Chapter 42 – ​42

The ​tea ​party ​had ​been ​far ​more enjoyable than ​he ​had ​feared, ​but ​it was also true ​that ​he had laughed ​more excessively than ​usual.

Euro, ​who ​had ​spent ​the ​time beaming so ​much ​that ​the corners of ​his mouth were twitching, ​saw the ​guests off ​by handing ​each of ​them ​a ​bottle of wine ​that Raymond ​had prepared in advance.

After ​finishing the farewells and ​returning to the main ​building, Euro ​climbed ​the stairs, patting his shoulders that ​had grown stiff from ​tension.

In ​his ​heart, ​he ​wanted to go ​straight to ​the ​bedroom and take ​a ​long nap, but since he ​had stepped ​forward ​to help with ​the ​estate ​affairs—even ​if ​it was ​just ​for show—he ​felt he should at least pretend to ​read the documents ​Raymond had prepared.

He ​thought it might be ​a good ​idea to study ​by ​asking Dent various ​questions whenever he ​encountered something ​he ​didn’t know. ​Though, ​since he ​wasn’t ​originally from ​this ​world ​and was utterly ​hopeless ​with numbers, ​it ​probably ​wouldn’t ​make much of a difference.

He asked Dent to prepare a tea that would wake him up and bring it to the office. He would have loved a cup of strong coffee, and it was lamentable that coffee didn’t exist in this world.

Staggering up the stairs, Euro reached the third floor and took a deep breath in and out. For some reason, he felt out of breath.

It was strange, as the stairs weren’t particularly high. Perhaps it was because he had been busy since morning. He usually had confidence in his physical stamina, but maybe it was because he had been idling away too much lately.

However, Euro Leches wasn’t exactly someone with physical weaknesses. He was young, and since his rebellious phase, he stolen contenthad been first in line for wandering around everywhere; [visit our site]his mental state might be a different story, but he was quite capable when it came to physical exertion.

“Well, I must be tired.”

Euro dismissed it as nothing. The stamina of Kim Euro, who spent half his day practicing dance and training his body every morning and evening, was bound to be on a different level from that of the royal Euro Leches.

No matter how healthy he was, it would inevitably differ from a body that enjoyed regular exercise. Even if his stamina had been good, ‘health’ likely hadn’t been the life motto of Euro Leches.

After standing blankly for a while to catch his breath, Euro turned his head at a sudden presence. It was in the direction of Melione’s office, not his own.

“Your Excellency?”

Euro blinked as he saw Melione striding toward him.

‘Why is he wandering around at this hour?’

The man, who should have been holed up in his office reviewing documents, was out in the hallway for some reason. Moreover, he was approaching without hesitation the moment he spotted him.

Having spent the last few hours catering to other people’s whims, Euro didn’t have the energy left to converse with that hedgehog of a man. Since he had no proper excuse to avoid the encounter, Euro gazed at him with his usual smiling face.

“Good afternoon. Do you have some business with me?”

At Euro’s question, Melione stopped a certain distance away and frowned deeply. However, that only lasted a moment; he instantly wiped his expression and looked down at Euro with his characteristic dry gaze.

But Euro didn’t miss that fleeting change. He wondered why the man bothered to approach him when he couldn’t even manage his facial expressions properly.

‘Wait, I was the one who acknowledged him first.’

As expected, it was a useless move. He should have just passed by as if he hadn’t seen him. Seeing the blatantly displeased look on Melione’s face, it seemed the other man felt the same way.

“Ha, ha… Of course you wouldn’t. Then, I’ll be on my way.”

Regretting having spoken, Euro turned toward his own office. Just then, Melione spoke from behind.

“How was the tea time?”

“Pardon?”

At the unexpected question, Euro stared at Melione with a blank expression. This was certainly not a man who enjoyed such trivial conversations, yet he had asked something so insignificant.

“Uh, I mean… it was fun.”

“Is that so.”

“Was it perhaps too noisy? I held the tea time in front of the annex because I was worried.”

No matter how he thought about it, that was the only reason to bring up the tea party. Since many people had been laughing and chatting for a long time, he wondered if it had sounded like noise.

But that made no sense. The Duke’s residence wasn’t some ordinary single-story house; there was a considerable distance between the main building and the annex, so no matter how much they laughed and talked, there was no way it could be heard up to the third-floor office.

“The sound does not reach this far.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried I might be disturbing your rest.”

Euro breathed a sigh of relief now that he knew the noise hadn’t been heard. He couldn’t afford to have the tea parties banned over some trivial complaint.

‘Wait… would that actually be bad?’

Actually, no. He didn’t necessarily need to have the tea parties here. If Melione told him, ‘It’s too noisy, so don’t do it anymore,’ he could use that as an excuse to enjoy tea parties at the homes of other vassals.

After all, his goal was simply Read on Read BL Novelsto build a moderate level Read on Read BL Novelsof intimacy with them to gain a pretext stolen contentfor wandering outside the mansion.

As for Melione, it was enough for him to be seen as a loose, easygoing person whose only joy in a lonely life in a foreign land was gathering with people to gossip.

“I should continue to hold tea times at the annex or in the garden in front of it. The atmosphere became more harmonious than I expected, so the conversation got quite loud…”

“It does not matter where. Do as you wish.”

Euro blinked at Melione’s words. Just as he was wondering why the man was acting like this and what he was trying to say by spouting things he didn’t mean, Melione asked.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“…Yes, everyone welcomed me, so it was a pleasant gathering.”

Euro swallowed hard and gazed at Melione, wondering what he was about to say.

“I am glad you enjoyed it, but you do not need to go this far.”

“What do you mean…?”

“I mean you do not need to force yourself to take on tasks.”

“…”

“I assume you did not invite them to the mansion simply for the purpose of chatting. Is it not because of the spring festival?”

“That is certainly part of it.”

Melione was quite polite. The implication of his words was simple: since he was going to be sick and die soon anyway, there was no need to go out of his way to create work.

Raymond had already told Euro how the Duchesses, infected by the curse, had lived their lives.

The life of a Duchess was so agonizing that it was unbearable unless one lived each day intoxicated by fleeting pleasures. It was an unavoidable fate once one entered the Spioren Family.

Melione knew well that while inviting others to laugh and talk might be fine now, it would not be so in the future.

I have been a human cursed since birth, and I have suffered various pains as I grew. A certain level of discomfort is already a part of my daily life, so I am fine, but Euro would be different.

“Are you worrying about me?”

Melione did not answer Euro’s question. However, Euro didn’t mind. [Read on Read BL Novels]There was likely a contradiction in giving [Read on Read BL Novels]a [stolen content]straightforward ‘yes’; he probably hadn’t said those words simply out of worry.

There was likely also a desire for Euro to live quietly like a dead mouse without poking around unnecessarily. For now, Melione was in a state of not understanding why Euro had married him and was involving himself in the estate’s affairs.

“I’m fine. I invited them to let them know that my purpose isn’t to interfere in every single detail of the spring festival.”

“…”

“I don’t expect myself to be able to do much. I don’t have the ability for it. Embarrassingly, due to my circumstances, I didn’t learn much in Norden.”

It would have been the same even if the original Euro Leches had come here. In his youth, he had meaningless music lessons, and as he grew, he lived as a degenerate; he had absolutely no cultivation.

No one had any intention of teaching Euro Leches, and Euro Leches had no intention of learning anything. After all, once one of the two brothers ascended the throne, he was destined to be kicked out without a title to live as a commoner or die.

“It was just a gathering created out of simple curiosity. It’s boring to just stay still.”

“…”

“I prefer being with many people rather than being alone… and the people here are friendly to me for the most part. I suppose I should say I’m pleased by the hospitality I never felt in Norden.”

The vassals of the Spioren Family had stolen contentbeen wary of Euro at first, but that was all. They quickly accepted [visit our site]him and were kind [Read on Read BL Novels]and affectionate throughout the conversation.

Maybe it’s because the weather is nice, but people are so uncomplicated. I wonder if the people of Norden have such eccentric temperaments because there are so few sunny days a year, Euro muttered to himself.

In truth, in Norden, Euro Leches was an illegitimate child of ambiguous origin, but here, one way or another, he was the Duchess.

“It is all thanks to Your Excellency.”

Euro smiled as he spoke. At this, Melione made a strange expression, but he quickly wiped it away.

“Ah, right. I heard that Viscount Molton owns an opera theater.”

“That is correct.”

“The Viscountess has invited me to tomorrow evening’s performance. Of course, she invited Your Excellency as well.”

“…”

“If you’re okay with it, would you like to go together tomorrow? Of course, it’s fine if I go alone.”

‘Say you won’t go. Say you’re sick.’

Having brought it up out of politeness, Euro wore a shy expression as if he truly wanted him to accompany him, while internally, he screamed for Melione to please just let him go alone.