The Duke of Hermont’s Male Mistress
Chapter 17
“You’re returning to the mansion, aren’t you? Let’s take my carriage together.”
“If I arrive with you, Your Grace, people will look at us strangely.”
“I can just drop you off halfway.”
Roy nodded reluctantly and accompanied him toward where the carriage was parked.
Children chased one another, darting to and fro across the street.
“Buy some flowers!”
From amidst the commotion, a young boy approached Vitor, holding a neatly wrapped bouquet high.
“They’re the most fragrant flowers in Clareville!”
It was acacia.
Pale cream petals were gathered in a neat cluster, a red ribbon tied round the base of the stem.
Vitor accepted the flower, bringing the blossom to his nose and inhaling its scent deeply.
As though savoring a moment far sweeter than the flower itself.
His eyes softened gently.
“How much?”
“Just one coin, sir!”
The boy held out an adorable hand. Vitor pulled a wallet from his pocket.
Rummaging through it, he soon spoke in a troubled tone.
“Mm, I only have banknotes. Can you make change?”
“Uh… I don’t have that much change.”
Watching this, Roy let out a soft sigh and felt around her pockets. Drawing out one of her few remaining coins, she pressed it into the boy’s hand.
“Thank you, Roy-ssi.”
“There’s no call for banknotes around here. Carry around that kind of money and you’re bound to get pickpocketed.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Vitor chuckled with his characteristically playful smile.
At moments like this, his highborn nature invariably showed.
Though she had grown much more comfortable around him thanks to his unpretentious demeanor, instances like these always reminded Roy of the divide in their status.
‘If not for the contract, I’d never be walking side by side with a duke.’
Ordinarily, she would have been trailing a step behind, looking only at the back of his head—certainly never admiring flowers together on an unhurried street.
The sense of inner closeness that had crept up unawares receded, settling back into its proper bounds.
“Vitor?”
Just then, someone called out to him from across the way.
“Vitor, is that you? It is you!”
“Hey! Vitor’s over here!”
“Vitor? Where?”
Impeccably tailored overcoats, buttons glinting under the sun, and the gleaming tips of polished shoes caught the eyes of passersby.
A few even carried walking sticks. It was a clique of frivolous young noblemen who frequented the taverns.
“Why haven’t you been coming to the tavern? Alan said he called for you.”
“I hadn’t seen a single hair of yours in Clareville, so I thought you’d gone up to the capital. What are you doing out here? Found something fun?”
“If it’s fun, let us in on it. I’m bored out of my skull in this godforsaken backwater.”
“You’re seeing a woman, aren’t you? Is she pretty?”
“No such thing.”
Swarming around Vitor like a hive of bees the moment they spotted him, they showered him with questions. Vitor openly grimaced in annoyance and pressed a hand to his forehead.
“By the way, who’s this?”
One of them glanced toward Vitor’s side, scanning Roy shamelessly from shoulder to toe.
“You never bother bringing an attendant when you go out on your own.”
Roy pulled her flat cap low over her eyes, wary that they might recognize her face.
She hoped he would just brush it off with a plausible excuse…
“My new lover. The name is, hm… Louise.”
Roy’s eyes snapped wide at Vitor’s words. Vitor merely held a nonchalant smile.
‘Setting aside the fact that he just made up a name on the spot, Louise…?’
Louise was Roy’s real name. It was the name engraved on the pendant left in the basket when she was abandoned in front of the orphanage.
‘No wonder I couldn’t find it anywhere. Did I really leave my pendant behind that night?’
The night she had spent with Vitor. He unquestionably had her pendant.
“Ah. With that short hair, I almost mistook her for a man. You said you were looking for a new lover—I take it this is the one playing the part?”
She wanted to demand it back this instant, but with the crowd gathered around, the timing couldn’t be worse. What’s more, they seemed to know something about Vitor’s plan.
“Louise is a man.”
“What?”
Evidently they didn’t know the whole scheme, as all their eyes snapped to Roy at once. Having so many gazes fixed on her sent a cold sweat prickling down her spine.
“Hello, I am Louise…”
Roy introduced herself, feeling as if she were sitting on a bed of nails.
“I am an adult male.”
She added this preemptively to ward off the misunderstandings that often arose from her youthful looks. Every single one of them clicked their tongues in utter disbelief.
“You crazy bastard…”
“He’s out of his mind. I’ve always said he’s the biggest lunatic among us.”
She couldn’t agree more. No matter how much someone wanted to avoid marriage, this wasn’t an idea that could come from a sound mind.
What nobleman in his right mind would ever think to dodge matrimony by taking a male lover?
“By the way, doesn’t he look familiar? Hey, lift your head a bit. Let’s have a look.”
“…”
One of them stepped toward Roy and flicked the brim of her cap. Roy merely tilted her chin up a fraction.
“Higher. What, is your face painted in gold? Playing bloody hard to get.”
Without warning, her cap was snatched away. Sunlight beat down directly upon her.
Roy reflexively squinted before opening her eyes. They were staring at her, wide-eyed with shock.
“…What the? Isn’t this Natalie?”
“Right? What’s going on?”
“No, it’s not. There’s no chest. Our Natalie had a tiny waist and gorgeous curves—a work of art.”
Their eyes bore blatantly into Roy’s chest. It was too awkward to cover herself, yet staying still was deeply humiliating.
“Why are you ogling a man’s chest like that? Perverts.”
Vitor wrapped an arm around Roy’s shoulders, shielding her against his chest.
“You don’t think they look alike? Look closely. It’s the spitting image of Natalie.”
Vitor glanced down at Roy. Scanning her features in a flash, he spoke in a nonchalant voice.
“People can look alike. Daniel, you look like your family’s French bulldog.”
“Why bring a dog into this?”
“Pfft, look at Daniel’s face and it really does come to mind.”
“When I saw him lying in bed with that dog, I honestly thought he was tucked in with his brother.”
The young nobles chimed in one after another, snickering among themselves.
“Anyway, you know the truth now, so spread the word. I’m counting on you.”
“That’s easy. Our mouths were itching to talk anyway.”
“So the rumor was true—Vitor was used and dumped by Natalie. They said he was so lovesick he couldn’t even eat, and now he goes and finds a man who looks just like her…”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Vitor’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Alan told us. Said you were combing Clareville from top to bottom looking for Natalie.”
“How does searching for someone get twisted into wasting away from lovesickness?”
Vitor gave an incredulous scoff.
Just then, someone came dashing out of a nearby restaurant.
“What? Vitor is with a male lover?”
It was Alan—the very source of that ridiculous rumor.
“Th-Th-That’s the gamekee—mph! Mmph!”
Someone had evidently already spread the word; Alan, having rushed out mid-meal upon hearing the news, pointed a finger at Roy’s face only to be swiftly subdued by Vitor.
“Alan, long time no see. Come to think of it, I had something urgent to discuss with you.”
Clamping a hand over Alan’s mouth in a flash, Vitor dragged him into an alleyway.
He gave Roy a subtle nod, signaling for her to wait a moment.
“What is this? What on earth happened?”
The moment they reached the quiet alley, Alan demanded an explanation.
“Exactly what it looks like.”
Vitor held up the flower in his hand. It was an acacia blossom tied with a cheap red ribbon.
“What does that have to do with anything? Explain properly. Since when, and why did this happen?”
“You saw the face. It looks like Natalie.”
“You took a gamekeeper as your lover just because of that?”
“Not just that.”
Vitor gave a light shrug.
“Aside from the resemblance, when I thought about it, a man is perfect for getting tongues wagging without getting tangled up in other complications. If he’s employed at the mansion, he won’t be running off easily, either. It kills several birds with one stone. The conditions aren’t bad, are they?”
“That may be so… but can you handle the fallout? Grand Duchess Leonora is bound to be furious.”
“Wasn’t this the very method you suggested?”
“I didn’t mean you should get a male lover!”
Alan practically shrieked.
Of all the reckless messes to make. He had caught wind of a rumor recently that Vitor had become involved with a man.
However, rumors about him were so numerous and varied that it was hard to believe. Above all, he had been searching for a completely different woman.
“So you’re not looking for Natalie anymore?”
“I told you to stop looking.”
“I was still asking around discreetly, though. You looked so full of regret.”
Vitor’s face stiffened for a moment. An unshakeable heaviness lingered on his firmly set lips.
Look at him. He was practically dripping with lingering feelings.
The Duke of Hermont’s Male Paramour
