Chapter 174: The Paramour’s Dream
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 174: The Paramour’s Dream
“You look like a completely different person, don’t you?”
Standing in the Grand Duchess’s drawing room, Antonel touched his bare face with a bashful expression.
Having been summoned to the Grand Duke’s Castle early that morning, he had followed the Grand Duchess’s instructions to the letter: his hair was cropped short, and his sideburns and scruffy beard had been cleanly shaven away.
“You look much more handsome.”
At the Grand Duchess’s compliment, Antonel’s face flushed bright red, like a young boy’s.
“Th-thank you, Your Highness!”
He simply could not get used to her goddess-like beauty.
“I think we can try on the clothes now?”
At her words, Madame Ramondria and her staff quickly moved to Antonel’s side.
The Grand Duchess settled comfortably onto the sofa and asked, “Madame, what is your top recommendation?”
The proprietor of Couter, the most famous boutique in the North, scanned Antonel from head to toe.
“I believe navy blue would suit him best. What do you think?”
An assistant skillfully presented a deep navy suit before the Grand Duchess.
“Why don’t you try this on first?” the Grand Duchess said, meeting Antonel’s eyes.
Antonel stammered inanely before retreating behind the partition to change.
“What do you think?”
“His face is bright and he has a fine build, so I believe he’ll look good in anything.”
“I thought so too, didn’t I?”
Antonel could hear the Grand Duchess and the Madame whispering to each other.
“He sings wonderfully, too. You’ll be surprised when you hear him, Madame.”
Hearing the Grand Duchess praise him so highly, Antonel nearly shoved both his legs into a single trouser hole.
Could Her Highness truly… me?
The fact that Antonel had snatched the lead role at the Grand Duchess’s personal recommendation had become a massive topic of conversation throughout the entire troupe.
While a few people thought the Grand Duchess simply had a keen eye, most couldn't understand how a tacky rookie actor like Antonel had landed the lead.
— “Just how did he seduce the Grand Duchess?”
— “Does this mean Antonel is going to be the Grand Duchess’s paramour?”
Some actors had whispered such things openly behind his back.
To be honest, even Antonel found it hard to believe.
Why on earth did Her Highness choose me?
Listening to the actors sneer about how the Grand Duchess must have peculiar tastes, Antonel began to think that perhaps they were right.
Could it be that Her Highness intends to make me her paramour?
And today, after being summoned to the castle to have clothes custom-fitted, that suspicion grew even firmer.
Antonel buttoned his shirt with a complicated heart. He knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but he wanted to succeed through honorable means.
“It suits you perfectly!”
However, when he stepped out in the new clothes and saw her clapping her hands in delight, he felt a strange sensation.
— “Do you think Cochibiel succeeded on his own merit?”
Isadora, the prima donna who occasionally gave him advice, had merely shrugged at the idea of being a paramour.
— “Being a paramour doesn’t always mean serving in the bedroom. Many such relationships are more like being a friend—someone for noblewomen to talk to, someone to accompany them on outings.”
A friend-like relationship.
Somehow, the idea of becoming Her Highness’s paramour didn’t feel like such an impure arrangement. Besides, wasn’t she the first person to ever recognize his talent?
It was while Antonel was lost in these serious deliberations that she spoke again.
“Oh, by the way, how did that thing I mentioned last time turn out?”
At the Grand Duchess’s question, the Madame personally brought over a handful of items and laid them out on a display tray.
They were sleeves decorated in various styles.
The Madame approached Antonel and abruptly hiked up his jacket sleeve. When she turned back the cuff of the shirt underneath, small buttons were visible on the inside.
As the Madame unfastened the buttons, the shirt sleeve—surprisingly—detached.
She picked up a ruffled sleeve from the tray, attached it to the shirt, and pulled the jacket back down. The suit looked like an entirely different outfit.
The Grand Duchess let out a satisfied exclamation.
“It looks much more natural than I expected!”
“An actress’s dress will look even more transformed if we change the sleeves,” the Madame said, her face full of excitement.
“Cecilia, what do you think?”
“It’s wonderful! If we just change the sleeves, it’ll be like wearing a different dress every day.”
“I intend to showcase this properly in the opera. Specifically, the lead characters’ costumes will have their sleeves changed every day.”
“But will people notice?” the maid asked, tilting her head. “Most people will only see the performance once anyway.”
The Grand Duchess shook her head at that.
“For a show to be truly successful, you have to make people want to see it multiple times.”
“Watch the same performance again?”
“The charm of a live performance is that it’s different every time. If the opera is truly entertaining, people will definitely come back to see it several times.”
The Grand Duchess spoke with an excited voice, explaining that she would give the actors’ costumes slight variations every day to add a bit of extra fun.
“Is that possible?”
“Of course. The script is just too good.”
“Oh, Your Highness.”
At those words, the maid—no, the scriptwriter—clutched her cheeks as if embarrassed.
“And we have such a charming male lead, don’t we?”
The Grand Duchess’s eyes curved into crescents as she looked at Antonel.
Antonel’s mouth fell open at that smile.
Can I really become a friend to someone so beautiful?
In an instant, images of drinking tea with the Grand Duchess, going to see shows together, and singing love serenades to her on outings naturally filled his mind.
He was just beginning to drift into that sweet dream when a shout from the butler rang out, enough to send a chill down one's spine.
The Madame and her staff all bowed in unison to show their respect.
The Grand Duke strode into the room, his eyes sweeping over the space. In that brief moment, his sharp gaze raked over Antonel.
This is impossible.
A towering physique, a lithe body honed with muscle. Even to another man, his handsome features were breathtaking. He possessed the languid ease and composure that only a predator at the top of the food chain could exude.
The Grand Duke’s cold face instantly shifted into a tender expression as he looked at the Grand Duchess.
“Were you looking at dresses?”
“What brings you here?”
“I was on my way to a meeting and wanted to stop by to see you for a moment.”
At that unabashed confession, the staff let out small, envious sighs.
A cold and terrifying monarch who was respected by his people but indifferent to everything except monsters, and notoriously blunt even with his closest aides—that was the general perception of the Grand Duke of Blenheim.
Furthermore, he had never once appeared in public with his wife. While there were rumors that he cherished her deeply, some locals still speculated that His Grace might not truly acknowledge her.
I thought perhaps Her Highness was seeking a paramour out of loneliness…
He had harbored such a guess inwardly.
But I was completely off the mark!
Even at a glance, it was obvious the Grand Duke was head-over-heels for his wife. Moreover, while the Grand Duchess seemed a bit shy, she appeared very accustomed to her husband’s affection.
With a husband like that, what need would she have for a paramour?
Realizing just how absurd his imagination had been, Antonel’s face instantly turned as red as a tomato.
*
“What are you doing here?”
I whispered to Loik while the staff were busy exchanging excited glances.
There are so many women in here!
I sent him a flustered look, but Loik ignored it, fiddling with a strand of my hair as he murmured, “Who is that man?”
“Oh, he’s the male lead for the upcoming opera. Antonel?”
Antonel, who was already nervous, had frozen stiff like a wooden board the moment Loik appeared.
“It is… an honor to meet Your Grace,” Antonel managed to squeeze out, his face pale.
“Were you choosing clothes for him?”
“What do you think? It suits him, doesn't it?”
At my words, Loik narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Antonel.
“…It’s not bad.”
For some reason, Antonel seemed to flinch at those words, but when I looked back at Loik, he was merely wearing a gentle smile.
“You should go now,” I whispered softly to Loik.
But Loik, who I thought would leave obediently, furrowed his brows.
“You wouldn't even give me a single kiss today because you were busy, and now you’re chasing me out so quickly?”
While we were talking, everyone else had turned their heads away, but a few staff members were stealing glances, unable to overcome their curiosity.
This man, in front of all these people!
“Just go, quickly.”
I was pushing Loik’s back in embarrassment when it happened.
“…Your Highness!”
Madame Ramondria asked urgently, gathering all her courage.
“While we’re at it, why don’t you and the Grand Duke have some matching clothes made?”