172 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
“……The Duke of the West won’t stay still.”
Deep wrinkles formed on the Chamberlain’s forehead. The Duke of the West’s prowess in the Sun Hall was still vivid in his mind.
“Chamberlain, does the Duke seem like he’ll bring more Monsters if I don’t allow the marriage?”
The Emperor sneered coldly.
“……”
It fleetingly seemed possible, but the Emperor seemed to have other thoughts.
“Isn’t the situation different from then? The Duke’s niece will soon be my daughter-in-law. No matter how unruly the Duke is, he’ll care about his own blood. That’s why leashes are good. Don’t you think so, Chamberlain?”
The Emperor’s hearty laughter echoed through the office.
The Chamberlain, hearing the Emperor’s laughter for the first time in a while, could only bow deeper without saying anything more.
\ \ \
Peridot looked at the open space with sparkling eyes, her face full of anticipation.
Marin smiled secretly, watching Peridot fidget with excitement.
She hadn’t been able to play with Peridot for a while because she was busy making rings, so today was the day they decided to build a Duke's Castle out of sand together.
Uvis carried sandbags full on his broad shoulders. Garnet, standing next to him, carried water buckets with a dissatisfied expression.
“Everyone, please put them here.”
“Yes.”
As Uvis placed the sandbags on the ground one by one, thumping sounds echoed. Just how heavy were they?
“Why are we doing this?”
Garnet, who had put down the water buckets, finally grumbled.
“I heard that playing with sand is good for a child’s development.”
“Who says?”
Garnet asked, turning into a prickly cat.
“I heard it somewhere. Now, sprinkle the sand you brought, and then sprinkle water on top of it.”
Marin smiled brightly and commanded again like an instructor.
“Yes! Garnet, think of this task as part of your training.”
“What kind of training is this?”
Garnet asked Uvis, complaining.
At first, she used honorifics with Uvis, her senior, but as they got closer, they started speaking comfortably to each other.
Uvis smiled mischievously and pushed a sandbag towards Garnet’s feet.
“Try lifting this.”
Garnet made a ‘hmph’ sound and reached for the sandbag.
She had been consistently doing physical training herself. This sandbag was nothing.
She lifted the sandbag with both hands and put her strength into it, but the sandbag stopped at waist height. She grunted and tried harder, but she couldn’t carry it on her shoulder like Uvis.
Garnet slammed the sandbag down on the ground, looking annoyed.
Uvis had carried these heavy sandbags, one on each shoulder. Yet she couldn’t even lift one properly.
The more she trained, the more she felt the difference in strength between men and women, which made her angry.
No matter how hard she tried, the gap wouldn’t close.
Seeing her disappointed expression, Uvis looked at Marin with a ‘uh-oh’ expression.
He had only wanted to tease her a little because he didn’t like her grumbling at the young lady, but he didn’t expect her to be so disappointed.
Marin, who had been watching their conversation, mixed wet sand and mud to make a round ball. Peridot seemed to find it fun and diligently followed suit, making balls as well.
When several round balls were made, Marin threw the balls at Uvis.
Uvis widened his eyes and quickly dodged.
“Young lady, why are you suddenly doing this?”
Marin silently threw the balls diligently, and Peridot also threw them, her eyes sparkling.
Uvis dodged the balls the two were throwing, but he inevitably got hit once.
Marin changed direction this time and threw the balls at Garnet in quick succession.
Garnet dodged all the balls in an instant with a dumbfounded expression.
“Why are you suddenly doing this?”
The excited Peridot followed Uvis, who was running away, and threw balls at him. Uvis dodged well, but he still got hit once in a while.
“Don’t be disappointed in yourself.”
Marin approached Garnet and handed her a round ball.
“Wh-what?”
Garnet’s eyes wavered, feeling like her thoughts had been read.
“You just need to be better at what you’re good at. Uvis gets hit by one out of five balls. You dodged all five.”
“Ah……”
Garnet trailed off, looking surprised. She hadn’t even realized how many she had dodged because she had dodged them unconsciously.
As Garnet pondered, Marin quietly stepped back with a supportive heart.
“Peridot, we need to build the Duke's Castle.”
Peridot, having run out of balls, was clinging to Uvis’s leg and playing.
“Yes!”
As Peridot ran off, Uvis wiped his chest with a relieved expression.
“Now, shall we all build a wonderful Duke's Castle together?”
“Yay!”
Peridot and Uvis raised their hands high and shouted. Despite the age difference, they looked like the same child.
“All of us?”
Garnet, who had snapped out of her thoughts, asked with a dumbfounded expression.
“I asked your master in advance to lend me the two of you.”
Marin winked at Garnet with a victor’s smile.
\ \ \
Peridot, who was molding sand with her small hands, approached Marin, who was building the castle walls.
“Marin Teacher.”
“Yes?”
“When are you marrying my uncle?”
Marin burst out laughing at the unexpected question.
“Hmm, wouldn’t it be soon?”
“Wow! Really? Then will I have subordinates too?”
Peridot asked, her eyes sparkling.
“Subordinates?”
“Yes. If you two get married, a baby will be born, right? Then I want that child to be my subordinate. Garnet is Uvis’s subordinate, right? I want to have a subordinate like Uvis too.”
“Hmm, okay. But first, we need to ask the baby if they want to be Peridot’s subordinate. If the baby says they want to be, then you’ll have a baby subordinate. How about that?”
Peridot readily agreed to Marin’s suggestion.
“Okay! We’re four siblings, so Teacher, please have four babies. Then I’ll have four subordinates under me!”
Peridot clasped her hands together and painted a rosy picture.
Marin looked at the child with affection.
By the time her child could become Peridot’s subordinate, wouldn’t Peridot be all grown up and avoid the children, finding them annoying?
Marin swallowed her laughter and cheered for Peridot’s dream in her heart.
Garnet, who had been listening to their conversation from the side, elbowed Uvis, who was diligently building the castle walls.
“Ouch. Hey! What’s wrong?”
“Did you tell Peridot that I’m your senior subordinate?”
“Yeah. You’re my subordinate because you’re my junior.”
“That’s right, but… I feel bad.”
It wasn’t wrong, but she felt strangely bad.
Garnet poked the castle wall that Uvis had carefully built with her finger out of spite.
“Hey, it collapsed.”
“Hmph.”
\ \ *
Marin finished reading today’s fairy tale to Gerald in a gentle voice and put the book down.
This time, she had sat side by side with him on the sofa and read to him.
As the sweetly flowing voice ended, Gerald’s long eyelashes fluttered open.
Marin gazed at him quietly.
Every moment he opened his eyes and met her gaze felt like a dream.
“Why are you smiling so prettily?”
“I’ll take that as you saying I’m pretty.”
“I did say that.”
“Yes, yes.”
Marin blushed and fidgeted with her fingers on the book.
“Today, I made a Duke's Castle out of sand with Peridot. Come see it when it’s finished. It’ll be really great.”
“I wondered.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s sand hanging from the ends of your hair.”
Marin touched her hair in embarrassment.
She felt ashamed that she kept showing him only her messy side.
He had immediately noticed the torn sleeve from the fight, and when they returned from the desert, she hadn’t been able to wash properly for days.
“Pretty.”
“Tch.”
“Why isn’t ‘I’ll take that as you saying I’m pretty’ coming out right away this time? I said it so directly.”
Marin pretended to be sulky and turned her head away.
“I never played in the sand when I was young.”
“Really?”
She looked at him again, but his expression seemed bitter, and she couldn’t bring herself to ask why.
“You play really well with Peridot.”
“The child is so pretty and lovely. I like children.”
“Yeah. It seems so.”
“Speaking of which, Peridot said today that she needs four subordinates.”
“Subordinates?”
Marin recalled the conversation she had with Peridot during the day and said with a voice full of laughter.
“Yes. She’s going to make our babies her subordinates. Peridot said she’s one of four siblings, so she wants me to make four. I wonder what she’s going to do with four subordinates.”
Gerald’s expression darkened for a moment, but Marin was too busy chattering to notice.
