Ewan greeted in a cold voice. Gillen, who had been roughly scanning the catalog, was startled and looked up.
"Ewan…?!"
"It must be a coincidence, right? That we ended up meeting like this."
"Of, of course it's a coincidence! Why on earth are you here, what…?"
Gillen said this, turning his trembling eyes toward the entrance of the jewelry shop. Ewan sat opposite him.
"I came to pick up a custom-made piece of jewelry, but I happened to see the duke's head full of white hair. When I heard that Cecil would be coming soon, I waited to greet you."
After finishing the explanation, Ewan quickly added with an "Ah!"
"I'm greeting you because of Cecil, not because I wanted to give Your Grace the pleasure of talking with me, so please don't get the wrong idea."
It was an unbearably haughty remark. And Gillen was utterly dumbfounded and speechless because of Ewan.
'What the hell is this crazy bastard?'
Ewan seemed to firmly believe that Gillen liked him. A few days ago, Ewan had left too quickly, and Gillen had been embarrassed and failed to properly explain, but now was different. Gillen calmly opened his mouth.
"Ewan, I think you've misunderstood. I don't see you that way at all."
"Oh, really?"
He didn't look convinced at all. Gillen forced a smile and nodded.
"Really. I'm truly not interested in you, or any man at all—"
As Gillen was saying that, Ewan's eyes turned behind him. Then came the jingling sound of a door opening, followed by the click-clack of heels. Gillen sensed it—Cecilia had just come in!
"No!"
At the same time, Gillen shouted as if screaming and lunged forward in front of Ewan. Then he buried Ewan's face into his own stomach.
Startled and suddenly sitting in Gillen's arms, Ewan let out quite a loud yell.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Uh… well, there was something on your face! I'm just going to wipe it off!"
"Wait, hey, ouch!"
Gillen pressed firmly against the back of Ewan's head. Ewan, whose nose was pushed against Gillen's solid abs that even his clothes couldn't hide, tried with all his might to push him away, but the well-built Gillen did not budge easily. At that moment, a delicate female voice came from behind.
"Your Grace, the Duke…?"
Gillen snapped his head around. Standing there was not Cecilia, but a dignified middle-aged woman with red hair.
"Viscountess Eiple? So it's Viscountess Eiple!"
Gillen, who had been ready to hide Ewan thinking Cecilia had come, brightened up excessively.
"What are you doing here?"
Viscountess Eiple glanced at the handsome young man nestled in Gillen's arms and asked.
"Oh! It's nothing."
Gillen almost threw Ewan's head away. Then, shielding Ewan from view, he turned and politely kissed the back of Viscountess Eiple's hand. The sensation of the fine lace glove touching his lips calmed his anxious, pounding heart pleasantly.
"To meet Viscountess Eiple in a place like this—today is a lucky day indeed."
At Gillen's sincere compliment, Viscountess Eiple blushed. Like many women of the Moore Empire, she harboured a light affection for Gillen. She had been a widow for five years since her husband's death, and she had just passed her forties, so the age difference between her and Gillen wasn't large. They often exchanged greetings or spoke when passing by.
'I might have a chance with him. I'm on a whole different level than those other foolish ladies.'
Viscountess Eiple thought so.
In fact, she wasn't wrong. Gillen had actually marked Viscountess Eiple as a potential future lover. After Cecilia married and became the Crown Princess, he planned to cautiously ask Viscountess Eiple out on a date. She had a glamorous appearance close to Gillen's ideal type, was shy and kind-hearted, and, like Gillen, loved children.
Though, including his past life, he had involuntarily lived 45 years as a lifelong virgin, he was nonetheless the Duke Blake.
Over the past 20 years, he had perfected all manners and court etiquette, and had become skilled at dealing with ladies. Moreover, in this world, traits called Alpha and Omega existed. Gillen was an extreme-dominant Alpha, and Viscountess Eiple was a dominant Omega. Trait-bearers were rare in this world, and the two were not only trait-bearers but a perfectly matched Alpha and Omega!
This was probably fate. Virgin Gillen thought so and was waiting for the future romance with considerable excitement. Of course, all of this was something he intended to attempt only after leading Cecilia to a happy ending.
"What brings you to the jewelry shop?"
Gillen asked in a suave voice. As Viscountess Eiple shyly attempted to answer…
"I simply can't bear it anymore."
A fierce voice suddenly burst out from behind. It was Ewan, who had been forgotten for a moment.
"I tried to endure it because you're Cecil's father, but now I can't anymore."
Ewan shouted indignantly.
"Hey, Your Grace. You hold me forcibly one moment, then throw me around like this—what kind of empire's law allows this?"
The moment he finished speaking, a dreadful silence spread throughout the spacious jewelry shop. Gillen involuntarily dropped his jaw. What's with that guy's way of talking? But Ewan, unaware of the bomb he'd just dropped, continued.
"I clearly told you—I don't have feelings like that for you, Your Grace. And yet you restrain me with force so I can't move. What kind of empire allows a duke to do that? Does liking someone give you the right to take them by force?"
"Oh my…!"
Viscountess Eiple gasped and stepped backward. Her face had turned pale as if she might faint at any moment. The other customers and staff inside the jewelry shop were no different. Their eyes swept over Gillen's large, muscular frame. Gillen quickly realized what misunderstanding they had.
"No! It's not what you all think… Hey, Ewan. Why do you say it like that? Correct yourself! 'Forcibly holding' doesn't mean what you think it means—"
"How shameless, Your Grace. Since you're denying it just because there are many witnesses, let me make it clear once more."
Ewan spoke loudly and clearly.
"I'll say it again—I don't like you, Your Grace. I have no intention of dating you. So please, just give up on me."
It was a final, confirming shot. To make matters worse, a familiar voice came from behind.
"What's going on, Dad…?"
Unable to even bring himself to turn around, Gillen squeezed his eyes shut.
'That crazy bastard…'
Only now did Gillen fully realize that Ewan Hampton was a massive disaster in his life. But no matter if Gillen tried to escape reality or not, in Ewan's eyes there was only one pure girl with long, black hair.
"Cecil!"
Ewan's betrothed, whom he had met again after about ten years, had grown up keeping the same youthful face but matured and… rather pretty (for Ewan, whose standards had risen due to looking at his own face in the mirror every day, 'pretty' was the highest compliment).
"…Ewan?"
Although they had only met once ten years ago, Cecilia recognized Ewan immediately despite having spent only a few days together recently. It seemed impossible to forget that beauty. Ewan thought so, and Cecilia clapped her hands.
"You really haven't changed at all! You still think everyone likes you, and your narcissism is just as incredible!"
Cecilia smiled as she explained to Gillen.
"Ewan is an old friend of mine, and he loves himself a lot. Whenever he makes eye contact, he gets angry saying the other person dares to like him. I used to suffer from that a lot, too."
It was basically the same story others, including Viscountess Eiple, had told. Gillen noticed that Cecilia was naturally smoothing things over for him. That's my daughter, he thought, touched, and pressed his lips tightly together. But Ewan's reaction was different.
"Cecil, what on earth are you talking about? Your father has really been courting me for a whole month."
The jewelry shop's atmosphere, which had softened a little at Cecilia's words, stiffened again. Customers and staff began whispering quietly among themselves. Though the words weren't audible, it seemed obvious what was being said.
"He takes me out on dates here and there, says he doesn't want to be apart from me. And earlier, he forcibly held me, didn't he?"
"Hey, Ewan. Don't say things that can be misunderstood—"
"Did I say anything untrue, Your Grace?"
"…If you ask again like that, it's not exactly untrue but—"
"See, Cecil? Your father admitted it, too."
Ewan took a step forward. The bright lighting of the jewelry shop fell on his delicate face. At that moment, everyone, including Gillen and Cecilia, forgot all other thoughts and were captivated by Ewan's sharp beauty. They say everyone is the main character of their own life, but right now, Ewan Hampton felt like the sole protagonist and the only truly important person here. He was dazzlingly radiant.
"I will say this clearly in front of everyone. I, Ewan Hampton, with you all as witnesses, hereby once again reject the heart of Duke Gillen Blake, right here and now. So, Your Grace—"
Ewan looked Gillen straight in the eyes and delivered the final blow.
"Please promise that such disgraceful incidents will never happen again. Say it clearly with your own voice, in front of your daughter and all these people."