Chapter 8: A Lover or a Dozen

Sometimes, Ella would burst out in a loud voice that was both startling and impressive. After all, it wasn’t just loud—she could probably become a singer if she ever tried to go down that career.

“What made you say something like that?!”

“Huh? Well, I just heard about things, you know?”

“About what?”

“Things about him and Lady Siana.”

Urien just said that frankly, but surprisingly, Ella didn’t press him to tell where he had heard of such a thing. Maybe because there were so many servants talking about it.

As Ella stood there frozen, neither confirming nor denying his words, he just let out a chuckle and continued.

“Don’t worry. I don’t mind if Lord Rodrick has a lover.”

“She isn’t exactly his lover…”

“That so? So are they just childhood friends?”

“Y-Yes, they are.”

“I see. What kind of person is Lady Siana anyway?”

A secret that everyone knew wasn’t really a secret anymore. Having no real excuse to not answer his question, Ella hesitated for a few seconds before she opened her mouth.

“Lady Siana is the younger daughter of Count Herder. She is 18 years old now, 9 years younger than Lord Rodrick. They had known each other since they were children…”

“Aah…”

‘Lady Siana is the same age as me? I see. Also, Herder Family, huh? Aren’t they one of the noble families that had been serving the Edel Ducal House for a long time? I heard the vice commander of the knight order is also from the Herder Family.’

‘If that’s the case, then the two families must’ve been really close.’ Urien let his mind wander while listening to Ella’s words as he ate his meal.

“She’s a sickly young lady, and is currently recovering from her illness. The lady and Lord Rodrick aren’t engaged, though. Those rumors about them being lovers stemmed from the verbal promise they made when they were children. It wasn’t anything official.”

“I see.”

“Really, it isn’t anything important.”

Ella said while carefully studying Urien’s face.

‘Hm?’ He tilted his head in confusion.

‘Does she think that I’m suspecting Lord Rodrick for infidelity?’

Urien didn’t care much even if those two were lovers. The contract he signed only prohibited himself from being unfaithful, but there wasn’t a clause to prohibit Rodrick in any way. He could have a lover or a dozen and it still wouldn’t break the contract. Of course, Urien couldn’t care less even if he did.

In any case, Urien felt guilty for raising such another uncomfortable topic to Ella, so he told her, “Thank you for telling me,” and moved on.

“At least, now I know that the rumors are unfounded.”

“Yes…”

He decided to just focus on eating. Today, they served him shrimp soup and as always, it was tasty. Although an awkward atmosphere still lingered, it was mostly just Ella since Urien really didn’t care if Rodrick had a lover or not.

If anything, he was relieved.

Siana was a woman. She could give birth to an heir to him.

Urien on the other hand, was an Omega. Although an Omega could also bear children, there was only an extremely slim chance for him specifically to fulfill that role.

He had only experienced heat once and never more. It made him think that he was probably unable to give birth to any children.

Even though theirs was a contract marriage, giving birth to an heir was still a duty that they had to fulfill as marriage partners. But with Siana here, he didn’t need to fulfill that duty.

In any case, their marriage would end in two years.

The head maid’s behavior, the matter of the heir to the duke’s position, none of them were of his concern.

He had no intentions in reforming the Edel Duchal House’s matter by addressing the servants’ attitude, nor did he want to give them an heir.

In two years, he’d detach himself from them for good.

…And he’d go to the warm sea.

He’d go to a quiet town and live together with Marx there. They’d live together, sleep together, and find their own happiness together.

——The next day. After finishing his breakfast, Urien walked along the river through the untended part of the field.

Apparently, they had left this part untended so that it’d be closer to its natural state. He was walking around to catch a few grasshoppers when he found a young man standing beside a large tree.

Looking at his simple-looking clothes, he seemed to be one of the servants working in the estate. The grass below was as tall as his knees, which were left bare due to him wearing rather short pants for some reason.

‘The insects are gonna bite his skin, no doubt.’ Urien noticed it, but it wasn’t something he’d concern himself about. Instead, he ignored the man, was about to continue to wander around when he noticed a snake dangling from a tree branch.

‘Ah, I see, so he isn’t just standing there, he’s watching out for that snake.’

The snake probably came from the forest. Regardless, Urien approached the man with a “Hello.”

“H-Huh? A-Ah, h-hello.”

It seemed like the young man had been focusing all his attention on the snake all this time. Only when Urien called out to him that he turned towards him, shaking his shoulders violently.

“Are you okay?”

“N-No, I am not.”

‘Of course you aren’t,’ Urien couldn’t help but chuckle softly at that.

The young man who was staring at him with a pleading gaze was a young man with short, fluffy brown hair. His agitation made him open his golden eyes wide. He was taller and slimmer than Urien, a good-looking young man overall. From his appearance, he seemed to be a little older than him, though he looked flustered and panicky like a child right now.

“I’m genuinely not okay here! There’s a snake right in front of me!”

“Yep, there is.”

“Ah, wait!”

Without hesitation, Urien approached the young man and grabbed his wrist.

Then, he pulled the man away from his rigid stance. The young man just followed Urien obediently, his body instinctively moved to where Urien led him to, the riverside.

“Haa… That was a big help. Thank you very much.”

“That snake was big and its colorful scales might suggest that it’s venomous, but it’s not.”

“Really? Haa, I see, I see. I was too surprised to move. I thought it was gonna bite me.”

“Well, that was a good way to handle the thing for sure. It usually catches anything that moves and squeezes them to death. Although, it can’t swallow a human whole.”

“I see… It’s been a while since the last time I visited this place, so I didn’t expect to see snakes here…”

The man took out a cigarette and placed it on its mouth trying to calm himself down. After a puff, he said.

“Thank you very much. You know a lot about snakes, don’t you? Are you one of the gardeners?”

“Hm? Ah, yeah, sorta…”

Urien didn’t want to startle the other person by announcing that he was Rodrick’s consort, so he said that for the time being. The young man let out a smile of relief before introducing himself, “I’m Tet.”

“I’m…Yuri.”

“Yuri, huh? Thank you again for saving me.”

Tet held out his free hand to Urien, asking for a handshake.

After noting once again that he was too lightly dressed for not being a servant, Urien took his hand before turning his gaze towards the tree.