(BL) Rejected by daughter's second male lead-Chapter 61

However, despite the surrounding atmosphere, which seemed to have a broken reaction, Yuan shamelessly continued to boast.

"Possessing me is the same as possessing an entire empire. That’s how proud His Majesty was, wasn’t it? He even said he would always respect and learn from my decisiveness and choices."

"Ho ho, so I did. You have a good memory."

"It’s because my brain is quite extraordinary. This is the partner that I have chosen. It’s not that I opened Duke Blake’s heart, but rather that Duke Blake tried very hard, struggled, and put in a lot of effort to ever so slightly open mine. As a result, he has become my partner for this party. I hope you will acknowledge that."

The emperor burst out with a hollow laugh. Gillen squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head in Yuan’s place. He was at a loss for words.

The empress and the imperial consorts, who had not known Yuan had this kind of personality, gaped with dumbfounded faces. To them, Yuan had been a great combat mage, a beautiful young man famous for his looks, and merely a prospective son-in-law with the blemish of being a commoner-born noble.

"I trust you are aware of Marquis Hampton’s personality... so I will not explain further, Your Imperial Majesty. I am simply sorry."

Gillen said with a sour expression. The emperor continued to laugh. No, it seemed his laughter was growing louder.

"Ho ho, Duke Blake has met his match. The rumors circulating around really can’t be trusted. Ho ho ho, to think I’d live to see you make such a face. Ho ho ho!"

Originally, the emperor and Gillen were on good terms. Their values and ideals were similar, and because their children had grown up as friends since they were young, they were more comfortable with each other than with other nobles.

However, as the master of the empire, the emperor had many things to consider, so he could not focus only on specific areas like child welfare or trait-holder welfare, as Gillen did. He also had to think about his relationships with other nobles and had to calculate profit and loss more thoroughly.

As a result, situations like the present one, where the emperor excluded Gillen, sometimes occurred. Even so, the two men maintained a friendship of their own. They understood each other quite well, after all.

"I am sorry."

Gillen smiled awkwardly.

Yuan was looking Gillen up and down with a strange expression. He was surprised that the emperor and Gillen had a more amicable relationship than he had expected. Didn’t we decide to pretend to be dating because the emperor screwed him over?

As if to resolve that question, the emperor raised his voice and spoke so that everyone could hear.

"In truth, I never believed such a groundless article from the start. Is a man like Duke Blake, who works so hard for charity, the type of person to assault someone and wield violence just because they are of a lower status than him? A conspiracy that he was plotting treason would be more plausible."

"Your Imperial Majesty! How could you...! I dare not even speak that word!"

As Gillen panicked, not knowing what to do, the emperor laughed loudly again.

"It just goes to show how absurd that article is. Relax, Duke Blake. Still, teasing you is quite fun, isn’t it?"

"Your Imperial Majesty, my heart is about to drop."

At Gillen’s dramatic complaint, the emperor and the people around them laughed, ha ha ho ho. Amid that cheerful atmosphere, Yuan alone wore a rotten smile.

Damn, are they dating? Why are they so friendly?

The emperor, as the male lead’s father, was also a handsome man. Though he had many grown children, he had married at a young age and was still in his prime. As far as Yuan knew, the emperor was two or three years younger than Gillen.

His sun-like blond hair, just like Hexion’s, his smooth face without a single wrinkle yet, and his eyes sparkling with mischief were still captivating. From Yuan’s perspective, it was a stretch to call the emperor middle-aged yet—unlike Gillen.

Furthermore, he had fourteen children. He only had three wives, including the empress and the imperial consorts, yet he had fourteen children. It meant he was a vigorous man with healthy sperm.

The empress and imperial consorts are all omegas, but... you never know. That mister likes younger men, so he might have other intentions toward the emperor, too.

The deeper his thoughts went, the higher the ends of Yuan’s eyebrows rose. The corners of his eyes sharpened as well. Once he started thinking that way, everything seemed increasingly profane.

The emperor even stood up from his seat and said this.

"Oh, I had something to discuss with Duke Blake separately. Would the empress receive the remaining gifts in my stead?"

"Of course."

The empress let the emperor go without any suspicion at all.

Her husband is going off to talk with another man separately, and she’s not bothered at all?

Yuan glanced at the empress with a look of horror. Perhaps she felt at ease because both the emperor and Gillen were alphas. But cases of people of the same trait getting together, though rare, definitely existed. After all, Yuan and Gillen—setting aside their contract relationship—had actually had sex.

If the empress wouldn’t stop them, he had to. Yuan opened his mouth with grim determination.

"I will go as well."

But surprisingly, the emperor’s reaction was lukewarm.

"Ah, of course, Marquis Hampton must come along too. Let’s go to the private drawing room."

"Come next to me, Yuan."

Gillen called to Yuan in a low voice. Yuan, with the expression of a sulking child, stuck close to Gillen’s side.

After the emperor, Gillen, and Yuan left for the private drawing room, a great murmur arose inside the banquet hall. It was the same for the empress and the imperial consorts.

"Your Imperial Majesty, did you hear that just now? For Duke Blake to... call Marquis Hampton so intimately."

"Indeed. I was also quite surprised."

"Haa... it’s such a shame. Both Duke Blake and Marquis Hampton were suitable husband material for the princesses."

"I am also disappointed..."

The conversation among the mothers with daughters, who had been secretly scheming to incorporate the two men into the imperial family line, passed quickly. Although the faces of the empress and the imperial consorts were dripping with regret, the empress was the quickest to compose herself.

"Let’s continue with the greetings."

At the empress’s command, the banquet hall grew quiet once more.

Meanwhile, Gillen and Yuan, who had followed the emperor into the private drawing room, sat side-by-side on a sofa close to the emperor.

"You can be comfortable in here, Marquis Hampton."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Yuan had been comfortable all along anyway, but he simply nodded without adding any comment.

"Duke Blake. Now that it’s just us, speak freely."

"What are you referring to, Your Majesty?"

"Are you two really in a serious relationship?"

The emperor’s gaze was sharp. He had laughed it off nicely earlier because they were in front of people, but his suspicions had not yet disappeared. Gillen answered calmly, as if he knew this was coming.

"Where would I dare to speak a falsehood? We are truly seeing each other, Your Majesty."

"Is that so? You say that."

The emperor smiled as if he found it amusing. It didn’t particularly look like he was convinced.

The emperor, who was leisurely smiling, teasing, and probing. And Gillen, who was coolly enduring the emperor’s whim. There was no sense of tension. It almost seemed like a long-running game of theirs. That’s why Yuan suddenly got annoyed. What were they doing, just the two of them?

"Your Imperial Majesty."

Yuan called to the emperor in a chilly voice. Before the emperor could say anything, he grabbed Gillen’s hand.

"You should dismiss your suspicions now."

The emperor narrowed his eyes. He was clearly more agitated than before. Yuan, without changing his expression, gripped Gillen’s hand more tightly and interlaced their fingers.

"Y-Yuan! What in the world is this! In f-front of His Majesty!"

Gillen’s face turned bright red. He shook his hand wildly, trying to pull it away, but the more he did, the deeper Yuan intertwined their fingers.

"If you still find it hard to believe, I can show you even more."

At Yuan’s spirited declaration, the eyes of both the emperor and Gillen widened. Soon, the emperor threw his head back.

"Uwahahaha! Hahaha, Marquis Hampton, ah... you’re really a piece of work!"

When there were many people, he put on a pretense, laughing genteelly with a "ho ho," but as expected, the emperor was of a similar breed to Gillen. Yuan looked disapprovingly at the emperor, who was laughing as heartily as Gillen. Just as he was beginning to seriously wonder if there had really been something between these two, the emperor wiped away the tears that had formed at the corners of his eyes.

"Haa... hey, Gillen. You really caught a prize. Acting all high and mighty as if you’d never meet anyone in your life, and now you’re dating a kid twenty years younger? Tsk, you thief!"

"Your Majesty..."

Gillen couldn’t even look at the emperor properly. He was so embarrassed, it was as if he would really crawl into a mouse hole if he saw one.

"I didn’t believe it, but it was true. My goodness, Gillen Blake. You’re so much better off than me, who had an arranged marriage. How did you manage to get a man like Marquis Hampton as your romantic partner? Uwahaha, this is crazy, really."

While the emperor laughed, even clapping his hands, Yuan’s expression gradually relaxed. He seems to know how amazing ’a man like me’ is, so I can rest a little easier. The probability that those two are in that kind of relationship has gone down.

Thinking so, he let his guard down. The emperor also seemed to have been fooled by Yuan’s excellent acting, so there appeared to be nothing more to worry about—but Yuan was still holding Gillen’s hand tightly.

Just then, a knock came from outside. The emperor, who had been laughing uproariously with no regard for his dignity, abruptly turned serious and asked in a weighty voice.

"What is it?"

His pretense wasn’t even funny. If Yuan had known the emperor was this kind of person, he would have relaxed a bit more from the start. As he furrowed his brow, the grand chamberlain spoke from outside.

"The High Priest wishes to have an audience with His Imperial Majesty."