reaction when surprised.”

Marine pouted her lips as she made excuses.

“Temporary, why do you think I want a grand party?”

He threw out a question as if testing her.

The children are coming soon. The Duke has many enemies. He’s throwing a grand party to celebrate the engagement.

Marine carefully shared her thoughts.

“To protect the children.”

The Duke listened silently as if telling her to continue.

“Isn’t Your Grace throwing a grand party to keep Your Grace’s enemies from targeting the children, to draw all the enemies’ attention solely to Your Grace?”

He nodded as if satisfied.

“As expected, you have the makings of an excellent spy.”

“I’m really not a spy though.”

Marine whispered with an aggrieved expression. Her heart sank every time she heard the word spy.

“If you were a real spy, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

His nonchalant tone made the back of her neck feel cold. Marine shrank back and rubbed the back of her neck.

“But there’s something I’m worried about. When children who just lost their parents see a grand party right away, I think they’ll misunderstand Your Grace.”

“Then we can deceive the enemies even more brilliantly.”

Marine slightly parted her pink lips, then closed them again and quietly stared at the Duke.

This person thinks only of ways to protect his nephews, rather than being misunderstood by them.

She felt like she had glimpsed the Duke’s heart, which cared for family more than anyone else beneath his cold exterior.

“Only Temporary and I know about the employment engagement.”

“Yes.”

“The period will be until after eldest Dia’s debutante is finished. The wage is 10 gold per day.”

“Yeeees?”

She swallowed the words ‘That much?’

She had no right to refuse this employment engagement anyway.

If she could be forgiven for deceiving the Duke and earn a lot of money too, it would be beneficial.

Marine decided to think as positively as possible.

“Temporary.”

His voice calling her lowly deepened.

“Yes.”

“Never leave my side from now on.”

“Yes?”

Marine looked at the Duke’s serious face with bewildered eyes.

“I’d like to say ‘before my eyes,’ but since I can’t see.”

A bitter smile appeared at the corners of his mouth and then disappeared.

“…”

Not knowing what words to comfort him with at times like this, she chose silence.

“I’ll protect you. I promise.”

The Duke’s heavy promise fell.

He said they would throw a grand party to plant the perception in enemies that his nephews weren’t important to the Duke.

Conversely, that meant she could become a target for enemies.

The Duke was the strongest person in the Empire, but he currently couldn’t see. Perhaps he judged it would be better to protect one fake fiancée rather than four nephews.

“Yes!”

Marine answered spiritedly.

Vines protects. She trusted him.

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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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