I Got Engaged To The Blind Duke Chapter 4

It was a comforting feeling, as though she were lying beneath the warm rays of the spring sun. A refreshing sensation, as though she were surrounded by nature, listening to the gentle babbling of a stream and the chirping of birds.

It was an extraordinary experience unlike anything he had ever felt in his entire life.

It was different from listening to someone sing, too.

The contents of the book she read aloud sank right into his ears, as though each word had been imprinted there. It wasn’t boring at all. Her otherwise indistinct presence had been firmly etched into his mind through her voice alone.

He began to think that, just as she had said, she was someone His Grace the Duke truly needed.

“Miss Marin, shall we go?”

“Yes.”

Marin nodded and hurried after Olive. Perhaps because of his long legs, or perhaps because he was in a hurry, he walked remarkably fast.

The corridor seemed endless. Since the castle was five stories tall, she felt that if she lost sight of him, she would get lost.

As she hurried after Olive, her surroundings gradually grew darker.

Surely the sun hadn’t already set.

Marin slowly reduced her pace and looked around. All the corridor windows were covered with black curtains.

It felt as though she were being sucked into a pitch-black cave, and Marin unconsciously came to an abrupt stop.

When he heard no footsteps behind him, Olive turned around.

Marin swallowed and cautiously surveyed the darkening surroundings with uneasy eyes.

When she looked forward again, Olive gave a bitter smile and explained.

“His Grace the Duke is sensitive to light.”

“Yes…”

“If you end up serving His Grace by his side, I’ll explain the various things you’ll need to be careful about.”

“Yes! Understood.”

Marin deliberately answered with extra enthusiasm.

She still didn’t know whether she would actually get the chance to serve the duke. However, making a good impression on Olive, who might become her direct superior, was important, too.

“Then, shall we continue?”

“Yes.”

Even as she hurried after him, Marin unconsciously hugged the book she had just read tightly against her chest, as though it were a good-luck charm.

 

***

 

Olive stopped in front of the office door, composed his breathing, and turned around.

Marin was behind him, panting from having hurried to keep up. At the same time, his gaze fell on the book she was clutching so dearly.

“I think it would be best to leave that here for a moment.”

“Pardon? Oh, yes.”

With a startled expression, she put the book down beside the office door.

As Olive stood quietly in front of the office, a voice came from inside.

“Come in.”

Olive gave Marin, who was standing behind him, a look telling her to wait for a moment.

Then he lit one of the candles mounted on the wall, picked up the candlestick, and opened the office door.

The office, whose windows were completely covered with black curtains, was as dark as a bottomless well despite it still being early in the day.

“Your Grace.”

“What is it?”

Duke Gerald’s low, deep voice was filled with weariness.

“I’d like to hire someone, but I thought it was something I should obtain Your Grace’s permission for, so I’ve come to see you.”

“Since when did I have to concern myself with every single servant?”

As the duke reproached him in an indifferent tone, Olive bowed his head a little lower.

“You won’t need to concern yourself with them in the future, either. It’s just that this person is rather special. I believe she should be kept by Your Grace’s side.”

“By my side?”

Duke Gerald’s voice sank low as he repeated the words, as though he found the suggestion absurd.

“Yes. I believe she’s someone Your Grace truly needs.”

Olive spoke firmly, his tone filled with conviction.

“Is it a doctor? I feel like I’ve met every doctor in the empire already.”

A faint trace of interest crept into Gerald’s voice.

Olive squeezed his eyes shut. For over a year, he had invited every doctor known for their skill. Yet not a single one had managed to cure His Grace’s eyes.

Feeling as though he had given the duke false hope for nothing, Olive bowed deeply.

“She isn’t a doctor. I’m sorry.”

“……”

At Gerald’s silence, Olive desperately added more.

“She isn’t a doctor, but she’s someone who can be of help to Your Grace. Please, just meet her once. Just once.”

Although His Grace couldn’t see him, he would surely notice his desperation.

“……Bring her in.”

After a long while, Gerald finally gave his heavy permission.

“Yes. Thank you.”

Olive quickly went back outside.

“Miss Marin. Please come in.”

“Y-Yes.”

She was so nervous that she unconsciously answered twice.

Marin followed Olive inside.

The office felt stuffy with the stale dust that had accumulated, as though it hadn’t been ventilated in a long time. On top of that, not a single ray of light entered through the black curtains covering every window.

Only the faint light spreading from the candlestick on the floor illuminated the office. The deeper parts of the room, beyond the reach of the light, remained pitch-black.

The duke was there.

In a place as dark as a cave, a massive shadow that didn’t move an inch radiated an overwhelming presence.

Ah, so this was the protagonist’s aura.

Marin unconsciously swallowed. She wanted to run away.

“Miss Marin.”

“Y-Yes?”

Her frightened voice rose an entire octave.

“Here.”

Olive, who had somehow gathered a large stack of documents, stood beside her and handed her several sheets.

“Please do as you did in the lounge.”

“Yes…”

Marin accepted the documents with trembling hands.

White was the paper, and black was the writing.

The letters seemed to float around on the page. Her eyes chased after the drifting words. Cold sweat trickled down her back.

I can do this. No, I can’t. No, I have to.

“Miss Marin?”

Olive called out to her with a bewildered expression.

Marin unconsciously squeezed her eyes shut.

That’s right. How could she possibly deceive the duke? She should just admit that she couldn’t do it while she still had the chance.

But just as she was about to open her mouth, the image of Roanna lying in bed with her pale face flashed through her mind.

No. She had to do it!

Marin snapped her eyes open. Her trembling body relaxed, and the letters on the documents finally came into focus.

After taking one deep breath, she began reading the documents slowly.

“This is an urgent report regarding a silver mine discovered in the Nairon Territory.

After one year of exploration and analysis with miners deployed to the site, the mineral appears to be a low-grade, opaque white mineral rather than silver.

Furthermore, subterranean monsters frequently appear inside the mine, making the miners reluctant to enter.

According to mining experts, they believe it would be better to abandon the mine rather than take any further risks.

We are submitting this urgent report and request that an order be issued as soon as possible.”

Marin read the urgent report with sparkling eyes, thoroughly engrossed in its contents.

The silver mine discovered in the Nairon Territory was given considerable importance around the middle of the novel.

Eventually, after the mine was abandoned, the female protagonist would visit the place to gather medicinal herbs. There, she would pick up some minerals and have them crafted into a necklace. The resulting gemstone would then become fashionable in high society.

The mine that was about to be abandoned was actually not a silver mine at all, but an opal mine.

Opals were gemstones that had never once been discovered in the empire. As a result, their value would skyrocket to an unimaginable level.

“What a waste…”

Why hadn’t she thought of this sooner? If she secretly went there and dug up just a few pieces of the mineral, she could make a fortune.

“What is?”

“Eek! Pardon?”

Marin looked up in surprise at the enormous duke standing right in front of her.

The person she had completely forgotten about while reading the report was now standing before her.

He was so tall that she had to tilt her head back as far as possible just to see his face. And it wasn’t just his height. He was also massively built.

Her eyes fell on the duke’s smooth jawline, which was tilted slightly to one side. When she raised her gaze a little further, she could see his entire face, his eyes covered by a black silk-like band.

Although his eyes were hidden, he had a sculpted, high nose bridge and full, beautifully shaped red lips beneath it.

As expected of the male protagonist. He was so handsome that he seemed to radiate light even in the darkness.

“I asked what a waste was.”

Apparently, he had heard her mutter to herself.

Marin’s mind went completely blank.

She had to answer quickly.

Her heart was pounding wildly.

What if she told him that she knew the future because this was the world inside a book, and that she thought it was a waste to abandon the mine?

She might be dragged off somewhere immediately and burned at the stake as a witch. Or she might simply be thrown out as a madwoman.

Think. Quickly.

“Th-That’s…”

Marin trembled as she desperately racked her brain. She felt like a tiny rabbit standing before a huge tiger, so small that it could be swallowed in a single bite.

“Olive.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Olive, who was standing beside them, answered in a thoroughly tense voice.

“Have I ever been particularly patient?”

A faint trace of irritation could be heard in the duke’s languid voice.

“No, Your Grace.”

Olive glanced at Marin with a sympathetic expression.

“Apparently not.”

“……”

Marin frantically racked her brain until she could practically feel steam coming out of her head.

“It seems you don’t understand what I’m saying very well.”

At the duke’s icy tone, Marin finally opened her mouth in a trembling voice.

“M-Monsters.”