135 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
Jeromian and Olive's hurried footsteps could be heard.
Before he was even told to come in, Jeromian burst the door open.
"Olive said it was something serious. She wouldn't tell me why."
Olive glanced around and quickly closed the door.
Lord Gerald stared straight at Jeromian. Their eyes met in the air.
"Your eyes!"
"I can see."
"Since when?"
"Since the capital."
Olive, who had been listening to their conversation, gasped.
"Then why did you pretend you couldn't see until now?"
Jeromian ran a hand roughly through his silver hair and asked irritably.
"For my sister's revenge. And to keep Marin by my side. Is that answer enough?"
"Haa, you crazy bastard. I'll let it slide since you answered. What's this serious matter?"
Jeromian took off his glasses and roughly wiped them, as if trying to organize his thoughts.
"Help me. I'm asking you."
Jeromian froze on the spot.
Olive, who was listening from the side, also stopped breathing and stiffened.
"This crazy bastard is really crazy? What? Help you? Not an order, but help? Just how serious is it?"
"Marin's mother has been kidnapped, and Marin is going to deal with the kidnappers right now."
"What?!"
Jeromian shouted, his face turning pale.
"I need the potions you made. First, the Appearance altering potion. No one must know that I'm gone. So I'm going to change my appearance and slip out. Second, a potion to run fast. You said you made a Body enhancement potion that doubles the body's strength to try and beat me. Give it to me."
Jeromian roughly swept back his hair and put his glasses back on.
"Even if you change your appearance, you can't change your eye color, but your eye color has already changed, so it doesn't matter. I'll bring everything you want."
Jeromian quickly left the office, and Olive stood there with a serious expression.
"Olive."
"Yes."
"Come here every day and act normally, so no one knows I'm gone. I'll tell Dia. So Dia can keep her siblings quiet."
"Yes."
"And exterminate all the Duke's manor pests without missing a single one."
The Duke spat out the words coldly, as if chewing them.
"Yes. I will keep that in mind."
Olive replied with a tense look.
The Duke's eyes can see. Everything is back in place now.
Everything would be perfect if only Marin and her mother returned safely.
That night.
A slender man with gray hair quickly left the Duke's Castle, but no one noticed his presence.
\ \ \
"Lord Gerald must know by now."
Elmis looked at her with a questioning face.
"I asked Yuria to deliver a letter to him. Lord Gerald must have just left."
At those words, Elmis visibly relaxed.
"I'm moving around assuming that enemies are watching me from everywhere. And the coachman is one of them."
"I'll take care of him."
Elmis whispered with a cold glint in her eyes.
"No. Elmis needs to pretend she doesn't know anything, just like now. Fortunately, Elmis doesn't stand out when she's in the Shadows, so they don't seem to know about Elmis's existence. They told me to bring a maid myself. They'll think of Elmis as an ordinary maid since she's been by my side since the capital. I'm going to let them be careless."
"Understood."
"No matter what happens, save Mom first and go straight to the Duke's Castle. Got it?"
"……Yes. But what about you, Miss?"
"I learned Swords, too. I can stab and run away. My teacher admitted that I'm good at running. And I have something else in mind."
Marin glanced at something she had hidden in her luggage.
"I will do my best to teach you Swords until we reach our destination."
"I'll learn. Thank you."
From then on, Marin learned Swords from Elmis inside the carriage. The inside of the carriage couldn't be seen from the outside, making it a perfect training space.
She pictured a virtual opponent in her mind and thrust forward.
"You can't stab well if you stab like that. You have to twist it slightly."
"Okay. I'll try."
The virtual enemy became a kidnapper and then a Monster.
There were many Monsters in the Sairan Desert. Even though it was just the entrance, there could be a Monster attack at any time.
The carriage stopped in front of a shabby inn.
The coachman approached and bowed.
"Miss. This is the last inn before the entrance to the Sairan Desert."
"Okay. Thank you for your hard work."
Marin tried her best to hide her angry gaze.
"Miss, the night air is still cold. Please go inside quickly."
Elmis, who had heard that the coachman was part of the kidnappers' group, hid her chilling gaze and said to Marin.
"Okay."
Just over the mountain is the entrance to the Sairan Desert.
The Sairan Desert was shaped like a bottleneck, narrow at the entrance and widening as it went further in. The entrance to the desert was called the entrance to the Sairan Desert.
Back in her inn room, Marin took out a book titled "Where Do Monsters Come From?"
She had been reading this book, which had helped her get a job at the Duke's Castle, every day since the kidnapping.
This book, of unknown authorship, dealt with various scholars' discussions on the birth of Monsters, and the detailed descriptions of Desert monsters in the back were very helpful.
A Monster called 'Santi' was a whopping 15 meters in size. It lived in the deep sand of the desert, and when prey came, it would come out and swallow it in one bite.
It was afraid of fire and found prey by smell instead of eyes. In particular, it liked birds and lived near the red flowers in the desert where birds often came.
The book even included a picture, which showed a disgusting centipede-like appearance.
In the case of Santi, it was large and very dangerous, so a simple map was attached showing where to go to find it at the entrance to the desert.
Below that, numerous other Desert monsters were listed.
Marin read all of this carefully.
\ \ \
When he took the pill Jeromian gave him, his hair turned dark gray. It seemed he had deliberately given him a color similar to his own eye color.
His eyes became narrower, and his jawline became smoother. His height also decreased slightly, and his muscles decreased at the same time, changing his overall physique to a slender one.
No one would think of him as the Duke of the West.
Gerald stepped on the trees and ran as if flying.
He was already stronger and faster than others, but the potion Jeromian gave him explosively increased his speed.
At this speed, he would soon be able to catch up with the carriage.
Please. Marin.
His heart felt like it was burning black.
If the enemies were targeting his people, he thought it would be Marin. Aside from his nephews, she was the most vulnerable person around him.
He had sent knights with the Viscountess in case she was targeted, but he should have sent more.
Late regret weighed heavily on his heart.
From the moment Marin first came to the Duke's Castle, she had been protecting and guarding her mother, even going so far as to deceive him, the Duke of the West, which was a dangerous act.
Her mother was the most precious person to Marin.
So he couldn't blame her for not telling him right away.
He was just grateful that she had told him in a letter, even if it was late.
Marin. Please. Hold on until I get there.
\ \ *
Beyond the mountain, the entrance to the Sairan Desert could be seen in the distance.
Beyond the narrow path like the entrance to a bottle, the vast yellow sandy desert was getting closer.
"Elmis. Please take care of Mom. As soon as you save Mom, leave in the carriage."
"Yes. Understood. The Shadow following us is M. I've told M to move when you say 'shoe'."
"Okay. Thank you."
"Miss……. You must be very, very careful."
Elmis's dark blue eyes shook greatly with worry.
"Yeah. I will."
He could see Elmis's hands trembling slightly.
He knew how big of a request it was to ask Elmis to save someone other than the person she was supposed to protect first.
But she would definitely keep her promise to him.
Marin grabbed Elmis's hand tightly and reassured her.
Soon, the Diamond Carriage stopped at the entrance to the desert. A black luggage cart stood in front, blocking the road.
