Chapter 65

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Engaged to the Blind Duke
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Yuria drew back the curtains, and morning sunlight poured onto the bed.

She opened the window to let out the stale air from the night before, and the room's atmosphere quickly grew frigid. It was winter.

“Yuria, how’s Mom doing?”

“She woke up briefly this morning, took her medicine, and went back to sleep. She seems better than yesterday.”

“That’s a relief. Ugh, I don’t want to do anything. I intensely don’t want to do anything.”

Freshly awake, Marin wrapped herself in the blankets and rolled to the right with a rumble, then to the left with another rumble, repeating the same words.

Yuria gazed at her with curious eyes.

She always said she didn’t want to do anything, so why bother moving around like that? Was it just a habit?

“Couldn’t you rest a bit today?”

Marin peeked only her face out from the covers and shook her head slightly.

“No. The Aide’s back, so I need to get properly to work starting today.”

“Then I’ll prepare the water for your bath.”

Yuria smiled faintly but then hesitated, as if she had something to say.

“What is it?”

Marin noticed and asked.

“It’s about the young ladies and young masters from the count’s family staying in the annex. The maids keep asking me how they should treat them. They say I’m in charge of the annex, but I don’t know anything either.”

“They’re staying here?”

Marin forgot the cold in her surprise and threw off the blankets entirely, sitting up in bed.

“Didn’t you know? They’re staying on the second floor right now.”

“I didn’t. No, in this huge Duke’s Castle, there must be more annexes than just this one…”

“There’s only this one annex.”

Yuria shook her head slightly in correction.

“Oh, really?”

Marin pulled the blankets back over her shoulders with an awkward expression. It was cold.

“Yes. The main castle has so many rooms anyway. They say this place was used occasionally by the great-grand duchess for resting.”

Wow. Marin was once again amazed by the duke’s family wealth. To build an entire annex just for a lounge.

“I see.”

As Marin nodded and looked up, she saw Yuria staring straight at her.

Oh, right, there was a question.

“Hmm, since it hasn’t been long since their big ordeal, it’s probably best to tell them to watch their words carefully? And since it’s winter, keep a close eye on the room temperatures, and for meals, ask what they like first before preparing.”

“Got it. I’ll tell them that.”

Yuria left with a brightened face.

Marin wriggled deeper into the blankets. A long sigh escaped her lips.

The biggest reason she’d become his fiancée was to help with Dia’s debutante ball.

Judging from the cousins’ attitudes last night, could they really get along?

* * *

“Come in.”

Olive Lion stepped into the duke’s office.

His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the duke without his eyepatch.

He’d already grown used to the sight in the south, but he’d assumed the duke would go back to wearing it in the Duke’s Castle.

***

The duke from the south hadn’t been overly sensitive to sounds either, and he seemed different in many other ways too.

What was the reason?

“Your Grace the Duke, did you sleep well?”

“Are you so curious about my engagement that you rushed here first thing in the morning?”

“Yes.”

The duke lightly touched the eyepatch strap on his desk.

“Marin is someone I absolutely need.”

“I see. So you fell in love with the absolutely necessary Miss Marin and suddenly got engaged…”

“You’ve picked up a habit of nonsense while we were apart.”

The duke cut him off coldly.

“I never imagined you’d solve the eldest lady’s chaperone issue so perfectly.”

Olive continued with his usual polite smile.

The duke leaned back deeply in his chair, neither confirming nor denying it.

That alone was answer enough.

“I hear Marin used to be a governess.”

“Is that so? Miss Marin—no, Lady Marin—must be very talented.”

“She is. She’s a woman full of talents.”

The duke’s lips softened slightly as he praised Marin.

A glint passed through Olive’s tawny eyes.

He recalled the duke and Marin clinging affectionately at last night’s party.

The duke pathologically hated being touched by anyone. He even recoiled from necessary contact during medical treatment after injuries, making care difficult. Yet Marin’s hand had remained steadily on his arm.

He didn’t know what deal they’d struck. But he had a hunch that not everything was just a transaction.

“How did the investigation go?”

“We received a report of Jelmia Roze being sighted in the capital, but she vanished without a trace again.”

“The capital… So the likelihood it’s the emperor behind it has increased.”

The duke’s low voice was bitterly cold.

“I’ll investigate further.”

“We’ll need to prepare a gift for the emperor.”

The duke’s lips curled up ferociously.

It was then that Olive swallowed hard with a fearful look in his eyes.

“Come in.”

The duke turned his head toward the door.

Butler Sebas Chen entered and bowed politely.

“Your Grace the Duke. Good morning.”

“What about that guy?”

“He was the type who didn’t even need torture. He was so cowardly that he spilled everything without us lifting a finger.”

A flash of contempt passed through the reporting butler’s eyes.

“The results?”

“Everything checked out. I visited the viscount’s house and retrieved the original as evidence.”

Butler Sebas Chen handed the documents to Olive. Olive silently took them and flipped to the first page.

“An investment contract.”

Olive’s eyes widened upon confirming the names of the parties involved.

“It says Viscount Schwenz here.”

“Yes. It’s the original investment contract. It was kept in Viscount Gebium Norman’s bedroom secret safe. As you’ll see, after Viscount Schwenz died in the carriage accident, the previous Viscount Norman fabricated a fake contract and siphoned off all of House Schwenz’s assets.”

Butler Sebas Chen’s white beard trembled with anger.

The butler glanced at the duke’s expressionless face, swallowed dryly, and continued.

“Viscount Gebium Norman used this contract to blackmail his father, the previous Viscount Norman, and inherited the title. The previous viscount was chased off to the countryside with his son holding this weakness over him.”

“A fraud for a father, and a filial ingrate for a son.”

The duke remarked cynically.

“Was the carriage accident really just an accident?”

***

“Yes. It seems it truly was an accident. The previous Viscount Norman appears to have hatched the scheme the moment he heard of Viscount Schwenz’s death.”

“Bring the previous viscount here immediately.”

“Yes.”

“Did you meet the doctor?”

“Yes. The family physician initially refused to talk, but once I told him Viscount Norman’s title would soon be stripped, he confessed the truth. He confirmed he treated him that day personally. He added that Viscount Gebium Norman is now unable to sire children.”

“Ha, she really is an amazing woman.”

The duke’s sharp demeanor softened slightly.

“We’re proud of Lady Marin.”

The butler chimed in with a pleased expression.

Olive stared at the butler in bewilderment, unable to follow their conversation.

He couldn’t grasp the connection between Viscount Norman’s infertility and Marin being amazing.

Butler Sebas Chen winked at Olive as if promising to explain later.

Figuring he’d learn in time, Olive set aside his curiosity.

“Butler. Cut it off.”

“Yes!”

Butler Sebas Chen responded energetically, as if he’d been waiting for the order.

“And don’t tell Marin until we’ve dragged in the previous viscount too.”

“Yes.”

The butler nodded darkly in agreement.

Olive quietly observed the duke’s face. The duke getting angry over Marin’s affairs and showing consideration for her felt unfamiliar.

It really wasn’t just a simple transaction, was it?