67 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
Blind Duke and Fiancee 67
Peridot, looking startled, grabbed Dia's hand tightly and hid behind her skirt.
"...Yes. Hello."
Dia, also hiding her bewildered gaze, replied a little slowly.
"Hmph."
Garnet, standing next to Dia, glared at Marin with sharp eyes and turned her head away.
Rubiana was still looking up at Marin with curious eyes.
"Then, we'll be going."
Dia bowed slightly and tried to leave the spot right away.
"Excuse me, Miss Adria."
Marin carefully called out to Dia, who had turned her back.
Dia slowly turned around with an attitude that she couldn't help it. She was showing with her whole body that she didn't want to deal with her.
"......Yes."
"I'm staying in the annex as well."
Marin could see Dia's white face stiffen.
"Yes. I heard it from the maid."
"Wouldn't it be uncomfortable for you?"
"What is?"
Only then did Dia raise her head and meet her gaze with her eyes that were the color of deep green.
"I'm sure you want to rest comfortably, but you have to stay in the same place as a stranger. If you're uncomfortable, I'll ask The Duke—no, Gerald, if I can move somewhere else."
Dia was silently listening to Marin's story with an emotionless gaze.
"No. I heard you were staying in the annex before us. We'll be as careful as possible."
She was polite, but her tone was thoroughly distant.
"Sister, let's go quickly."
Garnet, who had been standing next to her with a dissatisfied expression, urged Dia.
"Okay. Then, goodbye."
"Yes."
Marin nodded as if telling her to go quickly.
Rubiana, who was walking after her sisters, turned around and waved her hand slightly.
Marin smiled brightly and waved back.
Garnet, who noticed that, grabbed Rubiana's arm and pulled her forward as if telling her not to interact with her.
"It hurts, Sister."
"Don't say hello to anyone."
"It's not just anyone."
"Listen to your sister."
As Marin heard the sisters bickering, she stood there and smiled bitterly.
She was worried about whether she would be able to become close with them in the future.
But she had to do it.
No, she wanted to do it.
The children, who had lost their parents in an instant, were very similar to her. That's why she was so concerned about them.
The next day.
Marin deliberately went down to the second floor and wandered around. She thought that if she saw them often, she would become fond of them, so she was going to try to run into them as often as possible.
She was walking slowly down the hallway on the second floor when the door in the center opened.
It was none other than Garnet who came out rubbing her eyes with a sleepy face.
"Hello..."
Bang.
Before Marin could finish her greeting, the door slammed shut.
It was a strong iron wall.
The next day.
Marin deliberately loitered outside the annex in the late afternoon. She wondered if her nieces and nephews would come out for a walk like last time.
Just in time, the four nieces and nephews, wearing Mourning clothes, came out all at once.
"Hello. The weather is really nice."
Thump. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck in the clear sky.
Oh, my goodness.
Surprised, she looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds gathering.
Wow, even the weather isn't helping me.
"Sister, the weather isn't good today. Let's go inside."
Garnet glanced at Marin with a gloating look and said to Dia.
"Okay. Then, goodbye."
Dia bowed slightly and went back inside the annex.
In the meantime, Rubiana, looking at her sisters, waved her hand slightly.
Marin quickly smiled and waved back.
Even so, Marin watched them with a worried look.
Dia and Garnet's faces were very gaunt. They were so thin that their chins were sharp.
Peridot, who was holding Dia's hand tightly, was no different. The child, who was only six years old, was very thin, and the dark circles under her eyes made her look very sick.
Wasn't she just suffering from aphasia due to the shock?
Marin watched them with a thoughtful face until they went inside the annex.
The next day.
Marin headed to the kitchen with Yuria.
When only she and her mother stayed in the annex, Yuria brought food from the main building, but now that The Duke's nieces and nephews were there, three cooks from the main building came to cook the food.
When Marin entered the kitchen, the head chef, who was wearing a white hat, stopped preparing the food and greeted her. Following him, the kitchen staff also stopped what they were doing and all greeted her.
"Hello. Miss."
"Greetings. Miss."
"Okay. Everyone, go back to what you were doing."
Marin, who responded, approached the head chef.
"The food is very delicious. Thank you always."
"It's my pleasure that you enjoy it."
The head chef smiled brightly. Praise from a superior was a great motivation for working.
"I know you're busy, but can you spare me a moment?"
The head chef quickly bowed his head at Marin's polite request.
The Duke's fiancée was a kind person to her subordinates, as rumored.
"Yes. Anything is fine."
"I was wondering if The Duke's nieces and nephews are eating well."
The head chef's face, which had been bright, darkened in an instant.
"I'm sorry. I don't think I'm able to suit the tastes of the young ladies and young master yet."
"Are they not eating well?"
"They leave more than half of their food."
The head chef confessed honestly with a dejected face.
"Have you tried serving southern cuisine?"
"Yes. That chef over there is from the south."
The young chef, who was stirring the soup in the back, bowed his head and greeted her. Marin nodded in response and listened to the head chef's words.
"Even when he makes southern cuisine and serves it, they don't eat well."
The head chef lowered his head with a guilty face.
An empty plate was like a medal to a chef. However, The Duke's nieces and nephews only picked at their food and couldn't eat at all.
"Then, what about dessert?"
"They eat a little bit of dessert."
"I'm glad they're eating that at least..."
Marin was lost in thought.
The fact that they didn't like southern food either seemed like they were either sick or had a problem with their hearts, no matter how she thought about it.
"Ah, do you have bananan?"
"Yes."
Bananan was a fruit that only grew in the deep jungles of the south. She remembered the scene in the novel where the heroine and her nieces and nephews shared it.
"As a snack, can you chop up the bananan and put it on top of the pancakes and drizzle honey on it for the nieces and nephews?"
"Yes. I understand."
"And I'd appreciate it if you didn't say that I told you to prepare it."
"I will do that."
The head chef quickly answered as if he understood.
It seemed that the rumor that the relationship between her and her nieces and nephews was not good had already spread among the servants. There was no way the rumor wouldn't spread when the nieces and nephews were openly avoiding her.
Marin, who came out of the kitchen, headed straight to Olive's office.
In the novel, the nieces and nephews enjoyed eating bananan, but she couldn't feed them only bananan every day.
A fundamental solution was needed.
Marin knocked on the aide's office and went inside.
"Olive."
"Yes. Miss Marin."
"There's something I want to discuss with you."
"Please speak."
Olive, who got up from her desk, offered her the sofa.
She had decided to continue reading the reports, but she had dropped out of assisting Olive.
It was because of Olive's strong demand that she couldn't make The Duke's fiancée work.
"I don't think the nieces and nephews are eating well. They've gotten very thin too. I'd like them to see the Attending physician."
"I was going to have them see the Attending physician anyway because of Young Master Peridot..."
Olive trailed off with a worried face.
"Do they not want to see the Attending physician?"
Olive gave a bitter smile as if that was the correct answer.
"Yes. They've already met a lot of doctors from the Baekjak family. They all say it's a mental illness, so I don't think they want to see a doctor anymore."
