Rejected by Daughter’s Second Male Lead Chapter 87

Although he had worked up the courage to say it, Yuan just turned his face, which was ripe like a ruby, away coyly and showed no major reaction.

“Yuan? I said I think I like you?”

“I heard you, so stop saying it. You’re truly being absurd.”

“Aren’t you more surprised? Aren’t you happy?”

“What is there to be surprised about? The fact that you like me is something the entire empire knows by now.”

Ah… right, that’s how it was. To Yuan, a confession like this would be nothing new. In his eyes, all of Gillen’s words and actions up until now must have looked and sounded like a declaration of love.

Alright. At least that’s one less person to be shocked. Gillen thought positively.

‘Of course, I’m still not sure if my affection is that kind of affection.’

What standard should one use to determine if affection between two people is romantic or not? The easiest was, of course, physical contact. To be precise, a kiss. Friends can hold hands, but kissing is difficult.

“Yuan, would it be alright if I gave you a quick kiss right now?”

Gillen asked politely. In his entire 45 years of life, he had never experienced such strange, complex, and confusing emotions. It was an unfamiliar experience for a 45-year-old, dyed-in-the-wool, born-a-virgin man who had died as a single person and then possessed the body of a widower.

However, Yuan, who knew nothing of the life Gillen had lived, scrunched up his entire face in a frown. This time, it seemed he was frowning out of genuine dislike.

“Ugh… what on earth is that old man-like question?”

It seemed this, too, was like something an old man would say. Gillen tried his best to hide his hurt feelings and explained the situation step by step.

“There’s something I’m a bit confused about, so I’m trying to confirm it.”

“With a kiss?”

“Yes, it has to be a kiss.”

“What on earth are you trying to confirm?”

I probably shouldn’t say… that I need to confirm whether I like you in that sort of… romantic kind of… something like that… Gillen knew at least that much.

Yuan, who already believed Gillen had romantic feelings for him, wouldn’t understand the words themselves and would instead believe he was making a clumsy move just to get a kiss. He would criticize Gillen as a perverted and pathetic old man and declare that he would never kiss him unless he was overcome by a sudden rut. It couldn’t be allowed to go that way.

In that brief moment, Gillen racked his brain.

“Well… actually, I think I bit my tongue in surprise when the assassins barged in a few hours ago. You healed the part where I was hit by the arrow with magic, but my tongue didn’t heal… Ouch, it hurts.”

Gillen covered his perfectly fine mouth with his palm and pretended to be in pain. Yuan’s face, which had been stained with disbelief and suspicion until then, quickly filled with worry. Gillen felt a slight pang of guilt.

“Let me see.”

“Huh? Ah, uh, riight here… Aah.”

Gillen half-opened his mouth. Yuan brought his face close to Gillen’s mouth and squinted to get a better look.

“I can’t see it well.”

“Th-that, it’s on the inside, in a dark spot, so it’s probably hard to see. And it’s a bit embarrassing to show the inside of my mouth so openly…”

“Honestly, there’s no place you haven’t shown me, so what’s there to be embarrassed about with the inside of your mouth.”

Yuan said such shameless things so casually. Gillen let out a groan, but once again, he fired up his clumsy scheme.

“So, Yuan, using your hands might be a bit unhygienic and could be inaccurate… so could you use magic with your mouth while we kiss? Ah, or perhaps magic must only be done with hands?”

When Gillen asked with concern, Yuan bristled.

“I can use magic in any way I wish. There are guys who use magic by blowing a strand of hair or drawing blood, so you think I can’t even do something as simple as breathing into a mouth? Me?”

“That’s a relief, then! Then let’s give it a try!”

Gillen closed his eyes with an expectant face. He was waiting for a kiss. Yuan made all sorts of breathing sounds like “Hmph! Ha!” as if he were flabbergasted, but in the end, he brought his own lips to Gillen’s.

Mwah, soft lips touched and parted. Like knocking on a firmly shut door, Yuan slowly parted Gillen’s lips with his tongue. A cool yet refreshing taste emanated from the tip of his tongue. It was a taste that closely resembled Gillen’s pheromones.

Unlike their previous kisses, Yuan’s tongue entered very slowly and cautiously.

‘It must be because he thinks I’m hurt.’

The moment he realized that, a corner of his chest felt a pang, and a warm sensation spread through him. The more he got to know Yuan, the more he realized what a tender person he was. Although he boasted a bit too much, was obnoxious, and looked down on others immensely… ah, and he was also arrogant, spoke his mind without hesitation, and had many childish streaks… but it was an undeniable fact that he was more tender than he seemed.

‘Though his flaws vastly outnumber his virtues.’

Gillen thought as he shared a soft kiss with Yuan. But if even those flaws didn’t feel so fatal… was this truly the rose-tinted glasses of love? Do I really like this guy in that way? For starters, the kiss he was having right now felt extremely good. His lower abdomen was slowly starting to ache, which was sexually satisfying as well. So does that mean it’s real…?

Just then, a slightly sour and warm taste spread inside his mouth.

“Hm?”

As Gillen, who was kissing him, flinched and pulled back, Yuan soothed him by wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him closer.

“I used healing magic. It should be all better now.”

He hadn’t been hurt in the first place, but now that he said it was healing magic, he felt as if even the most minuscule of wounds had been healed. It probably wasn’t just a feeling; it was likely the reality.

“…Thank you.”

After hearing Gillen’s reply, Yuan continued the kiss. His tongue swept over Gillen’s teeth and rubbed the roof of his mouth. Each time the warm, soft tongue pressed and sucked here and there, pleasure burst like bubbles.

“Hoo…”

As Gillen let out an excited breath, Yuan gritted his teeth. Glancing down, he could see that the front of Yuan’s pants, from his crotch to his thigh, was bulging tightly. It was certain that Yuan did not think of Gillen as a simple contract dating partner. His body was saying as much.

“Not here, Yuan. There are people outside.”

“Have you forgotten that we got each other off in the middle of the Imperial Palace? If we set our minds to it, we can have a secret ‘exchange’ even in a public square.”

Ah, right. That strange magic. Perhaps because he was so smart, Yuan often utilized magic in creatively peculiar ways. But he didn’t have to use it for sex.

Gillen managed to push Yuan away.

“Do you know how anxious I was back then? From now on, when we have se—no, an exchange, it would be better to do it without magic.”

Despite being rejected, Yuan’s expression was bright.

“From now on… you say. Alright. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Yuan even let out a small laugh. Gillen couldn’t figure out why he was laughing, but seeing his smiling face made him feel good anyway. It was always a pleasure to see a dazzlingly beautiful person with a fresh smile. So he laughed along with Yuan.

“My goodness, to think you like me that much. You’re really hopeless.”

Yuan looked at Gillen’s smile and shook his head. Gillen laughed even louder.

“Ha! Ha! Ha!”

How could he be so shameless and cute? He didn’t even notice he was smiling himself, yet he reacted sensitively to the movements of Gillen’s eyebrows or lips. He was always mindful of Gillen’s emotions, and his own mood swings, brightening and darkening with every word Gillen said, were no joke.

“Do you know you’re quite transparent yourself?”

Gillen asked, his voice full of laughter. However, Yuan asked back as if he had no idea what he was talking about.

“What do you mean, transparent?”

“Your inner thoughts, I mean. I can see them all.”

“Hmph, don’t be ridiculous.”

Yuan snorted, but perhaps fearing his inner thoughts were exposed, he suddenly threw the door wide open and left. Needless to say, Gillen bent over laughing.

“Hahahaha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Where are you going, Yuan?”

“Be quiet. The walls of this inn are going to collapse from the sound of your laughter. We have to take a look around Crowning, don’t we? Now that we’ve found lodging, we have to show people our relationship.”

Yuan tried to act nonchalant, but he walked down the stairs so fast it was almost a speed walk. The tips of his ears were bright red. Goodness, that cute fellow. Gillen, panting from laughter, chased after Yuan.

Startled by the commotion the two were making, the old woman came running out in the middle of introducing a room, but the Knight Commander stopped her.

“The two of them are just very fond of each other, so don’t mind them.”

“My, what kind of laughter is that… I thought lightning had struck.”

The old woman trembled, rubbing her chest with a hand like a dry twig. This time, even the Knight Commander couldn’t scold the old woman. Beside him, Sweetum, the Vice Commander, whistled.

“I thought he only laughed loudly when he was with Lady Cecilia… but since meeting Marquis Hampton, he has been laughing like that constantly.”

“…Come to think of it, you’re right.”

“Oh, don’t even get me started. The two of them are so lovey-dovey… In my opinion, I think they will get married before Lady Cecilia does.”

“Refrain from rash speculations. One never knows what will happen between lovers.”

The Knight Commander cautioned Sweetum, then glanced at the old woman out of the corner of his eye. Her nostrils were flaring as if she had just heard some extremely important and interesting information.

Not long after, a rumor spread through Crowning that Duke Blake and Marquis Hampton were preparing for a grand wedding.