150 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
Marin held a dagger in her hand with a tense expression, examining Sheila.
The masked men rushed in, skillfully avoiding Sheila, and drove the others into a corner.
The area where the masked men charged in the most was towards her Sunshade.
The Third Prince's knights quickly blocked the masked men.
["Protect the Lady!"]
As the masked men pushed in relentlessly, Cal scooped her up, stepping on a masked man's shoulder, and jumped out of the Sunshade.
Even as she was being carried by Cal, Marin threw her dagger at a masked man who was following right behind her.
The masked man easily dodged her dagger and persistently chased after them.
["Snatch that woman!"]
The number of masked men following them increased.
Cal glanced back and suddenly chewed on a pill. Then, he put his hand behind her knees, lifted her up, and suddenly increased his speed.
The wind rushing past her face was so strong that Marin couldn't even open her eyes properly.
Was this a speed that a person could produce?
It felt faster than a horse.
Marin closed her eyes completely in his arms.
She couldn't hear the footsteps of the masked men who had been following them. Nevertheless, Cal didn't slow down at all. He seemed to know the desert path well, shooting forward without hesitation.
Whenever she felt his gaze checking on her, Marin smiled reassuringly.
Even though it was the first time being held by Cal, it felt as comfortable as if she had been held by him before.
I wish we could go straight to the West like this.
Marin closed her eyes and wished, feeling the strong wind.
\ \ \
A drop of red blood that splattered in the air also fell on Tan's cheek.
Tan wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand, then looked down at Ban, who was crawling on the ground, with a dry gaze.
Ban, crawling like a bug, was not the man he had so revered, envied, and resented. He was just a trivial creature struggling to survive.
"Is there no one? Is there no one there!"
Ban, unable to walk because both legs were cut, dragged his body and continued to retreat.
"Don't come! Don't come closer!"
Ban grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at Tan.
But the sand didn't even touch Tan, scattering uselessly in the air.
"You! Do you think you'll be safe after doing this to me!"
Ban glared at Tan with murderous eyes, gritting his teeth.
"Well, Brother. I thought I would die right away if I did this, but my head is still attached."
Tan widened his eyes as if surprised and smiled kindly.
"There, is, is anyone there?!"
Ban shouted in a trembling voice, frightened, but there was no one around.
"Oh dear, it seems there's no one to help you, Brother."
"Why are you doing this! Why don't you just live as you used to, playing around! Are you finally greedy for the Crown Prince position?"
"I'm not greedy for the Crown Prince position at all."
"Then why are you doing this to me!"
Ban raised his voice as if in desperation.
"I just played around as Mother—no, as the Empress ordered. I was so tired of playing that I even prepared to die by taking the poison the Empress gave me."
Tan flicked off the blood from his Sword, continuing to speak casually as if telling someone else's story.
Ban's pupils shook like a ship caught in a storm. But soon, he pretended not to know anything and asked back.
"Poison?"
"Surely, you didn't know?"
Tan asked back in an exaggerated voice, as if acting in a play.
"I, I didn't know. Is Mother taking revenge on me by poisoning me now? Why are you doing that to me? You should go and argue with Mother!"
Ban feigned ignorance. As he shouted as if he was wronged, Tan burst into laughter.
It was truly funny.
There was no way he wouldn't know that he was being poisoned. How far should he pretend to be fooled?
"What reason would the Empress have to poison me? Isn't it all for your sake, Brother?"
Ban bit his lip and rolled his eyes as if he had nothing to say in response.
"So? Do you think Mother will favor you if you kill me? You're not even the Emperor's son anyway!"
Tan's face, which had been brightly smiling, slowly hardened.
The truth that he had been trying to bury all along surfaced.
When he first found out that the ingredient in the candy he was eating was poison, he wondered why his mother would try to poison him even in anger and despair.
Then, recalling his appearance, which didn't resemble the Emperor, he tried to prove his love by following his mother's will for any reason.
But he really wasn't the Emperor's seed.
"Can you prove that statement?"
"I heard it from my maternal grandfather. And you really didn't know? You and the Emperor don't have anything in common, do you?"
Tan scanned Ban's face with his eyes. His brother, who only had lemon-colored hair like their mother in common with him.
"You can't become the Crown Prince. So stop doing this!"
Tan chuckled as he looked at Ban, who was trembling with fear but trying to put on a brave face.
"Didn't I tell you that I had no interest in the Crown Prince position from the beginning?"
"Then why! Why are you trying to kill me?"
"Didn't you try to take my woman?"
Tan whispered in a low voice without intonation.
"Stop lying! That woman is the Duke of the West's woman!"
Ban shouted with a vein popping out of his neck, filled with resentment.
"She's my woman now since she's in my arms."
Tan smiled softly, thinking of Marin.
The only woman who told him to live.
He decided to live for that woman.
But the Empress and the Second Prince, who were trying to kill him, were also coveting Marin.
If he wanted to stay with Marin, he had to eliminate them one by one from now on to survive.
"You shouldn't have coveted my woman."
Tan raised his Sword high.
"I, I won't. I won't try to take her again, so please spare me."
Ban grabbed Tan's pants with a tearful face and pleaded.
"Brother. You fed me poison, and I wielded a Sword at you. Isn't it a truly beautiful brotherly love."
Tan whispered in Ban's ear, looking down at him with crazy eyes.
"Just spare me. I won't do it again-"
Ban's desperate voice was cut off by Tan's Sword, which he swung without hesitation.
"It's too late."
"Moth, Mother will forgive you……."
Ban, who was speaking while vomiting blood, tilted onto the sand.
Ban's coldly frozen pupils were filled with resentment towards Tan.
"Lord."
One of the knights who had been standing far away approached.
"Throw it to the Monster."
"Yes. And there was an attack."
"Sweetie?"
"She escaped with the escort."
Tan's cold gaze turned towards the War Oasis direction they had promised.
Did she go there?
"Find her no matter what."
"Yes!"
\ \ \
Gerald ran as fast as he could to the place he had promised to meet Kay.
He decided to meet in the opposite direction from the War Oasis in case the Third Prince might follow.
After running for a while, he glanced down and saw Marin, whom he loved so much, sleeping peacefully in his arms.
A chuckle escaped.
Should he warn Marin, who had no sense of crisis, or should he love her more, who was sleeping safely in his arms?
Of course, he chose the latter.
Kay, who had encountered him while running in the opposite direction, followed and caught up from behind.
Only after crossing the desert hill did the two stop at the same time.
Kay looked at Marin, who was sleeping comfortably in his arms, and was relieved before immediately staring at him. Kay had a large bag on his back.
"The Lady's clothes are needed."
"I understand. Marin."
"Yawn- Yes."
Marin yawned and opened her eyes, then was startled.
Even if Cal's arms were comfortable, how could she fall asleep in a critical situation.
"Lady, it's been a while."
"Kay!"
The moment she jumped down from Cal's arms with joy, Marin hesitated in front of Kay and spoke with difficulty.
"Kay, I'm sorry. M because of me… I'm really sorry."
Marin bowed deeply and apologized.
"Lady, please don't do this. There is no more honorable thing for the Shadow Unit than to protect their master and leave. M left honorably, protecting the Lady."
Marin raised her head with a sad face.
"Did M have a family? I want to apologize in person."
"He has no family."
"I see……."
Elmis also said he had no family. Are the Shadow Unit a group of people without families?
"Then Kay must be M's family. I sincerely pray for his soul. And…… I don't know if it will be comforting, but I took revenge for M."
"Yes. I saw it. Thank you for taking revenge."
Kay said in a sincere voice.
"How did you see it?"
"The Duke showed it to me through the Video Stone."
"Ah…… By the way, where is Lord Gerald?"
