117 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
I Got Engaged to the Blind Duke Chapter 117
The capital was abuzz with stories about the Duke of the West.
“They say, ‘The Duke of the West has gone mad since he went blind,’ ‘The Duke of the West summons Monsters,’ and ‘The Duke of the West went blind because he’s obsessed with a woman.’”
Marin, who was listening to Elmis’s calm report, widened her eyes at the last statement.
“What does Lord Gerald doing a show with Monsters have to do with me?”
“I’m not sure either.”
Elmis replied bluntly.
Marin nodded with a resigned look.
Right. Elmis wouldn't know. She was just relaying the rumors circulating outside.
If she had to blame someone, it should be the Duke who put on such a show.
She recalled the day the Duke suddenly said he was going hunting before leaving for the capital.
He said it was a gift, but was that a Monster?!
It was then that she shook her head.
Knock knock.
At the knock, Elmis opened the door.
“Yuria.”
Yuria entered with a slightly nervous face and bowed her head.
“Lady.”
“Why did you come up? Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes. I’ve recovered a lot and want to work.”
Yuria glanced at Elmis and whispered in a subdued voice.
“I told you to rest until you’re fully recovered.”
“I still can’t lift heavy things, but I can serve tea. And I heard the rumors.”
“What rumors?”
“They say Monsters are after you, Lady.”
“Even that kind of rumor is going around?”
Marin shook her head, her head aching from the absurd rumors that kept piling up.
“I’m so worried about you, Lady, that I can’t even sleep well. Just let me stay by your side. Please?”
Yuria clasped her hands together and pleaded earnestly.
“I’ll protect the Lady even if Monsters appear, so you go and rest.”
Elmis, who was listening from the side, opened her mouth in a stiff tone.
“I know. But in a truly dangerous situation, I can sacrifice my body to protect her like last time! I’m the Lady’s maid, after all.”
Yuria shrank her shoulders but didn’t stammer and didn’t back down from her opinion.
“If you sacrifice your body, I’ll have no reason to be here.”
Elmis retorted with a stern face.
“Still…”
“I’ll do the protecting, so you just focus on making delicious tea.”
“Yes?”
Yuria blinked slowly and asked again.
Marin, who watched the scene, couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yuria. I told you last time, but sacrificing your body to protect me is forbidden. I’ll just ask you to serve tea from now on.”
“Yes!”
Yuria relaxed her stiff shoulders with a look of accomplishment.
A subtle smile also appeared on Elmis’s lips.
Marin didn’t miss it. Even though she spoke bluntly, she seemed to like Yuria.
\ \ \
The Emperor sat in his office, looking displeased at the two letters on his desk.
One was from the Empress, and the other was from the Crown Prince.
They were written in great detail, but the contents of the two letters were the same.
They were asking him to accept Dia Adria, the Count Adria’s daughter, as the Crown Princess.
“The Adria family…”
He didn’t want to see the Crown Prince get what he wanted, but the Duke of the West’s might remained like an afterimage in his mind for a long time.
“Can the Adria’s daughter be the leash for that fierce beast?”
The Emperor muttered to himself.
“I don’t know about a leash, but it’s better than nothing.”
The Emperor’s gaze reached the old Chamberlain.
He was the one who didn’t run away from the Monster and stayed by his side. His loyalty and wisdom were helpful at times.
“Send a marriage proposal to the Duke of the West.”
“Yes.”
The Chamberlain bowed his head in response to the Emperor’s wise choice.
Knock knock.
At the sound of the knock, the Chamberlain quickly went out of the office.
“It’s the Eastern Grand Duke.”
The Emperor hid his annoyed expression and watched the Eastern Grand Duke enter the office.
“Were you at peace, Your Majesty?”
“Do you think I would be?”
“I only wish that Your Majesty is always at peace.”
The Eastern Grand Duke said with a smiling face.
“What brings you here?”
“I was concerned that Your Majesty might be disturbed, so I came to visit.”
At the Eastern Grand Duke’s words that he was only being loyal, a cold sneer formed on the Emperor’s lips.
“Eastern Grand Duke. Don’t you think the Duke of the West has gone mad?”
The Eastern Grand Duke’s shoulders twitched, but he still maintained his good-natured smiling face.
“I’m not sure.”
The Emperor looked at the Eastern Grand Duke’s smiling face and continued.
“Do you know what’s scarier than a mad dog?”
“I’m not sure.”
“A wounded dog. You should be careful not to get bitten, Eastern Grand Duke.”
“What do I have to be careful about?”
The Eastern Grand Duke burst into a hearty laugh.
“If that’s the case, then that’s good. You may leave now. I’m tired.”
“Yes.”
The Emperor’s displeased gaze was fixed on the Eastern Grand Duke’s back.
He thought he was a useful card, but it seemed like the time had come to discard him.
\ \ *
The Eastern Grand Duke Meron maintained his good-natured smile until he left the Imperial Palace.
But the moment he got into the carriage, that smile disappeared as if it had been washed away.
“Let’s go.”
When the subordinate tapped the side of the carriage, the carriage moved slowly.
The carriage went into a dark alley and stopped.
Meron’s clothes, which he had dressed up in to go to the Imperial Palace, had changed into shabby clothes when he got out of the carriage.
Meron immediately transferred to an inconspicuous baggage cart.
The baggage cart moved slowly and stopped at a shabby inn.
Meron, who had covered his face with a deeply pressed hat, entered the inn and came out through the back door. His clothes had changed again, this time into clothes worn by farmers.
Meron got on a horse and left the inn. The horse carrying him galloped quickly into the forest on the outskirts of the capital.
When he entered the hideout deep in the forest, Zelmia, who was disinfecting her shoulder, jumped up and put on her clothes.
“My Lord!”
She smiled brightly and hugged him.
My Lord. My lover.
She had come to love him, who had taken her in and raised her when she was an orphan, but she never forgot that he was her Lord.
Meron looked down at her shoulder with a pitiful look.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
But Zelmia’s voice was as deep as a man’s. Perhaps she noticed this as well, as she quickly removed the earring, which was a device to change her voice.
“You’re the only one who survived after being hit by the Duke of the West’s Sword.”
“Hehe. I guess I’m lucky because I have my Lord.”
Zelmia smiled lovingly.
She had attacked the Duke of the West and was hit by his Sword twice, but she had managed to survive and meet her Lord.
Meron looked at Zelmia’s face intently for a moment, but then a rough voice came out of his mouth.
“The Duke of the West has completely gone mad.”
“I’ve heard the rumors.”
A subordinate who brought food to the hideout told him that the Duke of the West had brought a Monster to the Imperial Palace.
Has he really gone crazy?
“Could it be because he killed the Count and Countess?”
“Isn’t he blind? It must be hard to live with a sound mind.”
“I thought I could get the title of Eastern Duke more easily if I shook the Duke of the West and handed over the benefits to the Emperor… The Emperor had noticed my plan all along but didn’t really stop me. But now that he’s afraid of the Duke of the West, he’s warning me. To be careful.”
“My Lord…”
Zelmia looked at Meron with a worried look.
Meron lifted Zelmia’s chin with his thick hand.
“Zelmia. Do you know what the cure is for a madman?”
“I don’t know.”
Her answer was similar to the answer she had given the Emperor, which made him laugh.
Meron handed Zelmia a note that he had put in his pocket.
Zelmia’s eyes widened slightly when she saw the note, and then she put it in her mouth and swallowed it.
Zelmia and Meron’s eyes met in the air.
Zelmia smiled and nodded.
It was then that she was about to put on the mask that was on the table.
“Ugh!”
“It’s the Duke of the West. Attack at the same time!”
“Agh!”
The subordinates were densely arranged around the hideout like a net, but their screams were heard sporadically.
Zelmia looked at Meron with an urgent look.
“It seems like the hideout has been breached. My Lord, you must escape quickly.”
