TPWTM 19

“Are you coming in late today?”

“I will leave work on time. Are you handing out the wedding invitations today?”

“Yes. I have finished preparing them.”

“You have worked hard.”

Yurik smiled faintly and patted the butler’s shoulder. Due to the sudden schedule, both he and the butler were having a hard time. After today’s schedule was over, he planned to meet Karon with the butler to check the villa where the wedding would take place.

Fortunately, thanks to the dowry sent by Karon Chevinelle, funds were plentiful, and there were many churches in the capital or other villas that could be rented. However, given who his partner was, the wedding was to be held at a villa by Lake Nieve, one of the Chevinelle family’s numerous villas, which was close to the capital.

Although Karon had said there was no need to check it, the butler and Yurik insisted they had to see it in person, which is why they were going to check it today.

‘No need to check it! With so much to do, from decorations and everything else, what does he mean there is no need to check it!’

That was the reason the butler, aghast, had insisted they absolutely had to go. It was an even more crucial part of the schedule for the butler, as he needed to check the scale of the venue and also designate the seating for the guests. This made Karon’s style of bulldozing through things quite tiring.

Yurik sighed shortly as he received and put on his jacket. No matter how he thought about it, it was a headache and a great burden. In many ways, getting married was the path to making things easier, but it was also a path that would make things uncomfortable in many other ways. How did things even get to this point? Yurik, retracing the past, quickly left the mansion. It was time to go to work.

• ~ *

As Yurik entered the Administrative Palace, he sensed an ominous aura. The piercing stares and murmuring voices he felt with every step, and above all, the sight of his own office with its doors wide open, exuding an insane sense of openness, brought on a headache by itself.

Yurik sighed and stopped in his tracks. Just then, Lawson approached from behind and grabbed Yurik’s arm, turning him around.

“Yurik! Yurik! What are we going to do with you arriving only now?”

Lawson spoke in a hushed voice, his face a complete picture of distress.

“……Lawson.”

“The young Marquis Graham stormed in first thing in the morning. The entire Administrative Palace is in an uproar. You need to get out of here, quickly. With that, what’s his name, Sir Chevinelle!”

“……What?”

Yurik frowned. Why was Karon’s name coming up here? Despite Yurik’s reaction, Lawson pushed at Yurik’s back as if to hurry him along.

“Right now, the other officials and I are holding back the young Marquis Graham! If you loiter around here, Yurik, our entire plan will be for nothing! Hurry up and go get Sir Chevinelle and come back with him!”

“What is this…… What plan?”

As if frustrated, Lawson pushed Yurik’s back with both hands away from the office and shouted quietly.

“The Committee for the Progression of the Chevinelle and Windsor Marriage! We administrative officials gathered under Chancellor Evan and made a pledge. Yurik Windsor’s marriage! We will protect it no matter what! Huh? Yurik?”

Yurik sighed and spun his body to escape from Lawson’s pushing hands.

“What’s this about a committee? And also…… why on earth is Karon’s name coming up?”

“Of course, Sir Karon’s name has to come up if we’re to tell the truth, Yurik.”

“My rut…… Hah, never mind.”

“No, isn’t that a given? Yurik. That’s a given. Between fiancés, a rut, no, hah, Yurik. Yurik!”

Yurik gave Lawson a pathetic look, then turned his body back towards his office and strode forward. Lawson, unable to catch Yurik again, could only stammer with a troubled face, calling out to Yurik, before clutching his forehead with both hands.

“Hah, no. The goal of our committee…… this cannot be…… this can’t be happening.”

With a determined expression, Lawson ran towards the exit.

Yurik ignored the gazes of the administrative officers, who seemed to be sending him looks that pleaded with him to stop, and headed for his office. In front of the office, Sir Delode, who seemed to have just arrived, was about to go inside. Yurik firmly grabbed his shoulder.

“Oh, Yu, Sir Yurik?”

“Sir Delode, please step outside for a moment. I apologize.”

“But, Sir Yu…!”

Slam!

Yurik entered the office, grabbed the handles of both doors, and slammed them shut. Directly across from the office door, where Yurik’s desk was located, sat the young Marquis Louien Graham in a chair, looking out the window. Yurik twisted his lips and spoke.

“You are being quite rude, young Marquis. I am sure you are not unaware of what an administrative officer does, yet you barge into a place where confidentiality is essential and just sit there.”

Only then did the chair swivel around, and the young Marquis Graham lifted his chin to look at Yurik. It was a gaze that seemed to look down on him, even though he was sitting. The young Marquis lifted one corner of his mouth and snorted.

“I am sure that even Chancellor Evan will understand once he hears my story. He is not one to stand by and watch when a grave matter concerning a family has occurred. So, did you bring the evidence? Yurik Windsor. I even brought Luceres all the way here for today’s matter.”

At the name Luceres, Yurik frowned and turned his head to the side. In a corner, Luceres stood with a thoroughly tense face, trying to erase his presence. He could not even bring himself to look at Yurik’s face. Yurik sighed softly as he looked at Luceres, whose face was deathly pale. Seeing that face, he could not bring himself to say a single harsh word.

Yurik looked at the young Marquis with a sour expression before opening his mouth.

“There is no evidence, but there is a witness. I was with someone else. More importantly…… for creating this extremely insulting situation, I will need an apology from you. First of all.”

Yurik slowly approached the young Marquis Graham. To avoid being overwhelmed by Yurik’s presence, the young Marquis slowly rose from his seat and came to the front of the desk. His eyebrow twitched, and Yurik continued.

“I do not know how on earth you knew I was in a rut, young Marquis. I believe there were few who knew.”

“What kind of question is that? I heard it from Luceres, of course.”

“That would have been after the situation was all over, would it not?”

“Of course!”

“Aha. I will believe you.”

“Believe what?”

“It just struck me as a little odd. It felt as if you were the one who orchestrated this situation, young Marquis.”

Yurik looked straight at the young Marquis. The young Marquis Graham’s pupils began to tremble slightly. Yurik smirked.

“Well…… just a thought of mine.”

“Right. Your thought, I suppose. I heard it from Luceres. Were you out of your mind because of your rut? Not even knowing who you were with.”

“I am not that much of a fool.”

“Are you saying now that Luceres lied to me? Why would an Omega tell a lie that would conventionally bury his life? You, it seems you are trying to find any way to get out of this…!”

“Second, it is true that young master Luceres witnessed me in my rut. Sir Karon Chevinelle can attest to the fact that I sent young master Luceres away after that. This is certain. After that, where and how I spent my rut…… how exactly do you know? Luceres. Can you speak?”

Luceres kept his head down and his lips firmly sealed. Seeing him unable to say a word, the young Marquis pounded his chest as if his frustration was about to explode. Yurik shrugged his eyebrows. It did not matter if he did not answer.

The young Marquis, fuming, spoke to Yurik with his cheek twitching.

“I heard the news of your marriage. I hear you are proceeding with the wedding amidst all this. Does that Karon Chevinelle know? That you are running around acting so indulgent and promiscuous? I will absolutely not let this matter go. You will have to pay for the crime of toying with a family. Did you think you could get away with raping an Omega?”

Now it had escalated to rape. The young Marquis’s wild accusations were crossing the line. Yurik did not hold back either.

“Indulgent? I am not quite sure who is being indulgent here. Your arrogance is beyond measure, young Marquis. Where do you think this is, barging in and causing a commotion. Young master Luceres. Answer me properly. Did I, share a bed, with you? I will state clearly that I was with another person during my rut. It is not that I cannot bring the witness, but keep in mind that I am deliberating out of consideration for that person’s honor. If these insulting remarks continue, I will no longer tolerate it either, young Marquis.”

“Do not lie, Yurik Windsor! Then you are saying that Luceres is lying right now! How dare you so brazenly disrespect the Graham family! Just because you are a meritorious family, you are nothing but stiff-necked pride in an empty reputation! Do you think someone like you can dare to embrace a Graham, Yurik Windsor! I am a man who could shoot you dead right this instant!”

“I told you…… to be moderate. Young Marquis.”

At the young Marquis’s outrageous and reckless words, Yurik’s eyes flashed sharply as he glared at the young Marquis Graham. The young Marquis, about to shout in a fit of rage, flinched when he saw the face that sent a chill down his spine.

He had momentarily forgotten, but Yurik was also an officer who had graduated with honors from the Empire’s finest military academy. If they were to duel, the young Marquis would surely lose. He was, after all, someone who had only ever received private tutoring at home.

The young Marquis Graham blinked rapidly and swallowed dryly. Yurik glared at the young Marquis Graham with a ghastly look before calmly turning his gaze back to Luceres.

“Young master Luceres, please confess truthfully. Did you really spend the night, with me?”

Only then, Luceres slowly lifted his head. His eyes had been red around the rims for a while now, as if he were about to burst into tears at any moment. Luceres looked at Yurik, crying, appearing utterly fragile.

“Sir…… Sir Yurik.”

“Young master. Now is your chance to correct this. If this goes any further, it will become uncontrollable. Is that what you wish for?”

“Sir…… sob….”

“Luceres! What are you crying for! Speak confidently!”

“Young master Luceres.”

Luceres, unable to do one thing or the other, clutched the hem of his clothes with his fingers and hesitated. From his lowered face, tears welled up and fell to the floor with a plop, plop. Yurik’s eyes twitched. The nape of Luceres’s neck, revealed between his hair as he bowed his head, was exceptionally delicate, but it failed to move Yurik’s heart.

The young Marquis Graham looked back and forth between Luceres and Yurik, then frowned. He scowled as if he had realized something in that moment, then picked up the extravagantly jeweled cane he had placed on the desk and strode aggressively towards Luceres.

At that moment, the firmly shut office door was flung open. The sound of a crowd rushed in all at once, and Lawson and a flood of officials were gathered in front of the office. Yurik momentarily turned his head in that direction. He heard someone call out, Yurik! At that instant, Luceres, his face pale with fear, shouted.

“Tha, that’s right! I, Sir Yurik and I did not spend the ni, night together, Aack!”

However, his words were cut off by a single scream. Yurik’s eyes widened at the sight of red hair behind Lawson, and then he flinched in surprise at the sudden scream and turned his head. He then threw himself forward to stop the young Marquis, who had begun to mercilessly strike Luceres with his cane.

“What do you think you are doing now!”

“This bastard…! How dare he make a fool of me?”

The young Marquis Graham panted as he raised his cane. Luceres slumped to the floor, curling his body up tightly. His thin shirt was torn by the sharp cane, and his arm was scratched, showing a red abrasion. Yurik quickly blocked the path in front of Luceres. The young Marquis’s eyes had completely lost their reason.

“Young Marquis Graham! What do you think you are doing!”

He was dumbfounded by the young Marquis’s brutally violent behavior. Seeing the young Marquis about to swing the cane again, Yurik frowned and raised his arm. As luck would have it, it was the arm he had injured before.

“Luceres!”

At that moment, a shadow fell behind the young Marquis Graham. The young Marquis, who was about to strike down with all his might, had his arm instantly subdued, lost his grip on the cane, and with his arm twisted, his face was slammed onto the desk.

“Aack!”

The one who had subdued the armed opponent in a single moment was Karon. He pressed the young Marquis’s head firmly onto the desk, then scanned Yurik, who was shielding Luceres, up and down before smiling crookedly with a displeased face.

“Hey there. Are you quite pleased?”

“Ka……ron.”

Yurik stared at him in bewilderment. Karon, why was he here? Yurik’s gaze shifted from Karon to Lawson, who was subtly hiding among the people by the doorway.

Seeing Lawson, who was now starting to flee after hiding here and there, Yurik had a hunch. That, that thing…… it’s his doing. Yurik gritted his teeth and slowly closed and opened his eyes.

Karon looked at Yurik askance and shrugged his eyebrows. His gaze seemed to be asking how the situation had gotten this way. Yurik, unable to answer, kept his mouth shut. The young Marquis, still in Karon’s grip, shrieked.

“Let go of me this instant!”

Karon glanced at the young Marquis, then let go and slowly stepped back. The young Marquis shot up and glared at Karon, about to yell something, but flinched at Karon’s fierce gaze and only moved his lips without a sound.

He clicked his tongue, tut, turned his head, and with a face full of irritation, he looked at Yurik who was shielding Luceres and spoke through clenched teeth.

“It seems there has been some misunderstanding, Sir Yurik. I will take Luceres and educate him properly. Luceres! Come here!”

Luceres jumped in surprise and hid further behind Yurik. Yurik sighed. Seeing the current situation, it seemed unlikely that the young Marquis had orchestrated this affair knowing the full story.

It was solely Luceres’s doing. After all, the young Marquis had been continuously trying to pair Luceres with Karon.

How did this timid man come to do such a thing? Yurik glanced at Luceres, wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and helped him up. Karon’s eyebrow, watching the scene, tilted crookedly.

“Heuk…… Ugh.”

Luceres, as if greatly shocked, trembled all over as he barely managed to stand with Yurik’s support. The young Marquis yelled at the top of his lungs, calling for Luceres.

“Come out, Luceres! Right now!”

At his fierce shout through clenched teeth, Luceres flinched even more and squeezed his eyes shut. Yurik looked back and forth between the young Marquis and Luceres and thought.

At this rate, the same violent situation as before would surely repeat itself. It seemed better to send the young Marquis off first to calm him down a bit, and then send Luceres. Yurik opened his mouth.

“You should go first. Young master Luceres and I have something to discuss, and I will see him off properly.”

“What is there to talk about when you are entangled in a scandal!”

“That is why I am saying I will send him off after we talk a bit.”

At Yurik’s firm attitude, the young Marquis panted and then struck his chest as if frustrated. Yurik said nothing and just stared at the young Marquis.

The young Marquis glared once at Yurik and then at Karon, then left Luceres behind and pushed through the gathered crowd to exit the office.

“……Are you alright?”

“……Yes. Tha, thank you, Sir Yurik……”

Luceres wiped his tears and gently held onto Yurik’s arm. Yurik looked at the white hand touching his arm, then raised his head to look at the people gathered in front of his office. They had been spectating until now, and only when Yurik looked at them did they begin to disperse.

Karon, with his arms crossed and in a crooked stance, stared intently at Yurik taking care of Luceres.

“Shouldn’t there be something to talk about with me now, Sir Yurik?”

Yurik looked at Karon and swallowed a sigh. That was right. There was still something to sort out with him. If only Lawson had not called Karon, this matter would have been resolved here. But it was also a matter that would have reached his ears one way or another.

Was it better for it to blow up now than later? Yurik could not tell.

“Just a moment, please give me some time. Young master Luceres is very startled.”

“Oh, is that so? Who is going to worry about my startled heart?”

As if his frustration was not bad enough, Yurik shot a sharp glare at Karon for his sarcastic tone. Karon sat perched on the desk and smiled faintly at Yurik.

“At the end of every sentence, Luceres, Luceres. Isn’t that right, Yuri? I am the fiancé, so why must I be the second priority?”

“It is not like that. The situation right now is….”

“Situation or whatever, I do not know about such things.”

The words he uttered while leisurely sitting and tapping a decorative item on the desk were remarkably dry. He did not seem angry, nor did he seem upset. It was difficult for Yurik to gauge his mood.

Is he angry right now? Or is he pretending to be angry? Karon slowly tilted his head and looked at Yurik, and when Yurik said nothing and just looked back at him silently, he finally sighed and stood up.

“Yes, to you, I am always the loser. Who could win against you? Tidy things up and come. In any case, my victor will surely soothe my wounded heart, will he not?”

“……I understand.”

Karon stared intently at Luceres, who was hiding behind Yurik and avoiding eye contact with him, then slowly turned and left the office. Yurik looked at Luceres, who was trembling while clinging to his arm, and sighed.

He was truly sorry for upsetting Karon, but the situation could not be helped. He could not just send Luceres away like this, and it was better to sort things out here.

“First, please try to calm down. I will call for a carriage. And, young master, about this matter……”

Luceres, unable to lift his head and sniffling, barely managed to grab the hem of Yurik’s clothes. He apologized in a voice stained with tears.

“I’m truly…… truly sorry, Sir.”

“……Young master.”

“Because I…… because I harbored such a vain desire.”

Luceres could not lift his head. It was too great a greed. It was a moment of selfishness. He had harbored the wicked thought of ensnaring him using his secondary gender. It was not that he wanted to hurt him like this, or that he wanted to put him in a difficult position. It was just…… just…….

“My, my feelings…… my feelings grew too large……”

And so, he wanted to be with him. Rather than hold the hand of someone he did not want, he wanted to run away with him.

“I’m sorry……”

Yurik lamented.

Luceres’s tears fell onto the marble floor with a plop, plop. Yurik watched the tears fall at his feet. A vain desire. His words struck a chord in a corner of his heart.

He did not feel pity for Luceres. However…… that feeling, Yurik thought he could perhaps understand it.

• ~ *

Yurik put Luceres in a carriage and sent him off, then headed to the Administrative Palace terrace where Karon was waiting. There, Karon was waiting, smoking a cigar.

Seeing Yurik enter, Karon silently offered him a cigar. Outside the terrace, nobles and administrative officials could be seen strolling leisurely through the spacious courtyard.

Yurik looked at them as he cut the end of the cigar, lit it, and put it to his lips. When he sat perched on the railing and looked at Karon, Karon finally opened his mouth.

“Did you see him off well?”

“……Yes.”

“You say you did it well, so why does your voice sound so dead?”

“I am sorry.”

Yurik looked at him and said it sincerely. Karon exhaled a long stream of cigar smoke and looked at Yurik.

Under the clear gaze of his golden eyes, Yurik felt a strange thirst in his throat. When he looked into those eyes that emitted a mysterious light, he was so speechless that he could not tell if he was being overwhelmed by his aura or simply being dominated by his gaze. It had always been like that, so Yurik had to make an effort to speak every time he faced Karon.

Karon walked right up to Yurik and, trapping Yurik in his arms, placed both his hands on the railing. At the sudden proximity, Yurik momentarily held his breath with a sharp intake.

“What are you sorry for?”

“……Karon.”

“Yuri.”

“……For creating this difficult situation. The wedding is not far off, and to cause you harm….”

“Oh dear, you are completely wrong, what should I do.”

At Yurik’s answer, Karon’s lips stretched into a wide smile. Something fierce flickered in his eyes as he looked at Yurik. It was clearly anger. He was angry. Why? Yurik furrowed his brows.

“It has been resolved well, anyway. It was a problem that would have been solved even if you had not come. So please do not get too heated.”

“Are you telling me not to get angry? How can I not be angry? My fiancé was involved with someone else instead of me.”

“Karon, it is not like that.”

“You have completely misunderstood what you did wrong. You do not even understand it.”

“Is this something to get so angry about? It has already been resolved. And did I not apologize?”

“Is it over just because it’s resolved? Is that the end of it?”

“It is the end. There is nothing more to argue about!”

“Yuri!”

Karon slammed his hand on the railing and looked at Yurik. Yurik pressed his lips firmly together and met his gaze. Yurik’s eyes trembled slightly. Seeing this, Karon’s lips twitched, and he took in a small breath.

“I became a stupid bastard who did not even know that another man was coveting my fiancé. I could not even grab that bastard young Marquis Graham by the collar for his scheming behind my back, and I had to watch my fiancé shield another man in front of me and hold his hand. Yuri, what you should be sorry for is not something like what kind of incident occurred! You should have called for me. You should have called for me and proudly declared our relationship. You should have held onto me, not shielded that Luceres bastard!”

Karon panted as he straightened his body. Watching him take a couple of steps away as if he were about to leave, Yurik could not say a word and just stared at Karon. Yurik managed, barely, just barely, to open his mouth.

“Are we…… in that kind of relationship?”

To the point where he would get that, that angry. To the point where this situation itself would feel like an insult, and he would want to step in and grab someone by the collar right away. Like that. That kind of. Were we ever in that kind of relationship?

“Yuri.”

Karon leaned askew against the window frame. He looked at Yurik with a hollow smile.

“What we have done until now……”

“……”

“Is it not…… love?”

After uttering those words, Karon’s face froze into an expressionless mask. He frowned again, as if he too had spoken without realizing it, and looked at Yurik with wavering eyes. At Yurik’s lack of response, Karon turned his body and exited the terrace.

Yurik stood there blankly, then looked down at the cigar still burning in his hand.

Staring at it silently, Yurik’s face crumpled in an instant, and he bowed his head.

Love?