The Duke of Hermont’s Male Mistress
Chapter 18
“Anyway, Roy-ssi’s identity is a secret. It’ll be trouble if word gets out that he’s the gamekeeper at Elysia Mansion. Keep your mouth shut.”
“Got it…”
Alan nodded reluctantly.
“And is there any banquet nearby where I could take Roy-ssi?”
“Do you really think there is?”
“Men bring male companions every now and then. Under the guise of a secretary or an aide.”
“Even so, if you bring an attendant who looks like that, everyone’s bound to be suspicious.”
Even at a banquet with looser formalities, someone with looks that striking would immediately be mistaken for a lover.
Wait, don’t tell me…
“Are you… taking him just to stir up rumors?”
“Yeah.”
Vitor answered without hesitation.
“Good grief.”
A sigh escaped Alan’s lips.
If rumors spread that he indulged in men even for a brief season in his youth, it would stick to him like an indelible label, following him for the rest of his life.
Only then did Alan genuinely begin to worry about Vitor.
It wasn’t as though nobles who took male lovers didn’t exist at all. The south in particular was liberal enough that, while they wouldn’t openly endorse unconventional tastes, they tended to turn a blind eye.
But Vitor was different. He was a Hermont.
A family that had clamped an unyielding bit in the mouths of its heirs through tradition and honor.
The pinnacle of conservative nobility, older even than the imperial family itself.
The head of such a house, taking a male lover?
And bringing a male partner to a ballroom?
This was no mere scandal.
It would be recorded in the annals of high nobility as an unprecedented disgrace—a move that thoroughly dragged his family’s name through the mud.
Vitor’s reputation was already in shambles due to his countless scandals with women. Yet Alan had still believed Vitor would never cross that line.
Yet right at this moment, a wave of guilt washed over him, wondering if he had driven his friend down the wrong path.
“Are you really going to be all right? What if you get kicked out of the family…?”
“Well, nothing I can do about that.”
“…”
Vitor didn’t seem to harbor the slightest regret—so much so that Alan briefly wondered if he had orchestrated this hoping for precisely that outcome.
Of course, Grand Duchess Leonora was hardly the type to let go of her grandson so easily, but still…
“Don’t you dare blame me later, you hear?”
Alan warned him one last time.
“I won’t. So, is there a banquet worth going to?”
“There’s one. An evening open-air ball hosted by the Baron Ribelt family. They don’t care much for formalities, and the atmosphere is pretty free.”
“Ribelt?”
Vitor reacted the moment he heard the name.
“Why? You know them? An invitation’s probably already been sent your way.”
“Mm… No. Go on.”
Alan looked at him quizzically before continuing.
“The prestige of the banquet itself is mid-to-low tier, but the Ribelts are newly risen nobles who raked in mountains of cash through trade and spices, so plenty of upper-crust bourgeois and investors show up. The baron is crazy for sensational gossip, so if you show up with a male lover, he’ll welcome you with open arms.”
“Sounds good. When is it?”
“Next Sunday. But you aren’t taking that gamekeeper looking like that, right?”
Vitor tilted his head as if asking what he meant.
“Hey, no matter how casual the banquet is, he can’t get in looking like a beggar. He has to look presentable at least.”
Only then did Vitor recall Roy’s appearance.
A linen shirt and faded trousers. A vest stained here and there, and worn work boots with crooked heels.
Everything was clean, but it was hardly attire fit to stand under a ballroom chandelier.
“Where’s a decent tailor shop around here?”
“There’s one at the end of the west alley. It’s called Drapin. All our folks get their clothes fitted there, so you’ll likely be satisfied. About a ten-minute walk from here?”
“See you later, then.”
“Hey, wait!”
Alan called after Vitor, who was turning away without a shred of hesitation.
“Got what you wanted and that’s it? I still have something to give you.”
“What?”
Alan rummaged through his trouser pocket, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, and handed it over.
“I told you I kept looking for Natalie just in case, right? I stopped by that tavern again, and the owner handed me this. Said it’s a note Natalie left for you.”
Vitor’s gaze fell straight onto the note. Unfolding the crumpled paper revealed crooked, clumsy handwriting.
[It wasn’t because you were bad in bed that I ran away. So please don’t look for me anymore.]
Though it was only a brief sentence, Vitor could not take his eyes off it for a long while.
‘She knew.’
She regarded that night as merely a one-night stand. And she also knew he was desperately searching for her.
Yet telling him never to look for her again was certainly not a good sign.
Even so, a smile spread across Vitor’s lips.
Just the fact that a message had reached him made it impossible to suppress the smile slowly blossoming over his face.
“Look at him grinning. When she explicitly told you not to look for her.”
“Thanks for passing it along.”
Vitor carefully folded the note, slipped it into his pocket, and strode out of the alley with buoyant steps.
Once Vitor left, the pack of young noblemen lost interest and dispersed. Roy, who had been waiting quietly alone, looked up at the tall, striking figure approaching in the distance.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“No. Did your conversation go well?”
Roy pushed herself off the wall of a nearby shop where she had been leaning and answered.
“I made sure his lips are sealed.”
What on earth did he say to him?
Vitor looked strangely upbeat.
“More importantly, Roy-ssi, come somewhere with me before we head back to the mansion.”
“Where?”
“I’d feel bad if I only received something. I want to give you a present in return.”
Vitor smiled, gesturing with his chin toward the acacia branch in his hand.
“It was nothing… I’m fine, really.”
“Well, I’m not fine with it. Just follow me.”
Vitor had already turned and started walking. It was the exact opposite direction from where they had come.
‘Just what is he trying to buy me…?’
Anxiety preceded any premature expectation. And as feared, the place they arrived at was—
“Y-Your Grace. I think you chose the wrong shop. I-I don’t need any clothes.”
It was a gentlemen’s boutique with the name ‘Drapin’ elegantly engraved in gold across its signboard.
Beyond the curtains, fine silks and imported fabrics were neatly displayed, and the luxurious fragrance unique to the shop drifted out on the breeze.
Roy took another step back.
“I truly don’t need anything.”
“Who doesn’t need clothes? Let’s just go inside.”
“I’m serious! If you really want to buy me something… th-then buy me food! Over there!”
Fearing he might drag her inside at any second, Roy pointed desperately toward a street vendor across the road.
“They have freshly fried potatoes and pies drizzled with cinnamon syrup over there! That’s more than enough for me!”
“To tell you the truth, I’m buying this because I need to.”
Vitor let out a sigh tinged with laughter and lowered his voice.
“I found a suitable banquet to attend. But no matter how casual it is, we still need to look the part.”
“A banquet?”
Roy’s eyes widened.
Come to think of it, Vitor did say rumors would spread quickly if they went to a banquet.
“The clothes for the banquet are an expense for our contract, so it’s only right that I cover them. That’s what we agreed on, isn’t it?”
She was about to say she would pay for it with her own money, but he cut her off before she could even speak. It was indeed a clause specified in their contract.
“Still… if it’s a banquet, don’t people dance and things like that? I don’t know how to dance. Are you really going to take me?”
The sudden reality that she might actually attend a banquet made her nervous. Roy had never been to such a place before.
She wondered whether she was even allowed to go, and even if she gained entry, she felt she would only end up a laughingstock…
“Just dress up nicely and stand there like a folding screen. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Vitor dismissed everything as if it were nothing, just as he always did. And just as always, he would likely push forward until he got his way.
‘Whew, fine. Since the Duke says it’s all right. At least he won’t abandon me.’
Resigning herself, Roy stepped into the boutique alongside Vitor.
As the door opened, the soft chime of a bell drifted over their shoulders like spun silver.
Under the cozy lighting, colorful fabrics hung in rows across the display racks, while silks and embroideries shimmered like ripples over water.
“Welcome!”
The Duke of Hermont’s Male Paramour
