Chapter 41 – 41
Dent looked back and forth between Euro’s face, which was flushing with embarrassment in real-time, and his mother’s blushing face, screaming internally.
‘You can’t say things like that with a face like that!’
From the very first moment Dent had seen him, Euro possessed the kind of looks that naturally made one want to call him ’Prince.’ In short, his appearance alone was enough to garner about half of anyone’s goodwill.
Though Euro himself didn’t seem particularly aware of it, Dent quickly realized that the strange tension permeating this tea party wasn’t simply hostility.
Everyone here was meeting Euro for the first time today. Naturally, no one had known what he looked like.
Even though they were all married and of varying ages, no one could simply hate a handsome man sitting there, smiling brightly with a polite demeanor.
Euro, who had been keeping his mouth shut in the awkward atmosphere, cautiously spoke up.
“Uh… I mean, what I’m trying to say is…”
“…”
“That it’s truly an honor to be in the presence of such beautiful people…”
At this, Dent gripped the teapot tightly and lowered his head. That wasn’t it either. He couldn’t tell if this man was trying to win their favor or build a harem.
“I absolutely didn’t mean anything else.”
Eventually, Euro waved his hands hurriedly.
“It’s just that I’m nervous, and since this is my first time at such a gathering, I wanted to get closer to you all and ended up being rude…”
“…”
“I—I was reminded of my sister! I might be a mystery, but you all probably know Clope… If my sister had come instead of me, you likely would have gotten along even better.”
With his brain practically paralyzed, Euro was just spouting whatever came to mind. Dent felt that mentioning Clope while looking at them was also a mistake.
As Euro said, while they had never seen Euro Leches, they knew Clope well. She was a renowned beauty, famous not only in Norden but throughout Paltreon.
Whenever a banquet was held in the capital, the King of Norden always attended with Clope by his side. Thus, some of the women here would have seen her in person.
Following a compliment about their beauty with “Seeing the ladies here reminded me of Clope” was nothing more than high-level flirting, essentially saying, “It’s because you are all such great beauties.”
Furthermore, because he wasn’t being brazen—his own face was turning redder as he struggled with his words—the impact was even greater.
Eventually, Lady Rave cleared her throat and intervened, managing her expression.
“You flatter us. Neither Dent nor I are worthy of such words.”
“I was flustered, but I certainly wasn’t lying.”
Though he had started off on a somewhat strange foot, it was far better than the stiff atmosphere from moments ago. Euro cast a spell on himself once more and gazed at them.
‘Discard the idol persona… Be friendly, but formal.’
As expected, the Korean-style compliment of “I thought you were my sister” wasn’t something to be used just anywhere. It was a relief the husbands weren’t here; he might have been grabbed by the collar.
Moreover, it wasn’t something to say to a mother with her son right beside her. Euro apologized to Dent internally and calmed his racing heart.
“While the purpose of arranging this gathering was to introduce myself, there is another reason.”
“…”
“Now that His Excellency’s health has deteriorated significantly, I wish to help in whatever capacity I can. I am aware, to some extent, of how hard you all have worked until now.”
Euro continued, fiddling with his teacup.
“I don’t want to simply issue orders and review documents while remaining ignorant of everything. If there are grievances, I want to hear them and help as much as possible. As you likely already know, I probably won’t be able to do so for long.”
He said this with the transfer of the curse in mind. The women nodded as if they understood his meaning.
“This is a truly warm and beautiful place. I have now become a person [unauthorized copy]of Silon, and I want to do my best stolen contentfor as long as my body allows.”
“…”
“I won’t intrude excessively into your domains. Nor will I stir things up and change them on a whim. Because… well, because you all must continue to live here even after I leave my position.”
He couldn’t change everything to suit his will. Euro intended to stay here only temporarily.
However, the phrase “leave my position” could only be interpreted by them as “I will die.” Consequently, contrary to Euro’s intention, the atmosphere grew even heavier.
“No, I mean, uh… I’m not necessarily saying I’m going to die.”
“…”
“Anyway.”
He had said he wasn’t necessarily dying, but saying he would definitely stay alive felt contradictory, so Euro shut his mouth tight.
Euro, who could maintain a brazen act anywhere and anytime, could rarely find his composure among women. [visit our site]This was because the only women he had encountered in his life were fans.
Since his interactions had mostly consisted of answering a one-sided barrage of questions, he had no idea how to hold a proper conversation. This might have been the lasting damage of attending an all-boys middle and high school.
“We understand what you mean. We will strive to assist you well in the future.”
As Baroness Mare bowed her head, the other ladies followed suit and greeted Euro. Even Lady Molton, who had been acting stiffly, now sent him a favorable look.
“You may do as you wish. These matters were originally under the Duchess’s jurisdiction. The spring festival included.”
Lady Molton offered a smile. Euro gazed at her calmly.
“I didn’t say that just to win your favor. Although I haven’t seen everything, I’ve reviewed the work you’ve done to some extent through the documents.”
“…”
“You’ve all been doing a great job. In fact, I’m learning a lot. Above all, His Excellency must have entrusted everything to you because he trusts you.”
Melione still spent most of his day in the office. The reason he hadn’t let go of his work was likely due to his nature, [visit our site]which demanded he handle everything personally to be satisfied.
To a man like that, if the results were unsatisfactory, he wouldn’t be the type to share the workload, regardless of whether the person was a vassal. He probably would have handled everything himself until the day he died of illness.
Therefore, Euro didn’t want to touch this structure. It was something he could not take permanent responsibility for.
“I trust you all as well. So, I hope you will help me. That is the sole reason I arranged this gathering.”
Euro chose to be completely honest. He had no desire whatsoever to incite power struggles among these people.
There was no reason or need for it. Unlike the curse passed down through the Spioren Dukedom, Silon was a territory that ran very peacefully.
Whether it would remain so was unknown, but that was a problem for a future Duchess to solve.
“So, I hope you can enjoy yourselves comfortably. It would be nice to gather like this occasionally.”
Euro smiled and scratched his cheek. In truth, such gatherings weren’t without pressure, but he hoped to build friendships and maintain visits.
If he did, he could make small requests, and it wouldn’t look strange if he went out occasionally.
Thinking about it that way, this gathering was very much arranged for his own purposes—meaning it was somewhat contradictory to say it was for the simple purpose of building friendships—but since his life was on the line, it couldn’t be helped.
Seeing Euro like this, Lady Rave began to support his words in her own way.
“To be honest, I had some minor concerns on my way here, but after meeting you, I feel those worries were unnecessary.”
“That’s true. And I’m delighted that you’ll invite us often. In fact, this is my first time visiting the Dukedom.”
One of the Baronesses added with a smile. She had a somewhat younger face than the others, and indeed, for all of them, this was their first tea party held in the mansion’s garden.
This was because no one had ever invited the wives of the vassal families before.
“Today we are in the garden in front of the annex, but next time, we could have a tea party in the main house’s garden. It’s very beautiful there as well.”
He had intentionally set the location in the annex garden, fearing that the sound of laughter and chatter might irritate Melione.
However, once Melione’s health improved, it [stolen content]would be fine to hold tea parties in front of the main house. At Euro’s [Read on Read BL Novels]suggestion, small blossoms of laughter bloomed among the group.
They shared trivial stories as well as discussions regarding the festival. By the time the gathering was winding down, the initial tension had vanished, and everyone wore relaxed expressions.
As the gathering came to a close, Lady Molton suddenly asked Euro.
“By any chance, are you interested in the opera? There are several theaters in Silon. My husband operates one of them.”
“Really?”
“If you are interested, may I invite you to tomorrow evening’s performance? I thought it would be lovely if you came with His Excellency. If that is not possible, you may come alone, Duchess. I will prepare a box seat.”
“Would that be alright? I’d be grateful for the invitation.”
A bright, sincere smile appeared on Euro’s face. The thought of seeing an opera left Euro extremely excited—it was an unexpected windfall.
To be able to see an opera, what a wonderful opportunity. He had been curious about what the opera was like in this world.
Although he had been a musical actor after being an idol, he had always been interested in opera. He had just never been [visit our site]able to see one [Read on Read BL Novels]properly because he never had the money for tickets.
Whether Melione came along or not didn’t matter. In fact, he’d prefer it if Melione told him to go alone. If they went together, he would undoubtedly spend the whole time walking on eggshells.
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