Chapter 54

[Moreover, the other father of the child is Colonel Reynard Dennox.]

[What?]

Dalton thus detonated several bombs simultaneously on his brother’s head.

With his brain reduced to ashes, the Viscount thought hard. The pregnancy itself was unbelievable, but the partner was someone he couldn’t have imagined even in his dreams…. He couldn’t guess at all where and how they met, or how things had progressed.

Moreover, his son had only recently returned to the country. He had no close friends in the capital during that time, and hadn’t been actively participating in social activities. He had started going out a little recently due to pressure from his wife to fulfill his duties as a nobleman and family member. Even that, from the Viscount’s perspective, was only attending excessively small and minor gatherings. Furthermore, as a family, they had almost no points of contact with the Dennox Grand Duke’s family.

[Where and how on earth did they meet and end up like this?]

Though he knew nothing, questions poured out.

[They met at the Founding Day Ball.]

As Dalton said this, averting his gaze from the Viscount, the Viscount, his head hit by a bomb, didn’t even notice his brother avoiding eye contact and stood there blankly.

The Founding Day Ball… It had been almost 2 months ago.

[Was there something between them after that too…? I hadn’t heard anything all this time?]

To the Viscount’s question, Dalton shook his head.

All the family knew was just Valentine’s two overnight stays out, and the fact that Colonel Reynard Dennox had visited Valentine yesterday afternoon with a large bouquet of flowers and they had gone out together.

Even the two overnight stays and one outing were too vague to connect to the two’s romance.

From the day of the ball until yesterday, there had never been a feeling that an alpha and omega were meeting and dating.

An outing with the Marquis of Valkyries…?

When the Viscount returned home in the evening after finishing work yesterday, how incomprehensible it had been to hear that fragmentary story…!? He couldn’t help but think, ‘What connection could there possibly be between the two for them to meet?’

There seemed to be nothing else between them. His visit and his son’s outing were truly out of the blue.

Well, even if the family members had tried to guess something, there should have been something visible, but in reality, as the family saw, it was just two overnight stays and one outing. There was no evidence, no circumstances, no suspicious points.

That was basically all that was visible, so even if someone in the family had tried to notice, they couldn’t have. They hadn’t exchanged letters, nor had there been any points of contact for them to meet, nor had there been any introductions from anyone….

[How on earth did they date…?]

[That’s what I’m saying.]

It was an absurd situation.

It had been shocking when he heard that his son had gone out with the Marquis of Valkyries as soon as he returned home yesterday. But when there was no news of Valentine returning even as the evening sun set and dinnertime approached, he was shocked for the second time, of course. Then came the third shock with the news of fainting from the servant from the Grand Duke’s mansion, and the fourth shock of the pregnancy bomb dropped by his brother who brought his son back…. The Viscount had essentially been subjected to brain terrorism all day today.

Recalling all that chaos again, the Viscount suffered from the illusion of developing hypertension where there had been none before.

To think he even got pregnant. He had stayed out overnight, but still, who would have thought…!

And to think that the person responsible had come so boldly….

Grind!

Viscount Wiche ground his teeth, recalling the events of last night. As if he would chew up the person he was about to talk to.

The Viscount, who had been looking out the window for a long time with a furrowed brow and a complicated expression, turned around and approached. Reynard stood up and bowed formally to greet him.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Reynard Dennox, Marquis of Valkyries.”

“I am Viscount Brandon Wiche. Please, sit down again.”

It was truly a calm yet storm-before-the-calm-like first greeting.

It felt as if a cold wind was passing between the two men sitting face to face. The experienced head butler, deliberately ignoring this atmosphere, began to move the well-brewed tea onto the table for guest hospitality.

On the teacups and plates placed on the table, the Wiche family crest, beautifully decorated with keys and roses, was displayed. Reynard gazed at it intently. And finally, he opened his mouth to get to the point.

“I have brought a marriage proposal.”

The Viscount was taken aback.

For the person himself to directly hand over a marriage proposal…. Without any prior notice or consultation, and not sending a family representative either. It was a proposal stripped of any flowery language, direct to the core, the epitome of getting straight to the point.

It was as if he was suddenly throwing the proposal saying, “Here, take it!”

“This is a formal marriage proposal from the Dennox Grand Duke’s family to the Wiche Viscount’s family.”

But the person who dropped the bombshell proposal maintained his shamelessness as if without an ounce of embarrassment.

‘He’s excessively confident.’

Viscount Wiche was unknowingly feeling the same sentiment that Valentine had felt before.

Reynard placed the box containing the formal marriage proposal on the table. The Viscount stared at it with a dumbfounded expression before slowly opening his mouth.

“…This is too sudden.”

“There was no reason to hesitate.”

It was a confident yet resolute statement. The Viscount pulled the box on the table towards him. On the sturdy box made of thin yet solid metal, the crest of the Dennox Grand Duke’s family was engraved, exuding an intimidating aura despite being merely a pattern. The intricate crest and surrounding decorations were clearly the work of a master craftsman at a glance. It was extremely luxurious, almost like a work of art.

The box was opened with careful hands.

Inside the box, thick official documents greeted the Viscount, shining with ribbons, seals, and gold leaf.

First, there was a formal marriage proposal with the handwriting and signature of the current head of the Dennox Grand Duke, who would be in the territory. Second, even more surprisingly, there was a document containing the Emperor’s recommendation and seal.

Reading the Emperor’s handwritten letter actively recommending the marriage, the Viscount raised one corner of his mouth in a crooked smile.

“To bring in His Majesty the Emperor as a recommender… You are truly remarkable.”

Both men knew that the word “remarkable” was not a simple compliment. The Viscount was now mocking the rudeness of pushing in directly in a hurry without following procedures, and the very person who had impregnated his innocent son who had just come of age.

“His Majesty is the person who welcomes my marriage more than anyone else right now.”

“Huh…. Should I applaud your thoroughness…”

The Viscount swallowed the words that followed, unable to decide whether to hit him instead.

Silence filled the room again.

Reynard, reading the unspoken words and anger in that face and intonation, stood up and bowed.

“I sincerely apologize for having disregarded all procedures.”

Reynard apologized politely, placing his right hand over his heart. Of course, that apology didn’t resonate at all with the father of an omega who had gotten pregnant before marriage.

However, he couldn’t help but be surprised at the fact that a person of equal status had bowed to a Viscount of lower status than himself. The Viscount was at a loss, caught between surprise, bewilderment, and anger. Seeing him go back and forth between these emotions, Reynard continued speaking.

“I decided the moment I first saw Valentine Wiche. That I must marry this person.”

“……”

“My heart is that full of certainty.”

“How full of certainty you must have been to get her pregnant like that first…”

The Viscount with an expression as if looking at a bandit, and Reynard facing such a person…. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of the alpha who had never been flustered anywhere before.

“Of course, your precious and only son, Lord Wiche…”

“And young too.”

“Yes. Your precious and only son, who is also young…”

“To have seduced my son, who is so precious and immature, like a snake…”

“…I truly have no words, even with ten mouths, for having gotten him pregnant first. But I had absolutely no intention of deceiving the Wiche Viscount’s family…”

“But you have already deceived…”

“You’re right…. Although there was no intention, I sincerely apologize again for having already deceived…”

Reynard was at a loss for words.

He had completely won verbally against Valentine’s uncle Dalton the day before, but the middle-aged Viscount running a large business was different. He couldn’t win with words at all.

‘No, how on earth did someone as soft as Valentine come from a person like this?’

Reynard blamed his own foolishness for expecting a family like rabbits or squirrels. He desperately tried to patch up his smile that was about to crack.

The cause of his defeat was that he hadn’t taken into account that he had psychologically submitted from the start, given that this was Valentine’s father. He had never bowed like this to the Emperor in his entire life. But who was Valentine? He was the omega who had stolen his heart completely from their first meeting. As his father and legal guardian, Reynard had no choice but to submit completely.

Moreover, to have gotten a 20-year-old omega pregnant on just their second meeting. He was truly ashamed. Of course, he was unaware that the Viscount was even more irritated because he still appeared haughty due to his innate attitude and spirit.

“But I want to make it clear that I’m not proposing simply because of the pregnancy.”

“……”@@novelbin@@

“My desire for him is undoubtedly sincere.”

The Viscount looked at the person asking not to be doubted with narrowed eyes and an even more suspicious expression. It was a look that said, while I don’t believe you because you’re so much like a bandit, go ahead and continue for now.

“I prepared the marriage proposal right after meeting Lord Wiche for the first time. The delay was because I personally went to the Grand Duchy to prepare a formal proposal.”

An unbelievable thing happened to a person with a unique trait. Therefore, given the nature of the matter, he had to go in person to explain to his father, the Grand Duke of Dennox, and hurry the preparations. However, it was Reynard’s mistake to set off in a hurry without considering how far away the Grand Duchy was.

A response flowed from the Viscount’s twisted mouth, still full of suspicion.

“So you’re saying it’s unrelated to my son’s pregnancy.”

“That’s right. I only learned of the pregnancy yesterday. Although it wasn’t intended…”

“It wasn’t intended, but the child is already there.”

“…That’s correct. But I’m extremely happy, and it’s a blessing from the Lord…”

“By the Lord’s blessing, my son has become a rascal who got pregnant before marriage.”

It was a line aimed at knowing that the Wiche Viscount’s family was a devout Anglican family. Reynard was normally a person whose faith was limited to attending mass only on Christmas and Easter. But with this pre-aimed line, he had made Valentine more of a rascal. It wasn’t intended at all, but that’s how it turned out.

Unfortunately, the Viscount was an experienced businessman used to dealing with all kinds of people in his daily life. At the same time, he was a father whose only son had gotten pregnant before marriage. Against such an angry Viscount, Reynard was utterly unable to match him verbally…. He was experiencing for the first time in his life the state of being verbally beaten and seeing everything go dark before his eyes.