Rejected by Daughter’s Second Male Lead Chapter 64

“You are truly selfish.”

Yuan said, as if displeased, but Gillen paid him no mind.

“If you really disliked it, wouldn’t you have grumbled and badmouthed me to my face and cursed at me to get out? Ha! Ha! Ha!”

“When did I ever grumble…! You’re so annoying I can’t even talk to you. And can’t you do something about that laugh? It sounds like a mister.”

“A mister, you say. Of course, I am a mister, but… still, my outward appearance doesn’t look that different from yours—”

“Do you have a conscience? Of all the people to compare yourself to, you compare yourself to me? And ‘outward appearance’? That kind of word makes you seem even more like a mister, Mister Duke. Does one have to be old on the outside to be a mister? When the inside is old—”

“What? Out, outside is old, in, inside, what?”

Just when it seemed like a good atmosphere was continuing for a moment, it was not to be. Gillen, who had been confident that a filter and a defensive barrier had now formed in his ears and heart, was instantly provoked.

Does one have to be old on the outside to be a mister? It’s when the inside is old that one is a mister!

After saying something that sounded like a slogan, Yuan turned away with his arms crossed primly.

“Alright, I’m sorry for being old on the outside and old on the inside. How sorry I must be that you’re misunderstood for being in a relationship with someone like me. I sincerely apologize.”

“You’re acting childish for your age, really.”

“Didn’t you just say my inside was old? Now I’m childish? So am I old on the outside and young on the inside now? Huh?”

“Making up ridiculous abbreviations like that is also like a mister.”

“…!”

Gillen wanted to shoot back a sharp retort, but he too had seen adults in his youth clumsily trying to use slang because they wanted to fit in with the kids. So he thought he knew what Yuan was pointing out.

But to think that I’ve really become that kind of mister! No matter how much time passes and how old one gets while raising a child, it’s not easy to truly feel that one is old.

Besides, Gillen was still extremely healthy and felt immense sexual desire during every rut. His looks hadn’t changed much, and he wasn’t losing his hair. He might have a few gray hairs, but he had had plenty of those even back when he was Yoo Jeong-hyeon, if you just lifted the hair on the crown of his head a little.

Until he got involved with Yuan, numerous people had expressed romantic interest in Gillen, and Gillen was the one who had to turn down countless requests for dates. There were more than one or two young ladies like Laura, who, unaware and lost in romance, had just made a move on Gillen earlier.

‘Maybe while rejecting them, I was secretly feeling smug.’

Gillen thought in his shock. It has been nearly twenty years since he started living in the world of a romance fantasy novel; perhaps he, too, had already become assimilated into the common sense of this world. If this were modern South Korea, a male-male couple with a twenty-year age difference would have been an object of disgust, going beyond mere criticism.

‘Hmm, comparing it to Korea won’t work.’

…Setting aside the closed-off and conservative Korea he knew before his death, and thinking more globally, a male-male couple with a twenty-year age gap was a loss for the younger party, no matter who looked at it. Why hadn’t the older one found a partner until that age? Would any sane older person dare to date someone that much younger? When the younger one was born, the older one was starting college… and so on. He could predict the reactions without much difficulty.

Gillen’s shoulders began to droop. His eyebrows also crept downwards, and his gaze fell to the floor. Anyone could see that he looked dejected.

‘What’s with this mister?’

Yuan thought to himself, glancing at Gillen. Was he hurt because I said he was old, a mister, childish, and had no conscience? But so what, did I say anything wrong?

Yuan was about to open his mouth, getting worked up on his own, when there was another knock, and Sebastian came in pulling a tray.

“I have prepared disinfectant and a simple late-night meal.”

On the first tier of the two-tiered silver tray with wheels were a cushion holding disinfectant, a bottle of wine, and two glasses. On the second tier were charcuterie, cheese, soup, and fruit, displayed splendidly.

“Excuse me.”

Sebastian served with a smiling face and practiced ease. Soon, the sofa table was set with alcohol, a late-night snack, and the disinfectant. While he was setting the table, no one opened their mouth. Yuan was pouting by himself, and Gillen was still deep in thought. Sebastian, who failed to read this atmosphere, kindly asked his master.

“Shall I pour you some wine?”

“That’s enough. Leave.”

“But you will need someone to serve the drinks.”

“I said that’s enough. I said leave.”

“Then if you could tell me which of you will be using the disinfectant, I will—”

Snap. Before Sebastian could finish his sentence, Yuan snapped his fingers. At that, Sebastian vanished with a whoosh.

“W-what was that?”

Gillen raised his head in surprise.

“I just sent him to the first floor. Because he was noisy. They’re the types who would normally listen to me well, but strangely, ever since Mister Duke gave them names, they don’t listen.”

Yuan said bluntly and then picked up the disinfectant. Gillen hurriedly snatched the disinfectant from Yuan’s hand. He twisted the cap of the disinfectant bottle and soaked a cotton ball from the cushion with the medicine. Soon, the cotton ball, thoroughly soaked with disinfectant, was dabbing Yuan’s palm.

“That’s how names are.”

Gillen said as he gently disinfected the wound area with the cotton ball.

“To have a name is to have one’s existence confirmed by being called by someone, is it not? A more distinct self is formed.”

“I called them a lot before, too. Number 1, Number 2…”

“You said you implanted emotions in them. Then they would naturally know. That those numbers are not names.”

Gillen finished disinfecting and wiped even the tips of Yuan’s nails clean, gently unfolding Yuan’s fingers as if to soothe him when he flinched.

“I, too, started calling you Yuan at some point, didn’t I? To be honest, my heart started to open up a little from then on. I began to think that you weren’t just such a fearsome person.”

“…I thought you weren’t aware of it.”

“I wasn’t at first, but, ha! ha! when I came to my senses, I was already calling you that. A person’s subconscious is quite a strange thing, isn’t it?”

Gillen had started calling Yuan by his name right after they had sex. To say he became aware of it after he came to his senses must mean he didn’t know the exact timing. Yuan smirked. What kind of expression would this man make if he told him it was after they had sex? Would he jump up with an awkward face and say he’s going home? He didn’t quite want that.

As Yuan remained silent, Gillen asked carefully.

“Do you perhaps dislike being called by your name?”

“If I dislike it?”

“Like being old on the outside and old on the inside… if you dislike this too, tell me. I will be as careful as possible while our contract is maintained.”

He was still bothered by what Yuan had said earlier. Yuan scoffed.

“Who said I disliked it? I just stated the fact that you were like a mister. I didn’t say I disliked it.”

“…Is that so?”

“That is so. And the name doesn’t matter either. Though I don’t like it because it seems like you’re being too friendly.”

“Then should I call you Marquis Hampton instead?”

“…Never mind. Now that I think about it, rather than not liking it because it seems too friendly, I think I dislike it because it feels unfair. Because I absolutely have to call you Mister Duke.”

Yuan quickly changed his words. It was because the mister’s heart seemed to have become more fragile than he thought. But Gillen’s expression suddenly brightened.

“If it’s about that, you can call me by my name too.”

“What did you say?”

“We’re known to be dating anyway, so what does it matter? Call me Gillen. Originally, in the West… I mean, we call each other by name just fine if we don’t mind the social status, don’t we?”

Gillen’s suggestion was unexpected. Of course, in a relationship, people call each other by name or pet names regardless of status, but…

“Will it really be alright? If I… call you by, um, your name.”

“I said it’s alright. Here, try it. Gillen.”

“…”

“Go on. Gillen, I said try it.”

“…If I have a reason to call you later, I will call you that.”

“Hahaha! Yes, be sure to call me by my name.”

Gillen, whose mood had drastically improved, started humming a tune as he placed the disinfectant-soaked cotton ball back on the cushion. His mood swings were like the path of a novice mage attempting to fly a broomstick for the first time.

Yuan silently turned his gaze to his own palm. The place where the red nail marks were stung.

‘This child’s name is just… we call him ‘Gold Nugget’.’

His mother’s trembling voice, long forgotten, seemed to echo in his ears.

‘As you can see, he is very pretty. He’s a boy and his trait hasn’t manifested yet, but his skin is fine and fair. He will surely become an omega later! You can use him as a servant and then take him into your bedchamber when he is a bit older.’

His mother, explaining as if she were selling livestock, lifting Yuan’s face. The dark face of Viscount Teiyu, who stared greedily at the child who had just turned five.

‘Well, is there really a need to wait?’

At Viscount Teiyu’s words, his mother’s face instantly turned pale, but she pushed Yuan’s back without a word of complaint. Even when Yuan cried and screamed for his mom and dad, his parents just prostrated themselves on the ground and bowed.

When his father, who was addicted to gambling and had stolen and sold Viscount Teiyu’s horse, was caught for the theft and beaten to within an inch of his life, his mother had picked up Yuan and run. And she had offered Yuan as the price for her husband’s life. Because to the couple—a stable hand and a laundry maid working at the Viscount’s castle—the only thing of value they had was Yuan.

‘Please take the child and spare our lives, my Lord Viscount. It does not matter what you do with him. He was a child we were going to sell somewhere when he got older anyway. That is why we did not give him a name. This child’s name is just… we call him ‘Gold Nugget’.’

A child called Gold Nugget without a name, who thought it was a precious term of endearment. That was Yuan’s childhood.