3 – ​3

By ​the ​time ​Euro ​arrived ​at ​the front of ​Duke ​Spioren’s ​estate, ​it ​was already dark, and ​he ​looked absolutely wretched.

His ​appearance, which had ​been ​shabby ​to ​begin ​with, ​had become disastrous ​because ​he ​had to walk ​a long distance after ​a carriage ​wheel broke.

There ​were ways ​to call ​for ​help ​to repair the ​wheel, but ​money was the issue. ​To be honest, he ​hadn’t wanted to wait ​that long ​just ​to ride in a carriage anyway.

Though ​it was far, the ​estate ​was ​visible ​in ​the distance, so ​he thought ​walking ​would be enough. ​However, ​that was a miscalculation.

The problem ​was that ​the ​estate had been ​too ​visible ​under ​the ​clear sky ​and ​bright weather. ​The estate was much farther than it ​appeared to the ​eye, and his ​exhausted body would not ​move as ​his heart desired.

Having ​barely ​reached the front ​of the estate, ​practically dragging ​his ​limbs, Euro ​repeatedly ​told himself ​he ​wanted to ​die. ​He ​had come here ​on ​his own ​two ​feet ​specifically ​so he wouldn’t die, but now he wondered what the point of living like this was.

Because he had walked in dress shoes, his feet felt as ragged as old dishcloths, and the clothes he had carefully put on were a mess, wrinkled and soaked in sweat.

“Maybe I should stay at an inn for a day before coming in.”

Euro muttered in front of the main gate of the Dukedom, brushing back [visit our site]his disheveled hair. He felt that if he suddenly unauthorized copyasked for marriage [stolen content]in this state, even a possible success would turn into a failure.

If he waited any longer, finding an inn to spend the night would be a distant hope; he figured that if he was going to be turned away at the door anyway, it might be better to do it in broad daylight. He couldn’t exactly camp out in front of the Duke’s residence.

The only thing decent about Euro Leches was his face. It was the only thing he liked after the possession, and now that even that was becoming compromised, he felt anxious.

However, after long consideration, Euro shook his head. Even if he washed up and changed his clothes, given the circumstances, there was no way he would be welcomed.

At this point, it was a gamble. Since it was late at night, perhaps they would grant him a guest room for one day.

He couldn’t be sure if he could receive such kindness in this state from a Duke who was at the peak of sensitivity due to madness, but for now, he had no choice but to appeal to whatever compassion might exist. Above all, he didn’t want to walk a single step further.

Euro tidied his appearance as best as he could. Clutching his leather bag in one hand, he grabbed the rope of the large bell hanging next to the gate with the other and shook it.

Following the heavy tolling of the bell, two knights soon emerged from the gate. They narrowed their eyes, scanning Euro’s appearance in silence before speaking.

“Who are you? This is not a place just anyone can visit.”

“I apologize for the late hour. There was a small accident with the carriage on the way…”

“Accident or whatever, I don’t care unauthorized copy[stolen content]about that. Do you [Read on Read BL Novels]have prior permission to visit? We haven’t received any word.”

As they looked him up and down with irritated responses, Euro crouched down and opened his bag. Inside was the letter he had cherished and carefully packed for fear of losing it.

“I have come from Norden. I have brought the reply to the imperial edict His Majesty sent to Norden and the marriage proposal received from His Grace the Duke. Could you let me in?”

“…We were told that the Princess of Norden would arrive with the reply. I wondered why it was taking so long, and it turns out there was an accident. Is the Princess on her way?”

At the knight’s words, Euro gave an awkward smile. It was the expected reaction. To anyone, he didn’t look like the recipient of a marriage proposal, but like a servant sent to report an accident.

“I am not the princess, but I am the owner of that reply. Could you tell His Grace that Euro Leches, the Third Prince of Norden, has arrived?”

ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ

By the time Euro entered the estate under the butler’s guidance, he was completely exhausted. Having crossed the endless, vast garden, he had reached a point where he could no longer feel anything in his feet.

The knight, who had hesitated over whether to report this after seeing the imperial edict and the reply Euro handed over, eventually told Euro to wait a moment and headed inside.

After a while, the knight returned and informed Euro that His Grace the Duke had permitted the visit, treating him with far more courtesy than before.

It didn’t matter how he was treated, but the fact that he had [Read on Read BL Novels]to walk across that massive garden [visit our site]again to [visit our site]reach the mansion in his current state was a huge problem.

“You say you came without a carriage. How did that happen?”

Raymond, the middle-aged butler guiding him to the drawing room, asked politely, to which Euro replied with a hollow laugh.

“There was a carriage accident on the way. Nothing serious… just a broken wheel.”

“My goodness. You should have sent for someone to come get you.”

“As you can see, I came alone. I brought the reply, but since I didn’t know how things would turn out…”

Euro trailed off. It was an absurd story for a prince of Norden to come all this way alone without an escort.

No matter how much he feared being rejected, no noble would bring a reply to a marriage proposal without a single attendant or gift.

Furthermore, Euro wasn’t just a noble; he was royalty. Frankly, it was the height of rudeness.

They had naturally expected a princess, but not only did a prince arrive, he arrived in this state. For someone coming to marry, it was practically advertising, ‘I don’t like this marriage, so feel free to kill me or let me live.’

“Please come inside. His Grace is waiting.”

“Thank you.”

Euro expressed his gratitude and took a deep breath. As the butler opened the door, a lavish drawing room appeared, with Melione sitting on a large sofa, drinking tea.

Long blonde hair and piercingly cold blue eyes turned toward him. Perhaps because the attire was somewhat different from that of Norden in the North, the shirt Melione wore was quite thin and flowing, almost translucent.

It wasn’t just Melione; every piece of clothing he had seen since entering Silon was like that. Regardless of gender, everyone wore light clothing.

It felt like a mixture of ancient Greek and medieval European styles. In that regard, Duke Spioren looked like a perfectly sculpted male god, causing Euro to unconsciously gulp.

‘He’d need a face like that to accept someone regardless of whether they’re a man or a woman.’

Muttering to himself while staring at the Duke for quite a while, Euro noticed that the man had no intention of speaking first. He approached Melione, who was slowly setting down his teacup, and bowed his head.

“I apologize for the intrusion so late at night, Your Grace. I am Euro Leches, the Third Prince of Norden.”

“Leave us.”

Melione spoke not to Euro, but to the butler, Raymond, who stood behind him. [Read on Read BL Novels]Raymond bowed [stolen content]slightly and immediately left the drawing room.

Not knowing what to do, Euro gave an awkward, hesitant smile and looked at the Duke for a cue. At that sight, Melione gestured toward the sofa and said,

“Please, sit.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Since his legs were shaking so much that it was difficult to stand any longer, Euro quickly sat on the sofa. A teacup prepared for him and the imperial edict and reply were stacked beside it.

“It feels quite awkward to hear the title of ‘Your Grace’ from Your Highness.”

“…”

“Are we not old acquaintances?”

Euro felt a chill run down his spine at Melione’s words. That was something that happened before Euro’s possession.

It wasn’t mentioned in the novel, but it was a behind-the-scenes setting the author had briefly released on their account, so he fortunately knew about it.

Specifically, that the first visit our siteimpression between stolen contentEuro Leches and Melione [unauthorized copy]Carlton Spioren had been absolutely terrible.

The two had first met at a party in the capital after Melione inherited the dukedom. At that time, Euro had spoken down to him and ignored him, which led to a conflict.

While Euro Leches was a prince of Norden, he was not in a position to speak condescendingly to a Duke of the Empire. Mutual respect was the standard, but because he had acted so arrogantly and insolently, their first impression was truly the worst.

“I was young and rash back then. Because I grew up outside the palace during my childhood, I lacked proper etiquette…”

Euro muttered with his head half-bowed. In short, he was asking for leniency because Melione would know he was the child of an illegitimate birth.

Since he needed to paint his image in gold for the marriage to be successful, he had no other choice.

It would be better to be rejected because he was illegitimate than to insist he didn’t remember and then end up leaving the Dukedom as a corpse.

“Well, more than that.”

“…”

“I didn’t expect a prince to come instead of a princess.”

“…There was no mention that it absolutely had to be a woman.”

The more he spoke, the more he felt this marriage was doomed. But what could he do? He couldn’t tell Melione that he was actually a possessor and that marrying Clope would only lead to a miserable life.

If he did, he might be called a lunatic and have his head chopped off. Would the King of Norden even blink an eye if he died? He had probably sent him to Silon with the mindset that it wouldn’t matter if he died.

“I don’t mind whether it’s a man or a woman. However, will Your Highness be alright?”

“Pardon?”

“You must know that I will not live long.”

Melione said this with a gentle smile. Seeing that smile, Euro’s face stiffened.

It was because Melione was not only using formal language with him but was acting strangely kind.

‘This bastard… he’s not this kind of person. Is he testing me to see what I’ll do if he dies?’

Knowing Melione’s original personality, Euro felt that this man was hiding a blade behind his smile.

“Uh, I mean. Well.”

“…”

“I’m telling you this so you don’t misunderstand, but I didn’t come to marry you with some ulterior motive.”

“…”

“Your Grace will live a long life…”

Euro, who had been rambling in an attempt to make excuses, squeezed his eyes shut after uttering that last sentence.

‘I’m such an idiot…’