The Sub Male Lead is Burning with Jealousy - Chapter 4 Part 7 - Words Deserving a Slap

“…Should I just say I like her?”

The outcome could go either way. Rahil believed Anais despised him, but he didn’t truly think she hated him. She was kind to him as long as he did no wrong. Didn’t she bring him a towel to dry his hair in front of Emilio?

“No. Anais saw that oath! What would she think of me?”

He had knelt before Angelica at the wedding ceremony, swearing eternal love. Now, Angelica’s image was distant, but Anais’s disdainful expression then was clear.

It hadn’t even been half a year since that confession. Imagining Anais’s tepid reaction to his feelings made him feel powerless.

‘My confession has lost its strength.’

At least with Anais, and perhaps the dozen or so others who witnessed that vow, Rahil would face this predicament. Drowning in self-reproach, his reverie was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress has inquired if you will be joining her for dinner.”

Responding to the servant’s query, Rahil naturally affirmed his intention to dine with the Empress. He also instructed to convey that Emilio had departed.

The thought of dining with Anais set his heart racing.

* * *

Jeremy Noer was seething with irritation. Until a few months ago, he was in line to ascend to the rank of a minor duke, but now he was merely a man with a hollow title.

The only wealth he possessed was the allowance from his mother, the Duchess of Noer.

“Jeremy. Things have gone terribly awry, haven’t they? Why can’t you understand!”

Sending his concubine and illegitimate child away with some money was insufficient to quell his father’s fury. Now, the Duke of Noer demanded the death of the illegitimate child.

Jeremy didn’t necessarily have to execute the task himself, but the child’s death was a condition for his reacceptance into the Noer family.

Despite Jeremy’s late apologies, the Duke remained unyielding.

“Do not even think of setting foot in our house until that bastard child is dead!”

With a chilling command, the Duke ordered his knights to expel Jeremy. Feeling wronged and aggrieved, Jeremy had no choice but to be dragged away.

He pleaded, arguing that his father had also spared his illegitimate child, but the Duke was adamant. Jeremy had taken a mistress but never intended to father a child.

The Duke’s mistress, upon confirming her pregnancy, faked her own death and fled. It was only after the child had grown and received a knighthood that she revealed her existence and their son’s to the world.

Enraged, the Duke attempted several times to kill his eldest son, but all attempts failed. That son was now one of the knights loyal to the Emperor, which prevented the Noer family from aligning with the Emperor’s faction.

The Duke’s refusal to support the Emperor, choosing the harder path due to his legitimate son, Jeremy, was a testament to his affection for him.

Despite cherishing Jeremy, the Duke was betrayed by him concealing his mistress and illegitimate child, hitting him where it hurt most. Even as the Duke shielded him and pressured the Ruol Marquis, the Emperor intervened.

Finding himself in a situation where the royal family had taken Jeremy’s fiancée, Duke Noer was furious. Given their unpleasant past connection, he knew that Anais Ruol, now the Empress, would not look kindly upon the Noer family.

Despite the situation deteriorating to this extent, Jeremy could not abandon his child. Hoping to merely get through this period, he had bought a mansion near the capital to hide his mistress and child, only for it to be discovered.

“Damn!”

Jeremy felt wronged. If only Anais Ruol, that girl, had been more tolerable, everyone could have been happy. But now, everything had turned into a mess.

‘She must have had an affair with the Emperor behind my back!’

The thought of being deceived by a mere daughter of a marquis, when he was the scion of a duke’s house, made his blood boil. He wanted to punish her, but now he found himself in a position where he had to be wary of Anais’s influence.

Why me? I’ve done nothing wrong. He had met a woman he loved, had a child with her, and tried to protect that child. After all, noble marriages were political, so Anais had lost nothing, right?

‘I’m ruined like this, while Anais became the Empress! There’s no justice in this world!’

Exiled from his family, Jeremy was living in the mansion where he had hidden her mistress and child. He had bought this mansion under his son’s name, ensuring the Noer family couldn’t reclaim it.

Moreover, his mistress had diligently saved up the living expenses he provided, ensuring they could sustain themselves for some time.

But he was a noble.

Without his family, without their wealth, he was nothing. Unlike his father’s illegitimate child skilled in swordsmanship with a knight’s title, Jeremy lacked such talents.

The Duke cruelly banished him with nothing but the clothes on his back.

“Ah, damn it! What does he expect me to do now!”

Jeremy’s mother, the Duchess, had offered to send someone to kill Jeremy’s mistress and child on his behalf. Jeremy couldn’t bring himself to accept her offer.

“Jeremy. It’s not too late. If you kill that bastard child and return to the family, your father will begrudgingly accept you back.”

Although the Duke had spoken of elevating his eldest son to a minor duke, he still maintained a distant relationship with him. Thus…

“Dad!”

Jeremy was startled as his child approached him, interrupting his thoughts. At this moment, his concerns weren’t just about returning to the family but also about the Duchess.

Before Jeremy could even consent, he feared his mother might have already ordered the death of his son. There were times he thought it would be better to live in exile than to face such a decision.

“…Is your headache still bothering you?”

His son’s tilted head and concerned question made Jeremy hesitate before nodding. He watched as his son offered to speak to his grandmother about getting some medicine.

Jeremy resented Anais for ruining everything.

* * *