118 - I Got Engaged to the Blind Duke
Blinded Duke and His Contract Wife 118
Meron gritted his teeth, glaring with venomous eyes at the firmly shut door.
The Duke of the West had come?
He had disguised himself and stopped at several places to get here, but it seemed he had been found out after all.
“Protect the hideout! Don’t let anyone approach!”
He could hear the screams of his subordinates.
Meron, still glaring at the door, said to Zelmia,
“Zelmia, you must escape first. You are the evidence. Without you, no one can suspect me. No matter who the opponent is, I am the Eastern Grand Duke. No one can touch me.”
“My lord…”
Zelmia’s crimson eyes wavered with anxiety.
“Go, quickly!”
“My lord, please be careful.”
Zelmia reluctantly turned her feet, fleeing through the hidden door in the floor.
As her lord said, he was the Eastern Grand Duke. They couldn’t oppress him just for staying in such a secluded place.
Meron quickly covered the floor door with the carpet.
Then, he brought a chair and sat on it with a relaxed expression, waiting for the uninvited guest.
Bang!
The wooden door splintered open and crashed to the floor.
Meron slowly opened his mouth, looking at the person in front of him.
“Duke of the West, what brings you here?”
Meron smiled brightly, deliberately putting on a kind face.
But the Duke of the West approached without a word and shoved him hard.
Meron was pushed by his strong force and tumbled to the floor.
“What is the meaning of this!”
The Duke of the West yanked up the carpet on the floor.
Olive, who had followed him, said to the Duke of the West,
“It’s a door.”
The Duke stood still, as if listening intently.
“She’s already escaped.”
“Duke of the West! What are you doing!”
The Duke turned to Meron with a cold face.
“You don’t know? Why I’m doing this?”
“Let’s have a conversation-”
“I have no intention of exchanging words with you.”
The Duke cut him off and turned away coldly.
A look of dismay flashed across Meron’s face. If he could just start a conversation, he could easily manipulate such a madman.
“Duke of the West, please don’t-”
“Take him away.”
At the Duke’s command, two knights appeared and roughly pulled him up.
“Duke of the West! To treat me like this! You will regret it!”
\ \ *
Late at night, an uninvited guest barged into the Eastern Duke’s townhouse in the capital.
The Butler was speechless at the sight of the Duke of the West, his aide, and the knights dragging in a man with a sack over his head.
“What is the meaning of this?”
The Butler swallowed hard and looked at the Duke of the West.
The man with the sack over his head screamed, but only moans escaped, as his mouth was gagged.
“Ugh, ugh.”
Olive, standing next to the Duke of the West, opened her mouth.
“Is the Duchess in?”
As the commotion spread, the Head Maid quickly approached and whispered to the Butler.
“The Duchess has asked you to escort them to the study.”
The Butler turned and began to lead the way.
The Head Maid’s frightened gaze briefly touched the man with the sack before turning forward.
The Head Maid knocked and entered the study first, then opened the door wide a moment later.
The study, warmed by the fireplace, had a cozy atmosphere with soft cream-colored wallpaper and bookshelves filled with books.
The white-haired Duchess, sitting behind the desk, quietly put down the book she was reading.
Gerald entered without a word.
Olive and the man with the sack also entered the study, following him.
Duchess Edena’s gaze briefly touched the man with the sack before falling away.
“Duke Baines, such a late visit is quite impolite.”
“I had to see you, even knowing it was impolite, as it is something I must do. Olive, the chair?”
“It’s five steps ahead.”
Gerald approached the opposite side of the Duchess and sat down in the chair.
“It seems you really can’t see. Duke Baines.”
Her voice held a hint of curiosity.
At Gerald’s gesture, Olive removed the sack from the man’s face.
Meron, with reddened eyes, glared at Gerald, seething.
The Duchess’s gaze lingered on Meron for a moment before returning.
“You don’t even ask why your son is tied up like that.”
As Meron struggled to approach the Duchess, groaning, the knight standing behind him tapped the back of his knee.
Meron groaned and knelt down.
“What did my son do wrong?”
The Duchess’s gaze remained calm.
“Yes.”
“I see.”
“You don’t ask what he did wrong?”
“Whatever my son has done, he is the heir to the Stein Dukedom of the East. Do not treat him carelessly.”
As the name of the family came from her mouth, a sigh of relief escaped Meron’s lips.
Throughout the journey here, Duke Baines had asked nothing. He had simply bound him, gagged him, and dragged him along.
He needed a chance to say something, to persuade or lie.
But Duke Baines had asked nothing.
Gerald chuckled.
“Do you know what Baines is famous for?”
“Is there anyone in the Empire who doesn’t know? Baines protects. Do you know what the Stein family is famous for?”
“Stein bestows.”
The Stein of the East had long lived by bestowing. Therefore, they did not have as much wealth as other Dukes, but they gained the trust of the nobles and the favor of the people.
In fact, the Emperor feared the Eastern Dukedom the most among the four Dukedoms. This was because the people trusted the Eastern Dukedom more than the Emperor.
That was why the Emperor had reached out to the Grand Duke. If he inherited the family, he could manipulate him as he pleased.
“You know.”
“Yes. But it seems you only know one thing.”
“What is the one thing I don’t know?”
“‘Baines protects, and the blood of Baines is repaid with blood.’ Ah, I understand. The second saying has not been passed down because no one who heard it survived.”
The Duchess’s face hardened.
“Did my son harm the blood of Baines?”
“Yes. My sister.”
Duke Baines spoke calmly, but the anger beneath it was chilling.
The Duchess’s head turned to her adopted son once more.
Meron widened his eyes and shook his head frantically.
Duchess Edena’s eyes closed tightly and then opened.
She knew that her adopted son was eager to receive the Dukedom.
She also knew that he acted like a docile sheep in front of her, but like a prostrate dog in front of the Emperor.
Displeased with this, she had postponed passing on the Dukedom.
She was the only one who could pass on the Dukedom to him in place of her husband, who had fallen ill.
Would this disaster have been avoided if she had passed it on sooner?
Her heart ached with belated regret.
Her adopted son had crossed a line he should not have crossed.
In fact, she had heard the second saying mentioned by Duke Baines long ago.
“What do you want?”
“I want his head.”
“What is the proof?”
“I am about to create it.”
“You mean you don’t have it yet. Then I cannot hand over my son. He is the Eastern Grand Duke. He is not in a position that Duke Baines can easily eliminate. Furthermore, without the Emperor’s approval, a noble…”
Duke Baines placed the Sun-Marked Jewel on the desk.
Her words, which had been firm, stopped abruptly.
“You would use the jewel received from the Emperor on my son’s head?”
Edena’s voice trembled.
She had heard that it was an imperial treasure obtained by threatening the Emperor with Monsters. To use such an important item like this.
“Yes.”
“Still, it cannot be done. Say something else.”
Meron’s shoulders slumped in relief at her words. A single tear fell from the corner of his eye.
After her only daughter fell in love with a commoner knight and eloped, she had brought Meron, the smartest from a collateral line, and treated him like a son.
She did not love Meron as much as her own child, but she had lived with her adopted son for a long time.
Even if she could not cover up all his faults, she had to do her best to save him.
“I see you don’t understand what I mean.”
Edena’s face hardened at Duke Baines’s cold words.
“I hope you realize how much of a concession it is that I only want your adopted son’s head.”
