7 - I Got Engaged to the Blind Duke
I got engaged to a blind peacock, Episode 7
The study was quiet as always.
Gerald was fighting excruciating pain in that silent space.
The hallway was bordered with black curtains, as if to warn people not to approach. But he couldn't draw a boundary outside the castle.
The sound of servants hurrying, kicking up dirt. The sound of dishes falling and breaking. The clamor of conversation. The chirping of insects. The neighing of horses. The sound of the wind. Kay's soft breathing.
All the noises were sharpened like needles, digging into his ears and rummaging through his head.
A terrible headache came over him.
"……."
Gerald picked up a thin, elongated silver letter opener from his desk and stabbed his ear without hesitation.
"Lord!"
He felt Kay, who tried not to open his mouth as much as possible because of his symptoms, calling him urgently in a low voice.
"I only pierced the eardrum."
"……."
Only after forcibly injuring his ear did the headache subside a little.
But as his hearing was paralyzed, his sense of smell now took over.
The smell of Kay's sweat made his head throb.
"Kay. Stay away for a while."
He felt Kay shaking his head through the air.
Gerald rebuked sternly.
"Now."
Kay bowed his head silently and disappeared.
The stale air floating in the study stung his nose. He gagged and held his breath.
"Damn it."
Gerald closed his eyes and struggled to suppress his other senses that were running wild.
\ \ \
"Pardon? You want me to go back?"
Marin was immediately faced with the risk of being fired, making the resolution she had made the day before seem pointless.
Her light green eyes fluttered at the unexpected words.
She had arrived in front of the study right on time for work, but she was being told to go back.
"I'm sorry."
"You really want me to leave?"
"Yes. Please go back today."
Olive awkwardly avoided her gaze.
"Is it just for today?"
Marin asked to get a confirmation.
"That's..."
Olive hesitated, glancing at the study door with a troubled expression.
"I can't go! How did I get here? How can you kick me out after just one day? I'll die here."
Marin plopped down on the red carpet in the hallway. She clutched the carpet and went into a determined mode of resistance with a grim face.
"Well, Miss Marin. I think you've misunderstood something. It's not that we're kicking you out, but..."
Olive, flustered, reached out to her as if to tell her to get up.
"You told me to go back, didn't you?"
Marin looked up at Olive with resentful eyes.
How hard she had worked to get this job. She couldn't be fired after just one day.
"No, that's not it... Let's talk somewhere else first."
Just as Olive was glancing at the study,
"Come in."
A heavy voice filled with coldness flowed out from inside the study.
Marin's eyes widened like a startled rabbit at the Duke's unexpected voice.
"Was His Grace in there? Was my voice too loud?"
Olive frowned as if troubled and sighed deeply.
"Haa, let's go in first."
Marin rose from her seat, dejected like a frightened puppy.
Olive lit a candle and entered the study. Marin stuck close behind him, trying to hide as much as possible.
Then her steps stopped abruptly. Olive, her only shield, was moving further and further away, but she couldn't move.
Instinct was warning her. It was dangerous.
Marin slowly looked around the study with a tense face.
Thick black curtains on every window. A mahogany desk. A thick red carpet. The Duke, exuding his presence even in the darkness.
The study was still dark and desolate, just like the day before.
But somehow, something was bothering her.
She flinched. Her shoulders stiffened as she realized one thing that was different from the day before.
The faint smell of blood floating in the stuffy air that hadn't been ventilated.
Marin felt a sudden dizziness and gagged.
The sound of horses neighing. The smell of muddy earth. Blood droplets falling in front of her eyes.
No. I can't collapse here.
Marin took a deep breath and chased away the lingering images of the past floating in her head.
She clenched and unclenched her cold hands to restore warmth. Her efforts worked, and the dizziness soon disappeared.
Marin put strength into her trembling legs and stood close behind Olive again.
Why does it smell like blood?
She was eerily good at smelling blood because of her past trauma. It was faint, but definitely the smell of blood.
Her light green eyes moved busily, looking around.
'Did someone die here?'
Her imagination ran wild.
She thought she just had to read reports to the Duke like reading a book.
Did she have to risk her life? Should she run away now?
She wanted to turn around and run away right now, but her body, frozen with fear, didn't move.
"You were determined."
A predator's low voice flowed out from the darkness.
"I, I'm sorry."
Marin apologized with trembling lips.
"You said you'd die here?"
"N, no."
She hurriedly denied what she had said. She didn't want to die.
This place, with its faint smell of blood, felt like a execution site, not a study.
The swords decorated on one wall flickered in the candlelight, gleaming larger and sharper.
Marin forcibly tore her gaze away from the swords and stared at the Duke, who was shrouded in darkness.
"So... are you a spy?"
"Pardon? Ah, hiccup. No."
Her nape felt cold.
Marin, forcibly grabbing the hand that was about to go up to her neck, answered, terrified.
"Then why are you so eager to die here?"
The Duke's dry tone sounded even more frightening.
"T, that's not what I meant. It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. I meant I wanted to work too much. Hiccup. I really don't want to die. Hiccup."
The hiccups that came out whenever she was nervous made her words sound incoherent. If she was framed as a spy and died like this, she would feel wronged to death.
"Olive."
The target changed.
Olive lowered his head with a gloomy expression.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to mention Your Grace's condition, so I couldn't explain the reason and just told her to go back, so I think she misunderstood it as a dismissal."
At those words, Marin's light green eyes shook as if hit by an earthquake.
No, if that was the case, he should have explained it in a roundabout way. How could he just tell her to go back as soon as she arrived?
"Miss Marin, I'm sorry. Only a few people should know about Your Grace's condition. I couldn't quickly decide whether to tell Miss Marin, who had just started working, or not."
"Ah... I see."
After hearing Olive's explanation, she understood.
Who was the Duke?
He was like a king who ruled the western region. And in general, the condition of someone in a high position was top secret.
"So you made a fuss?"
The Duke's voice echoed coldly.
"I'm sorry."
Olive bowed deeply.
"I'm sorry."
Marin also apologized in a subdued voice.
"Report."
"Are you sure you're alright? You haven't even received treatment yet..."
Olive's voice was filled with concern.
Treatment?
Marin stared at Olive and the Duke alternately with wide eyes.
The smell of blood wasn't because someone was killed, but because the Duke was hurt?
"Olive, are you a doctor?"
The Duke asked languidly.
"I'm an aide."
Olive corrected calmly.
"Then assist me. Report."
"I'll bring it."
Olive bowed slightly with a gloomy face and left the study.
She and the Duke were left alone in the study.
Her body, which had been tense because she thought someone had died here, relaxed a little.
She cautiously looked at the Duke, but his face in the dark was not visible.
Marin parted her lips and carefully called him.
"Your Grace..."
"……."
There was no answer from the Duke.
"I'm really not a spy."
Marin squeezed her eyes shut and mustered the last bit of courage left in her body.
"Have you ever seen a spy say, 'I'm a spy'?"
A hint of ridicule was mixed in the Duke's low voice.
