144 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
“Just become my woman.”
Tan flirted, his eyes crinkling prettily into a smile.
He really didn’t miss a single opportunity.
He had a knack for making her feel grateful one moment, then chilling her to the bone the next.
Reading her expression, Tan burst into laughter.
“You know you’re the only one who looks at me like that, Sweetie?”
“Yes, yes.”
Marin answered absentmindedly, racking her brain.
How could she escape this tiger’s den?
Tan’s gaze softened as he watched her lost in thought.
See, she’s cute.
\ \ \
The next day, News arrived precisely at the appointed time.
“The woman currently in the Third Prince’s chambers is the Duke of the West’s fiancée. This is top-secret, super-exclusive information. You have no idea how much I had to go through to get this-”
Gerald suppressed his urge to rush to the palace immediately and cut him off.
“What about the second request?”
“It seems that the Second Prince’s people are strangely mixed in with the Third Prince’s palace right now, so it’s going to be difficult to sneak in unnoticed……”
Gerald leaned back in his chair and waited silently for News to finish.
“Do you know how to use a Sword?”
“Why?”
“The Third Prince is secretly looking for foreign bodyguards. I think it’s to find someone who isn’t a spy for the Second Prince.”
“I’m very good with a Sword.”
“Great. Then I’ll arrange something.”
“The sooner, the better.”
“Yes, I understand. I’ll be in touch soon.”
News grinned and left.
Gerald swallowed the appearance-altering pill that Jeromian had given him.
It had to be taken at the same time every day to be effective for 24 hours.
His presence couldn’t be revealed yet.
He would be able to see Marin soon.
Gerald closed his eyes, concealing his anxious gaze.
\ \ \
“Don’t worry too much. I’m already looking for a bodyguard to protect Sweetie.”
Bodyguard?
Marin felt suffocated, and her voice came out curt.
“No, wouldn’t it be better to just let me out of here?”
“Didn’t I tell you? The sick should be respected.”
“I’m all better.”
Marin looked at Tan suspiciously, wondering what he was talking about.
“I’m the sick one. Well, I’ll probably die soon?”
At Tan’s nonchalant tone, she didn’t understand what he was saying at first.
Marin blinked slowly, then widened her eyes.
“Pardon?”
“I’m a sick man who’s about to die. So stay with me for my sake. I’ll let you out right before I die.”
He chuckled and said it with a straight face.
Marin stared at him, speechless.
Of course, she knew from reading the original novel that he died in the struggle for the throne.
But she didn’t know exactly when or how he died. It wasn’t in the original story.
In fact, she felt guilty for pretending not to know about his impending death.
But now that she knew Tan had been protecting her all this time, her conscience pricked, even ached.
Does the grateful crow have to work hard here too?
Marin scrutinized Tan’s face. He looked fine on the outside, but he definitely looked a little thinner than before.
“Where does it hurt?”
“…Do you believe me?”
“Was it a lie?”
“No. I’m just surprised.”
“About what?”
“Don’t people usually not believe it?”
He stared at her with a suspicious look.
Ah, did she believe him too easily?
She knew he was going to die, so she immediately believed him.
“Oh, my. How astonishing.”
Tan covered his eyes with his palm and burst into laughter at Marin’s awkward acting.
Who knew such an interesting woman would appear in his boring life? He wanted this woman more and more.
“Seriously, where does it hurt?”
Even her worried voice was sweet.
“Sweetie, do you know what a Lilith is? It’s a flower that doesn’t bloom in our empire.”
“Yes, I know.”
Why the sudden mention of that flower? Lilith was a beautiful flower, but it was poisonous.
Tan shook the candy box briefly.
It was the same candy he kept eating.
“It’s such a beautiful flower. I even shed tears when I first saw it in the Oman Empire.”
Marin didn’t understand why Tan was suddenly talking about Lilith and listened to him quietly.
“Do you know who gave me this?”
He took a candy from the box and tossed it into the air again, eating it.
“Who gave it to you?”
“My beloved mother. My beloved mother, who wants me to die for my brother’s sake, gave me candy made with Lilith as a gift.”
Tan smiled brightly.
Marin’s green eyes widened.
That candy was made with Lilith?
“Lilith can cause vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration……”
Marin couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence and just stared at him blankly.
She had seen him drinking water often while they were in the same room. She thought it was because he was hot, but it was because of dehydration?
Tan’s dark eyes gleamed.
“Our Sweetie is smart too?”
Marin jumped up from her seat. And she reached out to snatch his candy box.
But he quickly hid it behind his back.
The Third Prince, who died in the struggle for the throne. That was all she knew.
But it was suicide?
Of course, the Empress had given him the candy, but he was eating it knowing it was poison. So it wasn’t murder, but suicide.
“I can’t give you this. It’s not tasty.”
“No, I’m not saying I’m going to eat it, but you’re eating it knowing it’s poison.”
When Marin looked at Tan with an angry face, his smiling expression slowly hardened.
“Why are you angry?”
He asked slowly, as if he didn’t understand.
“Why am I angry? How can I not be angry when a grown man is throwing a tantrum with his own life because he didn’t get his mother’s love?”
Tan’s dark eyes sank deeply.
“Words can hurt too.”
“Yes. Hurt. I’m saying it so it hurts. I thought you were sick, so I wondered where it really hurt, but you’re hurting yourself with your own hands. Give me that candy now!”
Marin grabbed his shoulder and snatched the candy box from his hand.
“I… my dad and brother died because of me, but I survived. My mom was kidnapped because of me, but I rescued her and survived. I… I almost died in the desert full of Monsters, but I overcame it because I wanted to live. I’m a person with a very, very strong will to live. So I can’t stand seeing a grown man throwing a tantrum like this! It’s so pathetic, really.”
Marin opened the candy box and dumped all the candy out. And she stomped on the candy that had fallen on the floor.
“If you’re all grown up, you should meet someone who will love you instead of your mom, even if your mom doesn’t love you. Do you think your mom will look back if you eat the poison she gives you? Why are you acting pathetic in front of me! I won’t care whether you live or die. There are so many people struggling to live!”
Tan suddenly hugged her from behind.
Surprised, Marin froze.
He hugged her tightly around the waist and buried his face in her back.
Ugh, really. Parents should love their children equally. What kind of mother loves only one and tells the other to die?
She just felt sorry for this person under such a mother.
But he had to persevere. Instead of giving up on everything and waiting for death, he had to survive to the end and overcome it to be a true adult.
Marin clasped her hands tightly together and whispered softly.
“Live, please. Good days will surely come if you live.”
His grip around her tightened.
He was a grown man, but the way he clung to her so desperately made him look like a child. Just like Peridot.
“Stop loving your mother one-sidedly. Please don’t let yourself hurt anymore. Only think of yourself. Then someone who will love only you will appear. I believe it.”
“I’ve been alone since I was a child that I remember. And now I’m told to die… Are you sure about that?”
His tearful voice sounded desperate.
She pictured his childhood, longing for his mother’s love since he was young.
Poor man. How long had he been lonely?
“Yes. Luck always comes suddenly.”
Marin sincerely wished for him to live, hoping that luck would come to him.
