This time, all eyes turned to Gillen. Cecilia clenched her fists and shouted,
"Yeah, Dad! What's so great about that guy who's only got his looks? Go on, tell us! Say it now—that you have no interest in Ewan anymore!"
No, Cecilia… I never had any interest to begin with…
Gillen, flustered, was about to deny it, but Ewan cut in.
"Cecil, I'm not just a pretty face. As a once-in-a-generation magical genius who's rendered great service and been granted a marquisate, I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult me like that."
Hearing that nonsense made Gillen's thoughts waver. Ewan wasn't your average lunatic. For someone this oblivious, maybe such a blunt approach would work better. If he outright declared, I'm not interested anymore, the man wouldn't get any strange ideas. With that resigned thought, Gillen nodded.
"Alright, fine. Marquis Ewan Hampton, I will never again… mumble mumble…"
"I couldn't hear that last part," Ewan said curtly, folding his arms.
Gillen took a deep breath, relaxed his lips as much as possible, and spoke clearly.
"I swear on the name of Blake. Never again will there be such an unfortunate incident, and I shall never—ahem—never take any interest in you."
As soon as Gillen finished speaking, Ewan suddenly pulled a magic recording orb from thin air.
"Oh my!"
Several guests gasped in surprise. People in this world were familiar with magic, but magic itself was highly complex and difficult, and seeing a mage was something one usually had to pay dearly for. Ewan, using such rare magic so casually, played back the recording.
[I swear on the name of Blake. Never again will there be such an unfortunate incident, and I shall never—ahem—never take any interest in you.]
He then made the orb vanish and said,
"I've kept it as evidence, so you'd better not try to take it back later."
"Ah, fine, I get it…" Gillen muttered under his breath, but thankfully, no one heard him.
***
02. In Capelli
"The Duke, unable to have Marquis Hampton for himself, kept trying to subjugate him—until his misdeeds were exposed in front of Lady Cecilia, at which point he belatedly knelt down to beg and swear an oath… so says this article."
The butler, Brian, set down the daily paper with care as he reported. Gillen pressed at his throbbing temples.
"Again."
"And… well… although both Your Grace and the Marquis are Alphas, the paper claims Your Grace's pheromones are far stronger and more dominant, so the Marquis lost in a so-called 'pheromone duel'—"
"Pheromone duel? Do they think pheromones are some kind of wrestling match? These blasted excuse-for-journalists!"
"Pardon? Blasted?"
"…Never mind."
Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Gillen flipped over the stack of newspapers on his desk. Making up such absurd nonsense—clearly, the only thing that mattered to them was sales numbers.
"The war's over and daily life's too peaceful, so they're desperate for sensational headlines. At this rate, if I so much as sneeze, they'll print that Duke Blake wept and pined for Ewan."
He rose from his seat.
"Brian, ask Cecil how she'd feel about moving her summer holiday up a little. We'll be leaving the capital for a while."
"Yes, Your Grace."
It was the perfect two-birds-one-stone solution: cut off the yellow press and physically separate Ewan from Cecilia. His reputation had taken a vertical plunge, but idle, sensational gossip like this would fade away on its own soon enough.
In any case, Gillen's position in noble society wasn't so fragile as to be shaken by a few such articles. He was a noble among nobles, held in the Emperor's firm confidence—a strong, handsome, and capable Alpha admired or loved by both men and women alike.
So, with a bit of time away for a leisurely vacation, this ridiculous "scandal" would blow over. People would look back and laugh it off as a fleeting incident, or forget it entirely. Surely Ewan's interest in the Blake father and daughter would have cooled by then as well.
But Gillen was mistaken. Only a few days later, for the first time in the twenty years since his transmigration, he would feel the force of the original story's compulsion.
***
The slightly early summer holiday came together smoothly. Upon hearing that Cecilia would be spending six weeks with her father, Duke Blake, at the family's villa on Capelli Island in the south, the male lead—Crown Prince Hexion—asked if he might join them.
Seeing Cecilia so thrilled and excited, Gillen gladly agreed to Hexion's request. He had briefly worried that Ewan might try to tag along, but after receiving word that an urgent matter had called him away from his territory, all such concerns vanished. After all, Hampton lands and Capelli Island lay at opposite ends of the continent.
The day of departure was clear and pleasantly cool. Cecilia and Hexion, still in the tentative stage of romance, blushed furiously whenever their eyes met. Among the servants accompanying their masters to Capelli—the so-called Heavenly Island—the mood was buoyant from start to finish.
Gillen was in an excellent mood. For at least the next six weeks, he wouldn't have to stay on high alert, watching for some meddler—he could simply enjoy his leisure. On top of that, Capelli Island's specialty, the soft apple—which Gillen privately called mango—was his absolute favourite fruit.
The party travelled for an hour by horse and carriage to reach the teleportation station. There, they purchased tickets, registered both people and luggage, and went through the process of teleporting together, which took about thirty minutes.
In just an hour and a half, they had gone from the capital to Capelli Island.
'Now this is one way in which this world is much more convenient,' Gillen thought as he exited the station and mounted his horse.
At that moment, someone who had been standing out front came running up to greet them breathlessly.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Grace Duke Blake, and Lady Blake—it is our lord's wish to welcome you personally to Capelli Island. Would you be willing to receive him?"
When royalty or high-ranking nobles visited someone's land, it was customary for the lord to greet them and offer a meal. But the position of lord of Capelli Island had long been vacant—ever since the former lord committed a crime and surrendered the island to the imperial family, it had been fully converted into a tourist destination.
"Capelli has a lord now?" Gillen asked the messenger, but Hexion answered in his stead.
"His Majesty appointed one just over a month ago. I'm sure you know who it is—Ewan—"
"Ewan Hampton."
Before Hexion could even finish, an extraordinarily handsome man appeared dramatically from behind the messenger. He was beautiful enough to catch anyone's eye, but Gillen's face went pale, as though he'd just seen the grim reaper.
"E–Ewan… why…!"
Capelli Island belonged to him? Hadn't he only been given Hampton lands? Gillen's visible dismay made Ewan smirk, as if to suggest Gillen was only pretending to be surprised.
"Yes, Duke Blake—His Majesty's closest confidant—surely could never, even in his wildest dreams, have known that Capelli Island, the so-called golden paradise of the Moore Empire, had become the possession of me, the most talked-about public figure, Ewan Hampton."
He truly hadn't known. Ewan must have received a great deal from the Emperor indeed—but even as the Emperor's closest aide, Gillen couldn't possibly memorize every item on the man's gift list.
But Ewan, convinced the world revolved around him, already seemed to believe Gillen had come to Capelli on purpose while pretending otherwise.
"And what brings you here, Marquis Hampton?"
Whether he recognized the barb in Ewan's words or not, Hexion asked with guileless curiosity. Ewan, still eyeing Gillen with disapproval, turned to Hexion and inclined his head politely.
"I received a telegram that one of my dams had collapsed and people had been injured, so I rushed here at once."
"Oh dear, then you must be busy. Go and see to your affairs."
"It's already been taken care of, so you needn't worry. As you know, my magic is of the highest caliber—I can fix anything. Whether it's a dam or a person."
Truly, the man was consistent. How could he boast about himself even in front of the Crown Prince? Gillen gave Ewan a sour look, only for Ewan to glance at him sidelong. When their eyes met, Ewan abruptly turned his head away, as if displeased.
No… you looked at me too! That's why our eyes met! Why are you acting all Hmph! like I was the only one staring?
Gillen wanted to clutch his chest and shout it aloud. Ewan, behaving like a princess snubbing the gaze of some clumsy knight, was so absurd it made Gillen's insides churn.
"I heard from the steward of the lord's manor that when royalty or nobility visit Capelli Island, it's customary to invite them to stay at the manor for a few days. Would you care to do so?"
Ewan's question to Hexion was clearly a token offer, dripping with the hope that it would be refused.
"Well, since we'll be staying for the next six weeks anyway, I suppose spending a day at the lord's manor wouldn't hurt. What do you think, Cecil?"
Hexion turned to ask Cecilia's opinion.
"Um, well… I'll follow whatever Dad decides. Dad, do as you like."
Cecilia handed the choice over to Gillen—deliberately giving him the chance to refuse, knowing how uncomfortable he was with Ewan.
My dutiful daughter…
Gillen offered her a warm smile, but inside, he was weeping tears of blood.
I can't make the decision on my own when His Highness the Crown Prince is here, Cecil… This is a filthy, status-bound society…