Chapter 51 – ​51

Lunch ​with ​Melione ​was ​quieter ​than ​ever. This was ​because ​Melione, ​who ​had ​not come down to ​the ​dining hall for ​several days after ​Euro ​had ​suffered ​hematemesis, ​appeared ​at the meal ​without ​any ​warning.

As luck would ​have it, it was ​a day ​when Euro ​had been ​hesitating, wondering ​whether ​to ​go down to ​the dining ​hall or eat in ​his room. He had ​consistently gone down for ​lunch even ​when ​Melione didn’t show up, but since ​he assumed Melione wouldn’t ​come ​anyway, ​he ​had ​felt a pointless ​surge of ​irritation.

This ​happened because Euro ​was ​not a perfect Saint. It ​was Euro ​himself ​who had made ​the ​choice ​to ​marry ​Melione instead ​of ​Clope.

He had ​expected to be ill, and he had ​expected his plans ​to go awry. ​However, humans are fickle ​creatures; once ​he realized he ​might ​actually be sick ​enough to die, ​Melione felt ​incredibly ​cold and ​resentful.

Even ​if one ​asks ​for nothing ​in ​return, ​such feelings naturally ​arise ​when acting ​for ​the ​sake ​of someone else.

If Euro were truly a person who could desire absolutely no reward, he would have been better suited as a monk rather than an idol.

Every day, Euro had waited for Melione in the dining hall, picking out topics of conversation to share. But the reason he didn’t feel like doing so today was that he felt like a spineless person.

He couldn’t even demand why Melione couldn’t say a single word to ask [visit our site]if he was alright, or how he could be so indifferent when they were husband and [stolen content]husband despite their relationship being a mere stolen contentformality; instead, the fact that he had been planning how to cater to Melione’s whims felt somehow miserable.

Thus, when he finally woke up late and arrived at the dining hall to encounter Melione, Euro skipped even the customary greetings, sat down, and continued his meal in silence.

However, there was no way the food could taste good when his mood was already completely ruined. Euro, who would normally have easily cleared several plates, barely ate, aimlessly poking at the food with his fork.

From the moment he entered the dining hall, Melione had been staring blankly at Euro, who sat with his head bowed, avoiding eye contact.

Melione suddenly felt a surge of irritation because Euro, who would usually approach him with a beaming smile without being asked, wouldn’t even spare him a glance.

It was absurd that Euro had prattled on about love and such, only for his attitude to change so quickly. Melione let out a hollow laugh at the news that Euro, who had suffered hematemesis in the early hours of the morning, had left the mansion as soon as morning came.

He probably wanted to run away. Just like everyone else who had married into this house, he must have grown completely disgusted with the mansion itself and felt the urge to flee immediately. Because Melione had always felt that way too.

Melione desired to escape the mansion more than anyone. If he could, he wanted to live as someone other than Spiorene, abandoning both his name and surname.

But fate would not let him go, and all Melione could do was submit to everything.

Then Euro had come to him. He had always [unauthorized copy]approached Melione recklessly unauthorized copyand never hesitated to dare reach out. That was Read on Read BL Novelswhy Melione found Euro presumptuous.

“……I will be leaving first.”

It was Euro who broke the silence. Leaving behind a plate he had barely touched, Euro stood up and gave a perfunctory nod toward Melione, who was still in his seat.

And the moment he lifted his head, Melione’s face contorted upon seeing Euro’s strangely pallid complexion. Euro looked far sicker than he had imagined.

Where on earth was he wandering around in such a condition? He had clearly told him to leave while he still could, so what was the point of stubbornly clinging on only to end up like this?

If he had insisted on staying so stubbornly, he should have at least stayed in bed to recover; was he now looking for an excuse to run away? Melione disliked every single one of Euro’s actions.

In truth, it was ridiculous to be consumed by such thoughts. Normally, he was someone who wouldn’t even pay attention to trivial matters when he was ill.

But for some reason, even on days when he returned late from watching an opera, Melione felt in good condition. Rather, he felt his body becoming lighter and lighter from the following day.

The headache that had felt like a part of him, the tightness in his chest, and the dizziness that overwhelmed him every time he sat or stood were gone. With energy to spare, useless thoughts began to fill his head.

Euro left the dining hall, turning [Read on Read BL Novels]his back [visit our site]on the silent Melione. In that moment, Melione felt a sudden impulse to call out and stop him.

He wanted to ask if he was very sick, or if he had taken his medicine. Even though he knew being sick was inevitable and that medicine would be useless, he wanted to ask if he was alright.

However, Melione refrained. If a single question of “Are you alright?” could make things alright, he could have asked it dozens of times, but he knew such words were meaningless.

No matter how much he asked, he wouldn’t be alright. He might even be asked back if he was mocking him. At this, Melione clenched his hand tightly on the table and closed his eyes.

He should have kicked out Euro, who had come to him out of the blue late at night demanding marriage. No matter how the Emperor reacted, he should have locked the doors of the mansion and refused to accept either Clope Leches or Euro Leches.

If he had met his death here alone, he would have at least been free from this strange guilt. Though now, there was nothing that could be undone.

ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ

“Kisha? Kisha, where are you?”

Euro wandered around the mansion searching for Kisha. As expected, when his mind was troubled, animal therapy was the best.

Even the servants who had lived in the mansion far longer than [Read on Read BL Novels]Read on Read BL NovelsEuro still flinched when they saw Kisha, yet Euro treated the predatory tiger like a pet.

Perhaps Kisha was taking a long nap somewhere, as there was no response no matter how much he called. Eventually, Euro gave up on finding Kisha and headed toward his office.

Entering the half-open office with a somewhat sullen face, Euro’s expression brightened instantly at an unexpected sight. Kisha, whom he had been searching for so desperately, was waiting for him on a long sofa.

“Kisha!”

With an incomparably bright face, Euro approached Kisha almost running, knelt down, wrapped his arms around the tiger’s neck, and rubbed his cheek against its face.

“Were you sleeping?”

With a pleasant purring vibration, Euro asked while making eye contact with Kisha. In response, Kisha exhaled a puff of air from its nostrils and bumped its head against him.

“I’ve been so distracted lately that we haven’t had time to talk.”

Euro slowly stood up and sat beside him. Then, Kisha naturally lay down, using Euro’s lap as a pillow.

Feeling that heavy weight and warm Read on Read BL Novelsbody temperature, Euro leaned back into the sofa and [Read on Read BL Novels]gently stroked Kisha’s head. As expected, there was no healing quite like this.

“Ah, if I had known it would be like this, I should have married Kisha instead of the Duke.”

If a relationship where one constantly seeks the other, feels peace just by looking at them, and feels stability just by being together is a healthy relationship, then being a couple with Kisha was certainly better than being a couple with Melione.

It was nonsense for a tiger and a human to be a couple, but since it was a relationship in name only anyway, this was better. At least Kisha was a source of great comfort to Euro.

It was almost an insult to compare Kisha to anyone else who changed their attitude based on their mood. Even when Euro clung to him to an annoying degree, Kisha had never once shown a sign of dislike.

Regardless of what Euro said, Kisha kept his eyes closed and completely surrendered his body to the touch that evenly scratched his forehead, cheeks, and chin. He looked as if he had absolutely no dignity as a predator.

Seeing this, Dent, who had entered the office to find Euro, stopped abruptly at the door, unable to step further inside.

Sensing a presence, Euro looked up and spoke to the half-frozen Dent.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Ah… I have something to tell [visit our site]you regarding the spring festival. You seem busy, [stolen content]so I—I will come back later.”

“No. Sit down and tell me now.”

Euro said, pointing to the sofa in front of him with his chin. However, for some reason, Dent hesitated and could not approach.

“What… what’s wrong?”

“Could we just do it later…?”

“…….”

“I mean, I’m a bit scared.”

At those words, Euro lowered his head slightly to gaze at Kisha. Unlike the servants who had managed the Dukedom for a long time, Dent, who hadn’t seen Kisha often, seemed to be terrified of this giant tiger.

“He doesn’t bite, it’s okay.”

“That… is what owners of fierce dogs always say. It’s not that they don’t unauthorized copybite; stolen contentit’s just that they don’t bite their owner.”

“I’m not Kisha’s owner, though?”

“Anyone can see that you are the owner.”

Dent shook his head and spoke in a dwindling voice. No matter how much people called Kisha the second master of Spiorene, in Dent’s eyes, Kisha was simply a giant predator who followed only Euro.

“I am sorry to say this… but the Madam is truly an eccentric. No one else would be able to rummage through Kisha’s head like that.”

Every time Euro vigorously scratched Kisha’s cheeks, giant fangs were revealed beneath the moving fur. Whether he knew it or not, Euro was kneading the tiger’s face like flour dough.