The Duke of Hermont’s Male Mistress
Chapter 8
* * *
“Thank you for the food!”
A feast unlike anything they usually saw was laid out on the table.
There was apple pie left by the master’s family, stew made with freshly picked tomatoes, and even pheasant meat that Roy had hunted herself that day.
For the first time in a long while, the warm aroma of good food filled the cabin.
“I thought they’d confiscate it all, but the Duke told me to keep what I caught.”
Roy scratched her cheek as she spoke.
“To be honest, I thought I might get thrown out over today’s commotion, but he cleared up the misunderstanding and everything… He seems like a good person.”
“Is that so?”
Sitting across from her, Harper smiled as he poured her some orange juice.
“Yes. But the ladies didn’t seem very pleased. What if they tell us to leave later on?”
“If they tell us to leave, then we must. But it wouldn’t be because of what happened today. From a new master’s perspective, there’s simply no reason to keep accommodating a sick old gamekeeper. So even if that happens, don’t blame yourself.”
His words were calm, but they left Roy feeling uneasy.
Knowing better than anyone that Harper’s health was not what it used to be, seeing him speak with such resignation felt jarring.
When Harper was healthy, his attachment to Elysia Mansion was extraordinary. He used to say often that he wanted to work here until the day he died.
‘If only it had remained His Majesty’s property, we wouldn’t have to worry about Uncle getting thrown out…’
Roy let out a quiet sigh.
“Don’t worry, Uncle. The final decision rests with the Duke anyway. If they tell us to leave, I’ll go tell on them to the Duke.”
“Right. It’s reassuring to have you by my side.”
Harper gave a wry smile.
“By the way, it’s rare for you to speak so well of someone. Did you take quite a liking to the Duke?”
“It’s just because he’s our new master…”
Roy paused her hands from shredding the meat and offered a vague excuse. Even so, a flurry of complicated thoughts flickered across her face.
After a moment, Roy carefully asked a question.
“Do you know much about the Duke, Uncle?”
“Of course I do. His grandmother, the current Grand Duchess Leonora, was originally an imperial princess, you see. That’s why she even brought him here when he was young.”
“Really? Did I see him too?”
“You probably didn’t. It was only a brief visit.”
“I see…”
Roy felt a twinge of disappointment.
“Besides, the Duke is a hero of the Empire. Originally, he was only supposed to graduate from the military academy in keeping with family tradition, but he enlisted directly into the service and rose all the way to captain.”
“Don’t noble families usually avoid enlisting as regular soldiers, though?”
“Aye, usually they don’t. What’s more, the Hermont family wields immense political influence, so they say the opposition was fierce when the Duke joined the military. Right now, he hasn’t received an official rank of admiral due to his young age, but he’s widely recognized after practically commanding the entire fleet at the Battle of Puraren—enough for people to call him the ‘Young Admiral.’”
Harper was remarkably well-informed about the family’s private affairs.
“Grand Duchess Leonora still seems displeased, but surely her anger will soften once he holds his wedding this time around, won’t it?”
“Is the Duke getting married soon?”
Roy, who had been listening intently, asked in surprise.
“There were rumors that he acted the part of a rake a few years ago to delay marriage, but he won’t be able to dodge it this time. Given that the ladies followed him all the way to Elysia Mansion, they seem determined to push through a match. I hear they’re inviting noble young ladies to the estate starting next week. No doubt they intend to discreetly pair one of them off with the Duke.”
“…”
Roy gave no reply and lowered her head for a moment. A subtle emotion stirred in a corner of her heart.
“What, are you romantically interested in the Duke too?”
“Huh? No! Not at all!”
Roy shook her head vigorously.
“The other maids were chattering about him so much that I was just a little curious.”
“Well, that figures. There’s hardly a maid your age who hasn’t harbored a crush on the Duke of Hermont at least once. It wouldn’t be strange if you were interested, too.”
“I really mean it! I like you the best, Uncle. I’m going to live with you forever.”
“Hahaha, I appreciate the sentiment, at least.”
Harper burst into laughter as if he had just heard a charming joke.
“I’m serious…”
Roy mumbled, dropping her head even lower.
After finishing dinner, Roy lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling.
Beyond the window, the night sky was scattered with starlight. Through the trees, the faint silhouette of Elysia Mansion loomed in the distance.
A soft light leaked from the room at the far end of the fourth floor.
‘Is that the Duke’s room…?’
Roy unconsciously fixed her gaze on that light. The conversation from earlier that day resurfaced in her mind.
“Yes. She did something wrong. Because she abandoned me and ran away.”
“Pardon…?”
“She left the moment she woke up, before we could even do anything. As if being involved with me was utterly abhorrent.”
What had he planned to do if she hadn’t run away? When he spoke with Young Count Alan, it sounded as though he had some kind of plan.
What could a man on the verge of marriage possibly want to do with a woman he spent a single night with…?
Her head spun from the stray thoughts that kept welling up. Roy shook her head and forced her eyes shut.
“It’s nothing. It’s completely insignificant.”
Muttering as if to convince herself, she pulled the blanket up over her shoulders.
She would be busy maintaining the hunting grounds for a while, so there would be no reason to run into him. Even less chance of speaking to him.
Far in the future, this would all pass as just a bizarre little episode to look back on.
Still, she seemed to have lost her pendant necklace. She couldn’t remember for the life of her when it had gone missing from her neck.
She needed to find the necklace, repair the wire fences, and now that the busiest stretch was over, find a new part-time job. Roy had plenty on her plate.
Yet the Duke had seemed to suspect who was behind the incident. Who could he have had in mind?
He looked angry while searching for Natalie. Could he be misunderstanding something?
In the end, Roy climbed out of bed. She walked over to the desk and dipped a pen in ink.
‘Just in case. I’ll leave only this.’
A tranquil night blanketed the forest and the estate.
* * *
“Good morning.”
“Ack!”
The moment she opened the door, a low voice greeted her. Startled, Roy stepped back. Standing in front of the cabin was the Duke of Hermont.
“Y-Your Grace, what brings you here?”
For a second, she thought she was seeing things. Before the morning sun had risen, the forest was still submerged in pale darkness.
“Because I lost the bet?”
“What?”
Vitor gave a leisurely smile.
“Did you forget that the loser agreed to be a slave for a week?”
“Ah…”
Roy’s jaw dropped.
So he had come at this ungodly hour of the morning to play at being her slave? Seriously?
“I-I’m fine, really. A duke serving as a gamekeeper’s slave? The ladies will have our heads if they find out. Strictly speaking, I didn’t take down that bear all on my own either.”
“In the end, wasn’t it you who delivered the final blow, Roy-ssi? Then that’s that. Besides, what’s wrong with being a gamekeeper’s slave? It’s bound to be better than cleaning up after recruits vomiting their guts out.”
His brazen attitude rendered Roy momentarily speechless.
“The ladies won’t know unless you go and confess it to them yourself. Let’s get going. What should I start with?”
“N-No. Your Grace! Wait a moment…!”
Vitor snatched Roy’s bag and strode down the forest path. At a loss for what to do, Roy hurried after him.
At first, she thought he was just messing around out of boredom. She assumed he would quit after a day or two.
Her expectations, however, missed the mark completely.
“Roy-ssi. Could you show me how to split this again?”
For days on end, Vitor persistently shadowed Roy, volunteering himself as a servant. It was painfully obvious that he had never done this kind of work before, but whether he simply had a knack for it or was just quick on the uptake, he did everything well after being shown once.
Had he been useless, she could have used that as an excuse to send him away, making the situation terribly awkward.
The Duke of Hermont’s Male Paramour
