Chapter 101
Of course, Ruan hadn’t just mentioned the Grand Duke merely to pressure Rafael. It was also because he was running late from the time he had told the Grand Duke he’d be back. He felt anxious thinking about the Grand Duke waiting for him at the mansion by now. In fact, considering recent events, he briefly thought the Grand Duke might not even be waiting, which made him even more anxious.
But that was just a minor, personal motivation. The main purpose was to emphasize that he was the Grand Duke’s man and to use the Grand Duke’s authority to pressure Rafael, who had done something strange. Rafael, not knowing the relationship between the Grand Duke and Ruan, would only perceive the latter intention.
However.
“Does the Grand Duke care about when his subordinate finishes spending personal time and returns? Someone of his stature?”
‘It seems this isn’t working at all.’
Look, you just kidnapped a close associate of Duke Reinke. Why are you so nonchalant about it?
Honestly, Ruan knew that given who he was dealing with, the chances of resolving the situation through normal conversation were low. But he didn’t expect to be dismissed this completely. Swallowing a sigh, Ruan calmly started to think about how to handle this situation.
‘I need to get out of here quickly to get to the Grand Duke.’
But that calmness didn’t last long.
It was because of what Rafael said as he straightened up from his relaxed position against the backrest.
“Besides, the Grand Duke probably doesn’t have time to worry about a mere subordinate right now, does he?”
What about the Grand Duke? Why wouldn’t he have time to worry?
Ruan’s neck stiffened at this completely unexpected statement as he was wracking his brain.
‘Did something happen to the Grand Duke? Did someone do something to him while I was unaware?’
Volker? There were no signs of that, though. Was I too careless? Did that bastard backstab us after all? Or was it Louise? I thought Louise couldn’t reach the capital right now. If not that, then since Rafael Bettin said it himself, did he do something?
He quickly ran through the possibilities, but none of them quite fit the situation as Ruan understood it.
What could it be? What happened? His mind was in chaos, unable to comprehend the unknown situation.
Unable to reach any conclusion, Ruan looked at Rafael with a stiff face full of bewilderment.
Seeing this, Rafael blurted out before Ruan could say anything.
“What? You don’t know? I brought you here thinking a trusted aide would know everything about the Grand Duke’s affairs. You don’t even know about this?”
At this genuinely puzzled voice, Ruan’s already tense face twisted further.
It was true that recently there were many things about the Grand Duke that Ruan didn’t know. But he didn’t think he would miss something as serious as the Grand Duke being in danger.
Biting the inside of his cheek, Ruan looked up at Rafael. He asked the man who was muttering, “Maybe I brought the wrong person…”:
“What… has happened to His Grace the Grand Duke?”
Although this was still a madman who seemed to think he had merely “brought” Ruan here rather than kidnapping him… If the Grand Duke was in danger, Ruan needed to know about it, and the fastest way to get information right now was from the man in front of him.
Ruan anxiously watched Rafael’s mouth open. But the words that came out were in a completely different direction from what Ruan had expected.
“From what I hear, with the Grand Duke calling in a band and bringing in flowers, making all sorts of preparations, isn’t he proposing as the rumors said? You’re his aide and you don’t know about such an important matter?”
That wasn’t about the Grand Duke being in danger, nor about someone putting the Grand Duke in danger.
Ruan slowly digested what he had just heard.
The Grand Duke… is proposing? Today? Not some other day, but today? While he was away?
‘I thought nothing had progressed yet, how…?’
No, but given the current situation, there’s no way a political marriage could have been decided so quickly…
As Ruan tried to reassess the situation based on his previous judgments, he suddenly realized.
Could it be.
‘Could it be that it’s not a political marriage, but that the Grand Duke has found someone he likes?’
If it wasn’t a political marriage from the start, but rather that he had found someone he liked enough to want to marry right away and was planning to propose… It wasn’t impossible that neither Ruan nor Ralph had picked up on this, nor that it was progressing so suddenly.
He had naturally assumed it would be a political marriage, but to think it might not be.
Moreover, to think that the Grand Duke, who was so ignorant of human affairs, might have someone he liked enough to propose to with such elaborate preparations, calling in a band and bringing in flowers.
It was a supposition that made his chest ache just imagining it.
As he took slow breaths, Ruan recalled the Grand Duke’s appearance when he left the mansion this morning.
He hadn’t looked closely because of how shocking the events of the previous night had been, but thinking about it now, the Grand Duke had seemed somewhat excited. After I rejected him so firmly last night, was he so excited this morning because he was planning to propose to that person?
Ruan felt dazed, as if hit on the head by a large weight, at the scenario he had imagined.
‘I… just realized my feelings, and…’
I thought I had a chance, but was it already too late?
Do I have no choice but to helplessly watch the Grand Duke marry someone else? With these feelings I’ve only just realized, left with nowhere to go?
At that moment, Ruan realized.
That he liked the Grand Duke much more than he had thought.
If only he had realized sooner. If only he had admitted sooner that he liked the Grand Duke. If he had talked with the Grand Duke earlier instead of just fumbling around… There might have been a chance.
To think that he liked the Grand Duke enough to feel this sad and painful about losing the chance to confess his feelings because he had acted stupidly.
And yet he had realized it too late, like a fool.
“Looks like I really brought the wrong person.”
At the sudden voice from across, Ruan raised his head. Rafael was looking at Ruan with a troubled expression.
Until just a moment ago, he had seemed like an unpredictable bomb that might do anything. But now, Ruan only thought, ‘Even at this moment, the Grand Duke might be with his lover. No, since he said he’s proposing, that’s definitely the case. Why am I here with this bastard?’
Feeling self-loathing and deflated, Ruan asked in an exhausted and irritated mood.
“What is it you want to know from me?”
His voice was a bit hoarse, perhaps from suppressing his intense emotions.
“This feels off, but… you might know something I don’t.”
Rafael, who had been gauging Ruan, said:
“Did the Grand Duke really submit to the Emperor? The Emperor says so, but objectively speaking, isn’t that difficult to believe? Doesn’t he have some ulterior motive?”
Having finally revealed his reason for bringing Ruan all the way here, interrupting Ruan’s rush to confess to the Grand Duke, Rafael continued, sounding frustrated:
“And if the Grand Duke takes the Emperor’s side now, it throws off the balance. Given that he started by taking over the military, with the central army and the southern border regions all in Volker’s grasp, shouldn’t the Grand Duke side with Louise for balance? But suddenly the Grand Duke is said to be joining Volker…”
Ruan looked at Rafael, who had been freely using Volker’s name instead of calling him Emperor, as he rattled off his thoughts.
Normally, Ruan would have wondered if Rafael really intended to let him go after revealing so much. He would have racked his brains like a cornered herbivore facing a predator.
But honestly, right now.
‘This is annoying.’
That was about the extent of his reaction.
Here I am, having ruined everything with my foolish actions, and why do I have to watch someone else act like an idiot?
Due to his excessive self-loathing and sadness, Ruan became somewhat emotional, and words he hadn’t calculated or considered spilled out:
“Does the Empress of the Holy Empire also hope that His Grace the Duke is considering and adjusting for that?”
“Huh? Of course…”
“Have you actually talked to her about it? Is it really what Her Majesty the Empress wants, not just the Empress in your head? Is it really what His Grace the Duke wants? Can you be certain? Honestly, how long has it been since you’ve actually communicated with her?”
“Uh… well…”
Rafael’s brow furrowed as if trying to recall, but it was obvious even without calculating. He probably hadn’t even exchanged letters, let alone had a conversation, for several years.
Yet he had been pouring his life into actions that Louise never asked for, using the excuse of ‘doing it for Louise’, and then getting angry when Louise didn’t appreciate it.
Come to think of it, he had been frustrating to read about even in the novel.
“Look, if you like someone, you should try to listen to what they have to say, not get lost in your own delusions and make a fuss! That’s why misunderstandings keep piling up and the situation just gets worse! Even cats of different species living together can acknowledge their differences and communicate to find a way to be happy together. So why can’t you communicate with a human who can actually understand you? If you had just talked, the novel could have been half as long. No, a quarter as long. And the ending wouldn’t have turned out like that!”
As Ruan poured out his frustrations, mixing in the indignation he had felt throughout reading the novel, he realized that he was in the same boat.
With a look of despair, Ruan held his head in his hands and muttered.
“Ah… I should have talked too… For once I had someone I could actually communicate with…”
As Ruan, who had been pouring out words, fell silent, Rafael, who had been quietly listening under Ruan’s intensity, cautiously spoke up.
“Um… well… if you talked now…”
Despite starting cautiously, he was quickly rebutted by Ruan.
“What is there to talk about now? He’s proposing, you said. It’s all over…”
