33 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
Marin held the picnic basket and quickly ran down the stairs, rushing to the main gate of the castle.
She saw knights on horseback and a black Four-wheeled carriage with the Duke Vines's crest emblazoned on it.
It was bigger and more luxurious than the Four-wheeled carriage she had seen before.
"Hah, hah. Your Grace!"
Marin caught her breath, which she had lost from running, and called out to the Duke in a small voice.
The Duke, who was already in the carriage, turned his head towards her.
"Why?"
"This."
She handed over the picnic basket she had been holding tightly. Olive, who was standing outside the carriage, quickly took it.
"We have plenty of food prepared already."
"It's not food. It's like a gift, but not really a gift, for Your Grace."
Olive looked at her with a questioning expression, but she pretended not to notice.
"Bring it here."
"Yes."
Olive put the picnic basket into the carriage.
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
"Let's go."
The moment the Duke leaned back against the carriage seat, Marin murmured softly to herself.
"Please be careful, and come back safely."
All she could see was the carriage.
Just seeing the carriage made her afraid. She desperately hoped that no one would get hurt.
No one heard her whisper.
Except for the Duke.
The Duke, who had paused, turned his head back towards her.
Although the Duke's eyes were covered, it felt as if their gazes met in the air.
The Duke's red lips slowly parted, and the corners of his mouth relaxed slightly.
"I will be careful."
Marin's green eyes widened in surprise at the Duke's unexpected reply.
She didn't know how he had heard her, but it had been properly conveyed to the Duke.
"Yes!"
Marin smiled brightly and nodded vigorously.
The Duke, leaning back against the seat again, ordered Olive.
"Depart."
"Yes."
Olive mounted the horse, and the Four-wheeled carriage quickly left the castle.
\ \ \
"Hey, kid."
"I'm not a kid."
The boy, who was playing with toys, puffed out his cheeks and glared at his sister, Monica.
Black hair cascading down her waist. Beautiful eyes like black beads. An angel-like appearance.
She was his pride, but he hated her sometimes when she teased him.
"You're a kid because you don't even reach my waist."
Her black eyes sparkled with mischief.
"No! I'm not a kid!!"
"Oh, dear. Is our little kid angry? Should I give our little kid some candy?"
"Hmph. I'm not playing house with you anymore."
The boy crossed his arms and turned his head away.
He wouldn't forgive her with candy this time.
His sister, who was much older than him, always teased him, even though she was much older.
He should never forgive her.
He would never play house with her again.
"You'll regret it?"
Monica giggled and drawled out the end of her sentence.
"Hmph. I don't know what you're talking about."
Monica looked at her brother, who had puffed out his cheeks, as if she found him incredibly cute.
"It's a huge candy?"
Monica, who was sitting down in front of the boy, pulled out a white cloud candy like cotton candy that she had been hiding behind her back.
The boy's eyes widened at the cloud candy he had never seen before.
"Is that candy? Isn't it a cloud?"
"I plucked it from the sky to give to our little kid."
"Wow! Really?"
"Of course, what is a cloud to this sister for our little kid? I can even pluck stars for you. So, you'll keep playing house with me, right?"
Monica suppressed a smile and held out her pinky as if asking for a promise.
"Yeah! Sister! I'll do it."
The boy quickly hooked his pinky with hers.
The boy, who had received the cloud candy, looked up at his sister with admiring eyes.
Monica smiled brightly and ruffled the boy's black hair.
Pretty sister. Brave sister who plucks clouds and stars. Hehe.
"Ah, it hurts! Mom! Dad! Sister! My head hurts. My ears hurt. My nose hurts. My body stings. Uwaaaah."
The boy rolled around on the floor, screaming in pain.
The secret of the bloodline had manifested too early for the five-year-old boy.
The Duke gritted his teeth and watched his son with a pained expression. Beside him, the Duchess swallowed her tears, sharing her son's pain in her heart.
At that moment, the boy's door burst open.
The sound of the door opening sounded like thunder to the boy, and he covered his ears and fainted.
Monica was surprised and tried to approach her brother, but the Duchess blocked her way.
"Mother."
"Don't go near him."
"He's in pain! Why isn't anyone comforting him when he's screaming like that? He's only five years old!"
When Monica raised her voice, the Duchess put a finger to her lips and told her to be quiet.
Monica looked at her father, the Duke, with a frustrated expression.
"Father. Why is he in so much pain?"
Instead of answering his daughter, the Duke carefully picked up his son, who had fainted from the pain.
The Duke, seeing his daughter's bewildered gaze, shook his head slightly.
"……I'm sorry."
A loud noise was heard in the distance.
The boy slowly opened his closed eyes.
Today was the day his sister was leaving for the South for her wedding.
For several years, he had been isolated in the spire as much as possible, cutting off contact with the outside world.
After hearing the secret of the bloodline from his father, he only practiced dealing with his five senses.
It had been a long time, but his senses were still running wild.
When he fainted in his room and first opened his eyes in this spire, he insisted on returning to his room.
However, after realizing that the more he cried, the more his pain increased, he closed his mouth.
The noise was less because it was at the highest point. But when it rained, he suffered from the loud noise and fainted.
His sense of taste was so developed that he couldn't even eat.
He could see even the dust floating in the air so well that he became accustomed to living with his eyes closed.
The boy, who used to laugh a lot and was active, gradually lost his words.
As time passed without interacting with anyone, he became emotionless.
"Hey, kid."
At that moment, his sister's voice was heard faintly from a distance.
The boy jumped up and approached the window of the spire.
The spire was surrounded by high walls to prevent anyone from approaching. Beyond the walls, under a large tree, stood his sister, whom he had not seen in a long time.
His sister was still as beautiful as an angel.
The boy stared at his sister's face, which he had not seen in a long time, as if engraving it in his mind so as not to forget it.
His sister, as if she had not found him, kept her eyes on the top of the spire and continued to speak.
"Can you hear me? I know you can hear me. The secret of the family is bullshit. Who am I? I found out everything. You can hear my voice even from far away, right? Father is too much. How can he not show you to me even though I'm leaving to get married?"
Monica's black eyes were filled with tears.
His sister quickly wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her dress and said cheerfully.
"Hey, kid. I'm getting married. He's a kind and good man. When I first saw him, I thought an angel had come down from heaven. He's so handsome that I'm going to take him with me."
Pfft. The boy, who had laughed for the first time in a long time, was surprised and touched his lips.
"I'll live well, so come visit the South once you get out of there. I'll send you letters often. Even if you can't reply, be sure to read them. Okay?"
His sister held out her pinky in the air as if asking for a promise, just like a long time ago.
The boy reached out into the air as if hooking his pinky for the first time in a long time.
She dropped her hand and sobbed.
"I wanted to see our little kid all grown up……. I'm sorry. I can't even hug you. I'm sorry, Gerald."
His sister called him by his name, not "kid," for the first time.
Soon, Monica knelt on the ground and cried like a child.
Gerald ran to the desk.
He scribbled letters on a handkerchief, wrapped the handkerchief around a fist-sized stone, and tied it.
Clang.
The stone that broke the window flew far away and landed accurately in front of Monica.
Monica, startled by the crying, picked up the stone.
Monica unwrapped the handkerchief that was wrapped around the stone and burst into tears again as she hugged the handkerchief.
[Congratulations on your wedding. Sister.]
