Chapter 165: The Grand Duke Approves
"Why would father allow you to represent the Academy?" Renelle asked as they walked through the Academy’s campus.
Adrian was silent for a while, wondering if he should tell her, but after a moment of thinking, he let out a sigh.
"It’s because he wants to break me away from the Ardent family."
Renelle’s expression immediately turned dark as she looked at him and asked, "what did you say?"
"Calm down my lady," Adrian muttered, as he led her towards a bench in the campus, "he’s not cutting me off from you."
That got her confused, but at least, the fearful aura that surrounded her had dissipated.
"Explain," she commanded as she sat down and looked up at him.
Adrian nodded as he went back to his conversation with the Grand Duke back in the frontier.
***
"What are your intentions with my daughter?" The Grand Duke....no, Boreas Ardent asked as he looked directly at his daughter’s butler.
"My intentions," Adrian repeated as he searched for a word to describe his intentions,
But it seems this world didn’t have enough, so he settled with, "I love her."
Boreas was surprised at how straightforward the butler was, yes he had expected something like this, but for him to just come out and say it, was surprising to say the least.
But it seems his surprise was far from over.
"..No," Adrian corrected himself after a brief pause, "that doesn’t encompass what I feel about her."
His gaze lowered to his gloves as he said again, "I worship her, she’s the reason I want to exist."
Obsession.
Pure unfiltered obsession was all the Grand Duke could see in the kid’s eyes, and to be honest, it terrified him.
As much as it seemed like the kid was willing to do any and everything for Renelle, what if she didn’t return his obsession?
That was the true problem.
Not Adrian’s loyalty, his ambition, not even the terrifying future he was casually trying to build.
No, what unsettled Boreas the most was the simple fact that his daughter had unknowingly become the center of someone’s entire existence.
And the worst part?
The Grand Duke could already tell that Adrian himself was fully aware of how abnormal that sounded.
Yet there wasn’t even the slightest shame in his eyes.
There was only sincerity in them.
He could already feel a headache coming which caused him to pinch the bridge of his nose and muttered mostly to himself, "this obsession might’ve been born after she saved him from the snow."
"Most likely," Adrian agreed calmly, though the grand Duke hadn’t spoken directly to him.
The Grand Duke stared at him for a while before asking the most important question.
"And what if my daughter doesn’t feel the same way?"
Ah, that’s right.
Adrian finally realized that the Grand Duke didn’t know that the relationship between the two had already been established.
His spies might’ve reported Renelle’s strange behavior with him, but he might’ve interpreted that as just her caring for the butler, nothing more.
Though, he also knew that Boreas realized the way Renelle was looking at him, so he only asked this question as a test.
"Then I would simply remain her butler," Adrian answered with a small smile, "staying by her side and seeing her happy is all I exist for."
It was worse than Boreas initially thought.
"I really wish you were here right now, honey," he muttered to himself again, as he considered the boy’s answer with exhaustion.
And it wasn’t as if he could punish the boy for his feelings and force him to discard them....
Well, he could, but he was certain that his daughter would hate him.
After all, give the way she looked at her butler, it was obvious that she cared about him as much more than a butler.
With a sigh, he looked at the kid before him again,
"Even if I grant you my permission," the grand duke started but with the way Adrian’s eyes lit up, he immediately added, "which I haven’t granted you yet!"
"Understood, Grand Duke," Adrian answered, but there was still a smile on his face, much to Boreas’ annoyance.
"As I was saying," he continued, "with your plan to make her Avera’s ruler, won’t your position become a problem?"
Boreas’ blue eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke.
"A ruler can marry beneath their status, yes, but the moment that happens, the nobles start circling like vultures."
"In the scenario where you successfully make her Avera’s ruler," Boreas continued, "don’t you think there’d be nobles waiting to use the slightest bit of advantage they can get hold of or even fabricate?"
"Except, you wish to execute them all."
"Can you withstand an entire Empire looking down on you while standing beside her?"
Adrian was quiet for a few seconds before answering honestly, "I don’t care what they think of me."
"Still, it would be a problem," he added after a moment, "then what do you suggest, Grand Duke?"
***
"Father accepted our relationship?" Renelle asked in surprise, focusing on just that part.
"Not outright, but I’m certain that he’s okay with it," Adrian added, "though he did promise to give his official blessing after I fulfilled my promise."
"A promise?" Renelle asked curiously since he had left out that part.
"Yes my Lady," he answered, "but that will remain a secret between I and my future father-in-law."
"F-father—" Renelle seemed as if she would combust soon, with her face turning completely red.
"Ah, it might be too soon for that," Adrian muttered with a smile as he leaned a bit forward, "my lady would have to wait until the entire Avera can find no reason to keep your Butler away from you."
And that was Boreas’ solution and the reason why he was taking part of the festival under the Academy instead of the Ardent family.
Though that was the second option as the had completely rejected the first, making a family from scratch and raising them to the level of Grand Dukes, which should’ve been easy for him.
But with that, he couldn’t remain The Lady’s Butler, and that was unacceptable.
"Now then," he stood up straight and extended his hand, making sure he had taken off his glove, "would my lady like to go on a date?"
