Chapter 44

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Engaged to the Blind Duke
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“You must have had some goal when you hid your nobility and came to work in the Duke’s Castle, right?”

“Th-that, how…… *gulp*.”

Gerald leaned back loosely in his chair and parted his red lips.

“If you thought you could fool House Vines so easily, should I call you naive?”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I needed money…….”

She readily admitted her fault.

“Your reason for sneaking into the Duke’s household was money?”

Gerald tilted his head further toward her to gauge her reaction.

“…It wasn’t sneaking in, it was getting hired.”

She mumbled in a timid voice.

“Sticking by my side was for money too?”

“…It wasn’t sticking, it was assisting you.”

She replied in a voice full of grievance. She spoke remarkably well despite her trembling.

“Whispering in my ear was for money too?”

“…I whispered because Your Grace dislikes loud voices.”

Even as he openly teased her, she didn’t notice a thing.

Gerald found himself smiling unconsciously.

“So all of that was for money?”

“Yes.”

“Then how much will it take?”

“…What do you mean?”

“I said it earlier. Let’s get engaged. How much to make you agree to an employment engagement?”

“Whaaat?”

“Keep it short.”

She quickly lowered her voice and asked again.

“I’m too dull to understand Your Grace’s words?”

“Didn’t you say you liked living in the Duke’s Castle? Congratulations. You can keep living in the place you love from now on.”

“Actually, now that I think about it, it doesn’t seem all that great…….”

“Is that so? Hmm, fooling the Duke’s household would get you sent…….”

“But! The Duke’s Castle is the best, Your Grace! Did I ever tell you? That I wanted to spend my life buried in this beautiful, utterly wonderful Duke’s household?”

“No, I haven’t heard that.”

Gerald chuckled, no longer hiding his smile.

“Oh dear, I thought I’d already said it. That I would serve Your Grace with all my heart until the day I’m buried here…….”

Gerald cut off her earnest words midway, as if he were utterly serious.

“I don’t need your bones. I want a fiancée.”

“What if, just maybe, I have the right to refuse?”

She asked timidly in a trembling voice.

“Do you think you do?”

When she’d asked if she could change her wish, she’d gotten the exact same response. Marin deflated and mumbled.

“…No.”

Instead of forgiving her for deceiving him all this time, he was offering an employment engagement.

Employment engagement.

What an unfamiliar term. But in her past life, she’d seen countless contract marriages and contract engagements in novels.

Was this even possible? There was nothing like this in the novel.

***

Marin suppressed the urge to tear her hair out and hesitantly raised her hand.

“Um, I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“When did you know I was a noble? Why did you let it go on until now?”

“From the start. Are you asking why the person who fooled me let it continue?”

As he sneered, Marin shut her mouth quietly with an embarrassed expression.

An awkward silence settled between them.

Marin quietly raised her hand again.

“Um, may I ask why you want to do a contr— I mean, an employment engagement with me? If Your Grace proposes, every young lady in the West would accept.”

“I need a temporary fiancée. Luckily, there’s a noble young lady working temporarily right by my side. One who even dared to deceive a duke.”

Wow, whoever she is, she sounds perfect for it.

That’s me.

Marin sniffled inwardly over the sin she’d committed against the duke.

“My nephews and nieces will be coming soon.”

“Yes.”

Duke Vines would become their guardian.

“I need someone to tutor them. And a chaperon for my eldest’s debutante.”

Suddenly, a new job appeared before her eyes.

“Could it be you’re mistaking me for a governess? I think that could happen sometimes.”

I absolutely don’t think it could.

But when your boss’s boss spouted nonsense, you had to play along.

“Temporary. Do I look like the type to spout nonsense and confuse those two things?”

Eek! Mind reading? He must be reading my thoughts!

Marin glanced at the duke while gently placing both hands over her chest.

It was her resolve not to let him read her mind.

“I have many enemies.”

“Yes…….”

Marin trailed off awkwardly at the sudden confession.

“So I’m planning a grand celebration party for the engagement.”

“Whaaaat?”

Just accepting the employment engagement was mentally burdensome enough, and now a grand party?

Why did talking about enemies lead to a grand party?

Is this duke really in his right mind?

It hadn’t been long since he lost his sister. And now he was throwing a grand party for an engagement?

In noble society, the duke would be seen as ignoring the dead countess and count, and rumors would spread that he’d gone mad over a woman.

Marin stared at the duke with a dumbfounded expression, then felt a chill of sudden realization.

What if the count and countess’s deaths were the work of his enemies?

In the novel, it was briefly mentioned as an accident, so she’d assumed it was just that.

But if they’d been deliberately killed, who? The imperial faction? The noble faction?

Marin eyed the duke’s complexion with pity.

“You must like grand parties.”

No, why can’t you read my mind now?

“No, I don’t!”

Marin shook her head vigorously with an absurd expression.

“Your reaction is quite passionate.”

A smile flickered on the duke’s lips and vanished just as quickly.

“That’s the normal reaction to surprise.”

Marin pouted as she made her excuse.

“Temporary, why do you think I want a grand party?”

He tossed the question at her as if testing her.

***

The children are coming soon. The duke has many enemies. He’s throwing a grand party to celebrate the engagement.

Marin cautiously shared her thoughts.

“To protect the children.”

The duke listened silently, as if telling her to continue.

“So your enemies won’t target the children, you’re making the party grand to draw all their attention to you alone, right?”

He nodded as if satisfied.

“As expected of someone with the makings of an excellent spy.”

“I’m really not a spy.”

Marin whispered with a wronged expression. The word “spy” made her heart sink every time.

“If you were a real spy, you wouldn’t be here.”

A chill ran down her neck at his nonchalant tone. Marin fidgeted and rubbed her nape.

“But I’m worried about something. The children just lost their parents not long ago. If they arrive and see a grand party right away, they might misunderstand Your Grace.”

“That would make it even better at fooling the enemies.”

Marin parted her pink lips slightly, then closed them and stared quietly at the duke.

This man cares more about protecting his nephews and nieces than worrying about their misunderstanding him.

She felt like she’d glimpsed the duke’s heart, which thought of family more than anyone beneath his cold exterior.

“The employment engagement is a secret known only to you and me.”

“Yes.”

“The term ends after my eldest’s debutante. Pay is 10 gold per day.”

“Whaaat?”

She swallowed the words ‘That’s so much?’

She had no right to refuse this employment engagement anyway.

If her sin of deceiving the duke was forgiven and she got paid well, it was a win.

Marin decided to think as positively as possible.

“Temporary.”

His voice deepened as he called her lowly.

“Yes.”

“From now on, never leave my side.”

“Huh?”

Marin looked at the duke’s serious face with bewildered eyes.

“I’d say ‘out of my sight,’ but my eyes don’t work.”

A bitter smile appeared and faded on his lips.

“…….”

Unsure what to say to comfort him, she chose silence.

“I’ll protect you. I promise.”

His heavy promise fell.

He’d said the grand party was to make his enemies think the nephews and nieces weren’t important to him.

That conversely meant she could become a target.

The duke was the strongest man in the empire, but he couldn’t see right now. He might have judged it easier to protect one fake fiancée than four nephews and nieces.

“Yes!”

Marin replied spiritedly.

Vines protects. She believed in him.