The Duke of Hermont’s Male Mistress
Chapter 26
Raul forced a calm smile and spoke first. Vitor watched the bead of sweat trickling down Raul’s forehead despite his efforts to appear composed, then replied nonchalantly.
“I was quite surprised myself. I believed you were in the capital, yet here you are, suddenly attending a banquet in the south.”
“Haha. Just stopping by on business. I had some things to discuss with Baron Ribelt regarding a logistics contract. The deal went quite well, too.”
Raul raised his glass, subtly showing off how well his business was doing.
“Ah, you were running a merchant group, weren’t you.”
Vitor gave a light nod.
“Then since you must have plenty of business to attend to, I shall take my leave.”
“W-Wait, Vitor!”
As Vitor turned away, Raul hastily caught him by the arm.
“Haha, the truth is… I heard a strange rumor about you.”
Smoothing back his fallen bangs, Raul opened his mouth with an awkward, troubled air.
“They say the secretary you brought as your partner is a man? And rumors have it that the two of you share quite a special relationship…”
Vitor’s brow twitched faintly. His expression remained smooth, but the light in his eyes cooled subtly.
Raul hurriedly waved his hand and added,
“Of course, I would never believe such nonsense. Never! But I wondered if you were putting on another act, like you used to in the past. After all, so much has happened over the years. If it’s all right with you… might I meet this person, your secretary, for just a moment?”
Raul spoke with as much concern and worry as he could muster—as if he were merely an older brother needing to check whether some unsavory character had latched onto his precious younger brother.
After a moment of silence, Vitor gave a brief reply.
“I apologize, but my secretary was feeling unwell and has already left.”
“That couldn’t be. Someone mentioned seeing them with Baron Ribelt just a moment ago.”
“He felt dizzy afterward, so I sent him back first.”
Raul curled his lip, eyeing Vitor sidelong. Soon, he let out a sneering remark.
“It seems you don’t want to show him to me, but do you honestly think I won’t find him just because you hide him?”
When Raul tried to brush past him, Vitor gripped his arm and warned in a low voice,
“Enough pretending we are devoted brothers. When what you’re truly curious about is something else entirely.”
“W-What?”
“Whether this will finally ruin my reputation beyond repair, and whether there might be a chance for you to inherit the ducal title—isn’t that what you came here to find out?”
“I-I didn’t come with such intentions! I was truly worried about you…”
“Let me give you a definitive answer on this much.”
Vitor cut off Raul’s excuses, clearly having no desire to listen.
“Whatever choice I make, it will not harm you. If anything, it will work in your favor. So drop your needless suspicions and unwanted concern.”
“And then you’ll deceive me again when it turns out to be another lie? Being danced around by your tricks once or twice was enough—I won’t believe you anymore. I have to see it with my own eyes!”
“Isn’t the very fact that I refuse to show my partner to you confirmation enough?”
For the first time, distinct irritation colored Vitor’s voice.
“Do you truly believe I would ever want to introduce the person I love to you?”
“…….”
It struck right at the core.
If Vitor truly held someone in his heart, Raul was the last person he would ever want that someone to meet.
Because Raul was the filth of the Hermont family.
Thus, Vitor’s words were essentially saying, You are someone I would be ashamed to show.
Even though he had obtained the confirmation he so desperately wanted, Raul’s face twisted into an ugly grimace.
The inferiority complex and shame simmering deep within his chest ignited into flames.
“Isn’t this all because of you—pretending you don’t even want that position, straying off course, only to overturn everything every single time?!”
Raul screamed as if losing all reason.
“Even running off to sea only to return laden with medals—what on earth was I supposed to do?!”
As the boisterous shout rang out, the atmosphere in the ballroom froze instantly, as if doused in ice-cold water.
The music halted, and gazes began turning toward them one by one. Vitor knitted his brows and spoke in an even lower tone.
“Calm yourself. This is the banquet hall of Baron Ribelt’s estate.”
“You were always like this! Running away, acting all high and mighty, playing the hero! Nobody knows how the noble heir of House Hermont was actually raised, do they?!”
“That is enough.”
Vitor’s expression hardened stone-cold.
Seeing the crack in that composed facade, Raul felt a strange sense of exhilaration.
This was his chance to bring Vitor down in front of everyone for the first time.
“Where do you think the Duchess took out all her rage when she went mad with jealousy? Everyone treats my mother like a whore, but who was the woman who lost her mind because she couldn’t best that whore?! And after all that, everyone only praises you now. Only you! Even the real reason you refused to marry was because…!”
Before the words could even finish leaving his mouth, Vitor grabbed Raul by the collar and hurled him straight onto the lawn.
“Gah!”
Having plunged face-first into what happened to be a muddy puddle, Raul gasped on the wet grass, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.
The ballroom fell into a suffocating silence. Vitor slowly dusted off his white silk gloves and spoke.
“I had heard plenty of rumors that you indulge in narcotics, but I had no idea it was this severe. You should keep your delusions in check. It puts those listening in an awkward position, doesn’t it?”
“W-What…?”
“At this rate, you should be a novelist rather than a politician.”
Still struggling to gather his wits, Raul gradually realized Vitor’s intent. Vitor was framing him as a madman spouting fabrications.
“This isn’t made up…!”
“If you wish to become a politician, you ought to understand the weight of your words. Who would ever trust and follow you when you tarnish the family’s honor with such falsehoods? Furthermore, how do you plan to handle the fallout? You no longer have anyone to fall back on.”
The former Duke, who had backed him in the past, was no longer in this world.
And the man who held absolute power over House Hermont today was the one standing before him.
Vitor Hermont.
“I say this purely out of concern. Instead of stalking me, please establish your own standing properly. With the dedication it took to arrive at the estate before me and tamper with the wire fence, you surely could accomplish something productive, couldn’t you?”
Raul’s eyes shook violently. Though he didn’t utter a word, his expression screamed, How did you know that?
“Leaving every trace imaginable behind, how could you possibly expect me not to know?”
Vitor clicked his tongue in pathetic disappointment.
“Just stay quiet while I set the stage for you. The person who truly wishes for you to become someone worthy of the ducal title is not your mother, but me.”
Raul trembled violently, unable to utter a single word.
Suppressing his frayed nerves, Vitor walked with slow, measured steps. In the wake of the altercation with Raul, he could feel eyes following him wherever he went.
He was used to drawing attention. Yet the stares directed at him now were different.
They were an utterly vile mixture of astonishment, curiosity, speculation, and mockery.
‘I knew he was a pathetic creature steeped in inferiority, but I never expected him to be such a reckless fool who couldn’t even read the room.’
Raul had crossed the line. Even though he had avoided explicit words, everyone would have understood the implications from the context.
To bring up sensitive family matters in public—and as an attack against his own brother, no less.
The one saving grace was that Raul was already notorious for his drug troubles. No matter what he spouted, few would take it at face value right away.
Yet this banquet was teeming with people who fed on sensational gossip. Thanks to the idle chatterboxes, word had already spread, and by now, fabrications were likely being piled on top to spawn rampant rumors.
‘The reporters will have quite a dilemma deciding what to plaster across the front page of tomorrow morning’s gossip rags.’
His mouth felt dry and bitter. He wanted nothing more than to take a drag from a cigar, but he had no leisure for that now. His mind lingered on the person he had left behind. Roy appeared unbothered on the outside, but she was timid at heart.
The Duke of Hermont’s male paramour.
