(BL) Rejected by daughter's second male lead-Chapter 53

Gillen’s party preparations were finished two hours later. When the fully dressed Gillen turned around, every servant in the room let out a sound of admiration.

"You look so wonderful, Your Grace!"

"At this rate, you definitely won’t be outshined by the Marquis!"

"We did it!"

The head maid’s nose turned red as she even swallowed back tears.

"You are so very noble and full of dignity, Your Grace."

"Why is everyone exaggerating so much? It’s not like I usually went around looking so unpresentable."

Gillen laughed as if it were absurd and went to stand in front of the full-length mirror.

"Whoa..."

However, even Gillen couldn’t help but be surprised when he saw his reflection in the mirror.

I think this is the most handsome I’ve looked since I possessed this body.

Gillen’s hair was neatly swept back, not allowing for a single stray strand. His skin glowed, and his dark eyebrows and beard were tidily groomed, exuding a dignified charm. His broad shoulders and solid physique, showcased in a cream-colored suit tailored to fit his body perfectly, shone with an ascetic quality. The appropriately placed accessories reflected the morning sunlight, sparkling here and there, revealing formality and grace.

At this rate, I really won’t be overshadowed by that fellow.

He never had any intention of surpassing Yuan’s beauty in the first place. That was because it was impossible. He just hoped not to look too old, not to look too ugly. Thanks to the efforts of all the maids and attendants, including the head maid, Gillen’s wish had come true.

"Good. Now, breakfast? No, is it lunch? Shall we go have a meal? I’m so hungry I can’t stand—"

"A meal, Your Grace? You know that today is different from other days, don’t you? To prevent even the slightest change in the shape of the suit, you may only have a simple appetizer or a glass of wine."

"What...? No, but the party is in the evening..."

"All the ladies are already managing themselves that way for the sake of their dresses’ appearance. The same goes for Lady Cecilia. It wouldn’t do for a man among men like Your Grace to complain."

The head maid said strictly. Gillen was shocked.

"O-our Cecil, you mean she starved every time there was a party? For the sake of a mere dress? This is ridiculous!"

"Lady Cecilia usually soothed her hunger with fruit or a glass of aperitif."

"This can’t be! How can there be such a harsh and violent evil custom! And why didn’t I know about it?"

"Your Grace..."

The head maid, with the particular look a woman gives a pathetic man, replied politely.

"There is much more to the world that Your Grace does not know."

Then she sharply issued instructions to the surrounding servants.

"So please take this opportunity to feel and learn for yourself. Tell the chef to prepare fruit and a glass of white wine. You can bring it to the study."

"Yes, ma’am."

As soon as an attendant finished his reply, he scurried out. Gillen stood there blankly, listening to the various pieces of advice the head maid continued to give. When sitting, you must unbutton your jacket and sit on a chair without a backrest; you must not take a nap; as soon as you’ve had a little to eat, you must tell a maid right away to reapply your lipstick; the same goes for after drinking water or tea; you must do this to avoid hearing harsh words outside; you must be mindful, especially given who your partner is, and so on...

Towards the end, his head was spinning and he felt nauseous. Gillen thought to himself, I’ll have to think of a way to sound the alarm about the nobility’s excessive grooming culture, and barely managed to send the head maid away.

Thanks to the strict supervision of the head maid and the chef, Gillen was able to maintain his perfect appearance until the party. Three hours before the party began, Gillen was finally able to leave the head maid’s side. It was time to go to the marquis’s residence to pick up his partner, Yuan.

Finally!

For the first time, Gillen even felt happy to be going to meet Yuan—that’s how severe the head maid’s nagging had been.

However, as soon as Gillen came down to the first floor, he spotted a statue standing in the lobby.

"Hmm? Did you buy a new statue for the garden, Bryan? But why are you moving it now? We have to go to the party soon..."

Then he realized. The thing standing unexpectedly in the lobby was not a newly bought statue. It was Yuan...!

"Your Grace, Marquis Yuan Hampton has come to escort you."

Bryan, who was standing next to Yuan, said cautiously.

I know... I just realized.

Gillen resisted the urge to reply as such and deliberately laughed loudly.

"Ah, ha! Ha! Ha! Bryan, you too! It was a joke, a joke! Did you really think I would mistake Yuan for a statue? Ha! Ha! Ha!"

He didn’t want to let on that Yuan looked even more like a statue because he was standing next to the elderly Bryan and the plain-looking servants. But even without the ordinary people (?) next to him, Yuan was radiating light all on his own.

He’s devastatingly beautiful.

Gillen found himself admiring him without realizing it. It was an impression one might have when looking at a statue by Rodin, the most famous sculptor in the Moore Empire, or a holy painting by the genius artist Michelangelo.

Today, Yuan wore a suit of the same cream color as Gillen’s, but with a different design. He wore a lace vest that emphasized his waistline and was adorned all over with sparkling diamond earrings, a thin pure gold shirt clip, and a chain belt. The clothes and accessories that an ordinary nobleman wouldn’t even glance at looked fantastic on Yuan.

The scarf Yuan had wrapped around his waist along with the chain belt was fastened with an emerald brooch, which Gillen recognized at a glance. It was the gift he had sent through Navard a long time ago.

"You look truly wonderful today, Yuan. It was a joke, but you really do look like a walking statue."

"I know it wasn’t a joke. It’s a common occurrence for one’s thoughts to become paralyzed in the face of absolute beauty. There’s no need to cling to your pride."

That obnoxious brat. But this time, what he said wasn’t wrong, so he couldn’t offer any rebuttal.

"Ahem, ahem, I was about to go and escort you, but you came first. What am I to do with such an honor?"

"I absolutely did not come because I’m looking forward to the party or want to see you, Duke, any sooner. I came out of respect for the elderly, so please don’t mind it."

"What? Respect for the elderly?"

As Gillen’s eyebrows shot up, the head maid let out a small cough from behind him. She had been following Gillen around all day, warning him to be careful not to wrinkle his face by widening his eyes or smiling too often.

Gillen let out a groan and lowered his eyebrows again. Right, I’ll be patient. I, the more mature one, will be patient. He barely managed to compose himself and turned around to ask. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"What about Cecil? It would be nice if we could go together since we’re going anyway."

As a young lady of a ducal house, Cecilia was of course attending the imperial party on the first day of the Harvest Thanksgiving Festival. Her partner, of course, was Crown Prince Hexion. This meant that while Gillen was intensely preparing for the party, she had been undergoing the same regimen in her own private dressing room.

"His Highness the Crown Prince will naturally be coming to pick up the young lady. You may go ahead with the Marquis first, Your Grace."

Bryan said with a slight smile in his eyes. Yuan chimed in annoyingly from the side.

"Trying to interfere with your daughter’s romance. You’re the very picture of an old-fashioned, doting old man."

"No, it’s not that I’m trying to interfere...!"

But wait a minute, didn’t this guy originally like our Cecil? He even proposed and got rejected, didn’t he? What’s with him now talking about ’your daughter’s romance’ as if it’s someone else’s business?

A genuine curiosity and surprise reared its head in Gillen’s mind.

"By the way, you don’t have feelings for Cecil anymore? Weren’t you following her around, talking about proposing and something about a green grape diamond?"

At Gillen’s question, Yuan scanned him with a look of contempt.

"Do you see me as a moron who would continue to pursue and harass a woman who rejected me? Unlike someone, I’m the type to highly respect the opinions of others."

The ’someone’ here was clearly referring to Gillen, as anyone could tell. Gillen blinked for a moment before he finally realized.

He had truly and completely diverted its course. And through a negative example, at that! Though it wasn’t his intention.

There was some merit to being misunderstood as a ’dimwit who keeps pursuing and harassing someone even after being rejected’. Although Gillen’s image had plummeted to rock bottom, and he had even ended up in a contractual relationship with the original story’s second male lead, something he never signed up for, he had still succeeded in completely twisting the original story!

"Ha... haha! Hahaha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Realizing this fact, Gillen was intoxicated with a sense of victory. I changed the original story! I stopped Yuan Hampton, that formidable, villain-class narcissistic second male lead, who couldn’t be stopped no matter what fuss was made!

"What’s wrong with you? Have you gone mad?"

Whether Yuan took a step back and looked at him strangely or not, Gillen clenched his fists and cheered.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! I did it! I did it! Thank you, everyone! Especially you, Yuan! Thank you so much! Hahaha!"

Gillen, who burst out laughing and celebrating out of nowhere, looked truly strange, and the servants, including Yuan, found their own context within that lack of context.

The context that ’Duke Blake is genuinely happy that Marquis Hampton is going to the party with the Duke and not Cecilia’.