Rejected by Daughter’s Second Male Lead Chapter 124

Was Yuan the kind of person who could say someone other than himself was ‘amazing’? Gillen even suspected that the Yuan before him might be a fake.

“Are you… really Yuan? Did you just say I’m amazing, not you?”

“I just do a bit of magic, am too beautiful, have a high intellect, and possess somewhat superior insight and analytical skills, but other than that, what am I better at than Gillen… It was me who misunderstood, misjudged, and pushed you from the very beginning. I’m just a foolish child. So, I need to quickly get that accelerated aging potion—”

“Stop talking about that blasted accelerated aging! Didn’t you say that reversing time is the realm of the gods! What if you get divine punishment for doing something like that?”

As it was, rumors were already circulating that Marius, who had been confined in the sacred prison for about a month, had lost all his divine power and turned to dust, dying just as in the original story. Most people dismissed it as a ghost story, but Gillen knew that Marius had truly met the end from the original plot.

That was why he also firmly believed what Yuan had once said: ‘Reversing time is the realm of the gods, so a mage cannot meddle with it.’ And also that if he defied it, the god Retina could harm Yuan.

“There’s no need for that. There’s no need for you to get older. Besides, aren’t you a grand mage who will live longer than me anyway? You might even be able to maintain this beauty forever.”

“That’s probably true. But if that’s the reason you rejected me, I am more than willing to—”

“That’s not why I rejected you!”

Gillen buried his face in his hands and cried out in anguish. How on earth was he supposed to explain this?

“I’m just… scared, Yuan. The very idea of you and me being in a serious relationship is scary.”

“Why…?”

At the word ‘scared,’ fear also crept into Yuan’s face. He seemed to have become afraid that Gillen would reject him completely.

“What do you mean, why? Do you really not know the reason?”

“Isn’t it because I’m too young? But you said there’s no need for me to accelerate my aging. Is it because I proposed to Cecilia? That was just because I thought Cecilia was the person who seemed most suitable as my partner! I didn’t know you well back then, Gillen. And I don’t like her anymore. No, I never truly liked her in the first place.”

“I know that. But you still have a long life ahead of you. As a grand mage, you’ll live even longer, and there are many people who want you. But I won’t live as long as you. What if I die first? What will you do then?”

“Gillen, you don’t have to worry about that. We’ve already imprinted. If you die, I’m bound to die too anyway.”

“…That’s, that’s right?!”

It was a point he hadn’t considered at all until now.

“Wait a minute, then it’s even more impossible! Is there, is there no way to break this imprint?”

“You want to break the imprint with me? Why? I’d be fine with dying with you.”

Yuan said it with pure sincerity. Which made him seem all the more like a madman.

“My life is yours now, Gillen. Regardless of what my original lifespan is… I will now love you even when you’re covered in wrinkles and age spots, and your back is bent—”

“Let’s not talk about that…”

This guy is talking about wrinkles and age spots when I’m already depressed. Gillen rubbed his face with both hands. It seemed that the more they talked, the more distressed he became.

When Gillen cut him off, Yuan’s expression turned glum. It was the first time he had seen a dispirited Yuan, so while his heart ached, it was also somehow cute. Gillen clenched his teeth as he watched Yuan, who was starting to tear up again. Why is it so nice to see him cry? Why does he get more erotic when he cries?

But Gillen, as the adult, pulled himself together.

“I’m not as amazing a person as you think. You know that too. I was born into a noble family of high standing and was fortunate enough to live as part of the privileged class. Isn’t that the very type of person you despise?”

Of course, Gillen had been transmigrated mid-way, but that’s how it would appear to Yuan, so he had to say it this way. He knew how much Yuan hated the nobility.

However, Gillen was overlooking the fact that Yuan was originally a master of rationalization, and a madman who would say crazy things without a second thought when he became obsessed.

“Of course, that was true, but now I’m a noble too. My becoming a noble… perhaps it was a path I subconsciously chose in order to marry you, Gillen. My precognitive abilities were already accepting you as my partner. And you realize noblesse oblige with your natural privilege. You are different from the other nobles I despise.”

“There’s a contradiction in what you’re saying—”

“Humans are inherently full of contradictions. No matter how much I am the strongest grand mage in the world, I’m still just a human. A contradictory… human, who has fallen in love with you.”

Yuan was now acting as if he had thrown away all sense of shame or reluctance. He had only one goal: to become true partners with Gillen. To not be separated until death, and to hold him in his arms. That alone had become Yuan’s sole purpose in life.

“If you don’t like me, it’s okay to make a contract. I will try to become a person who is worthy of Gillen. I will do my best to suit you until the period written in the contract. Is that still not enough? If I try, your feelings might change, you know. Don’t you think you should at least give me a chance?”

Gillen listened to Yuan’s words, lost in thought.

Yuan has no idea that I love him. That’s why he’s so anxious and keeps crying. He doesn’t know that my rejecting him is for his own good, he’s just trying to change himself to fit me.

What on earth have I done to Yuan? Who am I, that Yuan is going to this extent?

Gillen looked at Yuan with a confused expression. Yuan had a desperate look on his face. He seemed ready to kneel and cry again at any moment.

It was only then that Gillen realized that Yuan was ‘truly’ broken. The words he thought he had heard in a dream and had casually dismissed were the truth.

Gillen quickly reached out and grabbed Yuan’s arm. His heart was filled with impatience and worry.

“Yuan, why on earth are you talking like that? Why are you lowering yourself? Why are you saying you’ll change to suit me?”

“Because then you’ll look at me. Because then you’ll forgive me and—”

“What is there for me to forgive you for!”

Gillen said, chidingly.

“Of course, at first, you were trapped in your own thoughts, misinterpreted my words, and slandered me.”

At Gillen’s words, Yuan fell into despair. But Gillen soon continued.

“But in the end, you tried to help me, didn’t you? You tried to correct the misunderstandings and damages that arose because of you. You were the one who proposed the contract relationship first. When my acute rut broke, you stopped me from hurting myself and helped me. Don’t you remember that?”

“…Of course I do. I have a high intellect, so my memory is good too.”

“Mm, yes… that’s right. Anyway, you saved me during the carriage accident, and you saved me again with healing magic when I was hit by an arrow. How many times have I owed my life to you? I’ve more than forgiven you already.”

“Really…?” Yuan asked with uncertain eyes. He looked just like an abandoned small animal. Gillen, who had a strong paternal instinct to begin with, felt a heart-wrenching pity as soon as he saw Yuan’s face.

“Yes. And the reason I told you we shouldn’t see each other anymore was…”

But as soon as Gillen brought that up, Yuan quietly stood up and knelt on the floor again.

“W-why are you doing this! Yuan!”

“Among humans, this is a posture of submission, isn’t it? Since I’ve done many wrong things… from now on, I will always sit like this in front of Gillen.”

“What?”

“Please, just don’t say you won’t see me anymore.”

“That’s not what I was going to say! Get up! Hurry!”

As the completely drained Gillen made futile gestures to get Yuan up, he quickly stood up and sat next to Gillen. Gillen tried to avoid looking at the huge horse-cock that dangled as he stood up and said.

“I did it for you. It felt like I, who am older and a bit more experienced in the ways of the world… had bewitched you. It felt like it was my fault that you came to like me.”

“What is that…”

“Even if we can’t help the imprinting, us getting together… is something I, as the adult, should not do. When I was your age, you were a child of only five. Is it even plausible for you and I to officially become partners and mates?”

In the end, the problem came back to age. It seemed that was the point that bothered Gillen the most. It wasn’t just the difference in years.

Humans are naturally drawn to those who are warm, seem to know more, and understand them. But even if one isn’t inherently warm or good-natured, one naturally gains perspective with age. Just as one comes to understand things without much effort in old age that were incomprehensible when young.

And Gillen was worried that the reason Yuan was attracted to him might be precisely because of that.

Gillen had already become certain of his feelings at Cecilia’s wedding. How much he missed and loved Yuan. Even Gillen, with no experience in romance, could tell that it wasn’t some base desire like the one Marius had.

However, if his rut hadn’t broken, and if Yuan hadn’t come to him first, Gillen would have continued to just cherish that feeling. So that his precious Yuan would not have regrets far in the future. So that the past would not hold him back again.