The Duke of Hermont’s Male Mistress
Chapter 6
Roy drew in a deep breath as she climbed the mountain path. The forest was lush with deep greenery and the fresh scent of grass.
The anxiety and dread that had weighed heavily on her seemed to slowly dissipate. The tranquility of the woods soothed her mind.
‘Right. Who would ever know? Right now, I just look like a gamekeeper. Besides, my hair is short and brown.’
Everyone at Elysia Mansion believed Roy was a man. She had hidden it successfully for this long; there was no way she would be found out over a single night.
Roy quickened her pace. The further she got from Vitor, the more her confidence seemed to return.
A hunting bet—in truth, it was for the best. Had they stayed together, she would have been on edge, fretting anxiously over his every glance.
Being alone like this made her feel so much lighter.
‘I’ll just take it easy, catch a few, grab a bite to eat, and head back. If I overdo it, I’ll only draw unwanted attention.’
She headed down toward the riverbank to look for animal tracks. Before long, she spotted a pheasant near the water’s edge.
Roy lowered her stance smoothly and brought the stock to her shoulder. Aligning her sight on the target, she held her breath.
Bang!
Mountain birds fluttered and took flight. Roy grabbed the pheasant by its legs, a wide grin spreading across her face.
“Pheasant for dinner today!”
Securing the pheasant tightly onto her pony with rope, Roy headed back up the mountain trail. Midway up the slope stood a small treehouse.
She gathered firewood from the brick brazier in front of the treehouse and lit it. As smoke began to drift upward, Roy lost herself in thought for a moment.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”
This place had originally belonged to the Crown Prince. Weak and sickly as a child, the Crown Prince had spent his early years recuperating at Elysia Mansion.
Roy had been around the same age, and back then, they had spent time together like playmates. Now a grown man, the Crown Prince seemed to have forgotten those days.
Enough to hand over the mansion to someone else.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t disappointed. But Roy understood.
She had only been his playmate in the first place because there were no suitable noble children around, and he was a person of such exalted stature that ordinary people could scarcely even look upon his face.
From what she occasionally heard through word of mouth, the Crown Prince seemed to be doing very well. That was enough.
Pushing her thoughts aside, Roy turned her gaze to the pot bubbling over the brazier. The pheasant was plump and meaty; it seemed too much for her to finish alone.
“If there’s any left, I’ll sneak it back for Uncle.”
It was just as Roy was pondering this.
“Aaaagh!”
A scream echoed from the distance.
“What was that?”
“Argh!”
“Aaaargh! Run!”
Another scream erupted right after. This time, it was a different man’s voice.
Hearing their terrified cries, Roy’s heart dropped.
Bang! Bang, bang, bang!
Wild, frantic gunshots rang through the woods. Nearby birds flapped their wings and scattered in every direction.
“What on earth is going on…?”
Accidents, both large and small, occasionally happened in the forest. Roy looked around and gripped her rifle with caution.
A rustling sound came from a nearby bush.
“…”
Amid the taut tension, Roy crept quietly toward the sound. Cold sweat formed on the hands clutching her firearm.
Parting the brush in an instant, Roy stepped onto the rise and aimed at her target. Just then, someone grabbed her, knocking her hunting cap backward.
“I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.”
Roy froze.
“Your eyes really are purple, aren’t they?”
Vitor Carl Hermont.
His dark green eyes glinted like a beast that had finally cornered its long-sought prey.
“Y-Your Grace! Ah!”
Startled, Roy stepped back and lost her footing. As she tumbled off balance, Vitor caught her in an instant.
“Careful.”
Roy gasped. His arm was around her waist.
They were far too close. Less than a hand’s breadth separated them.
Feeling his heartbeat through their pressed chests, her whole body went stiff.
“T-Thank you.”
Barely pulling herself together, Roy quickly slipped out of his embrace. An unfamiliar heat rushed to her face.
Yet Vitor simply picked up the hunting cap that had fallen to the ground and handed it back to her with a smile, as if nothing had happened.
“What were you doing?”
“I was… pheasant meat—no, that’s not it, I suddenly heard a scream, and…!”
“Ah, that.”
As she stammered flusteredly while pulling her hat back on, Vitor gave a calm nod.
“Did Your Grace hear it too?”
“Of course.”
“I think something terrible happened!”
“Hmm. I wonder if it’s because of that.”
“Do you know something?”
“On my way here, I saw that the wire fence was broken.”
“What? The fence?”
Roy’s face instantly hardened.
“There was a hole large enough for a grown man to pass through.”
“R-Really? Where is it?!”
“On the fence about two hundred meters to the northwest.”
“T-That can’t be. I checked everything this morning…”
Roy muttered in flustered anxiety. If a large beast had breached the grounds through that gap, it was undeniably her failure.
Worse, if someone had been injured because of it, the situation was dire enough that she and Harper could be driven out of Elysia Mansion.
Her heart pounded with dread.
“I saw bear tracks in the mud, too.”
“Good heavens!”
At his additional remark, Roy’s face turned completely pale.
“Then was that scream the Young Count? What should we do? He must have run into a bear.”
“Well, he should be fine. If there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s running away.”
Vitor, on the other hand, remained completely unfazed. He seemed so nonchalant that Roy almost wondered if she was making a fuss over nothing.
“He has the servants he brought along as beaters with him, so there is no need to worry too much.”
“If so, that’s a relief, but…”
“Let’s head back for now. The woods seem dangerous.”
“Yes. Just a moment, please. I’ll go get my things.”
Roy hurried to turn around, then paused as she remembered the half-dressed pheasant.
“Um, but I have a pheasant that I was in the middle of preparing… It wasn’t that I was trying to eat it here, really! I was just cleaning it to take back, so I’ll go fetch that too.”
No matter that Roy had caught it, all game in the hunting grounds belonged to the master. At her hurried excuse, Vitor merely chuckled and nodded.
“All right, go bring it.”
She couldn’t tell whether his relaxed demeanor should reassure her or put her even more on edge.
‘Now I just feel embarrassed.’
Roy hurried off.
Even as they walked along the forest path, Roy couldn’t shake her anxiety. Judging from the gunshots and screams, the Young Count’s party had almost certainly run into a bear.
‘Please let everyone be safe. I hope no one got hurt…’
As she followed him while praying inwardly, a voice spoke from beside her.
“How old are you?”
“Pardon?”
“Your age.”
Vitor, who had been walking ahead, was now matching her stride. Roy shifted her eyes, then answered in a small voice.
“I’m twenty-one.”
“Are you from Clareville?”
“Yes. I’ve lived here ever since I was little.”
“And your family is in this village as well?”
“I’m an orphan… Uncle Harper took me in when I was seven. Ah, Uncle Harper is a gamekeeper at Elysia Mansion. There’s a cabin at the edge of the woods, and he lives there with me.”
“I see.”
Giving a brief nod, Vitor studied Roy’s face more intently. Was it just her imagination, or had his gaze been piercingly sharp for a while now?
It felt as though their eyes kept meeting.
“He sounds like a good man. So you’ve been working here ever since?”
“Yes. He’s like a father to me.”
“Then do you plan to continue living here?”
“Yes. If possible, for as long as I can…”
Answering obediently, Roy suddenly realized something was off.
“But why are you suddenly asking all this? If you’re trying to hold someone responsible for what happened, it’s entirely my fault. Uncle Harper did nothing wrong.”
Vitor gave a soft chuckle and shook his head.
“No. Nothing like that. It’s just that… I think I’ve seen a woman who looks like you, Roy-ssi.”
“Pardon?”
The Duke of Hermont’s Male Paramour
