9 – ​9

A ​sudden ​silence ​descended ​upon ​the ​dining table. Melione ​stared ​at ​Euro ​with ​a look that questioned ​if ​he had heard ​correctly, while the ​servants ​standing ​around ​all ​bowed ​their heads, biting ​their ​lips.

‘Don’t ​laugh.’

Everyone shared the ​same thought, pinching the ​backs of ​their hands ​or gripping ​their thighs ​tightly, ​while ​only Euro, with ​a thick ​skin, swayed his body ​and acted as shy ​as possible.

Since he had ​decided to ​be ​brazen, it was only right to ​do it properly. If ​he ​acted ​awkward ​now, ​it would soon ​be revealed ​that ​his claim of ​falling ​in love at first sight ​was a ​lie.

Moreover, ​what wonderful quick-wittedness! ​This ​was ​a ​skill ​honed by ​struggling ​to be ​caught on camera no matter what.

He was ​confident that if ​there had been ​judges in front of ​him, this ​top-tier reaction would ​have ​earned a unanimous ​A grade.

After staring ​at Euro ​in ​silence for ​a ​long while, ​Melione ​raised his ​hand ​with ​a composed face.

“The ​knife.”

“…….”

“Bring ​a new ​one.”

At ​those ​words, ​one of the servants standing behind Euro snapped back to his senses and quickly cleared the fallen knife, placing a new one on the table.

“Ah, thanks.”

Euro thanked him with a calm smile, but inside, he was letting out a sigh of relief.

He had completely forgotten that he had dropped the knife, so when Melione suddenly asked for a knife, he had momentarily wondered, ‘Is he planning to stab me?’

Right, surely he wouldn’t do something as crazy as swinging a knife at the dinner table just because he found him a bit disgusting. The Duke wasn’t some kind of lunatic.

This was all trauma stemming from the fact that he had once been stabbed to death.

Euro continued his meal, picking up the knife as if nothing were wrong. A strange atmosphere lingered in the dining room, but what did it matter? If these people were in his shoes, they would surely act the same way.

When you’re on the verge of death, what is there that you can’t do? As long as he was kept alive, Euro could have stripped naked right here and sung the debut song from his unknown idol days.

If Euro were to actually say such a thing out loud, one person might have said, “Even so, that’s a bit too much….” But that was a thought only possible for those who had never been stabbed with a knife.

‘Do you know how much it hurts to be stabbed? I can never go through that pain again.’

Indeed, that was true. Euro nodded, enjoying the feast of diverse unauthorized copyflavors spreading richly in his mouth. No unauthorized copymatter how he thought about it, the sauce drizzled over the steak was a work of art.

Melione found it absurd that Euro, after saying such embarrassing things without batting an eye, continued his meal as if nothing had happened.

He had certainly thought that everything was merely an act. However, he began to doubt if such a thing was possible through simple acting.

In an instant, Euro’s face had flushed bright red, and he looked at him with the face of someone who had fallen in love. If that were truly acting, Euro should have been the lead in an opera theater.

Did he really fall for me? Melione sank into thought, one eyebrow slightly furrowed.

That he acted mischievously on purpose because he didn’t want to admit he had fallen for him… Thinking about it, it wasn’t entirely nonsensical. Wasn’t that something children often did?

Normally, it would be natural to be too shy to even speak, but seeing how he didn’t care about others’ gazes at any moment, it seemed plausible enough.

“I appreciate that you feel comfortable around me, but as for the clothes… let’s go with getting new ones as planned.”

Melione spoke softly with an indifferent face. At this, Euro put down his knife and fork and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“I’m really fine with them. For some reason, the size fits perfectly. It’s as if they were tailored for me. Would it be uncomfortable for you if I wore your clothes, Your Grace?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

“They won’t be in fashion. The design is at least ten years old. While it might be fine inside the mansion, it would be somewhat problematic to go out in them.”

“Hmm… how about we just say I have a slightly outdated taste?”

Euro’s eyes sparkled mischievously at the Duke’s reaction, which seemed intent on getting him out of those clothes no matter what, following his embarrassing remark.

Half of him wanted to tease the man, and the other half was curious about how much he would allow.

The sparkling eyes and the lifted corners of his mouth were clearly full of mischief, but to some, it might have looked like he was brimming with anticipation.

“Since I come from the North, people might think I’m a bit outdated because I don’t know the trends of the South. Other people’s opinions aren’t important to me.”

“I cannot allow the person who will become the Duchess to be branded with an outdated image.”

“……What?”

“I will bring clothes in a trendy design. You can rest assured that no matter what you choose, you won’t hear that you’re outdated.”

“Wait, before that.”

“…….”

“Are you really going to marry me?”

When Euro asked, Melione nodded as if it were obvious.

“Since you’ve not only exploited a loophole but also traveled this far, it cannot be helped. Besides, it is not a bad proposal for me.”

“…….”

“His Majesty may be somewhat enraged, but it cannot be helped. It was the Imperial Family’s fault for not explicitly clarifying it, assuming it was obvious. And the same goes for me.”

In truth, it wasn’t something that should have been assumed. If the Emperor’s goal was the marriage between Clope and Melione, he should have specifically mentioned her.

Especially since same-sex marriage was not uncommon in the Empire, this part was truly the Emperor’s mistake. The reason it happened this way was likely because same-sex marriage was not legal in Norden.

Above all, even though there were three princes, the two half-brothers above Euro Leches both had fiancées, and it was known that Euro was quite obsessed with Clope Leches in secret.

“What if His Majesty doesn’t allow it?”

“Once the sacramental rite of marriage is performed by a priest, not even the Emperor can undo it. He may strongly urge a divorce, but divorce among nobles is nearly impossible unless one party dies.”

“…….”

“You must know that. You wouldn’t have come this far blindly without any countermeasures.”

That was true. Silon was at the southernmost tip of the Empire. There was some distance to the capital, so even if a letter was sent now stating that he had arrived for the marriage, it would take some time.

If he claimed that the wedding had already taken place according to the imperial edict while the letter was being sent, there would be no way back. Of course, this was only possible if Melione pushed forward with the marriage.

“Still… I came knowing that if Your Grace didn’t want the marriage, it wouldn’t happen.”

“What did you plan to do if I refused?”

“Settling down in Silon would have been one way. If you didn’t even want that, I could have just traveled around… .”

“…….”

“This is my first time leaving Norden, so I thought it might be a good trip. Since I don’t have travel expenses right now, I was planning to borrow some money.”

Euro answered, scratching his cheek awkwardly. He had the somewhat naive hope that the Duke wouldn’t kick him out empty-handed if he pleaded that he had nowhere to return to.

Of course, Melione was the kind of person who would do exactly that. Even if he pleaded based on personal affection, it likely wouldn’t have worked.

However, in Euro’s opinion, it would be generous enough if the man simply kicked him out without killing [stolen content]him. visit our siteHow terrible a disaster would stolen contentit be if he swung a knife, calling him disgusting?

So, if he showed that much mercy, Euro would cling to him, saying he’d never appear again if he just lent him some money, and it wouldn’t be strange for the Duke to throw a few coins at him as if giving alms to a beggar.

“You came… without a plan.”

Melione spoke, drawing out his words. Euro could understand every hidden meaning between those lines.

In other words, it was a heavily sanitized version of: ‘You’re a much more thoughtless person than I expected. Absolutely pathetic.’

Euro didn’t care even if he wasn’t given money. A living mouth never grows a spiderweb; he could earn money somehow.

“I suppose when one is blinded by love, that’s bound to happen… I didn’t know I’d be like this either.”

“I feel sorry for saying this after you’ve said that, but I must make this part clear.”

“Yes?”

“There will be no grand wedding blessed by everyone.”

“Ah.”

“Only the two of us will receive stolen contentthe sacramental rite from a priest. There is no unauthorized copytime to organize a stolen contentlavish ceremony for the marriage with me that you desire so much.”

Euro nodded at Melione’s words. It was natural. Preparing and organizing various things would take a long time, and then this marriage would inevitably fall through.

If the Emperor, who would lose his mind upon hearing that Euro Leches, not Clope Leches, had arrived in Silon with a reply, found out, there was no telling what kind of interference he would cause.

“I’ve… already prepared for that. Anyway, the fact that we form a marital bond is more important.”

“It won’t be such a romantic married life. There is only one reason why I am accepting this marriage.”

“…….”

“Because I had no intention of having an heir.”