20 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
Engaged to the Blind Duke Episode 20
\ \ \
Just as Marin was about to enter the annex, she heard voices coming from behind the building.
“Yuria, what about that commoner? Always acting so high and mighty?”
“Probably. For a commoner, she’s settled right into the annex.”
“Right. She must be a Courtesan.”
“No. Lady Marin said she is helping His Grace the Duke.”
Yuria hurriedly defended Marin as if it were her own matter.
“What’s with this ‘Lady’ talk between commoners?”
“Did that woman ask you to call her ‘Lady’? How ridiculous.”
Marin resumed her steps that had paused. The gossip of subordinates wasn’t particularly significant.
After all, she was someone who would leave this place soon. There was no need to cater to the whims of the subordinates one by one, nor to make them her own people.
“Then, is that woman she calls her mother also a Courtesan? With that haughty expression, she really thought she was a noble.”
Marin tightened her grip on the fairy tale book she was holding.
Insulting and misunderstanding her was fine. But touching upon her mother was an exception.
“No! Don’t speak that way about Lady Loanna.”
Yuria shouted in an angry voice.
“This orphan raising her voice recklessly? Do you need to receive proper discipline again?”
As she entered behind the building, Marin saw a maid raising her hand at Yuria.
Without a second thought, Marin threw the hardcover fairy tale book at the maid’s back.
The hard corner of the fairy tale book struck the maid’s spine precisely.
“Aaaah!”
“Where do you think you’re laying your hands right now?”
“Lady Marin?”
“Yuria, come over here.”
The moment Yuria took a step toward Marin, the maid with eyes slit long sideways grabbed Yuria’s red hair.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Let go of that hand.”
Marin suppressed her anger and glared fiercely at the maid.
“You’re funny? Why should I obey your orders?”
“Let’s call it a request, not an order.”
“A request? That’s not how you make a request. Shouldn’t you kneel or something?”
The last shred of Marin’s patience snapped with a pop.
“You’re so rude and ignorant, I can’t even deal with you.”
“Ha, for a Courtesan, she really thinks she’s a noble. Does she think she’s something just because she’s receiving a bit of favor from His Grace the Duke?”
The maid holding Yuria’s hair spoke with a triumphant expression.
Judging by the situation, it seemed that maid was the leader of this group.
Marin rolled up her sleeves and quickly approached the maid.
As she got closer, the flustered maid let go of Yuria’s hair.
Seizing that moment, Marin swiftly hid Yuria behind her.
The maid, who had lost Yuria in an instant, raised her voice with an indignant face.
“Girls, it’s discipline time.”
Then, the plump maid and the maid who had been hit in the back with the fairy tale book surrounded Yuria and Marin, bristling with anger.
“La-Lady Marin.”
“Yuria, stand behind me. I’ll protect you.”
Marin clenched both fists and stood firmly in front of Yuria.
\ \ \
Gerald had been tormented for days, engulfed by an emotion he had never felt before in his life.
“Why are you still awake and up?”
“It’s unsettling.”
“Huh?”
“It’s been so long that it’s unsettling. As if once I fall asleep, I won’t wake up.”
The unsettling feeling he had confided to Imsi was actually based on fear.
He was the one who could cut down a Monster three times his size in one stroke.
Who would have thought that such an emotion would arise in him, who never knew fear?
He hadn’t realized it himself, so he had unconsciously confided in her.
But he shouldn’t have told Imsi.
“Coward. Hmph.”
Didn’t she outright mock him?
“How brave.”
Gerald chuckled involuntarily and genuinely admired her.
What on earth does Imsi believe in to be so brave?
A woman who deceives and mocks him, the Western Duke.
“Does she have multiple lives?”
Then, suddenly, the commotion from outside sporadically reached his ears.
A women’s fight…….
Gerald had a strange premonition.
“Kay.”
“…….”
Kay, who appeared swiftly, prostrated himself before him.
“Tell Olive to bring Imsi.”
“…….”
Kay’s footsteps quickened as he disappeared without a reply. As if he had been waiting for this moment.
As Kay also vanished, the study became quiet again.
\ \ *
Yuria bit her lip at the sight of Marin, who was smaller and thinner than her, trying to protect her.
She didn’t want to cause trouble for Butler Sebas, who had introduced her to the job. So she endured the bullying called ‘discipline’ too.
But now it seemed she was about to cause trouble for Marin, whom the butler had earnestly asked her to serve well.
“Lady Marin, thank you. I’ll handle this myself, so please get away quickly.”
“Get away? What getaway? That one needs discipline too.”
The head maid glared at Marin and shouted.
“Discipline? What discipline? Don’t use such a sacred word in a place like this?”
Marin snorted and retorted to the head maid’s words.
“Looks like you need a real taste of spice to come to your senses! Girls, let’s start!”
The maids surrounding Marin and Yuria swung their hands roughly. Marin didn’t back down either, pushing and hitting wherever she could grab.
In an instant, five women were tangled, with screams and punches flying everywhere.
Marin deliberately screamed even louder. So that anyone could hear.
“Kyaa! Let go of my hair?!”
Marin’s hair was grabbed by the head maid, becoming disheveled.
“If you’re going to let go, why grab it!”
The head maid pulled Marin’s hair even harder.
“Help! Kyaa! Kyaa!”
Even though she deliberately screamed louder, not a single soul showed up.
“What is all this commotion!”
Finally, they came!
A stern-looking middle-aged woman burst in. Following behind her, Butler Sebas looked at Marin with a startled face.
“Miss Marin!”
Marin, who was pinned under the maids, barely raised her head at the butler’s booming voice.
“Hello…….”
Although she had deliberately screamed louder to be heard, seeing a familiar face made her cheeks burn.
“Oh my, please get up quickly.”
Butler Sebas lifted the maids and flung them aside one by one.
“Oof.”
“Kyaak.”
“Aaaah.”
The maids, thrown brutally to the ground, screamed.
Butler Sebas hurriedly helped Marin and Yuria to their feet.
“Yuria, what is all this about?”
“I’m sorry.”
Yuria muttered with a face that looked like she might cry any moment out of shame.
“Forget apologies, how did things come to this?”
Under the butler’s stern expression, Yuria haltingly explained the situation.
“The maids called Lady Marin and Lady Loanna Courtesans…….”
Butler Sebas and Head Maid Page’s faces instantly hardened.
This was truly a major incident.
“Butler, since it’s a commotion caused by the maids, may I handle it myself?”
Head Maid Page hurriedly stepped forward and spoke to the butler.
“Under normal circumstances, yes, but Miss Marin is neither a maid nor a Courtesan. This matter cannot be passed over lightly.”
“Yes. I understand. I’m sorry, Miss Marin.”
Head Maid Page approached Marin and bowed deeply in apology.
She was a head maid who rarely bowed to anyone except the Duke.
Seeing that, the maids trembled in fear.
“I’m afraid I cannot say it’s alright.”
At Marin’s firm response, the head maid raised her head and met her gaze with calm eyes.
“What can I do for you?”
“Those maids insulted not only me but also my mother. That is utterly unforgivable.”
Head Maid Page coldly glanced at the maids gathered in one corner and then spoke.
“Please tell me what you desire. Anything.”
“May I decide the punishment in your stead, Head Maid?”
