GLBB 03

Chapter – 03

After losing his sight, he had given up on life.

Even with his eyes closed, he was skilled enough to throw a dagger and hit prey using only the sound of its presence. Just today, hadn’t he beaten up some thugs who tried to pick a fight with Rona using only his cane? Although he couldn’t easily find objects with his own hands anymore, people were an exception because they had presence.

Even so, when he lost his sight to a deadly poison, Ireon could not accept that his honor as the Empire’s strongest knight had fallen into the gutter.

He lived like that for so long he lost track of time. Like a wounded beast curled up inside a cave.

It was during those hopeless days that Rona first came to the Grand Duke’s residence.

Everyone who saw him trembled as if they had seen a terrible monster and ran away. No maid who came to work there ever entered his room a second time.

But Rona was different.

Twice. Three times. Four times.

She would greet him casually and enter, cleaning his ruined room without hesitation.

When someone appeared who didn’t run away, the first emotion that returned to him was shame.

Showing his disgrace to strangers wasn’t that embarrassing. After all, they would never meet again. Just as he didn’t know them, they didn’t know him. Even if they saw his miserable state and ran away the next day, it never mattered.

But he learned that the maid’s name was Rona.

And that she was quite young.

And she didn’t run away.

She saw his lowest moments every single day.

As those days accumulated, Rona eventually pulled him out of his swamp-like existence.

She taught him many things. She was surprisingly intelligent.

It was also Rona who suggested marking paths to the bathroom, bed, and sofa with tiles on the floor so he could practice navigating.

The year and a half he had wasted in despair became meaningless. In just six months after Rona arrived, Ireon was able to live somewhat like a human being again.

But that was as far as it went.

Ireon waved his hand in front of his face.

The terrible darkness had no end. Not even the faintest shadow of light was permitted.

So sometimes he told himself he hadn’t lost his sight—he was just keeping his eyes closed.

If he convinced himself he simply wasn’t looking rather than unable to see, his heart felt slightly better.

“Didn’t you want to visit that café?”

Rona was no longer just a maid who cleaned his room.

She had become his personal attendant and conversation partner.

Every day they ate together. Rona would first assist him with his meal, then eat her own portion.

In the past, Bernard would have exploded with anger at the idea of a servant sitting at the same table as her master.

But the butler had also witnessed Ireon’s lowest moments and stayed during his wandering years. So now he complied with whatever Ireon wanted.

These days, even the butler called her Miss Rona and treated her with affection.

During meals, she would tell him various stories. Usually he asked questions about things he couldn’t see, and she explained them.

Recently though, there had been one time Rona asked him something first.

“Have you ever been to Café Cardinal?”

Of course he hadn’t.

Later he asked Bernard and learned it was a famous café not far from the estate.

“A place couples go on dates?”

“Yes, Your Grace. Many young lovers go there. It isn’t really a place for you. But how did you know about it?”

A place lovers go.

Why would she ask that?

Could it be…

Did Rona want to go there with him?

His heart began beating irregularly.

Since losing his sight, Ireon had never once left the estate. But today he went out for the first time after being summoned by the Imperial Palace to confirm his recovery.

And while he was out, he gathered the courage to visit Café Cardinal to find Rona.

The reason he dared to do so was because recently, Rona had been sighing more often.

“Maybe she’s getting tired of me.”

He depended on her.

She was his eyes. His hands.

To her, he must be a troublesome employer.

As they sat in the café, he could feel the gazes pouring toward them. That bothered him.

This was supposed to be a place couples came together.

Did they not look like a couple?

Suddenly he became curious what Rona looked like.

“They’re staring because I stand out,” she said.

Using that as an excuse, he reached out his hand with hidden intentions.

Rona calmly leaned her face toward him.

Thump.

When his hand touched her soft cheek, his chest trembled.

His rough, calloused hands—formed from years of swordsmanship—felt unworthy of touching her delicate skin.

Yet he couldn’t pull away.

Pretending to remain calm, he memorized her face with his hands.

Then his hand touched her soft, plump lips.

Rona’s breathing didn’t even falter.

And that hurt him.

The excitement he had felt on the way there sank as he realized it had all been his misunderstanding.

“Someone blind like me…”

He must not look like a man to her.

Startled by his own thought, his expression stiffened.

“How pathetic.”

He straightened his posture, silently criticizing himself.

Knock knock.

The sound of dishes accompanied the smell of food.

“It’s time for dinner.”

Rona’s voice made his heart beat again.

“Come in.”

Rona entered pushing a tray.

Ireon had already changed from his formal uniform into comfortable indoor clothes and washed up by himself.

“It smells good.”

Seeing him sitting properly waiting for her in his usual chair made Rona smile to herself.

“What’s today’s menu?”

Because he couldn’t see, he always waited obediently until she helped him. For some reason, even such a large man seemed like a child to her.

“Guess. It’s something you like.”

He focused on the scent.

“I smell sausage. And spices.”

“That’s right. Grilled sausages with vegetables. And stir-fried beans too.”

Rona tied a large napkin around his neck.

Even with a bib, the handsome, broad-shouldered man looked like he was modeling high fashion.

“It’s hot, so eat slowly.”

He obediently opened his mouth.

Rona fed him.

“…Sigh.”

A sigh escaped her unconsciously.

“What was that sigh?”

“Did I sigh?”

“That’s the second time.”

“I wasn’t sighing. I was blowing on it because it was hot.”

“Excuses.”

He smiled faintly.

“Ah!”

Because of that, the spoon missed his mouth and hit his lips.

Rona quickly stood and wiped his mouth with a small cloth.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine. This much is nothing.”

She awkwardly smiled and tore some bread to feed him.

“That’s enough. You should eat too.”

“Thank you.”

She sat across from him and began eating.

“…Sigh.”

Her third sigh escaped and she quickly covered her mouth.

Ireon was extremely perceptive despite his blindness.

But he didn’t comment this time.

When she first came, he had truly been like a blind beast.

Dirty hair from not washing, torn clothes, refusing food, howling like an animal in a dark room.

The fear she felt when she first saw him had been chilling.

But she had nowhere else to go and was hungry.

So she did her best.

And he slowly changed.

Perhaps because she had developed survival humility, she could endure whatever he showed.

Because she endured, he gradually became ashamed of himself.

A beast capable of shame slowly regained a human heart.

His hair, once caked with spilled food, became smooth black hair scented with sandalwood.

His naturally broad shoulders and thick thighs were now well dressed again.

Though blind, he regained his intelligence and composure.

The butler, who had once cried over constant maid resignations, now cried tears of joy.

Rona’s salary was increased several times.

She became the only maid in the estate.

“Is something bothering you?”

As time passed, Ireon began caring about her feelings too.

That alone comforted her greatly.

After all, she had transmigrated into this story and lost her memories. She had nowhere to rely on.

His kindness meant a lot.

“If there’s something I can help with, tell me.”

“It’s nothing.”

She couldn’t ask his help to find the heroine. One letter from the Grand Duke would bring Karina to the mansion immediately.

That would completely break the original story.

That must never happen.

“I must have worried you. It’s personal. Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

She noticed his mood had been strange since the café visit.

He was extremely proud.

A man who had never known failure struggled with needing practice.

No one succeeds immediately, she thought.

She even blamed the author of The Flower of the Blind Beast for making him too perfect.

Why was he so down?

“Didn’t you want to visit Café Cardinal?”

“Yes. I did.”

“But you didn’t seem to like it. It was distracting.”

She froze.

Had he noticed she was distracted searching for Karina?

Anyone would feel hurt.

Even sighted people would.

But he depended only on her presence and voice.

Of course he noticed.

Even if finding Karina is important…

She felt guilty.

“It was my first time in the capital. I’ve only worked at the estate. Everything outside felt fascinating. I’m sorry.”

“I see. I thought…”

He trailed off.

“Was sightseeing enjoyable?”

“Of course. Compared to my village, this place is another world.”

She didn’t even know whose life she had entered.

When she first woke up, she had collapsed near a forest lake.

Had she tried to kill herself?

She had wondered that.

So young and pretty…

Maybe she had tried to drown.

An elderly forest couple saved her and brought her to the city.

She must have lived somewhere far from the capital.

“How is it different?”

“The roads are wider. The ground is paved with stone. Where I lived it was dirt, even in the lord’s castle.”

She talked enthusiastically to cheer him up.

“People here dress well. There are lots of handsome and beautiful people.”

“Lots of handsome men?”

“Yes. Plenty to look at.”

She then watched his mood sink again in real time.