152 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
Cal hesitated, looking troubled as he pondered his reply.
Could the Duke have something important to attend to?
“Do you want to see Gerald?”
“Of course.”
Marin stared at him as if wondering why he was asking such a pointless question.
Again, she saw him forcibly suppressing a smile.
A benefactor and a rival.
An angel and a devil fought within Marin’s heart.
Get a grip!
As she was agonizing internally, Cal offered her some jerky.
Marin chewed on the tough jerky, cheering them on in her mind.
Go, angel, go! Go, devil, go! Whichever one wins, I’m on their side!
“…Perhaps, do you love Gerald?”
Suddenly, Cal asked cautiously, his voice full of tension.
Marin froze, mid-chew.
Her rival was asking about love.
Marin swallowed the jerky she had been chewing and faced Cal squarely.
He had thrown the first punch, so she would return the favor!
“What about you, Cal?”
Cal raised an eyebrow, looking as if to ask what she meant.
“I’m actually quite perceptive. I noticed.”
“…Noticed what?”
He asked slowly, seemingly tense.
“Cal, you love Lord Gerald, don’t you?”
“…What?!”
Cal blinked slowly, then suddenly raised his voice, as if to make sure he had understood correctly.
Marin looked at him with a surprised expression. Could it be that he hadn’t realized his own feelings yet?
“Haa… I knew you were eccentric, but still.”
“I’m not eccentric, though?”
Why was he talking as if he had known her for a long time? Did he hear it from the Duke? Oh, no, did he tell him I was a brawler?
Marin widened her eyes and studied his reaction.
Then he chuckled and stared intently at her.
Marin pretended to look away and covered her head with both hands. It would be a disaster if the Duke’s friend could read her mind too.
“How on earth could you think that…”
Gerald shook his head at her words, which he could never have imagined.
He had no idea what thoughts were going through that small head of hers.
“Well, you said you liked men, Cal.”
“….”
That was a reply he had been forced to give because of the Third Prince.
“Every time I talk about Lord Gerald, you smile and seem happy, so…”
Marin continued, fidgeting with her fingers as she watched him.
Of course, he liked it when she thought of him. Was it that obvious?
Marin met his gaze.
“You do like Gerald, don’t you?”
Faced with her unwavering gaze, Gerald simply covered his eyes with his hand. It was better not to see this at all.
“So, since you can’t deny it, it’s true…”
“I don’t like men.”
“Pardon?”
Gerald lowered his hand and met her trembling green eyes.
“I lied to get hired by the Third Prince. I like women. Especially cute women.”
Like you.
He swallowed the last words and looked straight at her face.
“Gasp!”
She suddenly distanced herself from him, moving slightly away.
“Where are you going?”
“Well, I was holding hands and hugging you because I thought you liked men… But now that I know you like women, I think I should be careful.”
“Are you indirectly calling yourself cute right now?”
Gerald suppressed a laugh and asked in as casual a voice as possible.
Marin widened her eyes and waved her hands.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I just thought that if I was too close to you, Lord Gerald might misunderstand.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“Lord Gerald seems a bit jealous. He says I drive men crazy.”
Her face flushed as she said it herself. It wasn’t as if she was some femme fatale of the century.
Cal nodded in agreement, but Marin didn’t notice.
Marin fanned her heated face and continued.
“I don’t want to be misunderstood by the man I like.”
“…What did you just say?”
Cal widened his eyes and stared intently at her.
Marin felt her face turning even redder now that she had blurted it out.
“…You like Gerald?”
“Yes. But this is a secret! I’m definitely not going to confess on your behalf, so you’re the only one who can know!”
She raised her eyes to get his promise, but Cal’s eyes were glazed over.
“Cal?”
“What?”
“Pardon?”
“I didn’t hear what you just said.”
Was her voice too quiet?
Marin looked straight into his gray eyes and said each word clearly.
“I love Lord Gerald.”
His face suddenly turned bright red. He quickly lowered his head and covered his mouth with his large hand.
What was that? Was he about to throw up? Was her confession that shocking?
Gerald covered his mouth to suppress the cheer that threatened to burst out from the overwhelming joy.
Marin loved him. She loved him.
His heart was pounding so hard it felt like his ribs were aching. He thought his heart might explode.
But he didn’t care. She loved him, so he didn’t mind if his heart exploded.
When he looked up, she was watching him with a worried expression.
“Are you okay?”
“No… I’m not okay.”
Gerald managed to answer in a trembling voice. He clenched his fists tightly to keep from hugging her.
“Really?”
“What?”
“Do you really love Gerald?”
“Yes. But this is a real secret.”
He wanted to confess honestly that you already said it yourself, but he had to wait for the right moment.
“I understand.”
He nodded slowly.
Only then did Marin relax and look up at the dark night sky, but then she suddenly turned back to Cal, struck by a thought.
“But when do you sleep, Cal? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sleep, even in the Imperial Palace.”
He was always there to protect her, even late at night.
After Cal arrived, she slept more soundly, hopeful that she could escape from the Imperial Palace.
“I can sleep later.”
“Is it because you’re friends? You’re really similar to Lord Gerald. Even the fact that you don’t sleep is similar. Your tone is similar, not sleeping is similar, being good at fighting is similar, the feeling when I hold your hand is similar, but if you think about it, Lord Gerald took Jeromian’s medicine and transformed…
Marin, who had been chattering to herself as if joking, slowly stopped speaking.
Gerald strained his jaw to suppress a laugh as he watched her wide eyes.
Marin’s green eyes were trembling incessantly.
“…No, right?”
“Who knows.”
“…No, it can’t be.”
Gerald smiled as he watched her deny reality.
He had been planning to tell her as soon as they left the desert, but she had noticed first.
“…Tell me it’s not true.”
She shook her head with a desperate look.
“I’m Gera-”
“Stop it!”
Marin quickly shouted and ran behind a large rock.
What was she doing?
“Is she taking time to reflect?”
“How do you know about that?”
Marin looked at him with resentful eyes and hid behind the rock.
“Marin.”
Marin pretended not to hear the gentle, deep voice calling her and banged her head against the rock.
Seriously, why didn’t she realize it sooner? Where did her perceptiveness go? What had she been saying all this time?
She had been barking up the wrong tree, asking if he loved the Duke, and she had openly said that she loved the Duke.
Oh, no. She confessed.
She had seen Jeromian change from a child to an adult, so why hadn’t she suspected Cal at all?
Of course, the Duke was blind, and Cal could see.
…Eyes?
Marin froze like a stone. The Duke could see?
The moment she realized that, all the complicated thoughts flew away in an instant.
The Duke could see!
Marin hurriedly came out from behind the rock.
Cal was looking at her with a soft smile.
“Lord Gerald?”
She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it directly from him.
“Yes.”
It wasn’t the Duke’s face, but it was the Duke.
Marin looked up at him with tearful eyes.
Deep gray eyes. Those eyes were staring straight at her.
Marin ran up to him and hugged his neck tightly.
He also let out a deep sigh and hugged her back.
“Your eyes… can you see?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you, thank you…”
Marin buried her face in his broad shoulder and repeated the same words over and over.
He gently pulled her away and stared at her with a helpless look.
“You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
Marin couldn’t take her eyes off his as she blinked back tears.
“I should be thanking you, but you’re thanking me.”
“Who cares who does it? What’s important is that you can see, Gerald.”
“I’m sorry.”
He bowed politely and apologized.
“Yes? Why?”
“For not telling you sooner that I could see. I apologize.”
When he couldn’t raise his head with a sorry expression, Marin shook her head.
What did it matter when he told her?
All that mattered was that the Duke could see.
“It’s okay as long as you can see, Gerald.”
She smiled brightly, her eyes still full of tears.
Gerald hugged her tightly again.
He had expected to be resented for deceiving her. He was even prepared to pay the price. He would have become her doormat if only Marin would stay by his side.
However, Marin was always someone who defied his expectations.
His predictions about her were always wrong, and the results were happier than he could have imagined.
