GLBB 06

Chapter – 06

“You’re finally here.”

In his solitary darkness, Ireon welcomed Rona.

“Lord Ireon.”

Sounding flustered, Rona lowered her voice as she called him and hurried toward him. It was already time for the lights in the duke’s mansion hall to be put out. He worried she might trip while rushing through the darkness. Even the sound of her hurried footsteps, coming as quickly as she could to someone who had been waiting for her, made him happy.

“You’re still awake?”

“You said you’d come early, but you’re late.”

“I got lost while walking here.”

Rona helped him up. Her hands were slightly cold, proving she really had walked through the night air.

“You should have taken a carriage.”

“Oh, I have to save money.”

“Is the grand duke’s salary not enough for that? I should tell Bernard to raise your pay.”

He could feel her brighten immediately.

“Oh my, thank you, my lord.”

Sometimes she used strange ways of speaking. When she did, it usually meant she was either embarrassed or very happy. Thinking it was the latter, Ireon smiled.

“Shall I escort you to your bed?”

Rona asked this in front of his bedroom door.

“Yes.”

Rona helped him lie down properly and straightened his blanket.

“Then I’ll take my leave. Good night, Lord Ireon.”

“Wait.”

Ireon had nothing to say.

“I’m thirsty.”

“I’ll bring you some water.”

Rona quickly returned with a glass.

“Is there anything else you need?”

Suddenly, impulsive words rose to the tip of his throat.

Stay here tonight.

He was startled by himself and forced his thoughts back under control.

“I can’t sleep. Read me a book.”

“Yes. What would you like?”

“The History of the Palegara War.”

“I’m still in my outdoor clothes. May I change first?”

“Do as you like.”

Ireon adjusted himself comfortably against the pillow.

Soon Rona returned, smelling like fresh laundry and soft flowers. She must have changed into clean clothes.

“In a barren wilderness where no one could live, so many people had gathered for the first time…”

She read clearly and steadily.

“The two opposing armies had similar numbers. Palermo’s infantry numbered around 11,000, with 5,000 cavalry. Six hundred cannons were positioned, with 1,300 artillerymen ready to fire in shifts.”

Her voice gradually grew quieter.

“Behind them stood 3,500 shield-bearing assault troops… yawn… followed by 2,000 archers… Palermo’s bows could fire two arrows at once… so at one signal… 4,000 arrows… 4,000… arrows…”

Something lightly fell onto the bed.

Soon he heard Rona’s soft breathing.

The History of the Palegara War was famous throughout the empire as a book that made readers fall asleep. As a former knight commander, Ireon had never understood how such a fascinating war history could make anyone sleepy. But seeing how it had sent Rona straight into dreamland tonight, he almost felt like paying the author in gold.

“Rona.”

He called her name, but only her steady breathing answered.

Ireon quietly rose from his bed. Feeling his way around, he soon found the chair she had been sitting on. He lifted her carefully and laid her on the bed. She must have been exhausted from the outing and walking late into the night, because she slept deeply.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the sound of her breathing beside him.

“Go ahead with the butler.”

Ever since she had told him to go home first, he had felt uneasy. He didn’t understand why.

“If a man goes with a woman to a dress shop, everyone will think they’re dating!”

That one sentence had struck directly at feelings he had tried to hide.

Am I embarrassing to you?

He couldn’t ask it.

After she said that much, he couldn’t insist on going with her. If he still had his sight, he could have naturally offered to help her choose or buy her something as an excuse. But following her now would clearly be of no help.

The world was wide, and there were surely many better men.

Rona had described herself as “unusual-looking,” implying she wasn’t pretty, but Ireon didn’t believe that. The way people treated her was always kind. Even if she weren’t beautiful, then she must have other charms that drew people in.

Just as she had drawn him in, even though he had never seen her.

“I don’t care what you look like, Rona.”

Because he could not see.

To him, Rona was simply the Rona he knew now, and always would be.

“Am I nothing more than a blind man you must attend to? What must I do to have you?”

He didn’t know what to do with his hollow heart. The things he could never say directly to her, he could only whisper to the sleeping woman beside him.

There had been a large bee, apparently.

Near the end of the meal, Rona had taken a jam pie to apologize to another group. Three sisters had been out on an outing. The bee Rona had swatted away had fallen into their ice bucket of wine and died.

If the bee had lived, Ireon would have named it a loyal retainer. Without its heroic act, Rona would never have fallen into his arms.

“Ha…”

A long sigh escaped him. His chest felt unbearably tight.

In the end, it was his pride.

Rona was simply doing her job for pay. He knew their relationship was contractual, yet he still wished she would give him even a small corner of her heart.

But was that impossible from the start?

Perhaps because of their difference in status, she saw him as someone from another world. Even when he held her hand under the pretense of escort practice, even when their arms linked closely, she only remained faithful to her assigned duty.

“I had some hope when you said you opposed loveless marriages…”

The person he wanted to respond to those words lay peacefully on his bed, unaware. That fact filled him with resentment.

Rona both gave him life and caused him endless pain.

Knock knock.

A knock came at the door. Ireon pulled the blanket higher over Rona.

“Come in.”

The door opened. Familiar footsteps entered cautiously. It was Bernard, the butler. Seeing Rona asleep on Ireon’s bed with the book still open, he clicked his tongue.

“You’re doing this again.”

Ireon did not respond.

He had been using these shallow tricks for some time now, unwilling to send Rona back to her own room. In another noble household, a maid spending the night in her master’s room would cause rumors. Fortunately, Rona was practically the only maid working here.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

Bernard looked incredulous.

“You said you couldn’t sleep and asked for hot tea at midnight.”

Ireon remembered giving that order. He silently blamed his past self from two hours earlier.

Bernard then spoke seriously.

“You should just take her as a concubine.”

“…What did you just say?”

His most trusted servant’s voice remained calm.

“She has no official status. Her contract is no different from common servants.”

A maid without identity papers was treated differently. They were closer to property, bought and sold like slaves. That was why Rona had ended up working in a household no one else would join.

“You are being too proper, my lord.”

Bernard wasn’t wrong. According to rumors in the capital, it was common for noble heirs to spend nights with their maids. Some even sought such arrangements for the comfort it brought.

But Ireon was furious.

“Never say such a thing again. Even you won’t be forgiven if you do.”

Bernard said nothing further and quietly withdrew.

But Ireon felt as if burning coals had been dropped into his chest.

“Take Rona… as a concubine…”

He knew he had taken his anger out unfairly. All the feelings he had suppressed—interest, affection—had been reduced to something purely physical.

Wasn’t he already past the age most nobles married?

Before losing his sight, he had spent seven years on battlefields. Before that, he had attended a military academy. He had little contact with women. Even at imperial events, the many noble ladies who approached him left no real impression.

His days had always been full and demanding.

Now, just living like an ordinary person exhausted him. Eating, washing, dressing, walking—everything required unimaginable effort.

And even that daily life had only become possible after Rona arrived.

Before that, he had been trapped in a swamp of despair.

Darkness remained whether his eyes were open or closed. The world he knew had vanished overnight. He had been terrified.

His mother, Lev Oder Constance, was the emperor’s sister. She had long grown tired of capital life and traveled abroad. They had only exchanged occasional letters.

After he lost his sight, Bernard informed her.

But the reply came from her maid: she was gravely ill overseas and unable to return.

Even newborn infants are held and raised by someone.

But Ireon had been left alone in endless darkness.

Bernard had stayed loyally, but even he had limits. He had tried everything, yet Ireon showed no improvement.

Then Rona appeared.

She had taken his hand and brought him back to the world.

With her help he relearned everything—walking, eating, washing, sleeping alone.

And somewhere along the way, like a young animal following its mother, he realized he had become obsessed with her.

“Mmm…”

Rona turned in her sleep.

“If making her my concubine could solve this… that would almost be easier.”