Male Lead, Don’t Follow Me! - Chapter 7

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“How come you’re all attending the banquet?”

“Don’t mock me. I’m here because the chamberlain kept insisting I should come.”

Bishwaltz spoke with a face that looked like he wanted to leave right away.

Serhin realized why Bishwaltz didn’t want to come to the banquet.

It was because of his followers.

“But isn’t it fortunate that no one’s bothering you because of that rumor?”

It seems Serhin hasn’t heard any other rumors yet.

“Well, that’s true.”

Bishwaltz wasn’t even curious about who harbored a grudge against him to say such things.

He just thought he had become a target for venting frustrations.

“Look, there’s a young lady who likes bad men approaching.”

Serhin chuckled and took a step back.

Adele was a woman beautiful enough to be called the flower of high society.

Her graceful demeanor and perfectly mastered etiquette drew admiration from others.

“It’s been a while, Duke Bishwaltz.”

Her eyes curved into crescents. How her hands had trembled with humiliation on the day he rejected her.

Adele slowly covered her face with her fan and looked him up and down.

‘It’s a shame, but what can I do? I should have noticed something was off when he didn’t fall for me.’

She quickly changed her expression, closed her fan, and approached him.

“Well, now I understand perfectly. The reason why you rejected my confession.”

“…Is there a reason for rejection?”

Bishwaltz furrowed his brow. It was just a rejection because he wasn’t interested. It was the same with others.

For him, they didn’t stir any emotional response.

That was all.

“Oh my, Your Grace has other reasons, don’t you?”

Adele lightly tapped his shoulder with her closed fan. Was he really acting like he didn’t know, or was he behaving this way to hide it?

She thought the Duke was maintaining quite a good poker face.

‘Well, I suppose it could be like that since it’s a sensitive topic.’

But she felt annoyed that he seemed unaware of the situation, appearing so calm.

How little must he go out to not have heard the rumors?

‘Or maybe the women were being cautious, just in case.’

Well then, let him remain ignorant.

“Oh my, look at me. I promised to dance with my fiancé, so I’ll be going now. I hope you have a pleasant time.”

Adele’s smile was more beautiful than anyone’s, but Bishwaltz felt discomfort.

“Other reasons?”

Just because he wasn’t interested, a young lady claims to know reasons he himself doesn’t?

“Ha.”

A scoff escaped Bishwaltz’s lips.

“Strangely, it feels like the young ladies are being sharp with you today.”

“What on earth did I do.”

He shook his head. He felt like he was getting needlessly involved.

Serhin quietly surveyed the banquet hall and his eyes sparkled.

“Oh? It’s the young lady you first spoke to.”

Bishwaltz’s gaze slowly turned to the opposite side.

He saw a woman with long pink hair, smiling brightly.

“That pink hair looks like it was the flower tree from back then.”

“Flower tree?”

Serhin tilted his head.

“Yes, the spirit summoner who caused trouble during the blessing ceremony.”

“I heard about that day. It’s a shame I couldn’t see it with my own eyes.”

A spirit summoner failing the summoning and calling forth a flower tree in the middle of the banquet hall became a big issue in society.

The spirit summoners were embarrassed, but for others, it remained an amusing incident.

“The woman next to her was Ephelia, wasn’t it?”

Bishwaltz shifted his gaze from Kiara to Ephelia.

For reasons unknown, his eyes kept being drawn to her. He thought she was a woman with a strange charm that caught the eye at first glance.

He found himself looking at her repeatedly without realizing it.

‘Ephelia Kirin.’

From her perfect spirit summoning to various other aspects, she was a woman he was curious about.

“What’s this, you’re showing interest in a woman?”

Serhin looked at Ephelia with intrigue.

At that moment, Kiara, who was sticking close to Ephelia’s side, suddenly turned her head and narrowed her eyes.

That appearance made her look like a small dog protecting Ephelia.

“But how did she sense our gaze so quickly?”

“She’s a spirit summoner, so it’s probably possible to some extent. Well, judging by the flower tree summoning, she doesn’t seem that competent.”

“She had that kind of look in her eyes when I talked to her last time too.”

As Bishwaltz and Serhin didn’t avert their gaze, Kiara scrutinized them with an even more wary look.

‘Ephelia is off-limits. Not a chance.’

Her two fingers moved towards her eyes, then she wiggled them while threatening with her large eyes.

Flinch.

The two men instinctively averted their gaze from Kiara’s eyes, which had grown so wide that the whites were visible.

“…Is she threatening us right now?”

“Her actions are as flamboyant as her voice.”

Bishwaltz couldn’t help but chuckle. Did she think that was threatening?

It seemed she was misunderstanding something.

“She seems to have mistaken that we’re interested in that young lady.”

In fact, it wasn’t that they had no interest at all, but doesn’t it make one more curious when someone is so protective?

Bishwaltz smirked and turned away.

Serhin, who had been quietly observing this, gave Kiara a wink.

At that, Kiara, like a cat with its fur standing on end, gasped and quickly led Ephelia away.

“Well, I wouldn’t reject Ephelia. But rather…”

This is more interesting.

Serhin twirled his wine glass as he watched Kiara disappear from view.

Bishwaltz, who was drinking wine with him, furrowed his brow.

“I need to step away for a moment. It seems someone has something to say to me.”

Bishwaltz had sensed another strange gaze since entering the banquet hall.

As it discreetly followed him without revealing itself, he had no choice but to head to the terrace for a moment.

As he tugged at his bowtie as if feeling stifled and took a deep breath, he sensed a presence behind him.

Turning his head, he saw someone he had never properly greeted before.

However, he knew who it was.

‘Baron Beber, was it?’

An inexplicable unease gripped him.

What reason could there be for a man to follow him out to the terrace?

“Do you have something to say?”

The Duke asked him in a somewhat guarded voice.

Judging by his face, he seemed to have had a bit to drink as it was flushed, and his hesitant demeanor even appeared shy.

‘Shy? Why?’

He instinctively took a few steps back from the Baron.

“Duke Leperuta Bishwaltz.”

As he approached a bit closer, his face was clearly visible in the moonlight.

It was Baron Beber, who hadn’t been seen in high society for a while.

What was it that had made him disappear from society back then?

Duke Bishwaltz couldn’t remember clearly as his memory was hazy.

It had been quite a commotion, but the Duke hadn’t been particularly interested.

Baron Beber approached him little by little and shyly handed him a note.

“What is this…”

“All this time, I’ve…”

“S-Stop!”

Duke Bishwaltz reached out his hand to interrupt Baron Beber’s words.

His body moved first, thinking that he absolutely must not hear this.

‘This almost seems like a confession, doesn’t it?’

It was an absurd situation.

“Baron Beber. What do you think you’re doing?”

“…Surely, Your Grace.”

Baron Beber, seeing Duke Bishwaltz emanating a murderous aura, realized something had gone wrong.

“Could it be that you didn’t know?”

“…Know what?”

Alas, it was a mistake to have rushed over in joy without properly checking.

Baron Beber said to Duke Bishwaltz.

“Weren’t you gay, Your Grace?”

“What did you just say?”

Feeling the air around them freeze, Baron Beber broke out in a cold sweat.

“The rumors were everywhere… Did you really not know?”

Beber lowered his head with a disappointed expression. If others were to find out that he had confessed to the Duke…

“Th-That note…”

Duke Bishwaltz created a flame in his hand and burned it to ashes.

“Did something happen?”

“Eek! Nothing at all!”

Baron Beber fled as if escaping.

Left alone on the terrace, Bishwaltz finally began to understand the whole situation.

“…Not just a son of a b*tch, but a gay son of a b*tch?”

For the first time in a long while, his will burned fiercely.

He vowed to catch the culprit and make them kneel before him.