(BL) Rejected by daughter's second male lead-Chapter 39

Yuan, considering Gillen’s pride, wagered three days, while the parrot wagered a week, thinking it would take longer than that.

Until two days after Yuan had returned from the ducal estate, he was completely at ease. He even redecorated his mansion to be more beautiful, like a feudal lord’s castle, in preparation for Gillen’s sudden arrival, and he also prepared to show off to Gillen by giving his parrot the name ’Aengmu’—the parrot liked it, saying its name felt strangely familiar.

However, after three days, then four days passed, Yuan’s complexion became noticeably worse. He grew more irritable, and it became frequent for him to suddenly spew curses while holed up in his room researching magic. The robots tiptoed around as quietly as possible, trying to read their master’s mood. Even Aengmu didn’t go near Yuan, who was covered in a thick layer of ill-tempered annoyance.

By the time the week Aengmu had mentioned passed, Yuan’s emotions had intensified even further.

"What is this? Why are they sending this kind of letter?"

Yuan got angry even looking at an ordinary party invitation. He also burned up the entire pile of letters that had arrived at the marquisate with magic.

"Hey, Sebastian. Why are you looking at me with those eyes? Did you just pity me?"

"Absolutely not, Marquis."

"Then what’s with that look in your eyes? Why are you looking at me as if I’m wrong? Explain."

"I have never looked at you that way, Marquis. I was originally made with slightly droopy eyes."

"...You’re pissing me off, so stop loitering and get lost."

"Yes, thank you, Marquis."

"Wait a minute. What are you thankful for? Do you feel like you’re being released from me right now? Are you saying I was deliberately picking a fight?"

"I do not think that at all."

He would pick a fight with a passing robot or take his anger out on it.

"Why is this tree so uselessly big? Just like that Mister."

He would suddenly be walking in the garden and then use magic to make a large tree smaller, then medium-sized, then get rid of it altogether, then restore it again.

Perhaps because Yuan was so filled with rage, his creations were also affected. The robots, who had at first held their breath while watching Yuan, began to fight among themselves over time due to disagreements, and Aengmu, saying the house was too noisy, flew off to a distant place.

’Something’s strange.’

Yuan thought so.

At the very latest, Gillen should have been fidgeting with impatience and sent a letter to the Marquis Hampton’s estate by now. A letter filled with all sorts of flowery words, but with only one main point: ’I want to come and see you.’

’Could he be sick somewhere?’

Eventually, in Yuan’s imagination, Gillen became a patient who had taken to his bed with post-breakup blues and refused all food and drink.

Duke Blake, having realized he can no longer reach Yuan, has stopped eating. Beside him, Cecilia weeps pitifully and tries to persuade her father.

— Father, if you’re going to be like this, you might as well just send a letter to Yuan. Go and see Yuan! Something terrible will happen if this continues!

— Oh, Cecil. My daughter. Yuan doesn’t want to see me anymore. Those hot five days of our rut feel like a dream. If I were to end my life, wouldn’t Yuan at least come to my funeral? I feel like I want to become a ghost and just linger by Yuan’s side.

— If you’re going to be like this, I’ll go and get Yuan myself!

— No, Cecil! You mustn’t bother Yuan.... He hates me terribly. How can an old Mister like me, who isn’t even an omega but an alpha, beg a young and beautiful genius magician like Yuan to love me!

"Hmph. He knows his place."

Yuan, who was continuing his fantasy with his arms crossed, muttered to himself without realizing it. He believed his imagination was 99% certain. How else could Gillen not be loitering in front of him for this long?

’...It’s not like I hate him that terribly.’

Yuan became a little disturbed.

Of course, he still found Gillen distasteful and disgusting. He even thought that he must have already gone senile to dare to covet him.

However, he didn’t dislike him as much as when he had first heard his confession. In the first place, shouldn’t Gillen have noticed to some extent just by the fact that he had had heated sex with him for five days? If he had truly found him disgusting, he wouldn’t have laid a single fingertip on him, let alone have sex, no matter how sudden the rut was.

"Now that I think about it, he’s a bit pitiful."

If Gillen was misunderstanding and mistaken about Yuan, then that had to be corrected. Because Yuan hated it more than anything in the world when someone interpreted and defined him as they pleased.

"Yes, I can’t just leave it like that."

Yuan shot up from the sofa. He immediately teleported to the dressing room and took out the most subdued clothes he owned.

"I shouldn’t demoralize a sick person, so I should tone down my beauty with some achromatic colors."

"I shouldn’t demoralize a sick person, so I should tone down my beauty with some achromatic colors."

Yuan wore a black shirt and dark brown pants, and put on a navy blue jacket and coat of a simple design. Then he put on a pair of shiny, black, long leather boots. After putting on a pair of slightly long, teardrop-shaped emerald earrings, he attached the emerald brooch Gillen had once gifted him to his jacket.

"...Hah, my face is so gorgeous that I shine no matter how much black I wear."

Yuan despaired, looking in the mirror. If only I were a little less handsome! If he went like this, Gillen was bound to be intimidated.

In the end, Yuan took off all his earrings and rings, leaving only the emerald brooch as an accessory. But that, in turn, created an understated beauty, bringing out an ascetic charm.

"Fuck, what am I supposed to do."

Yuan, who had spat out a curse while looking in the mirror, ran his hand through his hair irritably.

"Whatever, it’s not like his old eyes will be able to see properly anyway."

He didn’t want to delay any longer. He checked his appearance one last time in the full-length mirror and went outside. He wanted to go straight to Gillen’s bedroom in a single teleportation if he could, but in noble society, such an act was more reviled than robbery.

What a truly annoying and troublesome set of rules. To have to send a letter several days in advance of a visit to ask for permission, receive a reply, and then visit with a procession on the appointed date.

’But for a relationship like ours, I probably don’t need permission.’

After all, they were in a relationship where they had mixed their bodies for five days. Yuan, thinking as he always did in whatever way suited him best, called for his robot adjutants.

"We’re going to the Blake ducal estate. Get ready."

"My apologies, Marquis, but did you say you came to see our Duke, not Lady Cecilia?"

The Blake family’s old goat-like butler asked as if he had heard something strange. Yuan lifted his chin and answered.

"That is correct. I came to see the Duke."

"My apologies once more, but I will confirm just one thing. Did you make an appointment in advance? I ask because it seems my memory has grown hazy and I don’t recall an appointment for the Marquis’s visit today."

"I didn’t make any appointment. I just came to hang out. Is that not allowed?"

Yuan lifted his chin even higher and asked back shamelessly. Butler Brian shook his head reluctantly.

"...It’s not that it isn’t allowed, but what should we do? His Grace the Duke is currently away."

"What? Where did he go?"

"Ahem.... He went out as he has some businessmen to meet regarding the construction of an orphanage."

Brian barely managed to hide his discomfort and answered Yuan’s tone, which seemed to have thrown all courtesy to the dogs. However, Yuan had no capacity to consider the old goat’s feelings. The fact that Gillen was not at home had dropped Yuan’s mood to the ends of the earth.

"...I see. I’ll come again next time."

"Yes, I will let him know that you were here, Marquis. And if you would send word in advance the next time you visit, we will be able to serve you more comfortably. We will prepare so that we don’t miss each other like this."

"Hmph, do as you please."

Yuan got back inside the carriage he had just alighted from. He puckered his lips in dissatisfaction and looked out the window at the Blake family’s garden spread before him.

There was a time when I talked about all sorts of things with that Mister in that garden for hours on end....

Yuan unconsciously recalled that time as if reminiscing. But that too was brief, as the carriage soon departed. He began to curse Gillen again, grumbling to himself. Is this a strategy to forget his heartache through work? How ridiculous. Let him struggle all he wants. Let’s see how long he can last.

And as soon as Yuan returned, he wrote and sent a letter to the ducal estate. It was an ordinary threatening letter, stating that he would be visiting at noon two days later, so they should be well prepared.

The problem was the reply that arrived the next day.

[To Marquis Hampton.

I was extremely pleased and happy that Marquis Hampton, a loyal friend and subject of His Majesty the Emperor, wishes to form a friendship with me. However... (omitted)... for these reasons, I am currently spending my days so busy I haven’t a moment to spare, so I hope the Marquis will understand.

Let us share a glass of wine on the next occasion while discussing the goings-on of the world. As it happens, the new white wine that has recently arrived is famous for its extremely fine aroma and deep flavor... (omitted)... I will close now, praying for the Marquis’s health and glory.

—Gillen Damian Balthazar de Blake, Duke]

"So he’s saying let’s drink, right now?"

Yuan asked his adjutant, Ricardo. Ricardo took the letter from Yuan, glanced over it once, and then answered calmly.

"That is a promise for the next time, and it reads as a refusal of this visit."

"I know that much. But he did say let’s drink together, right?"

"That is correct, Marquis."

"Ha, this is absurd. He knows full well that I’m a lightweight, and he wants to drink? Why doesn’t he just say he’s ready to knock me flat on my back?"