IBDF 02

Chapter 2

“First of all, you already know I have bright blonde hair… and of course, you know my eyes are a light green, right? My nose is small and pointed, lips red and full. Oh, your ears are unusual—slightly pointed. Were they like this since birth?”

Tilda touched the tips of my ears as she examined my face more closely and spoke.

“Hmm… I’d say you’re quite beautiful, then.”

Her final verdict made me smile pleasantly, though I felt a twinge of regret that she couldn’t see my face directly.

And in truth, there was one more face that made me feel that way.

“…Tilda, then… what does Master Kalios look like?”

“Master Kalios? Ah, so that’s what you’re really curious about?”

Tilda asked with a mischievous tone.

Yes! I’m extremely curious!

I answered silently, hiding my disappointed expression.

Tilda would never understand how I, who had possessed a character in a book, couldn’t even appreciate the male lead’s beauty firsthand.

“Well, I suppose it’d be frustrating not knowing what the master you serve looks like,” she said, beginning to describe Kalios for me.

“Hmm… the master, you see, has silver hair as white as the moon, just like the young lady’s, and blue eyes. And they say his beauty resembles that of the late lady of the house.”

“Ohh.”

“And…”

Tilda paused, as if choosing her next words carefully. I couldn’t wait for her, so I interrupted.

“Are his eyes sharp? His jawline well-defined? And I bet he has a perfectly proportioned forehead too, right?”

“…How did you manage to ask about all of Master’s features as if you’d seen him yourself?”

Tilda asked in surprise.

“I just guessed,” I replied, avoiding the fact that I’d seen him in the book.

“Well, I suppose. Your master’s beauty has been well-known for a while, so you must’ve heard about it somewhere.”

Tilda spoke with a tone free of doubt.

“And he’s only fifteen, yet he’s so clever. From early on, you could feel the dignity of a future duke.”

Her voice brimmed with pride for the young master she served.

“So at times, he can feel unapproachable. Well, that’s how nobles are…”

Unapproachable, like an ice prince? I liked that!

I let my imagination run wild, comparing the appearance described in the original story with Tilda’s description.

Even without seeing him, one thing was certain: Kalios’ beauty was already complete, even before the story began.

“He really was someone like that…”

Suddenly, Tilda’s voice grew heavy with regret.

“For some reason, he hasn’t stepped out of his room at all. When I hear his voice shouting echo through the mansion, my heart skips a beat. Can someone really change so much in just half a year? It’s unbelievable.”

She clicked her tongue in frustration.

Photophobia, a condition where light causes severe pain, was sometimes called ‘the devil’s curse.’

It wasn’t good news that the young duke had contracted such a troubling and ominous disease.

Thus, the duke had strictly kept the illness a secret from everyone except the butler and the head maid. Even I, who had come to take care of Kalios, was not informed.

Moreover, my contract included the following clauses:

1. Do not ask about the young duke’s condition.

2. Do not ask why he cannot turn on the lights.

3. Do not reveal anything said in the young duke’s bedroom…

For this reason, most of the servants, unaware of the situation, simply found his sudden change baffling.

“Sigh… how long will he stay cooped up in that room…? He won’t stay like that forever, will he?”

Tilda ended her words with a question to herself.

As someone who had read the original story, the answer is: No, he won’t.

It would take some time, but Kalios would eventually go outside.

Thanks to long training to gradually endure the pain, though it was essentially a matter of enduring suffering through sheer mental strength.

After years of this ordeal, by the time he turned twenty, Kalios was finally able to stand under the sun.

But the joy of going outside was short-lived.

He discovered that his father, whom he trusted, had long abandoned hope for his treatment, and had already brought a successor into the mansion.

Angered by betrayal, Kalios killed his father and assumed the title of duke himself.

Later, under the emperor’s orders to continue the family line, he reluctantly entered a political marriage with a marquis’ daughter…

That bride was the heroine, Helene.

Because Kalios had locked the doors to his heart, their married life was not smooth, but after all, isn’t this a romance novel?

Blessed by divine grace, Helene, awakened as a saint, healed Kalios’ photophobia, which nothing else could cure.

With her characteristic kindness and charm, she melted his frozen heart, and eventually, they became true partners in life.

…That was the story of the original The Duke in the Darkness.

So, even though Kalios was currently trapped in his room and unable to move, eventually, he would meet the heroine, realize true love, and break free from his illness—a happy ending awaited!

“Anyway, does that satisfy your curiosity?”

Tilda’s question snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Yes, thanks to you.”

“Then let’s get up. If we sit too long, we’ll get dirty looks.”

Tilda stood, tidying the remaining cloth into a basket.

She added, in a scolding tone:

“From now on, keep your wits about you, okay? No fainting from getting hit by flying flower pots.”

“Yes, I’ll remember.”

Of course, keeping my wits about me wouldn’t necessarily prevent stray flower pots from hitting me.

I swallowed the thought and followed Tilda out of the lounge.

The next day.

I deeply regretted not reporting the other maids’ negligence to the head maid earlier.

After Mary and Dorothy, who had promised to draw the bathwater and return, suddenly disappeared, there was not a trace of them.

What nerve… are they planning to blatantly leave all the work to me now?

They must have assumed that, since I was new and blind, I’d have difficulty finding another position.

I sighed deeply, standing alone in the corridor.

I still don’t know the mansion layout well enough to search for them confidently.

In the end, I gave up on waiting and headed to the young duke’s room.

Knock, knock.

I knocked and quietly opened the door, entering.

Even with someone entering, Kalios gave no sign of movement. He did not leave the bed.

But today, I had to take responsibility and help him up.

It was his bath day.

Last week, he had insisted on bathing alone without anyone’s help, only to fall on the floor.

He suffered quite a few bruises and had remained in bed ever since, not washing himself.

“Um… Master.”

I approached the bed and called softly.

“The bathwater is ready.”

I braced myself, hoping he wouldn’t throw something at me again.

Unexpectedly, something surprising happened.

There was a rustling on the bed, and the young duke obediently got up from his spot.