"Show him to the drawing-room."
Gillen said to the butler. After the butler disappeared, he too hurried to the drawing-room. There, Yuan and Hexion were still in the middle of a chess game.
"Duke, why have you returned?"
Hexion greeted Gillen warmly. Yuan gave a small scoff. It was obvious that man was thinking something ridiculous, like, 'He must have come back because he missed me.' Instead of clearing up Yuan's misunderstanding, Gillen spoke to Hexion.
"The High Priest has arrived. It seems he was visiting the temple on Capelli Island, heard that Your Highness and I were here, and came by to say a brief hello. Or perhaps he heard that the lord of Capelli was holed up in this house playing chess day and night."
The last part was a joke. However, as soon as he heard the words 'High Priest,' Yuan's expression hardened.
"By High Priest, do you mean Marius?"
Yuan asked coolly. Before Gillen could even answer in the affirmative, a gentle voice was heard from the entrance of the drawing-room.
"That is correct. High Priest Marius greets His Highness, the Crown Prince."
A handsome, tall man with long, pure white hair and dressed in equally pure white holy vestments bowed his head. Then, he smiled faintly and looked at Gillen and Yuan.
"Your Grace, Duke Blake. And… Yuan. It has been a long time."
"Yes, it has been a long time, High Priest."
Gillen greeted him with a bright smile. Yuan, however, only glared at the High Priest as if he were an enemy. Gillen was inwardly surprised by Yuan's attitude.
'This bastard is this rude to just about anyone…!'
He gained a new realization.
But it seemed it wasn't simply a matter of Yuan's rudeness, as the High Priest looked at Yuan with interest and said.
"Has it been almost ten years? You've grown up handsomely. I heard you received a title as well. Excellent, Yuan."
"Are you personally acquainted with Marquess Hampton?"
Hexion asked in surprise. Until he received his title, Yuan had been nothing more than a reclusive mage belonging to the Magic Tower. The High Priest was the highest-ranking priest of the temple, a person whom even the imperial family had to treat with honorifics. How could such a person be so familiar with a mere mage like Yuan?
"Yes, I know him well. We were quite close, you see. Weren't we, Yuan?"
However, Yuan shattered the High Priest's claim in one fell swoop.
"Stop acting friendly, you old geezer."
His temper was truly astonishing. Both Gillen and Hexion were surprised by Yuan's manner of speaking, but High Priest Marius alone remained composed. He let out a small laugh.
"He is a truly charming young man. That is why I am fond of Yuan."
High Priest Marius was older than he looked. His appearance was that of a man in his early thirties at most, but he was, in fact, an old man nearing seventy. Rumor had it that he could easily live for 500 years. It was all thanks to his vast divine power.
Originally, humans with abundant divine power or mana were no different from demigods. It was likely that not only Marius but also Yuan would age and die much more slowly than others. After all, the current Master of the Magic Tower had held his position for over 100 years, yet he looked to be the same age as Gillen.
"I can't stand old men with taut skin."
As he said this, Yuan glanced at Gillen.
Why is that bastard looking at me? Is he saying I'm an old man with taut skin?
While Gillen was fuming, Yuan continued speaking to Marius.
"You should cherish that face value you worked so hard to protect. Don't even think about coming near me, you old geezer. All your wrinkles will show."
"…Ahem, Marquess Hampton. It would be wise to watch your words. Hmph…."
Hexion tried to stop Yuan, but a hint of laughter he couldn't quite hold back clung to the end of his words. Gillen swallowed a sigh and stepped in front of Yuan, shielding him. He offered Marius a benevolent smile.
"Why don't you have a cup of tea with me, High Priest, instead of getting caught up in the pranks of these spirited young men?"
"Shall we? In truth, is it not Your Grace, Duke Blake, who is harder to see than His Highness, the Crown Prince? Since you are a famous unbeliever."
"An unbeliever? I make so many donations to the temple. It is merely that I am occupied with both public and private affairs and cannot visit often. Hahaha!"
Gillen laughed heartily and, as if herding cattle, led Marius out toward the garden. He didn't know what the relationship between Yuan and Marius was, but if he left them alone, it looked like a fight would break out, and then it would only be a matter of time before the light-sleeping Cecilia woke up and came downstairs.
As Gillen disappeared with Marius, Hexion burst into the laughter he had been holding back.
"Did you see the High Priest's expression just now? I didn't know that man was obsessed with youth. I shall have to remember that for the future. Thank you for the entertaining spectacle, Marquess."
However, Yuan, regardless of Hexion's praise, was only staring at the hallway leading from the drawing-room to the outside.
"Marquess Hampton?"
"…Did the Duke just take that old geezer to the garden?"
"Well…? He said they should have tea, so they must have gone to a place suitable for teatime. More importantly, what happened between you and the High Priest that you are on such bad terms?"
Hexion seemed to have little interest in Gillen and Marius, who had already disappeared. But Yuan, for a while now, had been seized by a feeling as if a small mouse were gnawing at his nerves.
Whenever Gillen tried to woo Yuan, he would take him to the garden for teatime. But not long after being rejected by Yuan, he takes Marius to the garden? Anyone could see that he had switched his target of conquest. From the incredibly handsome and perfect Yuan Hampton to the shriveled-up perverted old geezer Marius!
Crumple. Yuan's pride was crushed. Of course, he still disliked Gillen. He thought of him as an alpha mister who didn't know his place. But to try and seduce Marius right after Yuan. Doesn't that make it seem as if Yuan and Marius are of similar value?
Unacceptable.'
Yuan gritted his teeth and left the drawing-room. The ignored Crown Prince and Cecilia, who was probably sleeping upstairs, were not on his mind at all. Right now, he could only think of scolding Gillen.
When he went out to the garden, there, indeed, were Gillen and Marius sitting together. He would rather die than share the same air with Marius, but Yuan endured it and strode toward them.
"Yuan, you've come."
Marius spotted Yuan first and greeted him warmly. However, Yuan pretended not to hear him and looked down at Gillen.
"What do you think you are doing, Duke?"
"Huh…? Me? What did I do?"
"Haa… so tiresome. I need to see you for a moment."
"I am currently in a conversation with the High Priest, so if it is not urgent, later—"
"It is urgent."
Yuan said curtly. Marius smiled magnanimously and nodded.
"Savoring tea alone for a short while is also a pleasure. Please, go ahead, Your Grace."
Having obtained Marius's consent, Gillen rose from the table and took Yuan to a corner of the garden.
"Alright, Hampton. What is it?"
"You are truly shameless, Duke."
"Me? Again? Why this time?"
Gillen was no longer surprised. He just asked nonchalantly, as if curious. Yuan did not like his attitude. So he pointed out the Duke's fault with even more solemnity.
"I am well aware that you took me to the garden for teatime every time you tried to seduce me. But now, to drag that old geezer to the garden right in front of me? What is this if not a transparent act, clearly intended to provoke me?"
"What…?"
Gillen asked blankly. It seemed he was shocked that his intentions had been seen through so completely. Yuan continued triumphantly.
"You must be dumbfounded by my deductive skills. But! I could not pretend not to see what was right before my eyes. Besides, I am saying this for your sake as well, Duke. That old geezer is a man you should not get close to. He is a far more filthy and sinister person than you are, Duke."
Yuan's pristine face was colored with worry.
His ill-fated connection with Marius had begun when he was very young. What more needed to be said when his first memory of him was of being tied up, unable to move an inch, while his blood was being drawn? Even after he ran away from the temple and entered the Magic Tower, Marius had continuously tried to approach Yuan. He was a terribly persistent man.
It was only natural that Yuan shuddered at the mere sight of Marius. Because Marius was a completely insane, perverted old geezer of a stalker. That such a scoundrel was praised as the High Priest, exchanging pleasantries and having tea with the imperial family and high-ranking nobles, was a deplorable state of affairs.
However, that was Yuan's side of the story, and Gillen was just staring at Yuan with a dumbfounded look.
'What? A far more filthy and sinister person than you are, Duke?'
Is this bastard dissing me on the sly while pretending to curse out the High Priest?
His rudeness was indeed second to none. And seeing him spout nonsense about seduction and provocation again, he was still stuck in a delusion that was frustrating to others.
But Gillen was also inwardly surprised. He thought he was the only one who knew the High Priest was a psycho, having read the original novel, but it seemed Yuan knew about the High Priest as much as, or perhaps even better than, Gillen did.
"…I am not having tea to seduce the High Priest."
Gillen corrected that first.
"In the first place, I am not attracted to men."
In other words, I'm not attracted to you either.