110 - I Got Engaged to the Blind Duke
Engaged to the Blind Duke Episode 110
“Right. You’ve done nothing wrong. Men just go crazy over you while you stand still.”
“Did I hear that wrong?”
Marin opened her eyes wide in surprise and stared at the Duke.
“You’re too dangerous.”
“Did I hear that wrong?”
“Why do you keep mishearing? I’m speaking perfectly clearly.”
The Duke’s voice had shifted into that of the prickly demon king.
“Gerald keeps saying such nonsense. That I make men go crazy just by standing still—Pfft-haha.”
Marin started to repeat his words but couldn’t hold back and burst into loud laughter.
Suddenly, the Duke swiftly turned his head as if scanning their surroundings, then wrapped his arm around her shoulders, led her to the terrace, and sharply drew the curtain.
The terrace, often used as a secret space for lovers, became so dark once the curtain was closed that it was hard to see ahead.
“Why?”
Marin, who had laughed so hard tears welled up in her eyes, took a deep breath and asked.
“Don’t laugh carelessly.”
“Are you afraid men will go crazy?”
“You know well.”
Marin burst into clear laughter again.
The Duke’s joke was truly top-notch.
Or perhaps his acting—pretending to be jealous because he loved her so much—was top-notch.
The moment this thought crossed her mind, Marin’s face stiffened rigidly.
Ah, right. Acting.
Fooled again. Like an idiot.
They had to act together to deceive people, but she was the one being deceived.
Thinking that the Duke truly loved her.
Her heart, which had been racing noisily, lost its strength and began to beat slowly.
A chilling wind blew through her disappointed chest.
Her head dropped on its own.
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why do you suddenly look so disappointed?”
He really was like a ghost, even though he couldn’t see.
Marin kept her head bowed and deliberately brightened her voice.
She didn’t want the Duke to detect her own feelings, which even she couldn’t understand.
Fortunately, the terrace was dark, and the Duke was blind, so she didn’t need to control her expression too.
“It’s nothing.”
“Why are you lying?”
The Duke asked as if he couldn’t understand.
“I’m not lying?”
“Another lie.”
“I said I’m not! If you keep insisting like that when I say I’m not……”
If he kept insisting she was disappointed when she said she wasn’t, then it would mean she really was disappointed.
She shouldn’t feel disappointment. We’re just pretending to be in love.
Marin sharply lifted her head. A deep shadow was cast over the Duke’s face.
But in that instant, it felt like the Duke was looking at her, and without realizing it, Marin took a step closer to him.
“Gerald, right now……”
Up close, the Duke’s eyes were closed as usual.
It must have been a misunderstanding.
“Right now?”
The Duke echoed her words.
“Ah, I think we’ve been here too long. Dia needs her Chaperone.”
Marin quickly changed the subject and tried to step back.
At that moment, the Duke tightly grabbed her hand.
“First, tell me why you looked so disappointed. Then I’ll let you go.”
How on earth does he know?
“I said I’m not. If you keep pushing like that, even a heart that wasn’t disappointed will start to feel disappointed……”
Marin’s voice caught momentarily, and she lowered her head again.
“Who made you disappointed? Who made you cry?”
A cold anger tinged the Duke’s voice.
You! You!
Marin stifled the words she wanted to shout and tried to pull her hand free from the Duke’s grasp.
“I have to go.”
But the Duke firmly seized her hand again without a gap. Their fingers were tightly intertwined like roots.
“Don’t let go.”
“Huh?”
“I said don’t let go of my hand. I don’t like it.”
The Duke’s voice was rough, as if gritting his teeth.
Marin looked up at him with a puzzled expression.
His face, with furrowed brows and tightly gripping her hand, looked almost desperate.
Marin stared blankly, biting her curled lip.
His appearance, as if losing her hand pained him, filled her vision.
Why? Why that expression? Why does he keep making me misunderstand?
“……Because we have to pretend to be in love?”
She shouldn’t have asked.
Finally, her true feelings slipped out, and Marin deliberately averted her gaze to hide her flushed face. A long sigh scattered into the night air as she waited for his answer.
There was no response from the Duke.
Unable to bear the anxiety tightening her chest, Marin turned her eyes back to him.
The Duke was frowning as if he didn’t understand her question.
Marin lowered her gaze and stared at his red lips.
Even though she already knew the answer, she wanted confirmation from his reply.
Finally, as if the Duke had understood her question, he opened his mouth after a long pause.
“……Right.”
A bitter smile settled on Marin’s lips.
“I see.”
“So love me for real.”
Suddenly, the Duke stepped closer.
“Wh-what does that…….”
With a confused expression, Marin unconsciously took a step back.
“Aren’t we officially a couple in love? To pretend to love me, love me.”
Startled, Marin blinked her eyes incessantly.
What is he saying now?
So, to appear as a loving couple to others, love him for real? What kind of absurd coercion is that?
She looked up at him with a baffled expression at this sophistry she’d never heard before.
“Marin, love me.”
The Duke commanded again, taking another step closer.
Unconsciously, Marin retreated.
Tap.
Her pale pink shoes hastily tapped the marble floor.
But as much as she retreated, he closed the distance again.
Through her thin dress, she vividly felt the cold stone wall of the terrace railing.
Even though there was no more room to retreat, the Duke took another step forward. His broad chest was right before her eyes.
“Wh-where does that make sense? To love for real just for acting?”
The Duke gripped the terrace railing with both hands, trapping her between them.
Marin felt utterly immobilized, caught by him.
She saw the Duke slowly lower his head close to her face.
Beneath his lush eyelashes, his straight nose and elegant lips were revealed.
The Duke smiled, lifting the corner of his mouth.
“It’s not that hard, is it?”
Marin, staring at the Duke, gulped.
The man before her was a wolf.
A very seductive one at that.
She felt like a young lamb, barely a mouthful before the wolf.
“Isn’t it?”
He continued slowly.
Unconsciously, Marin trembled, her shoulders shaking slightly as she looked at the Duke with wavering eyes.
“Marin, remember this.”
He added in a low voice.
“……What?”
A voice, tight with tension, barely escaped.
The Duke slowly bowed his head. His red lips slid sideways, so close they almost touched her face.
Marin held her breath.
Then, his husky voice echoed in her ear.
“That you must love me.”
Marin’s pupils trembled wildly. What is this situation now?
“H-how is that possible?”
When she looked up, the Duke’s expression had changed to one of dissatisfaction.
“Marin, why are you always so negative? Your wrists won’t grow. Your height won’t grow. You can’t even love me.”
Marin stared at the Duke with an indignant expression.
“It’s because you only demand the impossible!”
The Duke, with his eyes closed, furrowed his brows deeper, his frown deepening.
What’s with that disappointed expression? Is my wrist not growing such a heartbreaking matter?
Soon, his face turned cold.
“If you can’t, then make it possible. That’s an order.”
After speaking coldly, he straightened up from his close position.
Marin turned her head and exhaled the breath she had been holding.
This man is dangerous indeed. I thought I was going to suffocate and die.
And when she looked up again, his face seemed lonely.
Why that expression?
Unconsciously, Marin called out to him.
“Gerald.”
Bang, bang, bang!
At that moment, brilliant fireworks exploded, drowning out her voice.
The terrace curtains opened all at once, and people’s gazes gathered.
Marin also turned her body to look up at the sky.
Bang, bang!
Fireworks, like white fireflies, drew long lines high into the sky and exploded. A pure white halo poured down from the sky like a waterfall.
“So beautiful.”
It was her first time seeing fireworks.
“……Right. They are beautiful.”
Suddenly feeling a persistent gaze fixed on her, she turned her head here and there, but there was no one around.
Except for the Duke with his eyes closed.
But if the Duke’s eyes are closed, how does he know the fireworks are beautiful?
