The Duke of Hermont’s Male Mistress
Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Vitor handed her a buttered slice of bread, as if telling her to stop worrying over nothing and just eat. Roy took a bite of the well-toasted baguette with a sense of giving up entirely. The rich, luxurious flavor of butter coated her palate.
There was also smoked venison ham, a Clareville specialty, alongside fragrant scrambled eggs tossed with herbs. Pairing it with a dollop of homemade peach jam made it melt in her mouth.
With a faint flush rising to her cheeks, Roy took bite after deliberate bite, eating with sincere devotion—like someone who had not truly enjoyed a meal in a very long time.
Vitor swallowed the thought that it would have been a shame not to call her over.
Just as he had noticed yesterday, watching Roy quietly savor her food naturally whetted his own appetite.
Breakfast, a routine he usually found tedious, felt surprisingly pleasant and fulfilling today.
“By the way, did I bump into something yesterday?”
Vitor asked nonchalantly. Roy responded with slight tension visible on her face.
“Wh-why do you ask?”
“I noticed a bump on my forehead. Look, isn't it a bit swollen right here?”
When Vitor swept his bangs aside to show her, there was indeed a red, swollen lump right along the edge of his forehead.
“I did bump you against a tree while carrying your Grace over my shoulder. I'm sorry….”
“Ah. And here I thought Roy-ssi had taken out some deep-seated grudge and clobbered me while I was out of my mind.”
“How could I ever do something like that…?”
Cold sweat ran down Roy's spine. In truth, that lump was entirely her fault.
A certain incident had occurred on their way back.
“I told you to drink in moderation. Why did you suddenly cut loose? *Pant, pant*…”
Near the end of their drinking session, Vitor had become far too intoxicated. Roy had no choice but to heave him over her shoulder and barely managed to hail a hired carriage. Carrying a full-grown, solidly built man had instantly burned away her slight buzz.
Yet as Vitor leaned against Roy's shoulder, he seemed to mistake her for a woman and his hand tried to grope somewhere it definitely shouldn't have.
“You crazy bastard!”
Roy had instinctively shoved him away, and Vitor slammed his head hard against the carriage wall.
She had let it slide thinking it was fine since there was no blood, but it seemed to have left behind a sizable lump.
‘Serves him right for having wandering hands….’
Clicking her tongue inwardly, Roy wondered if his moniker as the Libertine of Rostria wasn't just baseless rumor after all.
“Does it hurt much, though?”
With a lingering scrap of conscience, Roy checked his expression and asked.
“Of course it hurts. I think it might only heal if Roy-ssi blows on it for me.”
“Please stop joking. Shouldn't you at least call a doctor?”
“I told you, I wasn't raised that delicately. Anyway, the ready-made clothes we ordered yesterday have already arrived. Take them with you while you're here. If you don't have a suitable place to store them, you can leave them here…”
Vitor suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
“Wh-what is wr—”
At his gesture telling her to stay quiet, Roy snapped her mouth shut.
A moment later.
*Knock, knock.*
Along with the knocking came a soft yet commanding voice from beyond the door.
“Vitor. Are you awake?”
The middle-aged woman's voice addressed Vitor by his given name.
The former Duchess, and his mother.
Elise Hermont.
* * *
“I see you were having a meal.”
Elise stepped into her son's chamber and surveyed the surroundings. Vitor sat at the dining table, with a servant standing respectfully beside him.
“And this person is…?”
It was not a face she saw often around the estate. Yet it looked strangely familiar.
Wavy brown hair, a slender frame, and delicate features on a young man.
“The weather was fine, so I was thinking of going out for a hunt.”
Ah, the gamekeeper.
Elise's gaze lingered on Roy for a moment. Vitor cut in, severing her line of sight.
“You may leave now.”
“Yes, Your Grace. I will prepare everything according to schedule without fail.”
The gamekeeper offered full courtesies and quietly withdrew. A strange silence settled in the room.
“Please sit. What brings you here?”
“It's nothing else, but…”
Elise hesitated slightly before speaking with difficulty.
“How did yesterday's matchmaking meeting go?”
“The atmosphere was fine.”
“That is a relief. But seeing how the other side keeps giving vague responses every time, I wonder if there is an issue…”
Vitor silently moistened his lips with coffee. Elise's heart burned with anxious frustration.
Normally she would have let it drop here, but having heard what Leonora had said, she had come resolved to do something about it.
“Vitor, by any chance… you didn't act deliberately rude or behave in a troublesome manner, did you?”
“There was nothing that could be called rude. I merely responded honestly, as things were.”
A faint frown creased Elise's brow.
‘Honestly.’ In high society, where everything was spoken in circumlocutions, that was the single most forbidden attitude.
As expected, the problem was most likely on Vitor's end again.
“Vitor. I am aware that preposterous rumors have been following you lately. However…”
The terrible rumor that had begun to circulate recently—something too disgraceful to even put into words.
It was a filthy, vulgar tale. In the end, Elise could not bring herself to utter it.
“*Sigh*… I do not believe a single word of such talk. Where could one ever find a child who has lived as faithfully for the family as you have?”
“For the family, you say.”
Upon hearing that, Vitor let out a scoffing chuckle.
That ice-cold mockery froze Elise in place. She steadied her breath before opening her mouth again.
“I know you feel uncomfortable about what happened that day, but I must speak today. Is the way you are acting now all because of what happened back then?”
“I have no idea what you are referring to.”
“I mean that night, when I tr—”
“The past is merely the past. Let it rest.”
The dark shame of House Hermont, kept under absolute secrecy so it would never leak outside the family.
Though they had never once spoken openly about the incident, Elise knew.
She knew Vitor had received a tremendous shock from it.
Because after that, Vitor had changed drastically.
A chill that had never been there before now lingered across Vitor's face. Elise burst into sudden tears.
“After you left for the sea like that, I… *sob*… I truly regretted it so much. Back then, this mother of yours was not in her right mind. I did so many terrible things to you. Because I was in so much pain. Because I felt like I would die if I didn't…”
Tears streamed ceaselessly down Elise's face. The composure of the poised noblewoman gradually crumbled away.
A mother bowing her head before her child looked utterly small.
“I was truly sorry back then. I will never show such a pathetic sight again. Even now, I want to fulfill my duties and responsibilities as your mother. If you could forgive me just once… Could you please give me just one chance?”
“Why on earth are you trying to shoulder duties and responsibilities that the person in question doesn't even want?”
She had thought he might show at least a sliver of agitation if she pleaded like this, but what met her was a cold indifference that seemed almost bored.
Elise's eyes went wide as she stared at her son as if looking upon a stranger.
“*Hah*… If your heart feels lighter with an apology, fine. I will accept it. I will forgive you, too. If your business is concluded, please take your leave.”
“Vitor…”
“This is my room and my estate. If you do not wish to suffer the indignity of having servants called to drag you out, please leave right now.”
“……”
Elise bit down hard on her lower lip.
The person before her was no longer the sweet, dependable son of the past.
He was the cold, indifferent, and overbearing master of the house.
The head of House Hermont.
The grown Vitor bore a chilling resemblance to his father—not just in appearance, but in temperament as well.
‘Yes. In the end, you were a child who inherited that very bloodline whole.’
The anger she thought she had forgotten flared up once more from the depths of her chest.
After a moment, as if she had never been weeping at all, Elise spoke in a parched voice.
“I may let this pass, but Grandmother will not. Please, take care of it yourself before it reaches her ears.”
“……”
Elise departed the room with the same measured strides she had entered with. Graceful as a swan.
The door clicked shut, leaving only a frigid quiet behind in the chamber.
“Damn it.”
Setting down his coffee cup, Vitor dragged a hand down his face.
The Duke of Hermont’s male paramour.
