(BL) Rejected by daughter's second male lead-Chapter 14

It was starting again. Yuan shook his head and said.

"I am not unaware of your dark intention to spend even a little more time with me by deliberately taking the long way around... but since we have already entered this path, I suppose I have no choice but to go with you—"

"Wait."

Gillen cut Yuan off in a low, quiet voice. Yuan was about to ask "what?" in an annoyed tone when Gillen brought his index finger to his lips.

"Shh."

His expression was unusual. Without realizing it, Yuan shut his mouth and silently gazed at Gillen’s serious face. The sunken areas around his eyes and his melancholy, dark brown eyes, his high and refreshing nose bridge, his lean cheeks and slightly angular jaw, his healthily tanned skin... Although he had wrinkles next to his eyes from smiling often, it did not detract from Gillen’s handsome appearance. Rather, it had the effect of softening his manly impression.

’He’s Cecilia’s father, so he doesn’t have an ugly face.’

Yuan thought.

’Of course, compared to me, his looks are at the level of clay haphazardly lumped together.’

As Yuan made an assessment that Gillen would have chuckled emptily at had he known, he brought his horse to a complete stop. He secretly cast a calming spell on both horses without Gillen’s knowledge. It was because he could feel the horses were getting anxious.

"There seems to be a wild beast nearby."

Gillen whispered. Yuan looked around with an unimpressed face. Whether a bear or a tiger appeared, a mage could neatly finish off the opponent with a single attack spell and even butcher the hide and meat right on this spot.

Pitifully. It seems His Grace the Duke, a common non-magic user, is nervous. It was when Yuan was about to scoff at Gillen.

From the side, the bushes rustled, and with a growling sound, an immensely huge brown bear appeared.

The brown bear was bigger and fiercer than he had thought. Gillen, who had participated in hunting parties and competitions several times for his social life as a duke, reflexively stood in front of Yuan.

"Hampton, I’ll draw the bear’s attention, so turn your horse around and escape to the back."

"It would be better if you were the one to escape, Your Grace."

Despite Yuan’s sneering tone, Gillen did not let his guard down. In fact, he even drew a dagger from his waist. Since he had come on a picnic with his daughter and even had escort knights with him, he had not brought any significant weapons, so that dagger was all he had.

Now, Yuan was so dumbfounded it was ridiculous. Of course, Gillen was a tall man with a good physique. He probably had a lot of experience fighting and winning against wild beasts, and since he had a daughter of Yuan’s age, an instinct to protect might have kicked in.

However, Yuan was a great mage who had decided the fate of an entire empire. His muscle mass might be very, very slightly less than Gillen’s, but he was a tall, sturdily built young man. He was not so weak as to need the protection of a middle-aged mister.

As for something like a bear, he could make it flip over on its belly and perform tricks right here with just a flick of his hand.

’Still... this is quite refreshing.’

Yuan raised an eyebrow with interest.

In numerous wars, Yuan was always the one called to the front lines. When the enemy army swarmed in, the soldiers would immediately look for a mage. That was the principle and basic procedure in war.

The battle mage first uses a wide-area spell. If the enemy also has a mage, they break the opponent’s magic circle and fight over magical power. In the meantime, the soldiers use their respective weapons to take out the remaining enemies.

Yuan was more outstanding and superior than any other mage. There were even enemy mages who had used teleportation magic to escape the moment they saw Yuan. He had never been defeated, and later on, he received direct command from the emperor and led the army.

Even without thinking of battles, there were many similar situations. During the war, he would often camp in barracks, and sometimes he would encounter wild beasts in the mountains or forests while on the move. Every time that happened, the shouts of the soldiers crying out, "Mage!" were a matter of course. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Then Yuan would slowly go out, deal with the beast with a flick of his finger, and go back inside the barracks to sleep, read a book, or look in the mirror. In any case, there was no weapon as efficient and powerful as magic, and everyone knew that.

Though it seems this man with his back to me does not know.

Yuan sat with his arms crossed and stared at the back of Gillen’s head, who was seriously aiming the ridiculous dagger at the bear.

"I told you to run, hurry up."

Gillen’s voice was low and calm. His voice, deliberately spoken in a flat, whispering tone so as not to provoke the bear, was quite pleasant to hear.

"The horse seems so startled that it’s frozen and won’t move."

Yuan lied.

It seemed that he was so flustered at the moment that he had temporarily forgotten Yuan was a mage, and Yuan was looking forward to seeing what a funny sight he would make when he remembered. On the other hand, he also wanted to step in coolly and knock the bear down when Gillen was struggling.

"I see."

Gillen hummed briefly, then suddenly jumped off his horse. Then he looked back at Yuan.

"Then ride my horse. This one seems bold and not very surprised."

It was not that the horse was bold, but that Yuan had cast a calming spell on it earlier. He frowned slightly but did as Gillen said, getting off the white horse and mounting Gillen’s black horse.

"I’ll take care of your horse. Don’t worry and get to a safe place first."

Gillen said as he slapped the rump of the black horse Yuan was riding. The horse immediately galloped back the way they had come. On the running horse, Yuan looked back and clicked his tongue in disbelief.

Is Duke Blake really a fool?

How on earth was a middle-aged man who could not even use magic going to face a bear of that size alone. Since he had even given Yuan the horse that was tamed to him, it would not be easy for him to escape either.

As Yuan galloped on the horse with a dumbfounded expression, he said, "Shh," and touched the horse’s neck area. Then the horse slowly reduced its speed, then changed direction again and started running toward where Gillen and the bear were.

’What an uninteresting man.’

Since it had come to this, Yuan had no choice but to show his magic first and put Gillen in his place.

Unlike other mages, Yuan could cast magic without saying spells or incantations. He did not need to draw a magic circle himself. He was a genius who could materialize it silently just by picturing the magic circle and spell in his head.

Kuaaa, the loud roar of the brown bear echoed through the forest. He could also see Gillen’s back standing in front of the brown bear in the distance. The bear was about to blow Gillen’s head off with its huge, thick front paw.

"[Kesio]!"

Without realizing it, Yuan blurted out the spell he had been thinking in his head. Even though there was no need to recite the spell separately, it came out because he was in a hurry.

Yuan’s magic struck as a direct hit, and the bear froze in the very posture it was about to strike with its front paw.

"Hamp—"

"Are you crazy?"

Yuan jumped off his horse and ran towards Gillen. In Gillen’s hand, there was still only that absurd dagger.

"How were you going to kill this big bear with this? And what were you thinking just standing there when your head was about to be sent flying? Do you perhaps want to commit suicide? If that’s the case, I’ll release the stasis magic and."

Gillen looked silently at the angry Yuan and then laughed, "Hahaha." What are you laughing at? Yuan was about to flare up again when Gillen patted Yuan’s shoulder with the hand that was not holding the dagger.

"I was going to lower my body just as the front paw came down. And I was planning to stab the vital point in its lower abdomen. I might not have been able to kill it, but I could have bought enough time to escape. I wasn’t trying to commit suicide."

Then Gillen grinned.

"Were you that worried about me? You’re sweating."

Gillen lightly wiped Yuan’s temple with his thumb. As his finger passed, he felt the area around his temple, which had been a little itchy, cool down. Yuan had really been sweating.

Slap. Yuan belatedly slapped Gillen’s hand away. Then he said even more frostily.

"You’re putting on a brave face when you were so surprised you forgot I was a mage."

"Hm?"

Gillen glanced at the frozen bear, then looked straight at Yuan again. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I never forgot."

"...What did you say?"

Yuan thought he had misheard. Or that Gillen was still putting on a brave face. But it was neither.

"I didn’t forget. I know you’re a mage."

"Then why..."

"Why, you ask? Just... because I judged that I could handle it?"

Gillen said nonchalantly. With a face that truly looked as if he had no thoughts at all.

"And aren’t there many mages who freeze up momentarily when they’re too surprised and can’t use their magic properly. I sent you away first in case you got hurt because of that."

Mage! The enemy army! That mage! The bear! The wolf!

Among the countless calls he had heard until now, for the first time in his life, Yuan heard the words ’run away.’

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life."

Yuan said coldly. He turned his body and mounted his white horse. Then he left, saying, "As for you, Your Grace, you can come on your own or not," and went ahead.

"Hampton! Are you just going to leave this bear like this? Hampton!"

From behind, Gillen called out to Yuan with a booming voice, but he did not look back. He could not look back. Because his face was now flushed red enough to feel hot.