19 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
Blinded Duke and I are engaged Chapter 19
"...Imsi. What did you do to me?"
"Pardon?"
Gerald jumped up and strode towards her.
"I asked, what exactly did you do!"
She stepped back as he approached. Her breathing quickened at his sharp questioning. The sound of her heartbeat was loud and distracting.
"I don't understand what you mean."
She replied in a trembling voice.
"Poison?"
"Huh?"
He pressed down on her shoulders, preventing her from moving any further. He could feel her body stiffen in surprise.
Gerald bent down, bringing his nose to her neck, and inhaled deeply.
"Ugh."
He could feel her stopping herself from making a sound.
It was a familiar scent, one he hadn't smelled in a long time.
A scent he hadn't been able to smell well since shutting himself off from the outside world. The clean scent of grass, as if holding dew, and the scent of dry sunlight. And a sweet, womanly scent he was smelling for the first time.
It wasn't the poison he had expected. Even smelling it this close, there was no scent of poison.
"Why, why are you doing this?"
He could feel her body trembling with fear beneath his hands. Gerald felt a strange sense of disappointment as he lifted his face from her neck.
"What exactly are you? How could you do that?"
"What could I have done...?"
She asked in a voice filled with fear, as if she were about to faint.
He slowly backed away from her and, after a long pause, spoke heavily.
"...I dozed off."
"Pardon?"
"You made me sleep. You can make me sleep with just your storytelling skills, not poison?"
"Wow! D-Did you really sleep? Really?"
Her voice was filled with joy, as if she hadn't been trembling just moments before.
She was happy about someone else's business as if it were her own.
An incomprehensible woman.
"Yes."
"But why did you wake up instead of continuing to sleep?"
"It's unsettling."
"Pardon?"
"It's been so long that it's unsettling. As if I won't be able to wake up once I fall asleep."
Gerald was surprised by his own unguarded thoughts.
That's right. It had been so long since he had slept properly that the act of falling asleep felt foreign.
"Ah, I see. Wait a minute. How long has it been since you slept properly?"
She tilted her head, then asked in a surprised voice.
"I don't remember."
He couldn't remember when he had last had a full, proper sleep without fainting.
"Oh my goodness."
Hearing her surprised voice, fatigue washed over him all at once. He returned to his seat and slumped down.
She approached him like a puppy chasing its owner, hesitating near him.
"Why?"
"...Shall I read to you again?"
She cautiously suggested.
"No need."
"But you need to sleep."
She repeated herself with a voice full of lingering regret, but it didn't seem like the sleep that had fled would return.
"Do it tomorrow."
"...Yes. I understand. Then, rest well."
The rustling sound of her skirt faded away.
Soon, the office door opened, and darkness descended again. Even though only one person had left, the office felt darker than usual today.
Marin's face was flushed red as she clutched the book tightly and walked into the hallway. As she reached the bright hallway without curtains after the dark hallway, she quickened her pace.
Marin quickly knocked on the office door.
"Come in."
Olive, who was looking at documents, greeted her with a happy expression.
"Miss Marin."
"Olive!"
Marin held a book in each hand and raised her arms high as if doing a cheer.
"Yes?"
"I did it!"
Marin smiled brightly, her green eyes sparkling.
"You did it?"
Olive smiled back, bewildered.
"His Grace the Duke slept!"
"What did you say?"
Olive jumped up from his chair in surprise. The wooden chair couldn't withstand the force and fell to the floor with a thud.
"Well, not exactly slept? More like dozed off?"
"Tell me everything."
Olive led her to the tea table in the center of the office.
Marin sat down and excitedly explained what had happened with the Duke.
"So, how long did he sleep?"
"Well, His Grace the Duke only said he dozed off."
"His Grace the Duke said that himself?"
"Yes."
Marin nodded vigorously.
"Miss Marin, congratulations!"
"Is it really something to be congratulated for?"
Marin widened her eyes and asked back with a bewildered expression.
"Of course. You've accomplished something no one else could."
Olive quickly got up and took out 1 gold.
"Here, take it."
"No! I can't accept this, he didn't fully sleep, he only dozed off for a moment."
Marin waved her hands frantically with a flustered expression.
"Well begun is half done, as they say. You deserve it."
Marin stared at the 1 gold that Olive held out, then cautiously accepted it.
"Thank you."
"I look forward to working with you in the future."
"Yes!"
Marin replied energetically, as if to say, leave it to me.
Olive entered the office with slumped shoulders.
Marin looked at him with anxious eyes. He met her gaze and shook his head.
"How many days has it been?"
Marin jumped up and shouted accusingly.
"It's been a week."
"No, why are you avoiding me when there's a possibility he might sleep!"
"That's what I'm saying."
Marin suddenly rolled up her sleeve and proudly showed it to Olive.
"Does my wrist look any bigger?"
"Um, I don't know."
Olive carefully examined her thin wrist, then quickly looked away.
Although she was pretending to be a commoner, she was a noble lady. One shouldn't stare at a noble lady's wrist for too long.
He didn't know if her wrist size had changed, but her appearance had definitely changed.
Her dull, lackluster platinum blonde hair had started to regain its shine, and her face, which had been so thin that her cheekbones were prominent, now had softer lines.
Her face, which had given a listless and vague impression, looked much better with sufficient nutrition and sleep.
"If I go to get my wrist checked, will he kick me out right away?"
She asked, turning her wrist this way and that.
"He ordered that no one is allowed to enter..."
"That's right."
Marin sat back down and glared at the fairy tale books on the desk.
They were fairy tale books with happy endings that she had carefully selected. She felt like she could put him to sleep perfectly with these books.
"Miss Marin. You can leave work early today."
Marin picked up a hardcover fairy tale book from the desk with a dejected face and got up.
"Yes. Then, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yes. Goodbye."
She hadn't seen the Duke's face for a week.
Since she had nothing to report to the Duke, she had nothing to do. She had finished all the paperwork she had been buried in for several days, and she spent most of the remaining time reading books.
Choosing books to read to the Duke was a very important task, but it didn't necessarily have to be done in the office.
Marin walked slowly down the hallway, then turned back and looked towards the dark hallway.
No matter how she thought about it, this wasn't right.
To avoid her because he was afraid of sleeping.
Marin walked quickly to the edge of the dark hallway.
She crossed her arms and leaned on one leg, as if the Duke were right in front of her.
It was an arrogant pose that anyone could see.
"Your Grace the Duke. Sleep is a basic necessity. How can someone who is already physically unwell live without sleep? I really didn't want to say this..."
Marin glanced around to make sure no one was around, then whispered as quietly as possible.
"Coward. Hmph."
Then, she ran out of the hallway as if fleeing.
