(BL) Rejected by daughter's second male lead-Chapter 52

Gillen encountered that rumor the next morning during breakfast. He was eating with the lovely Cecilia and Ivy when Navard came storming into the dining room.

"Your Grace, the Duke! Have you seen the morning paper?"

"Viscount Zen! This is currently His Grace the Duke and the young lady’s mealtime! The matter of the newspaper can wait until a little later—"

Bryan, who had followed Navard in, squeezed his eyes shut with a dismayed expression. He quickly corrected his posture and bowed with an elegant bend of his waist.

"Please forgive me, Your Grace. Viscount Zen became excited after seeing the morning paper... I couldn’t possibly stop him."

"It’s fine. It hasn’t been just a year or two that fellow has interrupted my mealtime. Ha! Ha! Ha! So, what is it this time, Navard? Why are you so anxious."

"Pardon my intrusion, Your Grace, young lady. And Ivy, my apologies to you too. But you must see this right away."

Navard walked over quickly, his heels clicking sharply. Then he held out a newspaper folded in half to Gillen. On the front page, a headline was written in huge letters: <The Union of Blake and Hampton? What Exactly Happened in the Plaza Yesterday?>.

"Oh, so this is out? Which newspaper is it?"

Gillen’s face lit up as he took the newspaper. Navard, not yet having checked Gillen’s expression, continued to pant while trying his best to refine his anger.

"It’s the Zickery Newspaper. To think that people who should know better would publish an article like this! Moreover, isn’t the editor-in-chief here publicly known to be a trusted subordinate of His Highness the Crown Prince! It seems the imperial family has decided to make an enemy of the ducal house of Blake... Young lady?"

Navard, who was reporting while trying hard to suppress his anger, stopped talking when he saw the face of Cecilia, who was sitting diagonally from him. A question mark appeared on his face. It was only natural, as Cecilia, who should have been angrier than Navard and rampaging about needing to go find Hexion, was calmly eating a piece of white bread.

"Don’t tell me... you knew? Both you, young lady, and Your Grace...?"

Navard asked in a voice full of betrayal. Gillen’s eyebrows drooped as he laughed and patted Navard’s back again and again.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Navard, my apologies, my apologies. I was planning to tell you today, but I didn’t know the article would come out this quickly. And I thought they would run a picture of us together at the dressmaker’s or an open-air café. I didn’t know they would use a picture of us fighting in the middle of the plaza for the article photo."

"Just a moment... Your Grace, does that mean... you really, uurk, my apologies. Does that mean you are really dat... uuk, uurk, dating Marquis Hampton..."

"Oh dear... Dora! Could you bring Navard a glass of cool water?"

"Yes, Your Grace."

Dora, the maid who had been standing at the edge of the dining room waiting to serve the meal, quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

"Here, have a seat for now, Navard."

"Uup... I feel so nauseous... my apologies."

Navard sat down next to Ivy, covering his mouth with one hand. Ivy, who was learning table manners these days, speared a slice of tomato with her fork and offered it to Navard.

"Eat this, Mr. Navadu. It will make your mouth cool."

"Thank you... but it’s all right. You eat it."

Navard replied gloomily, his face darkened. Ivy didn’t offer a second time and shoved the tomato into her own small mouth. It seemed she hadn’t really wanted to give it to him in the first place.

Gillen smiled at Ivy as if she were cute, then turned his gaze to Navard.

"I’m sorry for not telling you beforehand. There was a need to move strategically and in secret, so only Yuan and I discussed it. I only managed to tell Cecilia last night."

"Though I had heard things even before Dad told me."

Cecilia, who ran her own information guild, said calmly. In fact, last night Cecilia had received a message from the guild master of her information guild saying, ’I heard your dad and Yuan had a hot date,’ and had immediately burst into Gillen’s bedroom. In other words, Gillen ’telling’ her was closer to him confessing after being unable to withstand Cecilia’s interrogation.

"As you know, our daughter’s information network is the strongest in the Moore Empire, isn’t it? Hahahaha!"

The doting father burst out laughing heartily, but no one reacted to his foolishness.

"Still, that’s not right. What are we supposed to do if you don’t even trust us? It’s understandable in a way that Navard came in seeing red!"

Cecilia glared and chided her father.

"I said I’m sorry. But didn’t it turn out well? Now everyone in the capital will know that we’re dating. Since it’s provocative gossip, the ripple effect will be huge, too."

Gillen shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

"Weren’t you wary of and disliked Marquis Hampton?"

Navard asked in a slightly calmer voice.

"How on earth... could it be, during that rut... don’t tell me... uurk, my apologies."

It seemed the mere thought of it made Navard feel sick to his stomach. Since Navard had disliked Yuan so much, his reaction was understandable. Gillen spoke as if to soothe him.

"Don’t you worry, we’re not really dating. Of course, it’s true that I’m not as wary of or dislike Yuan as I used to. But that doesn’t mean I like him. That man is around Cecil’s age, isn’t he? Not to mention he’s a man and an Alpha. You know my ideal type. You know that I want to meet an Omega woman with whom I have good chemistry."

"Then..."

"It’s a strategic relationship. We even wrote a magical contract. We agreed to pretend to be publicly dating only until we can turn public opinion around and change the imperial family’s mind. Yuan gladly agreed to help. So you cooperate too. Got it? Have some water."

Just then, Dora brought a glass of water. Navard gulped down the cold water in one go. In a voice slightly more hydrated than before, he answered.

"I will obey your command, Your Grace. I apologize for not understanding Your Grace’s grand plan and for raising my voice since the morning."

"Hahaha! It’s fine, it’s fine. Have you had breakfast? Would you like to eat with us?"

Gillen folded the newspaper, laughing cheerfully.

Just as he had predicted, the dating rumor that made it to the front page of the newspaper spread like wildfire, reaching the farthest corners of the Moore Empire. However, everyone was half-incredulous, treating it merely as an interesting topic of conversation. The imperial family still maintained its non-reaction, and there was no increase in sponsors for the Blake Foundation or any follow-up coverage on the Marian Orphanage.

But that was all right. Because what Gillen was aiming for was one very big and decisive blow.

Time passed since then, and the first day of the Harvest Thanksgiving Festival dawned. The streets were bustling, and overflowing with energy thanks not only to the citizens of the capital but also to the provincial residents and foreign tourists who had come to enjoy the Moore Empire’s Harvest Thanksgiving Festival.

Even in the Blake ducal estate, where the street noise couldn’t possibly be heard due to its enormous manor, lively voices were leaking out noisily.

"Shirley! Press down hard on that side with the iron!"

"Yes!"

"Hazel, bring the sapphire cufflinks, not these. Our partner, Marquis Hampton’s eyes are blue, you know."

"Yes, I’ll correct it right away!"

"We have to do better so that His Grace the Duke isn’t outshone by Marquis Hampton’s beauty! You know that, right?"

"Yes, Head Maid!"

Wait... is this the army?

Gillen, who had been up since dawn undergoing a process of scrubbing and polishing before being moved to the dressing room like a piece of dry laundry, was already slumped over with a weary expression.

"You can just do a rough job... the party is in the evening anyway—"

"Your Grace! What are you saying! Have we ever prepared you roughly just because a party was in the evening or at night? If you say such things, this Jade will be hurt."

"Uh, oh, my apologies. But you really don’t need to go this far—"

"Your Grace, excuse me, but may I help you into your shirt?"

None of the maids seemed to properly acknowledge Gillen’s resistance. Gillen chuckled and stood up from the sofa. As he, dressed only in his underclothes, spread his arms, two attendants quickly came to his side and put a crisply starched, pure white shirt on him.

"It’s dazzling. How can it be so white? It’s just like Yuan’s skin color."

Gillen exclaimed without realizing it. At that, the head maid gave a smug smile.

"There isn’t a shirt that can’t be whitened by washing it with lye. The maids in the laundry room went through quite a bit of trouble."

"Jade. I told you not to have them wash with lye. Their hands get all cracked from washing with that. The head of the laundry maids should be well aware of this instruction, did you order it?"

Gillen’s expression momentarily turned stern. The head maid hastily shook her head.

"No, Your Grace! Didn’t we recently purchase an expensive machine from the Magic Tower called a washing robot? They say if you put lye in it and the machine’s hands wash the clothes, it gets cleaner than when a person does it."

"A washing robot...?"

"Ah, they said they decided to call such machines robots. It rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Kosh, do the buttons."

Following the head maid’s instruction, the attendant Kosh quickly fastened the buttons. Gillen’s expression became peculiar. ’Robot’ is a word I told Yuan... don’t tell me Yuan invented it in such a short time? A washing machine?

"We are well aware of Your Grace’s wish not to overwork us, and everyone is mindful to prevent any grievances from arising among the maids, so please don’t you worry."

The head maid said suggestively in a low voice. Only then did a faint smile grace Gillen’s lips.

"Thank you, Jade. I suppose I was greatly surprised because I trust you all so much. I felt a sense of betrayal, you know."

"Oh my, Your Grace."

Ho ho ho, Ha! Ha! Ha! The sound of Jade and Gillen’s laughter filled the dressing room. Even while they were laughing, Gillen’s hair was being styled handsomely, and shoes that reflected everything like a mirror were being put on his feet.