Episode 9
“Temporary workers. Don’t start acting like Olive.”
“There’s blood. You should see a doctor right away.”
The moment Marin saw the blood, her heart clenched painfully.
She tried hard not to look directly at the dried bloodstain.
So the faint smell of blood floating in the air was the duke’s blood.
Just how much had he been bleeding?
“I said there was blood. Past tense. Not now. Don’t you know grammar?”
The corner of the duke’s mouth curled upward.
“Yes, I understand. There was blood. There isn’t one now. Right? But you still need treatment. Because you were bleeding.”
Marin gritted her teeth and held back her frustration.
“It’s fine. I heal quickly.”
She couldn’t understand his calm attitude at all.
“Even if you heal quickly, you should still get treated. You need to find out why your ear suddenly started bleeding.”
“It wasn’t sudden.”
The duke turned his head toward her as if he could still make eye contact despite the blindfold over his eyes.
“Huh?”
“I stabbed it.”
“…Who did?”
Marin’s green eyes trembled.
No way.
The duke tilted his head slightly toward her and slowly answered while watching her reaction.
“…I did.”
Holy crap.
He really is crazy.
“It’s finally quiet now.”
There was clear satisfaction in his deep voice.
Marin couldn’t say another word.
She simply pressed her lips shut.
When she fell silent, the duke turned his face forward again.
The room was still dark.
But now that she’d noticed it, the trail of blood stood out clearly.
A duke who was suffering so much that he stabbed himself.
Strangely enough, for the first time since meeting him, he felt human.
Not a fictional male lead from a novel.
A real person suffering in front of her.
She knew this male lead would eventually meet the heroine and regain his sight.
Maybe that was why she had never taken his blindness very seriously.
The suffering and hardships of a novel’s protagonist always felt temporary.
Because in the end, there would be a happy ending.
How stupid.
Only after seeing him hurt himself did she truly understand his pain.
How horrible would it be to suddenly lose your sight?
She couldn’t even imagine it.
Before she realized it, tears had filled her eyes.
They slid down her cheeks and dropped softly onto the carpet.
The duke suddenly turned his head.
His eyes were covered, but somehow it felt like he was staring right through her.
“…Why?”
Marin hurriedly wiped her tears away.
No matter how sensitive he was to sound, there was no way he could hear tears hitting the carpet.
“What do you mean?”
“…Nothing.”
An awkward silence settled over the office.
Fortunately, Olive returned at that moment.
“Your Grace? Miss Marin?”
Olive looked confused, clearly wondering why they were standing so close together.
“This.”
The duke lifted Marin’s wrist between his thumb and forefinger.
Even with her wrist inside his grip, there was still space around it.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Fix it.”
“Yes.”
Olive answered immediately without asking any questions.
Marin stared at them with wide eyes.
Excuse me?
You’re talking about my wrist, you know?
“Temporary workers.”
The duke turned toward her again.
“Yes?”
Marin answered automatically, secretly pouting.
Temporary worker?
So I got promoted from “twig” to “temporary worker”?
“Get checked from now on.”
“What exactly should I get checked?”
Looking annoyed at having to explain, he raised her wrist into the air and then let go.
Oh.
He meant my wrist.
Marin quickly pulled her hand back.
Welcome back, my wrist.
“The report.”
“Yes. Here it is, Miss Marin.”
As if he’d been waiting, Olive handed her the report.
“Yes.”
Right.
Let’s just work.
Marin accepted the report and began reading slowly.
Her clear, calm voice gently filled the office.
Olive smiled warmly when he noticed the duke’s stiff shoulders gradually relaxing.
Later, Marin followed Olive down the hallway, deep in thought.
She had believed she already knew everything about the duke because she’d read the novel.
She had been completely wrong.
She never knew he was suffering enough to hurt himself.
The problem was that she knew how to solve his pain.
“No. No.”
Marin shook her head firmly while muttering to herself.
That role belonged to the heroine.
Not her.
She needed to stay unnoticed, earn money, and quietly disappear.
That was the only way the story could continue toward its original happy ending.
After walking through the long hallway lined with black curtains, they finally reached a bright corridor.
At the end stood a light-brown door.
“This is the office.”
“It’s pretty far from His Grace’s office.”
Marin looked back toward the distant dark hallway.
The castle was huge.
Walking from one end to the other took quite a while.
“His Grace really likes peace.”
Olive opened the office door and stepped inside.
Marin stood at the entrance and looked around.
Large windows filled the room with sunlight.
Bookshelves packed with documents covered one wall.
A wide brown desk stood at the front.
A tea table and a brown sofa sat in the center.
Beside them was a brand-new white desk.
Outside of the times she reads reports to the duke, she would be helping Olive here.
Olive walked over to the white desk.
“This is your desk, Miss Marin. You’ll be working here from now on.”
“Thank you.”
Marin felt excited.
It had been so long since she’d used furniture this nice.
Since arriving at the duke’s estate, everything had gone well.
An incredible salary.
A new desk.
A good boss.
Let’s exclude the scary duke from that list.
Marin looked away from the desk and turned to Olive.
“Assistant Olive.”
“Yes, Miss Marin?”
Looking into Olive’s warm brown eyes, she carefully spoke.
“About the blood coming from His Grace’s ear…”
“You saw it?”
Olive asked with a bitter expression.
“Is it really okay if he doesn’t get treatment?”
“His Grace hates having anything touch his body. Even medical treatment.”
“But he still needs treatment.”
“I’ve told him that many times. It doesn’t work.”
A shadow crossed the face of the man who usually smiled so gently.
“But don’t worry too much. He’s very strong and heals quickly.”
Did you know he stabbed himself?
Marin swallowed the question.
Olive was trying so hard to stay positive.
“To be honest, the bigger problem is that he can’t sleep.”
Olive let out a worried sigh.
“He can’t sleep either?”
“No. Not at all.”
Marin didn’t really understand.
How could insomnia be a bigger problem than bleeding from your ear?
Still, she nodded.
“When my mother had trouble sleeping, she used to drink a cup of warm wine before bed.”
“Really?”
Olive’s gaze sharpened slightly, as if studying her.
Marin didn’t notice.
“Yes. It helped my mother.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope it helps. But Assistant Olive?”
“Yes?”
“Why do you speak so politely to me when I’m just a commoner?”
It was unusual for a nobleman to speak so respectfully to a commoner assistant.
“Aren’t you my assistant?”
Olive tilted his head.
“Yes. That’s right.”
“That’s the reason.”
“Oh. I see.”
He really was an unusual nobleman.
“Does that make you uncomfortable?”
“No. Speak however you like.”
“In that case, would you call me by my name from now on?”
Olive smiled brightly.
“Okay, Mr. Olive.”
“Good. Miss Marin, shall we start working?”
Still smiling, Olive walked to the bookshelf and began stacking documents onto her desk.
The pile grew higher and higher.
There were an unbelievable number of papers.
Marin stared at him with slightly horrified eyes.
Meanwhile, Olive kept smiling kindly.
Maybe I’ll postpone calling him a good boss.
Marin forced an awkward smile and picked up the first document.
