(BL) Rejected by daughter's second male lead-Chapter 45

Gillon stared blankly down at the teacup on the table for a moment. It was a good thing he wasn’t drinking that tea right now. If he had been, he would have just spit it right out. As he was having such a silly thought, Yuan continued his explanation.

"Honestly, isn’t this a problem that would be over and done with if you just showed yourself in a relationship with me? Your reputation would be restored, and your name would be cleared. Promote it as a project that Marquis Hampton, who was thought to be the victim of a disgusting unrequited love, is actively participating in as a proper lover. In less than a month, nobles who are dying of curiosity will come flocking to the orphanage, one after another, carrying their family crests and money."

"’Disgusting unrequited love,’ that’s a harsh thing to say..."

"That’s not the point. Honestly, you have to admit my proposal is a good one, don’t you, Your Grace?"

Gillon fell silent for a moment, lost in deep thought.

Annoyingly, what Yuan said was right. He had held a press conference and clarified the truth, but the response hadn’t been as significant as he had hoped. It seemed that wherever people lived, they tended to react more strongly to sensational news. Gillon, who was briefly reminded of the Korea he had lived in long ago, let out a deep sigh.

"It’s certain that a lot of things would be resolved if we announced we were dating."

"Of course. It’s a solution I came up with, so it’s guaranteed."

"But just because it would solve the situation, I don’t think it’s a method worth choosing."

Gillon carefully chose his next words. How could he nicely convey the meaning of, ’But I don’t want to date you. Am I crazy?’

"First of all... you’re too young. Aren’t you Cecil’s age? I’m in my mid-forties. Dating someone your father’s age, you wouldn’t want to bear such a shameless stigma either."

"What are you talking about? Don’t nobles get married even when there’s a 60-year age gap?"

"...Well, that’s true."

In the noble society of this world, marrying as a transaction for the sake of the family was considered natural. Men in their seventies married girls in their early teens, and middle-aged women in their fifties kept several men in their twenties as concubines.

Even if this had been a simple romance fantasy setting, such a situation wouldn’t have been strange, but here, it was accepted even more naturally because secondary genders existed. This was because when two people with secondary genders had a relationship and produced a child, the probability of that child also being born with a secondary gender increased.

"B-But we’re both alphas! And both dominant alphas at that, so we should assume a change in secondary gender is impossible."

There were occasional cases where betas manifested late as alphas or omegas. There had even been a few times when a recessive alpha changed to an omega, turning the empire upside down—in fact, when Gillon had read about that incident in the newspaper, he had thought, ’If this were a BL novel, these people would definitely have been the main characters.’

But Yuan and Gillon were main supporting characters in the original child-rearing romance fantasy novel, and both were born with the strong trait of being dominant alphas. There was no way the character settings of two people with clear roles would suddenly change.

"While I am interested in leaving behind my phenomenal genes, on the other hand, I don’t have high expectations. I don’t think any child I have would be able to surpass me. Because I’m a once-in-a-thousand-years genius."

That was Yuan’s thought, that it would be the same even if he married the only omega woman he had ever taken a liking to, Cecilia. No matter how pretty Cecilia was, her personality wasn’t bad, and she wasn’t a fool or a weakling, it wasn’t enough. In Yuan’s eyes, ordinary people were no different from mere trifles.

"If you’re worried about the fact that I proposed to Cecil, you don’t have to be. In fact, I was so disappointed that Cecil couldn’t recognize the value of a true gem that I’ve completely lost interest in her."

At those words, Gillon reflexively bristled.

"What value can’t my Cecil recognize? Her judgment is excellent!"

"They say even a hedgehog finds its own child pretty, so I won’t say anything more."

"You’ve already said plenty! You’ve said your piece! What about a hedgehog? It’s not because I’m her dad, but even objectively speaking, my Cecil is the most perfect child in the world! So of course she would reject you! Smart girl. I’m so proud of her."

Gillon had let his true feelings slip without realizing it. He couldn’t stand someone insulting his daughter. A moment too late, he realized his slip-up and checked Yuan’s face, only to see him let out a hollow laugh as if in disbelief.

"Hah..."

"I-I mean, everyone has their own match, so—"

"Are you saying you’re proud of Cecil for rejecting me? Because I’m your match, she acted like a filial daughter and yielded?"

"What?"

"Your Grace the Duke! His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived. He is in the reception room with Lady Cecilia."

The head maid, Stella, hurried out to greet Gillon and whispered.

"So it would seem. How long has he been here?"

Gillon asked as he calmly entered the house. The head maid naturally took his coat and gloves, draping them one by one over her arm.

"It has been about thirty minutes now."

"I see, you all must have had a hard time with his sudden visit. Thank you, Stella."

Gillon gave the head maid’s shoulder a light pat and entered the reception room.

"I greet His Highness the Crown Prince, the star of the empire. Please forgive me for not being able to personally receive you, as I had business to attend to in the city."

"Ah, Duke! Welcome. There’s no need to apologize. I just happened to run into Cecil and dropped by for a light visit. It feels like it’s been quite a while since I’ve been to the ducal residence. I’ve been wanting to visit more often."

If you, the Crown Prince, came more often, how uncomfortable would the people of my house be. With such a thought behind his smiling face, Gillon took a seat to Hexion’s right. Opposite him, Cecilia sat looking at Gillon with a face that had a lot to say.

"Dad! You were definitely in the city earlier. With Yuan! He took you with him when he teleported, didn’t he? You weren’t harmed in any way, were you? I was so worried!"

Ah, that’s right. Cecilia had witnessed Gillon disappearing with Yuan. Gillon shook his head with a reassuring smile.

"It was nothing. I had something to discuss, so I asked him to teleport me, and the timing just happened to work out that way. You were worried about Dad, my Cecil. It’s okay, nothing happened."

"Really?"

"Of course, really. Have you ever seen Dad lie to Cecil?"

"...If that’s the case, then I’m relieved, but..."

Hexion, who had been listening to the affectionate conversation between father and daughter, interjected with a faint smile, which was unusual for him.

"See, Cecil. I told you he’d be fine. The problem right now isn’t Marquis Hampton."

"...Aah, really."

Cecilia and Hexion met each other’s eyes and then let out a deep sigh at the same time. Gillon asked quizzically.

"Is... something the matter?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Cecilia already seemed to have heard something, as her expression was not good. He could see she was already putting on a face full of empathy and pity to comfort her father. Gilian looked at Hexion anxiously.

"I will just tell you frankly, Duke. The truth is, this morning, I received word from His Majesty the Emperor that he intends to drastically reduce the welfare budget related to trait-holders for next year. He cited the Duke’s scandal as the reason."

"...Pardon? What do you mean, no, why would he go so far as to cut the welfare budget over something like that? Ah, my apologies. I was so surprised I said something irreverent..."

"Haha, it is alright. I was so surprised that I said the exact same thing. It seems the nobles who have been insisting on allocating more of the budget to national defense or trade rather than to the welfare of trait-holders or children have come out strongly. Using the Duke’s recent scandal as a pretext."

"Dad, it will be okay. He said he is not going to withdraw the support completely."

"Yes, do not worry too much, Duke. It is just that it will be presented at the next noble council meeting, and I mentioned it to you a little in advance so you would not be taken aback if you went without knowing."

Hexion and Cecilia earnestly comforted Gilian. However, their warm words of comfort did not quite reach Gilian’s ears. His mind was spinning with complicated thoughts.

Although the Marian Orphanage was being built under the Blake Foundation’s name, it was scheduled to open after a massive publicity campaign, relying on the support and sponsorship of as many nobles as possible under the justification of being a national welfare project.