213 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
“Anyone who wants to die is welcome to come forward!”
He scooped up Dia, who was standing behind him, and ran towards the carriage with Olive.
“Marin, Dia. Hold on tight.”
After lifting Marin and Dia into the carriage, Elmis and Olive climbed in after them. Uvis grabbed onto the bars of the cage and hung on.
Henders jumped onto the horses pulling the carriage and took hold of the reins.
Gerald, after confirming that they had all moved swiftly, clung to the back of the carriage and ordered Henders.
“Return to the Duke's Residence at full speed, now.”
“Yes!”
The nobles with Swords hesitated, slowly approaching the carriage.
Gerald coldly raised the corner of his lips and unleashed a fierce aura.
Stones that had fallen on the ground swirled around the carriage as if to protect it.
The nobles stepped back, intimidated by the stones’ ferocious momentum, as if they were about to fly off at any moment.
Then, the Emperor, with an enraged face, shouted at the Imperial Palace guards.
“What are you doing! Seize them!”
At the Emperor’s roar, James, the captain, bowed his head with a stiff expression.
“Emperor, it is dangerous.”
“What?”
The Emperor glared at him with a look full of annoyance.
“If the Duke of the West draws his Sword, no one here will survive. Our priority is to protect Your Majesty. Leave the attack to the nobles.”
Of course, the nobles won’t draw their Swords against the Duke of the West if they value their lives.
James swallowed the unspoken words with a bitter expression.
In the end, everyone could only stand there and watch the carriage disappear into the distance.
\ \ \
The Emperor’s office.
The Emperor, with an angry face, picked up a vase placed on the desk and threw it.
Crash!
The shattered pieces of porcelain scattered on the floor, and water-soaked flower petals were strewn about.
The Emperor’s golden eyes gleamed as he looked at the scene. The Duke of the West should be lying there, so grotesquely defeated.
With the Duke of the West’s departure, the Hunting Festival ended in a mess.
Nothing went right.
The witness who would denounce the Duke of the West’s fiancée. The evidence that BaniBani was a Monster.
Everything was perfect. He had planned all of this from the moment he first heard the report about the Duke of the West’s fiancée.
Since all the nobles had seen it, he believed that he could frame his fiancée as a Witch and finally bring the Duke of the West to his knees this time.
But the Duke of the West dared to lie in front of the Emperor himself and confidently walked away.
Did the Duke of the West not know how to beg at all?
The nobles were just as pathetic. Not a single one of them stood in the way of the Duke of the West.
Bang!
“Useless things!”
The Emperor slammed his fist on the desk and breathed roughly.
The Chamberlain, who had been quietly watching the Emperor’s tantrum, approached him with concern.
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
“Do I look alright to you right now? I threw the Duke of the West and his fiancée as bait, but why couldn’t anyone take it!”
“Everyone saw what happened today. The rumors will spread like wildfire, and the Duke of the West will have to give up his fiancée when faced with public opinion. So please, Your Majesty, try to calm down.”
At the Chamberlain’s soothing words, the Emperor suppressed his anger and looked at him.
“Do you truly believe that will happen?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. It just needs time.”
“Good. I’ll wait and see. You’re the only one I can trust, Chamberlain.”
The Emperor gave a satisfied smile, leaned back comfortably, and closed his eyes.
And when the Emperor opened his eyes again, he frowned at the sight of the broken vase in the office.
“Why is the vase broken?”
“……It was my fault. My hand slipped. I’ll clean it up right away.”
“Tsk, tsk. Chamberlain, you’re pathetic.”
“I apologize.”
The Chamberlain’s eyes darkened as he bowed.
The Emperor’s episodes were becoming more frequent.
\ \ \
The Duke's Residence office.
Gerald stared out the window with an indifferent expression. A vast crowd surrounded the Duke's Residence.
They were soldiers from the Imperial Palace. The soldiers stood with long spears in their hands, facing away from the Duke's Residence.
Olive, who was standing behind the Duke, began to report with a nervous expression.
“There are three hundred soldiers blocking the Duke's Residence. It seems they have trapped us here to prevent us from returning to the West. They are also preventing the servants from leaving.”
The Duke’s broad back did not move an inch.
“Butler, what is the servants’ reaction?”
“There was a brief moment of unrest due to the inability to leave, but they are fine now. There is also enough food and water. Only…….”
Butler Canolam hesitated, as if he couldn’t bring himself to continue.
Only then did the Duke, who had been looking out the window, turn around.
Butler Canolam and Olive felt a chilling shiver down their spines at the Duke’s face, which was as expressionless as a mask.
Olive opened her mouth in place of her father.
“Rumors about Lady Marin are spreading rapidly.”
The Duke’s gray eyes, filled with anger, darkened.
“Make sure no one speaks carelessly.”
At the Duke’s warning, Butler Canolam hurriedly bowed.
“Yes. I understand.”
“It will be a battle of time.”
Olive nodded slightly, as if agreeing.
“May I ask what you plan to do from now on?”
“The Emperor dared to choose Marin as his prey. I will only protect her.”
The Duke’s voice, uttering each word, was as cold as ice.
Olive also clenched her jaw. She herself felt anger rising when she recalled what had happened, and it was amazing that the Duke had endured it until now.
“Baines will completely withdraw from all matters related to Western trade from now on. And spread the story that BaniBani was originally a Rabbit and that he helped Marin in the streets. Cover rumors with rumors.”
“Yes.”
Olive replied heavily with trembling eyes.
Baines withdrawing from Western trade was not a simple matter.
Even with the Duke of the West family conducting extensive cleanups for Western trade, Monsters occasionally appeared, so what if the West completely withdrew from that work?
At the very least, numerous nobles and merchants involved in the Western trade business would collapse, and at worst, the nation’s power would be jeopardized.
Did the Emperor really know what he had touched?
It was then, as cold sweat dripped down her back at the dark clouds that would hang over the Empire.
“Come in.”
Olive quickly turned around and opened the office door, revealing Dia standing there with a hesitant expression.
“We will take our leave.”
Olive and Butler Canolam bowed to the Duke.
After the two left, Dia entered with a dark expression.
“Where is Marin?”
“She is with the Rabbit.”
“Is she alright?”
Gerald shook his head without a word.
Marin, who had been stroking BaniBani throughout the journey to the Duke's Residence, couldn’t stop crying. He, who could only watch her, felt his insides burning as if he had swallowed fire.
If he could only stop her tears, he wanted to rush into the Imperial Palace right away and eliminate the Emperor.
But he knew that wouldn’t stop Marin’s tears, so he was trying his best to endure it.
“I saw the soldiers surrounding the Duke's Residence. ……What on earth does His Majesty want?”
Dia clenched her hands tightly and spoke with difficulty.
“He wants my submission after imprisoning Marin as a hostage.”
“Haa.”
A sigh that Dia had been holding back finally escaped from her lips as she lowered her head.
Everything was confusing.
The Crown Prince was a good person, and she had gradually come to love him.
But now, she didn’t know if her choice was the right one.
Dia slowly raised her head and opened her mouth with a determined expression.
“I won’t marry His Highness the Crown Prince. So let’s leave for the West quickly.”
Gerald looked at Dia with a silent gaze.
He saw her sad face, swallowing back tears, and her hands, barely holding each other, trembling slightly.
He felt sorry for his niece, who had lost her parents early and had become an adult too quickly.
“It’s not something to decide easily.”
“I didn’t decide easily. If I marry His Highness the Crown Prince, the West will continue to be entangled with His Majesty.”
Gerald met Dia’s determined eyes and spoke honestly.
“Dia. I want your happiness.”
Dia looked at the Duke with wide eyes.
“You know how hard it is to let go of someone you love, since you’ve already experienced it.”
Dia’s eyes filled with tears at his calm but affectionate tone.
“I, I…….”
Her voice was choked up and she couldn’t speak properly.
“I’ll take care of it, so give me a little more time.”
“Yes. Thank you…….”