192 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
Engaged to the Blind Duke Chapter 192
\ \ \
Sebas's butler's room, befitting a former knight, had several swords hanging on the wall.
Sebas Butler and Page Head Maid were in a meeting, their heads close together.
"Although His Majesty the Emperor's approval hasn't come down yet, shouldn't we start preparing for the wedding ceremony in advance? It seems The Duke wants something even more splendid than the last engagement celebration party."
Page Head Maid nodded seriously, as if in agreement.
"Yes. We can't rush it like last time, so it would be good to prepare bit by bit in advance."
"Then I will start by compiling the list of nobles to send invitations to."
Sebas Butler began writing down tasks in his notebook.
"I will try to make a list of chefs and pâtissiers."
Page Head Maid also took out her notebook and made a note.
"There should be no worries about the wine supply, right?"
"Yes. We already have a ten-year contract in place. However, we are short-handed..."
Page Head Maid said cautiously.
Sebas Butler nodded heavily, as if understanding.
While The Duke was away rescuing Lady Marin, he, along with Olive, had investigated the spies. He had thoroughly combed through their relatives, spouses, hometowns, and even ancestors.
Among the spies weeded out were several whom he had trusted.
The sense of desolation was...
"It's not me! Please believe me, Butler!"
Even as they were being dragged away, they all uniformly claimed innocence.
Sebas Butler personally interrogated them intensely. Those who had claimed innocence eventually confessed the truth.
Some sold the Duke's household information for money, others due to a request from a loved one.
Sebas Butler snapped out of his thoughts and stared at Page Head Maid.
"I will recruit more trustworthy servants. However, since we must conduct background checks more carefully than last time, it will probably take some time."
"Understood. I leave it in your hands."
Page Head Maid bowed her head slightly.
Sebas Butler also bowed in response and brought up another matter.
"And, Head Maid, please ascertain Lady Marin's intentions, which are the most important."
"Yes."
The subsequent meeting continued for another hour before it ended.
Leaving the butler's room, Page Head Maid headed straight for the annex for quick task handling.
\ \ \
Inside the transparent glass greenhouse in front of the annex.
There, Marin, Loanna, and Dia were having teatime.
Page Head Maid knocked on the glass greenhouse door, entered quietly, and bowed politely to them.
"Good day."
Marin welcomed her with delight.
"Head Maid, what brings you here?"
"I came to see you, my lady, as I have something to ask regarding the wedding preparations."
At Page Head Maid's calm report, Marin looked puzzled.
"Already? I heard His Majesty the Emperor's approval hasn't come down yet?"
"The Duke seems likely to want to hold the wedding ceremony immediately once His Majesty the Emperor's approval comes down, so we are trying to prepare in advance."
"That's true."
Dia, who was listening to their conversation, chimed in.
But Marin, the actual person involved, smiled awkwardly with a troubled expression.
"I haven't really thought about it yet..."
"You could refer to the engagement celebration party for ideas."
Page Head Maid added to help Marin.
"Ah, the engagement celebration party."
Marin lowered her eyes and glanced at Dia's reaction.
She had once entered a false engagement to protect her nieces and held a grand party to announce that engagement.
Remembering the hurt expressions on her nieces' faces when they arrived on the day of the party, Marin felt a pang in her heart as that day was mentioned.
Meeting her gaze, Dia smiled gently as if understanding.
The day she and her younger siblings arrived at the Duke's Castle, that dazzling party came to mind.
She now knew that party was part of her uncle's plan to protect them. She no longer felt hurt or sad about it.
"Don't you have a wedding you dreamed of when you were younger?"
Loanna, who was listening to the conversation, asked Marin kindly.
"Well... Nothing comes to mind right now... Head Maid, I don't have to say it right away, do I?"
"No. Of course not."
"Then, I'll discuss it with Lord Gerald and tell you as soon as possible."
"Understood."
Page Head Maid bowed silently and left her seat.
Marin looked down at her teacup, lost in thought.
What kind of wedding should she have?
Having given up on marriage and abandoned her wedding fantasies early on after her family's ruin, she felt overwhelmed.
As Marin picked up her teacup and stared blankly, Loanna called her name softly.
"Marin?"
"Yes."
"You don't have to think so seriously about it."
Marin put down her teacup and let out a deep sigh.
"It suddenly feels like such a weighty matter."
"A matter? It's a festival."
Loanna said with a smile playing on her lips.
"A festival?"
Marin's eyes widened as she repeated the question.
"Calling a wedding a festival, that's such a lovely word."
Dia, listening from the side, exclaimed in admiration.
Loanna gently took Marin's hand and advised her.
"A wedding is a day where you should be surrounded by people celebrating you and enjoy it like a festival. So, don't feel too burdened."
Marin met Loanna's kind gaze and nodded.
"Yes."
\ \ *
"On the gently undulating blue sea, a single sailboat carrying an old man swayed leisurely. A dolphin swimming nearby asked the old man,
'Grandpa, aren't you bored? Always watching the sunset?'
'Not at all bored. The colors are different every day, so it's beautiful even when I see it daily.'
The dolphin didn't understand the old man's words, but it swam beside the grandpa and watched the sunset together.
Like that, every single day.
Without missing a single day, watching the sunset together, the dolphin also realized.
The colors really are different every day.
After that, the dolphin came to love that time spent watching the sunset with the grandpa."
As she finished the story and closed the storybook, Gerald slowly opened his eyes, which he had closed.
"Good."
"You really like happy endings lately, don't you?"
Marin looked at Gerald and laughed.
"Love stories should end with a happy ending."
"But this isn't a love story?"
Marin looked at him with a bewildered gaze.
It was a story about an old man and a dolphin meeting and building a friendship. Did he only hear the 'came to love' part while dozing off?
"Let me rephrase. Any fairy tale should end with a happy ending."
Gerald slightly avoided her gaze and changed his words.
Marin found that cute and decided to pretend not to notice and let it pass.
Instead, she brought up the thoughts she had been pondering since the afternoon.
"Lord Gerald, do you have a wedding you dreamed of?"
"No. I never thought about marriage."
"We're similar then."
"You too?"
The corner of Gerald's lips curled up satisfactorily.
Marin narrowed her eyes and stared at him with a sullen expression.
"Why are you happy that I didn't dream of marriage?"
"It means you hadn't met a man worthy of it."
"It's more that I wasn't in a position to."
As Marin corrected him with a bright smile, Gerald responded brazenly.
"Can't hear you."
"That can't be. You who can even hear sounds from far away?"
"Can't hear."
As Marin pouted, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
"So, what's the wedding you are currently dreaming of?"
"There isn't one."
"Why? You've met a man to marry now, like this?"
Gerald raised one eyebrow with a dissatisfied expression.
"I've been busy until now."
"Then start thinking about it now. First, we'll invite all the nobles in the West..."
"You plan to invite them all like last time?"
A sense of distaste was evident in her voice.
"It's our wedding, yours and mine. We should let the whole West know."
Gerald spoke as if it were obvious. He wanted to hold their wedding so grandly that all the empire's citizens would know about it.
"But it's already been announced to everyone through the engagement celebration party?"
"It's different from then."
"Because it was fake back then?"
Marin met his eyes and laughed.
"Right."
At Gerald's firm tone, Marin recalled the original story's content, which had already completely changed.
It was written that the Duke of the West's wedding was so boisterous that everyone living in the West knew about it.
Remembering that content made her want to do the opposite even more.
Let's make it a festival, just as Mother said.
A festival enjoyed only by people like family, gathered together on a bright, clear day. Make lots of Cloud Candy, hire a circus. Release balloons into the sky.
"I just thought of something. I'd like it to be just us, the Duke's Castle family."
"Why?"
Gerald asked with a puzzled expression.
"I just don't want to waste time receiving congratulations from people I don't know. Is that okay?"
Marin looked at him cautiously and asked.
"You just have to ask me for anything."
At his tone that asked why she was asking the obvious, Marin grinned brightly.
"But it's your wedding too, Lord Gerald."
"I only need you."
"Ah! Then we don't need to prepare elaborately, so we could do it right away once the Emperor's approval arrives."
Marin clapped her hands and said happily.
"A more perfect plan couldn't be imagined."
A satisfied smile formed on Gerald's lips.
