FMY 22

Serge knew exactly what his father liked and wanted, which was fortunate. Even while resting his arms, he straightened his back and shoulders, and a slight smile graced his eyes and lips. To anyone looking, he was the very picture of an upright, well-educated, and likable nobleman.

“You will permit me the time for a cup of tea with you, father, won’t you?”

It was an affectionate tone of voice, much like when Gabriel would act charmingly coy and affectionate in front of the Duke. Of course, he mixed in only about a tenth of the coquetry that Gabriel used, just the right amount to suit himself. It was just like when he was a rookie actor and played the role of a lovely youngest son in a terrestrial drama. He aimed to appear as a moderately cheerful, lovable, yet polite son. He began to open his heart to the Duke by making this effort first.

The Duke’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at his son’s confident demeanor, but he soon nodded and gave an order to the butler.

“Go and bring the best Darjeeling.”

The Duke, pleased by his son’s upright smile, added an order to bring the brandy he cherished.

“And sliced oranges, please.”

“Yes. Oranges go well with Darjeeling.”

A satisfied arc formed on Duke Arthur’s lips. Glancing at the head butler leaving the office to prepare the tea, Serge once again met his father’s eyes directly.

“You seem busy.”

“Always. Always.”

The tremendous work of managing the country’s finances. Also, the vast domain and the industries using the various products from it, the family and vassals, and the responsibility for all the lives of the domain’s people weighed on the Duke’s shoulders. His daily life was so busy that his eyebrows would fly.

Serge lowered the ends of his eyebrows pitifully and let out an embarrassed laugh.

“As the eldest son of the great Arthur family, as your eldest son, I should have helped you, but I haven’t been able to do so until now, and I am nothing but sorry, father.”

“Serge…”

The Duke could not hide his emotion at the sincere expression.

‘It’s working. It’s working.’

Serge felt a sense of pride, thinking he had done well to face him head-on.

“I don’t know what happened to you, but you’ve matured a lot since your birthday.”

“I heard you went through a lot because of me that day.”

The ball to celebrate Serge’s birthday had been ruined by his earthenware pot incident.

Serge, the protagonist, had only shown his face briefly at the beginning and then disappeared, had even beaten Gabriel up, and had shattered the precious object from the East that the King had gifted. On top of that, the biggest problem was that the Crown Prince, who had visited the Duke’s residence at Duke Arthur’s invitation, had been left all alone without a partner, like a duck out of water on the Nakdong River.

He had heard that to handle the situation that day, the Duke had apologized profusely and had placed Leana Lutel by the Crown Prince’s side. And as soon as he heard that Leana had taken that place, Serge had burst out laughing without even realizing it.

Leana, who had no interest in banquets or balls and was, along with Serge, the second shut-in of the Arthur family, must have been so flustered that day she nearly fainted. He had laughed so much when he heard that she had started the ball by awkwardly dancing the first dance with the Crown Prince, sweating profusely, and that the Duke, upon seeing the disastrous sight, had hastily concluded the ball not long after.

How much of a sweat that must have been for the Duke…

Even though he had gone through such hardship, the Duke did not particularly blame his son, the main culprit who had ruined the party, when he saw him the next day.

“…That matter is in the past, so let it be.”

“Still, I wanted to apologize to you, father. I am truly sorry for causing you trouble.”

Duke Arthur just watched silently as Serge bowed his head deeply and then raised it awkwardly.

Their eyes met across the desk.

For a moment, the Duke felt a sense of distance as he looked into Serge’s eyes. The features that resembled his spouse, who was no longer of this earth…

Among his three children, only Serge, the Omega, resembled the Duchess. When he pushed aside his shaggy hair and lifted the head he had always kept bowed to show a smiling face, he discovered his wife’s face in his eldest son anew. The face of the spouse he had loved so much that he had voluntarily remained celibate after her death…

Such sentiments further softened his firm heart. The Duke spoke calmly in a low voice.

“…That child, Gabriel, has been causing you a lot of trouble, I hear. It is my fault for not taking any action even though I heard bits and pieces of the story. If I had known you would explode like that, I would have reprimanded Gabriel sooner.”

At those words, Serge looked at the Duke with a strange expression.

He had no idea that his father had been harboring such thoughts.

It seemed he thought the reason Serge had attacked Gabriel like a madman was because the stress he had accumulated from always being bullied by him had exploded. And he thought it was his responsibility for not having prevented it beforehand…

“For my meticulous son, who always tries not to cause even the slightest trouble to others, to have acted like that. Yes, I understand.”

“……Thank you…?”

Had he ever spoken so openly with his father in his past life?

To think that this was a person who would embrace him like this if he just opened his heart and took a step forward. Had he gone his whole life without knowing? Serge was engulfed in a strange feeling.

He had realized far too late that the person he had thought was a great task and obstacle in this new life was actually a wall that safely supported his back. When he first approached him with sincerity, he too approached with such sincerity.

“…From now on, I will never cause trouble for you in that way again, father. I promise.”

Then he must not miss this opportunity. All his senses were telling him that he had to make his request to the Duke right now, while the Duke’s heart was softly melted.

“I realized that I cannot live like this anymore.”

Seeing his son’s truthful expression, the Duke listened quietly.

“Really… I thought I must show you a truly changed self, not just in words.”

“Yes. It seems you made a firm decision after that day. The way you’ve been trying so hard since then.”

The Duke personally added sliced oranges to the tea the head butler had brought down. It was clear that he was happy with his son’s changed appearance.

Now is the time.

“From now on, I want to fully assist you in your work, as your son and as a representative of the family.”

Serge said in a serious voice after taking a sip of tea and putting down the teacup.

In the past, one could tell a certain amount about his father just by seeing how he had wavered and agonized between Gabriel and Serge over the position of Crown Princess Consort.

Wasn’t he the type of person whose attitude would change when he placed his son in the mix, even while being satisfied that his ward, Gabriel, had a good reputation in high society and was to the Crown Prince’s liking?

To be precise, Duke Arthur had high expectations for his legitimate eldest son, Serge, just as he had excessive pride in his lineage and family. No matter how much his son was ignored in high society and was a recessive, he had pride in the family name and the bloodline that carried the ancient royal lineage.

To the extent that he thought his son was second to none just by the fact that he was Duke Arthur’s son. That twisted expectation and love for his son had been blind, which was why he had gone to great lengths to place his son in the position of Crown Princess Consort.

Gabriel knew that too, which was why he never openly antagonized Serge in front of the Duke. Even if he tormented him to death behind his back, he was busy acting cute and fawning over him in front.

So, Serge was not standing here so confidently now just because he believed in simple things like ‘a father’s affection.’ He was aiming for the pride his father had in ‘Arthur’s son.’

A person with such pride would never stop his own flesh and blood from stepping forward to properly handle the family’s affairs. On the contrary, it was something the Duke would be pleased about.

At his son’s bold declaration, the Duke’s eyes took on a sharp glint, as if he were meeting a business partner.

“Specifically, what?”

“From now on, I will take responsibility for the social activities as a representative of the family. Starting tomorrow, please show me all the invitations first.”

For a moment, a silence flowed between the father and son.

It was a rather bold request, but it was something that could not be delayed any longer.

He had to quickly retrieve the weapon called ‘high society’ that Gabriel possessed.

“You?”

It was a statement that would make even the hand of the head butler, who was pouring a little brandy into the strongly brewed Darjeeling, pause.

No matter how much a person had become more sociable, was that even possible?

“I don’t want to disappoint you when you’ve stepped forward with such enthusiasm, but, Serge… it would be troublesome for you to think that social activities are an easy task.”

As expected, the Duke was cautious, befitting an excellent politician and businessman.

“I didn’t say it because I thought it was an easy task.”

“While you were away at the prestigious Sorbonne University, engrossed in your favorite studies, Gabriel also worked hard and studied while taking on this job.”

“……”

“He memorized the characteristics and people of each family, found out what they liked, and mingled with them… There is a reason why people like Gabriel. It’s because he is always meticulously observant of others. You know very well how difficult it is to deal with people smoothly and lead a gathering with authority.”

I know, I know. That rat observed those around him so diligently that he grasped people’s weaknesses inside out and manipulated them like his dolls. Serge swallowed the things he could not say and kept a smile on his face.

“I know that you, father, are someone who would give a chance to a son who has mustered up his courage. I will also start studying the list of the great noble families of Blanche from today. It’s the same with relationships with people. I can do it too. Even at Her Majesty the Queen’s recent salon, it was I who received the best evaluation, not Gabriel. I would appreciate it if you could trust me and entrust it to me once.”

Duke Arthur stared sharply at his son with his brown eyes.

Serge waited quietly.

He had already done his best to persuade his father. He had not approached him emotionally with excessive charm like Gabriel, and he had maintained a manly line by appealing to his reliable side. So now was the time to wait for the Duke’s answer.

“…Alright.”

Permission finally fell from the Duke’s expressionless face.

“From now on, all social invitations that officially come to our family will be managed by you. However, it is premature for you to judge everything and monopolize it all by yourself. Make it so that Gabriel can go to the places you will not attend.”

“Yes. I will not disappoint you.”

This much was a success.

From now on, Gabriel would only receive the invitations that had already been filtered by him.

Any gathering that had even a slight possibility of being used for schemes or greatly expanding one’s influence would be cut off at Serge’s level.

Thus, Serge decided to clip the wings of Gabriel, who was making a name for himself as the queen bee of high society. And this very moment was the first act of that grand finale.

Now that the Duke’s permission had been granted, the face of the Arthur family would be Serge from now on. And Serge made a vow. He would not let Gabriel get away with any foolishness under the Arthur name. And so, he would make it so that the public opinion of high society could not fully support Gabriel as it had before.

While the father and son were drinking tea with pleased expressions, a knock was heard, cutting through the warm air between them.

Knock, knock.

At the sound, the head butler who was serving tea went to the door and checked who had knocked.

“Your Grace. A chamberlain from the royal palace has arrived.”

“The royal palace?”

The Duke and Serge, who had thought it was just a casual visitor here to deliver some business-related documents, were startled. A person from the royal palace? As soon as Serge heard that, he was engulfed in a sense of déjà vu.

‘Could it be that the Crown Prince’s chamberlain has brought flowers for Gabriel again? But the two of them didn’t even meet at the ball this time.’

It was a natural assumption, as in his past life, the royal chamberlains had mostly visited with matters related to the Crown Prince. But the head butler shattered Serge’s misconception.

“He says he was sent by His Highness the 2nd Prince.”

At those words, Serge was startled once more.

What on earth is this guy up to? And what business could he possibly have that would bring him directly to Duke Arthur, not to him? After sending such love calls to his father, could it be…? Is he going to confess or something…?

“His Highness the Prince? …Show him in.”