Chapter 61

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Engaged to the Blind Duke
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He lowered his voice as if checking his surroundings and snapped at her, but Marin only grew calmer.

“What are you talking about?”

“Because of the vile thing you did, our family line will—”

Gebium ground his teeth as if he couldn’t bear to continue.

This time, Marin was genuinely surprised.

No way?

Just as her gaze was about to drop lower, a petite noble lady approached from the side.

“Lord Gebium. Introduce me too.”

“Cr-Kristin.”

Gebium looked flustered at Kristin standing beside him.

“Shall I do it myself? Hello, I’m Kristin of House Wares. Lord Gebium Norman’s fiancée.”

“Hello. I’m Marin Schwenz.”

“Why are you with my fiancé, Lady Schwenz?”

Kristin glared at Marin with a look of disgust.

“Pardon?”

“Are you seducing my fiancé again? What are you after this time?”

As Kristin raised her voice, the nearby nobles began to turn their gazes toward them.

Marin stared at Kristin with a baffled expression.

Gebium looked equally disconcerted as the attention gathered.

“Kristin, what are you saying?”

“You came here to confront this woman too, didn’t you, Lord Gebium? You said she seduced you and made you lose something you could never afford to lose for life. What was it? What did you give her that you’re keeping even from me?”

Kristin raised her voice louder, as if wanting everyone to hear.

The nobles, starved for gossip, focused entirely on them.

“That was just a drunken slip of the tongue.”

“Lord Gebium, you wouldn’t fabricate something that didn’t happen. You said you fell for this woman’s seduction and lost something precious. What was it? Why can’t you tell me, your fiancée? Demand it back from her!”

Marin struggled to hold back her laughter as she watched their little drama unfold.

She’d thought Gebium was mad for coming to her shamelessly and yelling.

But it seemed he really had lost something crucial because of her.

It felt like a decade-old grudge was finally dissolving.

“You find this situation funny right now?”

Gebium anxiously rolled his eyes and scanned the surroundings, but Kristin’s assault wasn’t over yet.

“A little.”

“You’re utterly shameless.”

Marin was impressed inwardly.

Had this woman forgotten who she was dealing with?

Was the fiancée as fearless as Gebium, who’d confronted the duke’s fiancée over losing something important?

Blinded by jealousy?

Or did she trust the cheers from those ladies watching from afar?

Either way, Marin had no intention of playing along with a younger lady’s whims.

For the sake of the duke’s honor, she needed to end this before more nobles gathered.

“Lady Wares, you seem quite intoxicated.”

Marin glanced at the wine glass in Kristin’s hand, signaling her to back off.

Only then did Kristin seem to remember the glass she was holding and looked down at it.

“You’re right. I must be very drunk. Please forgive my drunken mistake.”

***

Kristin’s eyes burned with fierce determination as she spoke emphatically.

No way?

The wine glass slipping from Kristin’s hand tilted toward her in slow motion.

She could see it coming, yet couldn’t dodge.

Marin squeezed her eyes shut.

Thud.

Instead of the wine glass shattering with a crash, a dull sound rang out.

Peeking her eyes open, she looked toward the noise and saw the wine glass and the duke’s cane embedded in a marble pillar.

Why is that there?

Bewildered, she looked straight ahead to find a transparent barrier blocking her path. Thanks to it, not a drop of wine had fallen.

Though the glass stuck in the pillar didn’t look like it had spilled either.

“Tch. I prepared just in case, but I didn’t think I’d actually need it.”

Zeromian approached slowly, grumbling as he flicked the hand wearing his bracelet. The transparent barrier that had protected her vanished like wind.

“Are you alright, my lady?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“This is why I hate these events.”

Zeromian shot a fierce glare at Gebium and Kristin, who stood there dumbfounded.

Step. Step.

The nobles, who had been holding their breath at the sudden turn, parted to the sides as a heavy presence approached from behind.

The duke strode forward with lips pressed tight and a face as cold as ice.

Ignoring Gebium and Kristin, the duke went straight to Marin and whispered low in her ear.

“Got something to say?”

“Y-Yes, I know. You’re right, I am a fighter. I admit it.”

“No. You should ask me to just kill them.”

Marin’s lime-green eyes widened in shock.

“Suddenly?”

“They tried to touch my fiancée, and you call it sudden?”

A chill ran down her spine at his icy voice, despite the leisurely tone.

Has this man lost his mind?

No, his eyes are closed, so maybe it’s just the money?

Of course, she disliked them too, but she couldn’t kill them at a party celebrating their engagement.

No, there was no reason to kill them.

If spilling some wine warranted death, half the nobility would already be in heaven.

Marin gently took his arm to calm him.

“I’m fine. So...”

The duke patted her hand lightly and lifted his head. Then, raising his voice for all to hear, he declared,

“Watch what happens to anyone who lays a hand on you from now on.”

The duke, eyes closed, swept his gaze over the nobles in the hall and flashed a crooked smile.

It was a declaration of war.

His voice was low, but the message was crystal clear to the nobles.

‘Don’t touch my fiancée.’

A suffocating silence descended on the party hall. The orchestra had stopped playing long ago.

The noble ladies who had subtly mocked the duke’s fiancée leaned against their husbands, hiding their fearful faces.

All eyes turned to Gebium and Kristin, who had just heard the duke’s warning firsthand.

The duke’s sudden appearance.

The dropped wine glass embedded in the pillar.

Kristin’s face paled in terror, at a loss for what to do. She wrapped her trembling body in her arms and bowed her head deeply.

Gebium, equally frightened, bowed deeply to the duke.

“Y-Your Grace the Duke. Viscount Gebium Norman at your service.”

Even as he bowed, his mind raced.

***

He hadn’t expected the duke to step in like this.

He didn’t know how Marin had won the duke over, but it was clear the duke cherished her. An unforeseen variable.

Because of her, House Norman’s line had ended. There were ways to adopt an heir, but he could never have a child of his own.

He’d ground his teeth every day plotting revenge against Marin. Once he could move again after a few weeks, he went to her shack for payback.

And he’d turned away laughing triumphantly.

Before the shabby hut fit only for beggars, Marin begging a commoner landlord looked no longer like a noble. She was more wretched than a peasant.

What hell could be worse? Where she stood was hell itself.