Young Master, Please Put Some Pants On! - Chapter 109

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 109

“Kermanomon has everything I don’t have. Bloodline, title, ability. And yet he acts arrogantly as if all of that means nothing, which irritated me. He doesn’t know what enormous privilege he was born with.”

“That’s…”

“But I’ve never once been jealous of Kermanomon. I thought I could somehow seize what I didn’t have.”

Honestly, he hadn’t approached Mellis with pure intentions from the beginning. He needed someone who would freely share stories from inside the Ducal Residence.

She looked so kind-hearted at first glance that he was confident she would easily let him close, unlike the Duke’s other stone-faced retainers. She was even a talented individual born with healing power.

He wanted to steal away Kermanomon’s capable talent and make her his own person. It was just that level of spiteful thinking.

However, the more time he spent with Mellis, the more he gradually realized that the situation was flowing differently from his intentions.

He was happy that she relied on him, and he enjoyed the fact that she told him stories she couldn’t share with anyone else. Her efforts to not give up on her dreams were endearing.

When she said his dream that everyone ridiculed was wonderful, he felt a strange sensation of his heart aching for the first time in his life.

At some point, he truly wanted Mellis.

“But now I’m so jealous of that bastard I could die.”

Arsian covered his mouth with one hand and stared at her intently. As if he wasn’t used to showing this side of himself, he blushed and muttered in a low voice.

“…Do you dislike me being like this?”

“No. I actually like that you’re being honest. It feels like I’m getting to know the real Arsian.”

At her answer, Arsian bit his lip deeply. Mellis, who had been contemplating for a moment, hesitated while gauging his reaction.

“Arsian, could we perhaps continue to be…”

Arsian was her precious friend. When her identity was discovered in an unfamiliar place, it was Arsian who protected her. When she was lost and couldn’t grasp the healing arts, it was Arsian who helped her. When she had stories she couldn’t tell anyone, it was Arsian who silently listened.

But wouldn’t it be too selfish to reject his feelings and ask to continue being friends like before?

Reading her hesitation, Arsian smiled his usual gentle smile and answered.

“Mellis, we’ll always be friends from now on. That fact won’t change.”

“Arsian…”

“Being able to stay by your side unchangingly no matter what happens. Isn’t that what makes friendship better than love?”

It was he who had decided to stand by her side as a friend from the beginning. It would be a lie to say he didn’t regret it at all now, but he was satisfied with the situation given to him.

Just as he had been a good friend to Mellis, Mellis was also his good friend.

“You’ll receive a lot of attention from now on, and you’ll become the subject of countless people’s gossip. It will be scary and difficult, but you don’t need to be too afraid. Duke Severus will always be by Mellis’s side. Don’t forget that you’re not alone.”

When he smiled brightly, Mellis also nodded slightly.

“Still, is my wish for you to become Emperor still valid?”

“Of course. I’m always cheering for Arsian!”

“…Even if I were to give up that dream?”

Giving up his dream—at these completely unexpected words, her eyes widened in surprise. Only then did she notice that his gaze had subtly sunk with a tired look.

“Did something happen?”

“No. Nothing happened. But I suddenly had that thought. I knew I was dreaming an impossible dream, but lately I’m feeling more acutely how high that wall is.”

“I felt sorry for you and looked favorably upon your situation, yet you dare to deceive me?”

Mellis recalled the image of the mother and child she had seen in the Marquis territory not long ago. And she felt ashamed of herself for forgetting about that incident while being intoxicated by happy daily life.

While she was immersed in happiness and turning away from reality, Arsian must have been silently fighting that heavy reality. As he always had.

Mellis, who had fallen into deep contemplation, slowly shook her head.

“Still, I don’t think my feelings of supporting Arsian will change.”

“Why?”

“Just because you can’t ascend to the throne doesn’t mean everything you’ve worked for disappears. Thanks to Arsian, many things must have changed.”

At that moment, Arsian’s eyes widened. He seemed at a loss for words, his lips trembling before he covered his face with one hand and bowed his head deeply.

Then he whispered in a voice so small that only she could hear.

“…Thank you.”

Does Mellis know what these words mean to me right now? She could never understand the weight that changing the world carries for me.

“Oh, it’s snowing.”

At Mellis’s murmur, he looked up to see pure white snowflakes filling the sky. Cold snow gently settled on his cheek. A small snowflake fell onto his outstretched hand, then melted away without a trace.

He loved the snowflakes falling from the sky, but he knew he could never hold them in his hands.

Exhaling a misty breath, he murmured quietly.

“I thought Kermanomon could never fulfill what I needed, but perhaps it was the opposite.”

Mellis, who hadn’t quite caught his words, tilted her head, but he casually changed the subject as if it were nothing.

“It’s nothing. Since it’s snowing, shall we head inside?”

“Yes. That sounds good.”

The two walked along, exchanging trivial conversation as if nothing had happened. Fresh snowflakes gradually accumulated on the path where their footprints remained.

* * *

It was a few days before the year-end social gathering. On a warm afternoon with sunlight streaming through the window, Persiana sat on the sofa in the center of his bedroom, leisurely sipping from his teacup while waiting for someone. Soon, word came that his expected guest had arrived, and a faint smile spread across his lips.

“Your Majesty, Grand Duke Kermanomon von Severus has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

Soon the door opened and Kermanomon appeared. As Kermanomon bowed respectfully, Persiana dismissed everyone around them.

“Have you been well?”

“We just saw each other a month ago. What could have happened in that time?”

However, despite his words, Persiana’s eyes narrowed at the subtly excited tone in his younger brother’s voice. He casually held his teacup while probing Kermanomon’s true feelings.

“Things are going well with the woman you like, I take it?”

“…What do you mean.”

Flustered, Kermanomon set down his teacup and tried to deflect, but Persiana paid no mind and seriously imitated him, running one hand through his hair.

“‘Brother, what exactly is this thing called love…'”

“When did I ever say that.”

“‘I miss her so much, but I don’t know what to do.'”

“…Stop it.”

“‘If I keep going like this and end up being hated forever…!'”

“Ah, seriously, stop it!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Kermanomon roughly shoved refreshments into his mouth. With his face burning red from shame, Kermanomon huffed and tried to ignore the situation, but Persiana just chewed and swallowed the refreshments with a blissful expression.

“Haha, it’s been so long since you acted so adorably.”

“Damn it, I was wrong to trust you.”

Though embarrassing, there was nothing wrong with what Persiana said. Just a few weeks ago, when Kermanomon had hidden himself in the capital to avoid Mellis, he had shared those troubled feelings with his brother. In his longing and affection for Mellis, he had uncharacteristically gotten drunk and made a fool of himself.

It was something that would never have happened normally, but experiencing the confusion of love for the first time in his life, he had been incapable of rational judgment.

Whether Kermanomon’s face turned red or not, Persiana maintained his cheerful, bright attitude.

“So, when are you going to formally introduce her to me?”

“…Actually, she came in with me this time.”

“That nanny we met back then, right? I think her name was Mellis. I knew this would happen from the moment I first saw her.”

At his cheerful question, Kermanomon nodded slightly and answered. Persiana’s words brought back forgotten memories from the past.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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