The Duke of Hermont’s Male Mistress
Chapter 12
A young lady in a radiant pink dress stood side by side with Vitor. Clad in full dress uniform, Vitor was listening attentively to her words with a smile.
“I have heard that the sea is endlessly beautiful, yet terrifying at the same time.”
“That is true, my lady. The sea itself commands reverence. When calm, it is boundless in its peace, but when a storm rages, it forces us to realize just how frail humans truly are.”
“I see. I always imagined the sea to be a romantic and free place. But hearing you speak, it seems that is not necessarily so.”
Marquis Russel’s daughter nodded in reply. Her voice held admiration, along with a quiet yearning to understand him.
“Ah, by the way, have you heard the news that a theater will soon open in Clareville?”
“Is that so? I had been rather bored, so that is welcome news.”
“Really? Were you bored?”
The young lady’s eyes sparkled. Seizing the opportunity, she hurried to speak.
“As it happens, I have tickets to the opening premiere. Would you care to accompany me? It is fine if you bring your friends as well. I have several, and it would be such a waste to throw them away…”
After putting the offer forward, she lowered her gaze slightly. Tension lingered in her posture, as if wondering if she had been too hasty.
Vitor smiled softly and nodded.
“If you would extend the invitation, I would be glad to accompany you.”
A blush flushed the young lady’s cheeks.
The woman was as lovely as a freshly bloomed flower, and the man looked down at her as if she were utterly charming.
Watching the scene quietly, Roy was seized by a strange feeling.
I mean, what on earth…?
‘Did that guy forget about the plan?’
The rumors calling him an unrivaled playboy had not spread without reason. How could that possibly be the demeanor of someone who hated marriage so much he concocted a male lover?
He just looked like a man utterly charmed by a woman!
‘If he cancels the contract midway, does my promised payment vanish into thin air?’
She should have hashed out the details beforehand. As the thought crossed her mind that the reward she was supposed to receive might go up in smoke, Roy began to regret her lack of foresight.
‘Knowing full well how easily nobles flip their words like turning their palms… Why didn’t I double-check?’
Just as her self-mockery deepened, Vitor suddenly changed the subject.
“My lady, I just recalled an urgent matter. May I excuse myself for a moment? I will return shortly.”
“Yes, of course. Please, take your time.”
Marquis Russel’s daughter nodded with a gentle smile. After offering a polite bow, Vitor walked in the direction where Roy was hiding.
Roy, concealed behind a tree, met his eyes the moment he stepped closer.
“I was worried you might have run off, but you’re actually ready?”
“I gave my word.”
Roy did her best to maintain an indifferent expression. Fortunately, Vitor did not seem to have forgotten the plan.
Vitor’s gaze trailed slowly down her from head to toe.
“Wh-why are you looking at me like that?”
“Looking at you like this, you really do resemble her.”
“Do you mean that woman?”
At the words that slipped out carelessly, Vitor’s expression hardened slightly.
“Did I ever tell you she had silver hair?”
In that instant, she realized her mistake. Roy hastily pivoted.
“I just remembered what you said last time. You mentioned I looked like a certain woman. I merely wondered if you meant her…”
“That’s right. In truth, I originally intended to ask her to do this. But she left before I even had the chance to ask.”
If that was his reason, she felt running away had been the right choice. She would have refused anyway.
Yet for some reason, a strange emptiness brushed across Vitor’s face. Feeling awkward, Roy looked away in silence.
Soon, a faint smirk touched Vitor’s lips as he suddenly braced one hand against the tree. The distance between them closed abruptly.
“Well then, are you ready?”
“I-I’m ready, but…”
Just what is he trying to do?
Before Roy could finish her sentence, Vitor placed his hand on her cheek.
Then his face drew near. Very near.
At a distance so close it caught her breath, he tilted his head slightly to the side.
As if he were about to kiss her.
Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Roy’s eyes flew wide as she pulled her head back in the opposite direction.
“Y-Your Grace. This wasn’t part of the agreement! You clearly said physical contact would be kept to a minimum…!”
“Put another way, it means doing whatever is necessary when the situation calls for it. No one knows about our relationship yet, so we need to leave a strong first impression.”
“That may be true, b-but…!”
Vitor’s face drew close once more.
Only a few centimeters remained between their lips. Close enough for their breaths to intermingle.
In the end, unable to bear it, Roy shrieked.
“Is Your Grace truly fine with this?!”
“With what?”
“Do you have no aversion whatsoever to doing something like this with a man?!”
He froze. Roy took advantage of the pause to catch her breath.
Even if this wasn’t his first time doing something outrageous, how could he feel so completely unbothered?!
When Vitor believed Roy was a man, no less!
For a second, he seemed so utterly devoid of reluctance to kiss a man that she wondered if her true identity had been found out.
“Ah. That? I’m fine with it.”
“What? Wh-wh-why?”
“Who knows? Why indeed?”
A steady gaze, the slight curl of his lips, a subtle smile.
Vitor tilted his head slightly with an ambiguous expression.
There was something oddly suggestive and tingling about his expression. In an instant, the nape of her neck stiffened as an ominous premonition flashed through her mind.
“D-don’t tell me you preferred men all along?”
She was so shocked that propriety went entirely out the window.
“I-is that why you’re doing this, to avoid marriage while indulging your own private desires on the side?!”
Despite the outright insolence of the outburst, Vitor tilted his head as if he couldn’t quite fathom what he just heard—and then, a beat late, burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
Pulling completely away, his shoulders shook. He had laughed aloud involuntarily before belatedly covering his mouth with a hand, but laughter still leaked through.
What is wrong with him? I asked in all seriousness!
“Is it really not true? Otherwise, this makes no sense!”
“Roy-ssi. I am without a doubt strictly heterosexual. If I had inclinations like that, it would have shown long ago out on the sea.”
“Then why…?”
Roy’s bewildered voice trailed off weakly.
Come to think of it, going out on a ship meant spending days at the shortest, or months at the longest, out at sea.
Vitor would have spent entire days crammed together with men inside cramped cabins.
If there had been even the slightest hint during all that time, rumors would have spread. Even if he hid it from others, Vitor himself could not have failed to notice his own inclinations.
“Then why do you say you’re fine with me?”
Yet once she accepted that explanation, the situation felt even stranger.
“You smell clean, Roy-ssi.”
“A clean smell?”
“Yes. Unlike most men, your scent is clean. Not merely clean, but a subtle blend of grass and floral fragrance. I smelled it just now, too.”
“Wh-what does that even…”
Flustered, Roy brought her wrist to her nose and sniffed. Her expression twisted in confusion.
“…I don’t smell anything?”
“Well, it’s your own scent, Roy-ssi, so you’re too used to it to notice.”
Finding her reaction amusing once again, Vitor replied while fighting back the laughter threatening to bubble up.
“It’s a faint, sweet scent of wild herbs and blossoms. Feels like something I might have smelled somewhere in the mountains. Delicate, yet with a lingering depth.”
“Could it be…”
Listening to him go on, a certain flower did come to mind.
“Are you talking about the scent of acacia?”
“Acacia?”
“Yes. There are many such flowers in our town. They grow commonly both on the mountains and in gardens. Since my workplace is the forest and my home is there as well, the fragrance must have settled on me…”
In truth, she had no certainty that the scent was actually acacia. His words probably just meant her body scent was unusually clean for a man.
She had only said it because she felt the need to make up an excuse. Fortunately, for an impromptu cover story, it was quite convincing.
Who knew being a gamekeeper would come in handy like this? The scent of earth, wood, and greenery was something that naturally seeped into someone with her trade.
Besides, Clareville was truly famous for making all kinds of local specialties out of acacia.
“Is that so? I don’t recall seeing acacia anywhere nearby.”
“There are plenty. You will see them if you pay attention. If you aren’t actively taking in the scenery as you travel, you could easily pass right by without noticing.”
Vitor’s brow furrowed slightly. As if scouring his memory, he fixed his gaze on a single point and remained silent for a while before speaking with an utterly serious tone.
“Then… are you saying everyone in town smells like that?”
“I doubt everyone does. But wouldn’t anyone who lives close to the forest like me carry the same fragrance?”
“The forest. She didn’t seem like the type of woman to be near one…”
“Pardon?”
The Duke of Hermont’s Male Paramour
