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Gillen walked silently behind him. It seed better not to offer thoughtless comfort or say that he would help even now. Moreover, for a person as prideful as Yuan, pretending not to know might be better. Still...
"If you ever feel like talking more about that, it’s okay to tell ."
Gillen said. Yuan whirled around to look at him.
"I won’t make any judgnts or offer any comfort after hearing it, so just... know that if you need soone to talk to, you can co to . That’s all."
Gillen reassured Yuan as if to say ’don’t misunderstand,’ and pointed to the side.
"I’ll be off to find Cecil then, so I’ll see you later. Be careful not to run into the High Priest’s party."
And Gillen quickly disappeared into the forest. It was an action that was close to giving Yuan space so he would not feel embarrassed.
"...So transparent."
Yuan said coldly. However, his face was much softer than before. Soon, he vanished. It was teleportation magic.
It was quite strange that he had not thought of this magic in the cave earlier. After all, he was a self-proclaid genius mage.
The picnic ended anticlimactically like that. The ti Gillen and Cecilia spent face to face in the forest was less than ten minutes, and of course, there was no chess ga with Yuan. Cecilia, who belatedly found out that the High Priest’s party was in the forest, said they should go back to the villa right then and there.
’How shaless. Priests who are supposed to take care of the marginalized are going on outings to the forest.’
Gillen was relieved to hear Cecilia grumbling and cursing the priests. This is why early education is important. It seed unlikely that Cecilia would fall for Marius’s advances, no matter how much he tried to woo her.
It was not just Marius. Contrary to Gillen’s worries, Cecilia’s walls were firm against Yuan as well.
After the picnic, Yuan frequently visited the Blake family’s villa as usual. However, Cecilia had not the slightest interest in Yuan, and whenever he visited, she would leave, either going to the city or going for a swim in the sea. Or she would take a very long nap. Cecilia seed to be possessed by the sole determination to enjoy the sumr in Capelli, and she focused only on how to spend this vacation more joyfully and fruitfully.
The strange thing was that Yuan, who had been rejected after even preparing a proposal brooch, was not very enthusiastic about seeking out Cecilia. Rather, he was busy following Gillen around and picking fights.
"We still have the chess match we were supposed to have in the forest, don’t we? I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep out of frustration until I see that match through."
Because Yuan said that, Gillen ended up playing chess with him one more ti. And this ti, Gillen lost by a narrow margin. Yuan smirked, lifting one corner of his mouth, and said, "This is the natural result."
He had thought that the nagging about chess was over, but it was not. Instead of chanting about chess anymore, Yuan started crossing his arms and pointing out Gillen’s actions at every turn.
"Aren’t you eating too much at? You’re just like a bear. Not a person, but a bear."
And he would shake his head.
"Ha! Are you right-handed? I can use both hands freely... It’s truly a pity that you are so ordinary."
He would pick a fight over sothing ridiculous.
"Try smiling a little less, Your Grace. Do you know that wrinkles form around your eyes every ti you laugh? Your face hasn’t aged yet, but it won’t be long before your skin sags and age spots appear."
He would even make a sudden critique of his appearance.
In a word, he was truly unlikable. Gillen, who at first had laughed it off as if dealing with a child’s tantrum, gradually started to ignore Yuan, but as a little more ti passed, he began to get a little angry. However, the one who exploded before Gillen was his aide, Navard.
"Marquis Hampton, may I ask why on earth you are doing this to His Grace our Duke?"
Navard asked with a forced smile. The veins on his forehead were bulging and purplish. It was clear that he was trying his best to hold back his desire to shout.
"What did I do?"
The beauty, wearing a stunningly beautiful rosy doublet with silver buttons that matched his hair color, fluttered his long eyelashes and asked feigning ignorance. He was currently sitting on the sofa in the study, drinking black tea.
That’s right. Not the drawing room, nor the dining room, but the study. He had invaded the personal space where the head of the family conducted his business in the villa and had been dissing Gillen nonstop.
"I asked you to wait in the drawing room for a mont, and yet you ca up to the study. His Grace the Duke is currently handling an important matter that has occurred in the family. Therefore—"
"You’re on vacation. Are you not?"
Another vein popped up on Navard’s forehead.
"Even during vacation, he’s so busy taking care of the affairs of a great family like the Blake Duchy that even ten bodies would not be enough. As the ’head’ of the Hampton family who is also responsible for its major and minor affairs, you should know this well, Marquis."
"I handle most things in a minute with magic. I have competent aides too."
Indeed, Yuan had several aides. They were all chanical humans made with magic, and they handled Yuan’s work perfectly on his behalf. But that was not the point of Navard’s words, so in the end, he exploded.
"What I an is, Marquis, so please, now—"
"Now, now, Navard. You need a break too. Shall we take a mont to catch our breath?"
It was Gillen who stopped Navard’s rampage. He stood up from his desk and patted Navard’s shoulder.
"Go get so fresh air for a mont. Have so tea, and go to the kitchen and ask for so sweet snacks. Now, go on."
Gillen gently pushed Navard’s back. He was worried that he might make a mistake towards a high-ranking nobleman and get punished. Navard quickly understood his superior’s deep intention, bowed 90 degrees to Gillen and Yuan, and left the study. Though he was clenching his fists tightly.
Navard wanted to kick Yuan out, but in fact, Gillen did not mind Yuan hovering around him. It was better for him to be in front of his eyes than to be sticking next to Cecilia.
No matter how firmly Cecilia had put up her walls and coldly rejected his proposal, he could not completely let his guard down. Yuan was currently the strongest mage in this world, had enormous self-love and pride, and was a person who clung to his goals with frightening obsession. Just considering what he had done to Cecilia and Hexion in the original novel, all of it amounted to serious cris.
So it was much better to let him pick fights with Gillen than to leave him next to Cecilia. In fact, this was no different from Gillen keeping an eye on Yuan. He tried to hide his satisfied smile and sat down opposite Yuan.
"But I’m really curious. I’m on vacation, and yet they’re clamoring for to handle this and that, so how can you be so idle?"
At Gillen’s question, Yuan scoffed as if he had been waiting for it. Like a little kid who was dying to show off his new toy, he answered readily.
"It’s because I can command chanical humans with magic. I have a total of five aides, and each one has abilities superior to humans. They handle all the administrative work and household chores for , so I don’t have to work myself."
That was truly amazing news. Gillen’s eyes widened as he made a fuss.
"Is that really true? Can you sell one of those robots to ?"
"Robot?"
"Ah... I an, the chanical human. I just had a sudden thought that it would be good to call it a robot, so..."
So they don’t use the word ’robot’ in this world. Even though it had been 20 years since he had been transmigrated, Gillen still made mistakes like this sotis.
Fortunately, Yuan did not seem to think much of it.
"Robot... Well, it’s not a bad na. But why should I sell my ’robot’ to you, Your Grace? My magic and technology are of astronomical value. I’m not sure if you could even get a single arm of the robot, no matter how much money you offer."
Yuan said arrogantly.
"But well... if you promise not to show any unnecessary interest in the future, I might be able to consider it once..."
As he was adding that, soone suddenly knocked urgently on the study door.
"Your Grace the Duke! Sothing terrible has happened!"
"Co in."
Gillen stood up from the sofa. Yuan saw Gillen’s face, which had been smiling kindly, instantly sink and turn serious. A slight furrow ford between his handso brows, and his dark eyebrows twitched and drew together in the middle. Yuan unconsciously swallowed.
"Lady Cecilia went to a small village event being held in the city, and she has reportedly gone missing!"
"What?"
At those words, Yuan’s gaze also turned to the servant.
"What about the escort knights? She has a maid and a servant girl with her, doesn’t she!"
"Lady Cecilia and her maid, Lady Claire, have disappeared together! The rest lost them in the crowd."
"What are the chances of it being a kidnapping or a violent incident?"
Gillen asked as he walked out of the study. Yuan followed behind him.
"I’m not sure about that. For now, they said they lost them because there were too many people..."
The servant answered, flustered. He also did not seem to know the detailed circumstances. Gillen took his coat from the servant and ran down to the first floor.
"Prepare the horses. I’m going right now."
"Yes."
"I’m going too."
Yuan said. Then, before Gillen could answer, he grabbed his shoulder.
"We don’t need sothing like horses."
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