Drunk Julian felt so uncomfortable, especially around his lower half and so he decided to free himself to become comfortable again.

But as soon as he brought out his dick, the coolness of his hand deceived him. It felt cool stroking it so he kept at it, his eyes closed and his face contorting with the feeling.

The Duke stood there, staring. At first, he was revolted at what Julian was doing, but then considered that it was his way of relieving himself when drunk.

He was a man after all.

He didn’t want to pry and just step out, leaving him to his privacy but his feet wouldn’t move.

He stood there, staring at the face Julian made as he stroked himself. The way he bit his lip to muffle the frustrated moan that tried to escape.

The Duke gulped and he felt... Sweaty?

He should look away. He was evading another man’s private time but he couldn’t... He couldn’t tear his gaze away from him.

How was it that he was staring at a man, watching the way sweat rolled on his flat pale chest and how his flushed face contorted in pleasure... He just... What had come over him?

And then he felt it.

In his own pants, an elephant was trying to raise its trunk. His eyes widened in shock, and this was what finally moved him to turn around.

"How could I...?" He covered his mouth, in sheer disbelief and confusion.

What was going on with him?

He finally took a step, rushing to get out of the room before the situation became even more embarrassing when he heard the final groan from Julian.

He involuntarily turned his head and found Julian’s climaxing face.

It was... Sensual and enticing?

How could a man look that way? Where was his manly energy?

The Duke gulped, his face heated up, and then he ran from there, wishing he could forget seeing what he just witnessed. He could never speak of this with anyone but then he had so many curiosities that made it hard for him to keep it to himself.

Why in the world did he have a reaction when watching another man touch himself? He wondered. Was that even possible?

He’d like to blame it on the alcohol, but he wasn’t so dumb that he would blame such a measly amount of alcohol in his system for making him react to another man’s masturbation act.

He was always interested in one woman and her alone, Bellanora.

So, what was this about him reacting to a man?

He stopped by a pillar, dropped his head on it, and exclaimed,

"I must be out of my mind."

Julian woke up the next morning, with the same reaction as every other morning but it didn’t feel too... Bad.

He didn’t feel like his heart was being squeezed or that his lungs were being sliced, he didn’t tremble until his teeth clattered either.

If anything, it was the first time he had such a ’light’ morning.

It felt good.

He looked at the empty bottle and glasses on the table and wondered if it was because the wine was very strong and he didn’t consume a lot. When he tried to drink himself to a stupor before, he didn’t have such strong wine, and he drank a lot too, so that warranted the throwing up.

He smiled.

"Maybe it was the brand all along. I’ll ask the Duke for more."

He was still clothed, and nothing seemed to be amiss with him so nothing came to mind regarding what he had done the previous night in the presence of the Duke, when he was high with the heat from the alcohol.

And so, he greeted the Duke as usual, but the Duke acted awkwardly, rolling his eyes away and avoiding eye contact.

Julian was a little confused, as he could not recall anything bad from the previous night. He wondered if his affection had dropped instead, and he looked up at the Duke’s affection level, only for him to see a staggering 37%.

How did that happen?

It was definitely 30 the previous night.

Or did the act of drinking together increase his affection so much? Ah, he couldn’t understand. But then, if the affection had increased, why was the Duke avoiding eye contact?

"It’s time for breakfast," the butler said to Julian.

"Oh, yes." He said, forgetting that he was eating at the same table as the Duke, since this was not the manor where the servants gave him food that tasted like it was days old.

And so, he found himself sitting next to young Lucius who was excited to be eating with him again.

But when he raised his head to the head of the table where the Duke should be sitting, it was empty.

"Where’s the Duke?" He asked the maid as she dropped the dishes in front of him.

"He went to the study to work."

"When breakfast is ready?" Julian asked, his brows furrowing and the maid nodded.

He didn’t know if the Duke was doing this because he was trying to avoid him.

Why he was trying to avoid him, he didn’t know, but skipping meals, especially breakfast was not a good practice.

’Maybe he’s very busy.’ Julian thought, picking up his cutlery. ’He just came back to the capital so there must be a lot to do.’

Yes, that was the excuse Julian gave himself on behalf of the Duke, but when the Duke did not join in for lunch, dinner, and skipped breakfast the next morning as well, refusing to be anywhere Julian was, Julian did not make any more excuses for him.

This was just the Duke refusing to share a meal with his son, he thought because he saw no reason why the Duke would avoid him to begin with.

During breakfast the next day, he stood up, and Lucius looked at him, asking him where he was going with his eyes.

"I’m going to go drag your daddy to the table," he answered with a nice smile, patting the little boy’s head. "You want him to eat with us, right?"

Lucius nodded. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Then just hold on. I’ll work my magic and bring him here right away."

Julian turned and headed out, the maids watched him as his back looked like someone who was going to fight a war with the intention of winning.