But Ewan could never easily forget what happened during the day.
Ewan Hampton. The most beautiful man in the world. But beyond his radiant looks, he possessed intelligence, genius, and character that matched his appearance. He was a superhuman, perfect being. So it was hardly surprising that an aging middle-aged man like Gillen had fallen in love with him.
"Hah… no matter what, the man who calls himself Cecilia's father!"
Back at home, Ewan shook his head and loosened the troublesome cravat. A white parrot fluttered down and perched on his shoulder.
"Did you meet Cecilia today, Marquis?"
The magical parrot he'd created asked smoothly. Ewan lay back on the long sofa, frowning.
"No, I didn't. It's been a whole month already."
"Oh dear!"
"To be honest, I suspected it from day one. The servants there seemed to be his minions—doing everything they could to avoid me, trying to catch even a glance, trying to say even a word."
Ewan sighed wearily.
"Now I realize it was Duke Blake sabotaging me. He must be scared I'll propose to Cecilia and she'll accept right away."
He lowered his long eyelashes woven like silver threads and muttered gloomily.
"Why am I so beautiful and perfect…?"
Again, it must be said: Ewan Hampton was truly, really, incredibly strange.
A pathological narcissist drunk on his own greatness. Gillen called him that, and it was true. But from Ewan's perspective, the reason Gillen got "zero confessions, one rejection" that day was entirely natural and understandable, unrelated to narcissism.
Let's go back to Ewan and Gillen's first meeting.
As a reward for his great military achievements, the genius mage Ewan was personally granted the title of Marquis and a fief by the Emperor. Though it was just a minor noble title, he had instantly entered high aristocracy.
Thinking his perfect life was only blemished by his social status, Ewan immediately purchased a grand mansion in the capital. He hired servants including an aide and acquired an excellent carriage. Though he had always worn loose sack-like clothes and mage robes because everything else dazzled too much, now he felt it was time to get proper outfits tailored for various occasions.
After spending a month adjusting to his new noble appearance, Ewan prepared a bouquet and headed to the Blake estate. It was a hundred preserved roses, enchanted never to wither.
Cecilia Blake. Although the time he spent with her was very short, Ewan was certain that if there was anyone in the world who could be his perfect match, it was only her. The Cecilia in his memories was not only more beautiful than any other girl he had ever seen but also just as bold and gutsy as himself. Moreover, they had even made a promise as children—to definitely marry when the time came.
In fact, if he wanted, he could have proposed to Cecilia at any time. But there was one thing holding him back: she was the second most noble girl in the empire, right after the royal family's women.
When he asked the old mage lord of the mage tower, he was told that nobles only marry among themselves. Furthermore, if you are a duke, you wouldn't even glance at lower nobility. When Ewan asked how to become a noble worthy to stand alongside dukes, the mage jokingly said,
"Probably by achieving military feats big enough to annex another empire into the Moore Empire."
So that's exactly what Ewan did. He ended the long-lasting war with the Sasara Empire by bringing them to their knees and turning them into a vassal state of the Moore Empire. It was an enormous accomplishment, like conquering an entire continent.
Ewan planned to say to Cecilia the moment he saw her:
"Cecil, remember me? It's Ewan. I brought you this continent. Will you marry me?"
In his imagination, Cecilia was moved to tears and kissed his feet. She even fainted at the sight of the hundred never-wilting roses. The fantasy was perfect. If only he hadn't run into a burly old man right at the entrance to the duke's estate, that fantasy might have become reality.
"Ewan Hampton…?"
It was Gillen Blake, Duke of Blake. The father Cecilia had boasted about endlessly. Ewan also remembered the tall man standing close to the royal family when the emperor was conferring the title. So Ewan tried to show proper respect to the duke, who would become his father-in-law.
'Why on earth are you here…? Has the time really come already? This is a big problem. Cecil's not ready—no, this isn't the time.'
But when Gillen saw Ewan, he turned pale, muttering to himself like a madman, then suddenly asked if he would like to take a walk with him. That was when it started—the strange "dates" with Gillen.
Yes, dates. There was no other way to describe those times. Whenever Ewan came to visit, Gillen begged him to take walks in the garden together. They also drank tea and ate meals together. They even rode horses out to the forest. Gillen dragged out boring stories that Ewan had no interest in, just to pass the time.
Gillen was visibly anxious that Ewan might leave, constantly watching his expressions and trying to keep him happy. He even openly emitted pheromones to attract him and teased Ewan, saying, "You're handsome and cool, you must be popular, so why do you always come to our house?"
No matter how oblivious someone might be, they'd realize their counterpart was interested in them at that level—but unfortunately, Ewan was far too perceptive. His extraordinary insight and sharp judgment made it impossible for him not to notice.
If he had acted on his temper, he would have politely rejected Gillen on the very first day ("I'm not interested in old men, so please stop bothering me."). Still, because Gillen was Cecilia's father, Ewan had grudgingly tolerated it. And that had been going on for a whole month.
But today was just too blatant! It had reached a level he absolutely couldn't endure.
Even if he reluctantly followed Gillen out into the garden, he thought it definitely crossed a line when Gillen tried to follow him to the restroom.
The moment Ewan said enough was enough—
'Actually, I didn't want to go either. I lied because I didn't want to be apart from you.'
"Ha!"
Ewan sneered at the memory of Gillen.
"Didn't want to be apart? You should've just asked me to marry you already, why not?"
At Ewan's sharp muttering, the parrot chirped joyfully.
"You should've just asked me to marry you already, why not? You should've just asked me to marry you already, why not?"
"You think it's ridiculous too, right?"
"Yeah, it's really ridiculous. Cheer up, Marquis! You're going to be Cecilia's husband!"
"You're right. Since that old man got rejected anyway, he can't interfere anymore."
Ewan spoke in a slightly softened tone and stroked the parrot's head with his finger. But this was the delusion of a polite and reasonable man like Ewan—a fact that would become clear a few days later.
***
The next time he visited the Blake estate, he vowed he would definitely meet Cecilia. With that determination, Ewan went to the downtown shopping district—to buy a gift for Cecilia. In his memory, Cecilia had said she liked green grapes. But simply buying green grapes would be the lowest-level move possible.
'Leave it to me, the ever-sensible Marquis Ewan Hampton, to make the perfect choice.'
Thinking so, Ewan entered the largest jewelry store. A month earlier, he had commissioned a custom order here: dozens of diamonds cut round and linked together like a cluster of grapes. As a genius mage, he planned to add the final touch by tinting the diamonds with the green hue of grapes himself.
'To capture a woman's heart like this… once again, I've made the other men's inferiority complexes flare up just by existing.'
Praising himself, Ewan told the clerk to fetch the store manager.
"Would you please have a seat and wait for a moment?"
A cute young male employee greeted Ewan with a warm smile and guided him to the waiting room sofa. The faint scent of an omega pheromone suggested at a glance that he was trying to seduce Ewan.
Ewan forced a generous smile and sat down on the sofa. Yet, on the other hand, a bit of irritation welled up inside him.
'Damn. Ever since yesterday, everyone and their dog seems to be hitting on me. And they don't even know their place.'
Still, this employee was somewhat better—he looked to be around Ewan's age. The truly shameless one was the Duke of Blake, that old man. Sure, his looks were somewhat tolerable, but considering he was at the age when his hair was starting to grey, how did he even think he could seduce a vibrant guy like Ewan?
Ewan's eyes narrowed to slits. The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed. Just then, the back of a middle-aged man's head caught his eye across the sofa—black hair streaked with white—and it only reminded him more of the Duke of Blake.
At that moment, another employee came out from inside and politely bowed before the middle-aged man seated there, handing over a stack of papers as if presenting a gift.
"This is the newly arrived jewelry catalog. Madame Flor instructed me to show it to Your Grace first."
"Ah, thanks for the thoughtfulness. Cecil will choose anyway, but I'll take my time looking before she arrives."
"Yes, please enjoy browsing."
The employee bowed once more courteously and stepped back. Ewan frowned as he overheard their conversation. That really was the Duke of Blake, wasn't it? Had he known he was coming here in advance? But since they said Cecilia would come soon, probably not.
After a moment's hesitation, Ewan stood and walked toward the sofa ahead.
"Good day, Your Grace."