Rejected by Daughter’s Second Male Lead Chapter 65

At that time, Yuan was reading the only fairytale book in his house. It was an old book about a legendary hero, but he read it again and again. That was all Yuan had to do. He couldn’t communicate with children his own age, his father was rarely home, and his mother worked as a maid at the nobleman’s mansion from morning until evening.

So, when his mother, unlike usual, frantically looked for Yuan, when she ran with him in her arms to Viscount Teiyu’s estate, Yuan was secretly happy, thinking, ‘I must be going out to play with Mom!’ Will I get to eat something delicious? I’m so happy Mom came to see me during the day.

…And that day, Yuan used powerful magic for the first time in his life. It was a tremendous magic that split the earth, destroyed buildings, and killed about half of the townspeople. His mother, his father, and Viscount Teiyu were all swept away by that magic and disappeared beneath the ground.

Yuan walked through that chaotic scene alone and returned home. He crouched in front of his ruined house and listened to the screams and cries of the people.

‘We call him Gold Nugget.’

He sat there like that until his mother’s voice was erased from his mind. While he did so, mountains collapsed and rivers overflowed. Startled wild animals came down to the village and ravaged it once more, and the carriage of Viscountess Teiyu, who was trying to flee, overturned, spilling out gold and jewels.

But even amidst that turmoil, Yuan steadfastly thought of his mother, and his father. The lives of commoners were to be exploited by nobles for their entire lives, to be stabbed to death or beaten to death by fists and feet according to their whims.

Even if they didn’t work in the nobleman’s castle, the people living in the Teiyu domain were essentially perpetual beings belonging to Viscount Teiyu and his family. To the nobles, commoners were nothing but lowly creatures who had to pay taxes on time and serve them like masters.

But they too had lives. They had emotions, and each had their own thoughts. The mother who abandoned her son to save the father she cursed as an enemy every day, the father’s back as he hugged the mother while being beaten to a pulp and barely able to breathe, the people who took care of each other to survive in a village destroyed by magic that was like a natural disaster, or the people who robbed others’ houses amidst the chaos… All those people whom the nobles treated like inanimate objects, worse than insects, were literally ‘people.’

Why do I have to live like this?

A spirit of rebellion sprouted within Yuan.

What is a commoner that I should become a nobleman’s plaything? I am this strong. This smart and beautiful. This… alive.

When a certain priest came and, pitying the child crouching alone, asked for his name, he named himself.

‘It’s Yuan.’

It was the name he had seen until it was worn out in the storybook he held onto every day. The name of a strong and cool hero.

‘Hello, Yuan. My name is Marius. I came from the temple. I… have never seen a being as beautiful and sacred as you in my life. Where are your parents?’

Yuan. A beautiful and sacred being. Those words greatly pleased the child. So Yuan answered as if possessed by something.

‘My mom and dad are dead. I’m alone.’

‘Oh dear… May Rettina watch over them. Then Yuan, would you perhaps like to come with me? Let’s go to the temple together. We are all brothers and sisters.’

At those words, Yuan took Marius’s hand and stood up. He had nowhere else to go anyway, and he liked the way Marius treated him. He was the first to call Yuan by his name and called him a brother. He even asked him to go with him. So he followed him, but…

After that, as everyone knows, was a time of terrible torture, confinement, and violence. Marius, too, did not see Yuan as a person. If to his parents Yuan was a ‘gold nugget,’ to Marius, Yuan was a ‘lump of divine power.’

He was firmly convinced that the power latent within Yuan was divine power and used all sorts of means to draw it out. I don’t know if he wanted to steal that divine power from Yuan, or if he wanted to make Yuan the next High Priest, but… in any case, Marius left Yuan with the most terrible experience of his life. A wound more brutal than being abandoned by his parents. It became a stigma that could neither be washed away nor erased.

But…

“The chef at the marquis’s estate has considerable cooking skills, doesn’t he? Is the chef a robot too, by any chance?”

Gillen asked as he savored the soup. Yuan silently looked at Gillen and then nodded.

“Of course.”

“Ha! Truly amazing. There’s nothing a robot can’t do.”

“It’s because I made them.”

“Hahaha! Yes, yes. Since you, a genius mage, made them, it must be natural! Ha! Ha! Ha! It’s really funny no matter how many times I hear it.”

The scent of a faint forest continued to waft from the man who, in the middle of eating his soup, threw his head back and laughed so hard his chest shook.

‘We must sponsor with the hope that each and every child can find their own path and build a life lived solely by their own will.’

‘Are they not the ones who strive for your well-being? They would be happy if you gave them names.’

‘Get out… Please, no… I don’t want to hurt anyone.’

Yuan thought that this man seemed a little different. He was very annoying at first, but the more they met, the more Gillen showed unexpected sides of himself. He was kind, just, and upright. He was flexible and clear like a flowing river, and from the beginning until now, he had consistently not hidden his true self. Yuan now fully understood why Cecil, the old butler, the robots, and even the emperor liked Gillen.

He once again looked at his wounded palm and then blew a breath of air over it. At that, the wound healed and the skin became smooth.

“Wow, healing magic is amazing no matter how many times I see it.”

Even though he had used the notoriously difficult healing magic right in front of him, this was all of Gillen’s reaction. He didn’t flatter Yuan, nor did he try to get something out of him. He just purely admired it once and that was it. It had been like that from before.

“Do you know how difficult this healing magic is? And that many mages dedicate their lives just to try and use this magic once in their lifetime.”

“I know. It’s an incredibly amazing magic, isn’t it? I know that too.”

“Then why are you not more surprised?”

Try to possess me like Marius, or covet my talent and offer to sponsor me like the Magic Tower Master, or even try to use me like the emperor. Show a reaction that a human would show. Yuan asked with that in mind.

However, Gillen narrowed his eyes and then slightly raised the corner of his mouth. He made an annoying face as if he knew everything that was in Yuan’s mind.

“Yes, yes. You, Yuan, are the best mage. The pride of the empire, the treasure of the continent, no, the darling of this world! You’re really cool!”

Gillen clapped his hands and gave two thumbs up, making a big fuss. It seemed he thought Yuan had deliberately asked in a roundabout way because he wanted to be praised.

‘So annoying… what an idiot.’

Yuan thought. But a faint smile had already appeared on his lips as well. At that, Gillen smiled, forming walnut-like wrinkles on his chin, and then nudged Yuan with his elbow.

“Do you like it that much? I’ll praise you more often from now on. So now you should eat something too. You must be hungry.”

Gillen picked up the spoon on the trolley and handed it to Yuan. Yuan took the spoon in a daze.

“Here, eat, eat.”

The sight of him recommending food like he was the owner of the house was both funny and absurd, but Yuan took a spoonful of soup without saying a word. Once, twice, three times… his spooning gradually got faster.

“Were you that hungry? Well, it’s the age when one eats a lot. Should I put this cheese in the soup? No, you need to get some protein. Wait a minute. I’ll wrap this prosciutto with cheese for you.”

Yuan continued to eat the soup without a word. Later, he even lifted the bowl and ate slurpingly, and the sight was quite cute.

Gillen tried hard to suppress another big laugh. It would be a disaster if Yuan got sulky and said he wouldn’t eat. Cecilia, too, used to get angry, saying ‘Don’t tease me!’ when Gillen laughed at how cute she was. Our Cecil was so cute back then…

Gillen, who had been briefly lost in old memories, came to his senses and used a fork and knife to put a piece of cheese on a thinly sliced prosciutto and wrap it. The Blake family genes were strong against alcohol, so he too had been drinking to his heart’s content for the past 20 years, trusting this constitution. In the process, he had become an expert on appetizer combinations that go well with alcohol.

“It’s delicious if you eat it like this. Eat it like this… and here, try a bite of this fig.”

When he served the food on a small plate, Yuan put down his soup bowl and took the plate. It was unexpected that he obediently did as he was told, but Gillen didn’t show any surprise.

‘Is he hungry from using magic in succession?’

At that thought, a desire to feed him until he was even fuller arose. This time, he put pâté on a piece of bread and topped it with a pickle from a small jar.

“Try eating it like this too. This goes better with white wine… but let’s not trouble the people, I mean, the robots, and just eat it with this wine.”

“…aren’t you eating?”

“Hmm? What did you say?”

“…Gillen, I asked if you’re not eating.”

“Uh…?”

Yuan just called him ‘Gillen’…! Gillen swallowed hard and carefully put down his fork. If he made a fuss here, it would all be for nothing. It’s like when a child or a cat comes close; if you spread your arms wide and make a big deal, they run away again. Gillen acted cautiously.

“Uh-uh, I have to eat too! I was just so happy to see you eating well, hahaha! I’m going to eat too. Everything is so delicious, really.”

He ostentatiously picked up a slice of orange and put it in his mouth. The juice burst inside, and a sweet and sour scent spread.

“The scent of this orange is really nice! It’s a bit similar to your pheromone scent. Ha! Ha! Ha… ha…”

“…”

Gillen’s face, which had been chattering nonchalantly and laughing heartily, froze solid.