Ding-a-ling, the bell signaling an emergency rang out, and soon after, an urgent voice came from the magical communication orb placed in the corner of the study.
— Silver Alert! Silver Alert! Code name 'Ten-Bird' has just crossed the main gate!
Gillen, who had been reviewing documents sent from the estate, snapped his head up. He hurriedly stood from his seat, tightening the loosely undone tie. Thud—he bumped his thigh against the edge of the mahogany desk.
"Ugh!"
Before he could properly register the pain, someone knocked on the study door.
"Your Grace! 'Ten-Bird' has just stepped out of the carriage!"
"Damn it."
Gillen cursed under his breath, roughly rubbing his thigh as he rushed to the door. The moment he opened the study door, a servant stepped aside and bowed. Quickening his pace, Gillen asked the servant,
"Where's Cecil?"
"Lady Cecilia is having tea with His Highness the Crown Prince in the parlor."
"And the parlor entrance? Is it blocked?"
"Yes! We've stationed a few servants there under the pretext of hanging new paintings in the hallway. We've even set up a ladder."
Gillen flew down the stairs. The beta servant, unable to keep up with the robust alpha's stamina and agility, was soon panting heavily, tongue practically hanging out.
Normally, Gillen would have slowed his stride to accommodate the servant, but there was no time to spare now. In a Silver Alert situation, every second counted.
As Gillen leaped down the last three steps in a single bound, he saw the butler and maids lined up, bowing in greeting. Though it was called a greeting, in truth, they were all standing firm to block the approaching calamity with their bodies.
"What tea would you like?"
The butler's voice came, twice as slow as usual.
"Anything's fine."
The guest, still lingering at the front door, answered while glaring at the maid who was sluggishly helping them remove their coat.
"But surely you have a refined and particular taste. At the Blake Duchy, we keep twenty-six varieties of tea to serve our esteemed guests. The first I'd like to mention is Morabi black tea, grown only in the Asteria Kingdom, and the second—"
"Morabi. That'll do."
The guest irritably cut off the butler, shaking off their coat with a flick of their arm. The maid, startled, barely caught it.
"Now, can someone—anyone—go tell Cecil I'm here? Preferably someone who isn't slow? If such a person even exists here?"
The guest, sounding on the verge of exploding, snapped at the butler. At that moment—
"We meet again."
Gillen, not looking at all like someone who had just rushed over, stepped forward with a smooth smile. The butler and maids, who had been moving like turtles, swiftly parted to either side with a brisk shh-shh-shh.
"Your Grace, Duke Blake."
"Yuan."
Gillen and the guest exchanged brief, formal greetings.
"What brings you here?"
"I sent a letter a few days ago. I said I'd come to see Cecil today."
The young man with dazzling silver hair and a breathtakingly beautiful face spoke, suppressing his irritation.
"Did you? My memory's not what it used to be as I age."
"Is Cecil in the parlor?"
Yuan asked, glancing toward the parlor's direction, poised to head that way at any moment. Gillen stepped in front of him, subtly blocking the path to the parlor.
"Cecil's still in her room! Beauties are late sleepers, haha."
"…It's four in the afternoon."
"Our Cecil's nocturnal. Come, how about a cup of tea with me in the garden while we wait for her to wake? Didn't you say you wanted Morabi tea earlier?"
"No—"
"Brian, bring the tea to the rose garden."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Gillen wrapped an arm around Yuan's shoulders, guiding him toward the front door.
"Let's go. The roses are in full bloom, absolutely stunning. I'd love to show you the rose garden our Blake Duchy is so proud of."
"You already showed it to me last week."
"Oh! Did I? Well, that won't do. Brian! Not the rose garden—bring the tea to the butterfly garden!"
Gillen called out loudly.
"Yes, Your Grace."
The butler bowed obediently.
"My late father, the previous duke, loved flowers and trees so much that he created five gardens around the estate. One's the rose garden, another's the butterfly garden—"
"And the others are the topiary garden, the moonlight pond garden, and the delphinium garden. You told me about them the week before last."
Yuan said sharply.
"You've got quite a memory."
"It's not just quite—it's genius-level. For your information, I also remember every single word of your explanation about the late duke's journey to hire gardeners, the construction of the greenhouse, and the evolution of the garden themes."
…Annoying brat.
Gillen thought to himself but flashed an even brighter smile outwardly.
"Impressive, truly impressive! But I haven't told you about the list of gravel candidates for the butterfly garden's pathways, have I?"
"…Gravel candidates?"
"Oh, it's a gripping tale. Until Cecil wakes up, let's have a deep discussion about the shapes and colors of gravel."
With that, Gillen slung an arm around Yuan's shoulders, gripping him tightly to prevent any sudden moves. And so, they headed toward the butterfly garden.
Gillen Blake. Age 45. The head of the illustrious Blake Duchy, one of the twin pillars of the Moore Empire, and also renowned as a god of wealth for discovering a diamond mine in the prosperous Blake territory.
A remarkable warrior who became a sword master at seventeen, Duke Gillen Blake was a rare alpha who, after losing his wife to illness at nineteen, had remained faithful to her memory ever since.
Moreover, he had single-handedly raised his beloved daughter, Cecilia Blake—the epitome of purity and kindness—and had actively participated in charitable work for children for twenty years.
In short, the perfect husband material! Every single woman in the Moore Empire, regardless of age, dreamed of becoming Duke Blake's second wife. They all fantasized about being the one to reignite the spark in his barren heart. Social ascension was just a bonus.
And this Duke Blake…
"How did time pass so quickly?"
…was a twenty-year transmigrator.
His original name, now faint in his memory, was Jeong-hyun Yoo. A student in the Webtoon and Webnovel Department at Korea Culture University, he had gotten blackout drunk at the first drinking party he attended after returning to school and was hit by a drunk driver's car while stumbling home, losing consciousness.
When he opened his eyes, he had already transmigrated into Gillen Blake in this world. Coincidentally, he knew exactly who this man was and what story this world belonged to. He had just stayed up all night reading a webtoon, Adorable Lady, for a mandatory course assignment titled "Understanding the Romance Fantasy Genre."
In the original story, Gillen Blake was a father who despised and neglected his three-year-old regressor daughter, Cecilia Blake, only to eventually melt under her adorable charm and become a doting parent. The reason he despised and neglected his three-year-old daughter was a classic trope of parenting stories: "The woman I loved died giving birth to her."
However, Jeong-hyun Yoo, the aspiring webtoon artist who had transmigrated into Gillen, made a decision the moment he grasped the situation. In reality, I died getting hit by a transmigration/reincarnation truck. So, I have to keep living in this romance fantasy parenting story. Fine, let's just accept it and live comfortably!
Thus, he skipped the part about "despising and neglecting Cecilia Blake." To begin with, the angelically adorable Cecilia was impossible to hate, even if he tried. The original Gillen believed Cecilia had caused his wife's death, but the transmigrated Gillen didn't think that way at all.
"Just treat your depression and get therapy! Don't take it out on a kid!"
Cecilia, a regressor, seemed a bit taken aback by her father's changed behavior compared to her memories but quickly adapted. She seemed to think that because she had regressed and acted differently, her father had changed as well.
Regardless of what she thought, Gillen braided Cecilia's hair, dressed her, and fed her. He read her bedtime stories every night, traveled with her, and told her he loved her. He fretted incessantly when he sent Cecilia to the academy and exchanged hundreds of letters with her before her graduation.
They gave each other gifts they knew the other would love on birthdays, and when a villainous side character tried to interfere in Cecilia's life, Gillen stepped in decisively to protect her. On the day Cecilia manifested as an omega, he even went so far as to ask the emperor to summon the imperial physician, earning everyone's disapproval for being overprotective.
But Gillen didn't care about others' opinions. He only wished for poor Cecilia to suffer as little as possible.
It was a strange thing. He had lived a life far removed from being a loved child.
To gain his parents' attention, he studied hard and earned grades that could get him into any university he wanted, yet he enrolled in a university his parents opposed. After that, he cut ties with them, moved out, and earned his own tuition. He tackled endless assignments, reluctantly went to the military, and struggled to readjust to school afterward. The ever-growing burden of making a living and worrying about his future was a given. It was an utterly harsh life.
But Cecilia… she was warm and soft. Just a little kindness made her eyes sparkle and her cheeks flush with affection. She trusted Gillen completely, giving herself over to him without knowing who was truly inside him.
Complete trust. Unblemished warmth. The daily accumulation of joy and small worries. These things mingled with time, snowballing into love.