Rejected by Daughter’s Second Male Lead Chapter 116

Thanks to Yuan, Gillen recovered his health with surprising speed. The royal physician, who was a beta but had dedicated his life to studying traits, immediately explained ‘mate pheromone deficiency’ to Gillen. It sent Gillen into shock. The beta servants, not knowing any better, were delighted, but Gillen, being a dominant alpha, had already known from the moment he woke up.

‘Yuan came and went.’

Yuan’s distinct pheromones were vibrating from Gillen and throughout the room.

‘But how…?’

Did Yuan come while I was sleeping and give me a pheromone shower? He couldn’t say it to others because it was too embarrassing, but he wondered if Yuan had done… that sort of thing to him while he was unconscious, even touching his own rear to check. But his body was fine.

Of course, there was the possibility that Yuan could have had sex with him in his sleep and then cast a healing spell. But it didn’t seem like Yuan would do such a thing. He couldn’t be 100 percent sure, but he just… had that much faith in Yuan.

‘Anyway, imprinting… this is driving me crazy.’

Gillen buried his face in his hands. In his 45 years of life, he had never experienced something so miserable and absurd. He hadn’t even felt this way when he was first transmigrated.

‘I imprinted on Yuan one-sidedly? Imprinting, isn’t that something that requires biting a neck or whatever? I’ve never done anything like that… Is that not the lore here…?’

The countless artistic yet perverted authors who churned out Omegaverse stories often altered the world-building to suit their own tastes, so there was no such thing as a perfectly fixed set of rules. Racking his old memories, he recalled one of his peers saying that there were even Omegaverse stories where ‘mates’ or ‘imprinting’ didn’t exist at all.

‘What would men know about women’s fantasies, you bastards.’

He couldn’t remember the details, but he was certain his peer had said those words. Thanks to that peer, Gillen was able to immediately understand what alphas and omegas were when he was learning about this world after his transmigration. The memory of him wondering at the time, ‘What kind of fantasy is it to make men have sex, get pregnant, and give birth?’ was crystal clear.

‘In any case, I can now be sure that the lore of this world is that you can die if you’re separated from your imprinted mate.’

The royal physician had said so, so it must be true.

And though he had no idea how it had happened, Yuan had come here and, thanks to him showering Gillen with pheromones without sex, Gillen’s body had recovered. A groan escaped him as his head began to ache.

“Are you alright, Your Grace the Duke!”

The servants lined up beside him were startled and rushed to bring him medicine and water. Gillen waved his hand dismissively.

“No, it’s just… I have a few things to think about. More importantly, what’s today’s date? How many days are left until Cecil’s wedding? Cecil mustn’t find out I was sick. That child will surely worry too much.”

“Please do not worry, Your Grace the Duke. We thought you would say as much, so we have not yet informed Her Highness the Crown Princess-to-be of your illness, and the wedding is still five days away. Now that you have recovered, you will be able to attend the ceremony in good health,” Navard answered, addressing each point clearly.

Standing beside him, the head maid also spoke about the wedding in a deliberately cheerful voice, as if trying to lift Gillen’s spirits.

“The custom suit you will wear to Her Highness the Crown Princess-to-be’s wedding will need some minor alterations, Your Grace. You have lost a lot of weight. But you still look wonderful.”

Even Brian nodded.

“You have nothing to worry about now, Your Grace the Duke. Her Highness the Crown Princess-to-be will become Her Majesty the future Empress of this Moore Empire under your blessing, and Your Grace the Duke will also be able to live a safe and happy life.”

Brian dabbed at his moist eyes with a handkerchief. Gillen nodded hesitantly.

“Uh, yes, thank you all… I’d like to rest for a moment. Would you all please leave me for a while?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

As soon as the physician and the servants left, Gillen’s face turned beet red.

Right, they all must know that this illness was caused by a deficiency of his imprinted mate’s pheromones. They must have rejoiced, thinking he had miraculously overcome the illness without any interaction with Yuan.

Of course, it was an understandable misunderstanding. Gillen himself hadn’t seen a trace of Yuan either. Moreover, he didn’t know if he was the only one who had imprinted one-sidedly, or if Yuan had imprinted as well, or even if he was okay.

“Just what on earth happened…”

In any case, his physical condition was the best it had been in a long time, and he was bursting with energy as if he had never been sick. The scent of Yuan’s pheromones, which continued to linger in the room, also put him in a good mood.

Still, the fact that Yuan had come all this way didn’t seem like a negative sign. If he had been bedridden like him, he wouldn’t have been able to use teleportation magic. Gillen’s thoughts came to a halt there.

The last time he had seen Yuan at the imperial palace, he had been breaking out in a cold sweat after casting a spell on the garden. Normally, he would have cast a spell of that level without much difficulty.

‘Yuan is sick too. Yuan… imprinted on me too. He must be suffering from the same symptoms as I am!’

If that was the case, it meant he had also been very sick during the past few weeks when he had been reclusive. And yet, he had trudged all the way here to share his pheromones—though he didn’t know how—with Gillen, who had betrayed him.

In that process, Yuan probably came into contact with Gillen’s pheromones and felt a little better temporarily. But if they were to be separated for a long time again, both of them would end up bedridden once more.

Gillen pushed himself up.

“Navard! Tell them to prepare the carriage! I must go to the Hampton estate right now.”

Navard tried to stop Gillen’s procession, saying that Yuan had left the empire, but Gillen casually ignored him. He knew better than anyone that Yuan hadn’t left.

Inside the carriage, Gillen nervously tapped his fingertips together the entire time. What should he say to Yuan? How would Yuan feel about this shameless me, who is coming back to him to save my own life, even though I know the sense of betrayal, disappointment, and despair he felt? But this wasn’t just for Gillen’s life. It was for Yuan’s sake as well.

If Yuan, that beautiful, genius, and charming mage, were to die young because of Gillen, Gillen felt he would never be able to forgive himself, even in death. At that thought, his heart began to ache and his breathing grew ragged.

He had to see Yuan right away. As the Marquis of Hampton’s estate grew closer and closer, that thought completely dominated Gillen’s mind. Just as a predator, when focused on its prey, completely forgets everything else, Gillen too could think of nothing but getting to Yuan.

“Your Grace the Duke, we have arrived, but… the gate is still closed.”

The coachman said cautiously. Navard, who was riding in the carriage with him, also looked out the window and agreed.

“It was like this when I came before. An aide came out and informed me that the Marquis had left the empire.”

But as soon as Navard finished speaking, the massive, firmly shut iron gate opened on its own. The coachman asked hesitantly.

“Uh…? The, the gate is opening? Sh-should we go in, Your Grace the Duke?”

“Go in.”

Gillen wasn’t surprised. Yuan must have realized that the relationship between them would change once again, so he could no longer block Gillen’s entry. Navard let out a dry laugh beside him.

“So the Marquis was lying after all. Even when Your Grace the Duke was so gravely ill!”

“Do not speak carelessly of Yuan.”

Gillen said curtly. Navard, startled by his superior’s cold voice, looked at Gillen, but he was staring intently at a window on the second floor of the mansion visible beyond the window.

I can feel it. Yuan is there. Last time his pheromones were too weak for me to know his location, but now…

Now, as the distance closed, he felt like he could breathe easier. He could smell not only Yuan’s strong pheromones but also the scent of his own.

He would be able to see Yuan soon. Just as Gillen was thinking that, whoosh, his body vanished from inside the carriage. Navard screamed, “Aaargh!” The sound startled the horses and the coachman, and the carriage began to wander aimlessly around the manor, suddenly lost.

Unlike them, however, Gillen had landed very safely and peacefully on a sofa in Yuan’s magic laboratory. Gillen blinked a few times, then spoke to the figure standing by the window.

“You teleported me.”

The handsome, silver-haired man who had been standing with his back to him soon turned to face Gillen. Seeing him after so long, he looked like a statue carved from ice. Yuan… was even more beautiful than the one in Gillen’s romanticized memories of the past.

“Ah, Yuan…”

Without realizing it, Gillen rose from his seat. Yuan was still silent. He sat on the sofa opposite Gillen. Gillen followed suit and sat down again. His eyes were fixed on Yuan, as if mesmerized.

“I know you came to my room. I also found out that I imprinted on you and was suffering from pheromone deficiency. I think you… are in the same boat as me. Am I wrong?”

Gillen asked slowly after calming himself down. While he spoke, Yuan simply listened to Gillen’s voice, stroking the ends of his now longer, silvery hair. Then, at last, he opened his mouth.