60 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
Engaged to the Blind Duke 60
“Marin, do you know?”
He hadn’t been granted permission to call her name, yet he called her name as he pleased.
“Yes?”
“If Marin’s family hadn’t fallen, we would have been engaged.”
“……”
Marin stared at him, her eyes wide.
It was the first time she’d heard such a thing. Her parents had always told her they had no intention of arranging a political marriage for her.
“Our fathers were very close.”
“Ah……”
No matter how close her father was to the Norman Viscount, he wouldn’t have proceeded with an engagement without asking for her opinion.
“Eat well, and tell me if you want anything else.”
“This is enough. Thank you.”
Marin bowed once more and turned away.
Unseen by her, Gobium’s eyes blatantly scanned her retreating figure.
Marin gazed out the window.
The sound of dripping water could be heard from the already dark outside. It had started to rain.
“Catherine, I think I should go now.”
“Teacher, just a moment. Can’t you stay a little longer?”
Catherine, her hair braided on both sides, grabbed the hem of her skirt and clung to her.
“Is something the matter today? Why do you want Teacher to stay?”
Marin bent her knees to meet Catherine’s eyes and asked kindly.
Catherine, who usually listened well, kept preventing her from going home today.
That’s why, even though it was already time for her to be home, she was stuck in Catherine’s room.
“Oh, come on. When is he really coming?”
Catherine didn’t answer her question and anxiously stared at the door.
“Who are you waiting for?”
“My big brother.”
Catherine looked at Marin with her large brown eyes, then answered in a resigned tone.
“Big brother? Lord Gobium?”
“Yes.”
“Catherine is waiting for her big brother, so why can’t Teacher go home?”
Marin asked, trying to soothe Catherine.
“Big brother asked me to. He said he wants to take Teacher home, so he told me not to let you go home until he comes. My big brother is really nice, right? Oh, but this was a secret.”
“I see. But what should I do? Teacher really has to go home now. My mother will be waiting.”
Marin stroked Catherine’s hair and stood up.
“Teacher, please wait just a little longer.”
Catherine grabbed her around the waist and clung to her, and Marin looked down at the child with a troubled expression.
Just then, Catherine’s door opened.
“Catherine.”
It was Gobium.
“Big brother!”
Catherine approached Gobium with a delighted expression.
“Catherine, did you study hard today?”
“Yes! Teacher is going home now.”
Catherine met Gobium’s eyes and giggled.
It was a secret that had been completely revealed, but for a young child, secrets were very fun.
“Is that so?”
Gobium stared intently at her, his eyes gleaming.
Marin pretended not to see that look and greeted Catherine.
“Catherine. See you tomorrow.”
“Yes, Teacher. Goodbye.”
As she walked towards the door, she caught a strong whiff of alcohol from Gobium.
Marin’s expression hardened, and she quickly passed him.
Someone who had even told his younger sister in advance that he would take her home came after drinking so much that he reeked of alcohol?
Something felt off.
Marin suppressed the urge to run and walked with the largest strides she could manage.
Step, step.
She could hear Gobium’s footsteps right behind her.
“Marin.”
“Yes.”
“Shall we talk for a moment?”
“It’s very late. My mother is waiting for me.”
Marin answered quickly as she walked, without turning around.
“How rude. Has your family’s downfall made you forget all the manners of a noble?”
Marin stopped dead in her tracks.
She turned around with a cold expression, and he was there, arms crossed over his chest, mocking her.
“Are you insulting my family right now?”
“Of course not.”
Gobium unfolded his arms and raised both hands as if surrendering. He grinned and approached her.
“You already did.”
“There has to be a family to insult for it to be an insult, wouldn’t you say?”
Gobium smirked and sneered.
“What did you say?”
“Isn’t that right? A noble lady from a fallen family is meeting a man at this late hour, and she’s taking leftover food from our house. What do you call it when you beg for food? Ah, you call it begging, right?”
Gobium clutched his stomach and chuckled as if his own words were amusing.
Marin silently watched his mockery.
The plight of a noble lady from a fallen family was this pathetic.
She would face countless such incidents in the future. However, whether she continued to endure this humiliation was her choice.
Marin stared at Gobium with a confident gaze.
“I will quit being a tutor starting today. Please convey that to the Norman Viscount. Goodbye.”
Marin spoke calmly and turned her body.
However, Gobium grabbed her arm with an angry expression and turned her back around.
“You’re quitting just like that?”
“Yes.”
“If your family hadn’t fallen, you and your family’s wealth would have been mine. Do you know that?”
Marin was speechless and stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.
What kind of nonsense was this? Was he crazy?
Even if her family hadn’t fallen, she had no intention of marrying this man.
“So, obediently follow my words.”
He flung open the door to the hallway and pushed her inside.
Marin staggered momentarily from his force and stepped inside.
“What are you doing?”
“Since your family has fallen and you can’t get married, I’ll take you as a concubine, Marin.”
Gobium, speaking as if doing her a favor, cupped her face with one hand and lowered his head.
Marin pushed him away with both hands.
“Stop it-”
Slap.
It was only after her head snapped to the side that she realized she had been hit.
She had been slapped for the first time in her life.
Her cheek instantly swelled up from how hard she had been hit.
“Tsk, tsk. You wouldn’t have been hit if you had stayed still.”
Gobium clicked his tongue as if feeling sorry for her swollen cheek.
At that moment, her patience snapped.
Marin clenched both fists and glared at Gobium.
“Why? Are you going to hit me? With those weak hands? Haha.”
Gobium clutched his stomach, laughing, and took a step closer.
At that moment, Marin kicked him between the legs with all her might.
It was self-defense she had learned in her past life.
“Ugh.”
Gobium let out a scream-like groan and collapsed to the floor.
“A guy who isn’t even a handful. What? A concubine? I wouldn’t take a wagon full of guys like you even if you gave them to me.”
Marin, her eyes flipped, coldly spoke to the unconscious him and left the mansion.
As she stepped outside, rain was pouring down.
Afraid that the unconscious Gobium might wake up and follow her, she ran in the rain.
While running up a mountain with no lights, she tripped over a stone and fell onto the dirt ground.
“Ouch.”
Fortunately, she didn’t roll down, but her scraped knees and palms stung.
Marin gritted her teeth and stood up. It would be a disaster if she rested and got caught.
It was only after arriving at the cabin and locking the door that she could finally feel relieved.
Marin tiptoed into her room. Loanna would surely be upset if she saw her appearance.
She entered the room, lit a candle, and turned around, only to find her mother sitting on her bed, dozing off.
Loanna, awakened by the sound, gave a welcoming smile, but her expression quickly hardened.
“Marin?”
“Mom, were you waiting for me?”
“Marin, good heavens. Marin……”
Loanna raised a trembling hand.
“I fell while coming in the rain.”
Marin quickly approached her to soothe Loanna, who was in shock.
“Marin. My daughter. Your face……”
Loanna’s soft hand lightly touched her swollen cheek.
It stung, but Marin smiled as if it were nothing.
“This is also from falling.”
“Marin……”
Loanna didn’t ask for details.
Instead, she held her rain-soaked face tightly in her warm embrace.
Marin, too, didn’t make any more excuses and was comforted in her mother’s arms.
\ \ *
As she snapped out of her past memories, Gobium was glaring at her with furious eyes.
“An apology, you say? Who apologizes to whom? Do you not know what you did to me?”
