(BL) Rejected by daughter's second male lead-Chapter 47

"Nothing but the imperial family’s dog," Yuan muttered under his breath. Of course, it was loud enough for Gillen to hear everything.

"You really like comparing people to dogs. Stop it. Always watch what you say. I’m only saying this for your own good."

"Of course, you’re saying it for my sake. For the Duke, this is an opportunity, isn’t it? You get to date me, even if it’s for a short while, and solve the orphanage issue at the same time."

"No, I only agreed to a fake relationship with you for the sake of the orphanage. Don’t misunderstand things as you please."

"Yes, I’ll play along and pretend to be fooled."

"Sigh..."

Gillen let out a sigh and pounded his chest with his fist. Talking with Yuan made him feel like his chest was tightening up on its own. But when Yuan saw that, he let out a smirk.

"I know what that feels like. Your heart must be pounding so hard that you can’t stand it unless you calm it down, even physically."

What is he talking about?

Gillen grit his teeth and glared at Yuan. However, Yuan was already wearing a benevolent expression that said, ’I understand everything.’ It wasn’t a face that would listen to anything Gillen had to say.

"Fine, whatever... Anyway, let’s talk about our ’fake’ relationship."

Gillen emphasized the word ’fake,’ stressing it. It meant that he would never think of this relationship as ’real’ and had no other feelings for him.

"Dating! Dating! The Marquis and the Duke are dating!"

The parrot chattered as it landed on Gillen’s shoulder. Gillen’s hardened expression softened slightly. He gently stroked the parrot’s small, soft head with his index finger.

"You’re such a smart child who speaks so well, no matter when I see you."

"A smart parrot made by the smart Marquis!"

"Yes, Parrot. I heard you got a name?"

"I got a name! Parrot got a name too! I went from being a parrot to Parrot!"

Yuan watched Gillen and the parrot in silence with his arms crossed. It might sound a bit strange to say this, but the sight of the two of them talking affectionately looked quite beautiful. He also liked that Gillen and the parrot seemed close. He didn’t know why. In any case, for a moment, Yuan found the picture pleasing, so he didn’t interrupt their conversation.

However, Gillen had things to do. Even though Yuan hadn’t interrupted, he ended the conversation with the parrot first and turned his head toward Yuan.

"First, the most urgent thing is to change public opinion. To be precise, the opinion of high society."

Gillen stared into the air for a moment as if calculating something, then continued.

"It’s about time for the Harvest Thanksgiving Festival. There will be a party at the imperial palace, and festivals will be held throughout the empire, including the capital. We’ll make that our debut."

"There’s still a month until the Harvest Thanksgiving Festival. Can we afford to be so leisurely? It doesn’t matter to me, but."

"This might actually be better. Rather than suddenly showing up at a party as partners, if we gradually show ourselves together for a month, arouse curiosity, and then reveal it with a bang, wouldn’t more people believe it’s real?"

Since this fake relationship had to properly deceive the nobles and, furthermore, change the emperor’s mind, they too needed to approach it seriously and cautiously. Yuan nodded his head without a word of complaint.

"I see. Understood."

"Then I’ll send a letter soon—"

"No, it’s fine."

Yuan raised a hand to stop Gillen’s words and made a gesture as if pulling something out of thin air. In his hand was a round communication device.

"Who has time to be sending and receiving letters? This is a magical communication device that connects directly to me. If you send a signal with this, I’ll receive it. If you need anything, hold this device and call my name three times."

"Isn’t this too expensive?"

Gillen’s house also had a few magical communication devices. They were devices that connected directly with his aide, with Cecilia, and with the administrator of the Blake estate. Each one of those magical spheres that enabled communication was worth as much as a respectable noble family’s annual budget. It was a magical tool that even the renowned Blake Ducal Estate used only three of, which spoke to its value.

But to pull such a communication device out of thin air so nonchalantly and hand it over like a piece of candy! When Gillen looked at Yuan in surprise, Yuan spoke indifferently.

"I can just make these myself, and my lab is overflowing with them, so you don’t have to worry about it. Take it, quickly."

His tone was arrogant and insolent, but given the value of the gift, Gillen couldn’t even think of pointing it out and had no choice but to carefully take the sphere with both hands.

"To give me something so precious—"

"I’m telling you, it’s not precious to me at all. I’m just giving you something commonplace, so don’t get the wrong idea and don’t be moved."

"...I understand."

The way he was sternly warning Gillen, just in case he got all flustered, was utterly unsightly. Gillen thought to himself, ’That’s never going to happen, so don’t you worry, you jerk,’ then put on a sleek smile.

"In any case, thank you. I’ll use this communication device if I need to contact you. For now, I’ll be returning home."

"Wait a moment."

Yuan raised his hand to stop Gillen. He once again pulled something out of thin air. This time, it was an item Gillen had somewhat expected. A magical contract, which he had seen before.

"It would be troublesome if the Duke were to take advantage of my kind heart to satisfy his personal desires and only reap benefits. Let’s prevent that beforehand with a contract."

"What desire could I possibly... haah, fine, go ahead. It’s better to write a contract."

Gillen, as always, gave in to Yuan’s absurd claims. Arguing further would only be a losing battle for Gillen. No matter what Gillen said, the sturdy wall of Yuan’s misunderstanding would only grow thicker.

"First, let’s set the duration until Marian Orphanage can open safely. We can’t be in a fake relationship indefinitely."

"Yes, that’s good."

"Of course, I’m sure that’s what the Duke is hoping for."

"...Just write it down. ’Only until the orphanage opens,’ hurry up and write it."

Gillen urged him on, gritting his teeth. This irritating bastard. How could he be so meticulously insufferable, second by second? With Yuan, it was best to get business done as quickly as possible and part ways.

When Yuan snapped his fingers, a quill pen appeared in mid-air and began writing on the contract by itself. Forgetting to glare at Yuan, Gillen stared blankly at the fascinating sight. He had lived in this world for twenty years—and at a status where he could encounter mages more often than others—but such a scene was still amazing to see no matter how many times he saw it.

’Oh, it’s HaXry Potter. It’s HoXwarts...’

As Gillen’s eyes sparkled while looking at the magical quill, Yuan smirked. He blew a short breath toward the quill. At the same time, a sparkling silver vortex swirled up above the quill. It was an incredibly mystical and beautiful sight.

"Whoa..."

Gillen let out a thick exclamation of awe. Yuan smiled triumphantly and said.

"Then let’s continue. The next rule is..."

And so, the rules Yuan came up with on the spot totaled eighteen. Things like: physical contact is only allowed up to the level of linking arms and only in front of others; they must meet only after completely concealing their pheromones; the communication device can only be used once a day; staring at each other flirtatiously, even in front of others, is forbidden... All sorts of dumbfounding and absurd rules were engraved onto the contract. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The fun of watching the magical quill move gracefully on its own amidst the sparkling effects was short-lived. As the ridiculous rules continued to multiply, Gillen’s eyes gradually glazed over.

"And also—"

"Enough! We’re going to be up all night setting rules at this rate. I’m heading back, so you organize the clauses you want to put in the contract and send them by mail or magic, whichever is convenient. I’ll review them and draft the final version."

"Let’s do that, then."

Yuan agreed refreshingly. Now that he thought about it, it seemed he had deliberately dragged out his words just to provoke Gillen. Gillen secretly shot a sideways glance at Yuan and then stood up from his seat.

"Then, let’s stay in touch."

Gillen left the marquis’s residence as if he were fleeing. This time too, he returned home in the marquisate carriage that Sebastian had prepared, and that day, people gossiped, saying they had seen Duke Blake going in and out of the Marquis of Hampton’s house twice.

From that day on, Gillen contacted Yuan once a day through the magical communication device. The first three days were spent entirely arguing over the clauses of the contract. The people of the Blake Ducal Estate began to worry, thinking Gillen was locking the study door and having a heated monologue inside.

The worries of his loyal retainers, including his aide Navard and butler Brian, soon reached the ears of Lady Cecilia.

On the fourth day after Gillen’s return from the Marquis of Hampton’s residence, Cecilia knocked on the study door.

"Dad, it’s me. Cecil. Let’s talk for a bit."

The sound of Gillen, who had been speaking in an angry voice about something inside, abruptly stopped.