Chapter 61
Ruan’s face kept getting pushed back by the large cat’s intense headbutting.
As Ruan tried to straighten his face, he recalled what had just happened.
Since last night, the cat had been lacking energy, which worried him, so he came to check on it. The cat asked to have its claws trimmed. After successfully trimming all the claws in one sitting…
The previously lethargic cat suddenly became majestic and started headbutting.
‘What exactly happened?’
He couldn’t understand the context.
But even Ruan could understand one thing.
Ruan looked at the cat enthusiastically headbutting him with its front paws on his shoulders.
The cat that had been listless since last night, worrying Ruan, had returned to its normal state.
Just as he thought this, Ruan’s neck bent backward from the headbutt-like intensity.
‘Or not? It seems even happier than usual?’
Anyway, although he wasn’t sure what was going on…
The cat had said it wasn’t in pain, and it had regained its energy. It seemed that whatever was troubling the cat had been resolved.
Seeing the cat full of energy again, Ruan felt relieved and gently stroked the Grand Duke’s outstretched back.
‘I’m curious about what the problem was and how it was solved, but…’
Ruan’s gaze shifted slightly to the clock.
While trimming the Grand Duke’s claws, his short break time had almost ended. It was time to hurry back to work rather than engage in a Q&A with the cat.
‘Can’t be helped. At least I got to see it energized before leaving.’
Consoling himself that he could come back after work to check if the cat’s condition had really improved, Ruan removed the Grand Duke, who was headbutting particularly intensely today, by putting his hands under its armpits.
“Your Grace. I’m sorry, but I need to go to the workshop with the merchant guild people now.”
The Grand Duke, suddenly removed, seemed dissatisfied for a moment, but…
“I’ll return to report to Your Grace as soon as I finish my work.”
At Ruan’s following words, the Grand Duke seemed to think for a moment.
It stretched its neck upward, puffing out its fluffy chest, and raised its tail straight up, which had become even more voluminous with a cool breeze. It was truly a majestic pose.
Ruan watched as the Grand Duke confidently walked behind the desk where its clothes had fallen, stretching out its legs fully, which it had only been half-extending while feeling unwell.
Although he really didn’t know what had happened…
‘Well, it seems to be in a good mood, so… is it alright?’
Well, yes. If it’s good, it’s good.
Pressed by the approaching appointment time, Ruan simply concluded.
“Then I’ll be going, Your Grace.”
To Ruan’s farewell, the Grand Duke, who had returned to his desk with a dignified and cold face as if he had never been unwell, replied in a nonchalant voice.
“Go ahead.”
Reassured by the sight of Dietrich Reinke, the Grand Duke that Reinke people trembled before, Ruan left the office.
Completely unaware of what was happening inside Dietrich Reinke’s mind.
* * *
After suddenly recovering from being worryingly lethargic, the Grand Duke was spending his days with his tail raised high as if reaching for the sky.
He had always been a confident cat, but recently, it was as if every single hair was imbued with an air of composure and majesty.
Ruan, having missed the timing to ask why he was in such a good mood, still couldn’t understand… But anyway, seeing a happy cat is a caretaker’s happiness. Having worried so much about the cat, Ruan was just glad to see the cat in a good mood.
Moreover, the Grand Duke, overflowing with composure, had become extremely generous and lenient towards Ruan.
Ruan was able to focus on his work with a calm mind.
The business with the Steiner merchant guild was progressing smoothly.
The guild had come to Reinke with a positive response from the beginning, and Ruan had also built a rapport with Ralph, but in truth, Ruan wasn’t completely at ease.
Contracts can fall apart even right before the final seal is stamped.
So, from the moment they started drafting the contract, Ruan was on high alert, preparing for a long battle… But unexpectedly, it didn’t take long from the initial draft to the signing of the contract.
Both parties’ opinions aligned well, and neither wanted to waste energy on excessive bargaining.
Having saved time, Reinke and the Steiner merchant guild immediately entered into discussions about future business operations.
What Ruan felt at that stage was… that Ralph was indeed that Ralph Steiner.
He had momentarily forgotten due to the shocking revelation of his identity and his dog-like behavior. But the large dog with sparkling eyes who had stolen Ruan’s late-night snack was truly the magnate who controlled the empire’s commercial world, the talent that Louise had coveted. Ruan couldn’t help but realize this fact with every moment he worked with him.
Ralph was incredibly capable, befitting a guild master who had conducted numerous successful businesses with various sectors of the capital.
Ruan was also aware that the plan he had made with Reinke’s staff was inadequate.
Ruan, who had laid out the framework of the plan, lacked knowledge and experience of this world, and most of the others had never been outside of Reinke, so it was unavoidable.
Of course, having read “Tales of the Sirah Empire,” Ruan possessed knowledge that was hard for ordinary people to know. Things like macro-economic and social trends, hidden political considerations in certain issues, the underlying atmosphere of the capital, inside stories of influential figures and their significance.
Knowing things that were difficult for people living in this era, on this land, to perceive gave Ruan a different perspective from others.
But there were limits to what could be covered by that alone.
No matter how crucial Ruan’s knowledge was, it was still just a story described in text. Ruan didn’t know the specific details of life unfolding in a vibrant city made up of countless people, roads, and buildings.
So while he had anticipated that the Steiner merchant guild, based in the capital Ardenheim, would have many areas to touch upon…
‘I didn’t expect it could change to this extent.’
The moment Ralph got involved, Ruan and the Reinke people saw gaps they didn’t even know existed being filled, and parts they thought were the best being significantly improved, leaving Ruan in awe.
‘Come to think of it, the Ralph in the novel was described as having an insane level of business acumen. He must have been able to manipulate the empire’s economy even amidst that fierce struggle for the throne.’
In fact, Ralph was young to be the guild master of a large merchant guild like Steiner.
Yet, the fact that Ludwig could entrust the guild to Ralph and retire must have been entirely due to his outstanding business skills. Ralph was such a genius guild master that Ruan couldn’t help but think this. Ruan had countless times thought how fortunate it was to work with him these past few days.
While everything was progressing smoothly like that, if there was anything that could be called a problem…
It was that this genius guild master would constantly give Ruan looks that seemed to say, ‘I want to be petted. I want to be vigorously petted. Why aren’t you petting me? You used to pet me, didn’t you? How can you not pet me?’
Or if Ruan couldn’t pet him due to being conscious of others’ gazes, Ralph would whine with a face as if he had lost everything. Or he would try to squeeze his behind right next to where Ruan was sitting nonchalantly. Or he would frequently stare with wide eyes, begging to go out for a walk together.
Of course, for Ruan, who knew that the stern-faced Northern Grand Duke’s hobby was chasing light fragments with majestic steps, and who had even shared late-night snacks with the furry guild master, these behaviors didn’t feel particularly new.
But it was different for those who didn’t know about werecreatures.
Ruan was also aware of this, and so he was extremely careful not to have physical contact with Ralph when others were watching, but…
“You know, the guild master… when he’s with the assistant, his eyes are dripping with honey, he’s restlessly busy, and his expression is like…”
“He acts like someone who’s genuinely head over heels.”
“Right! I’m not the only one who thinks so! Oh, come to think of it, I heard something before… There was a rumor that the assistant was having an affair with the guild master.”
“Huh? Really? An affair?”
“No, I said it was just a rumor. I heard it turned out to be a misunderstanding. I just heard that there was such a rumor, isn’t it funny? That’s all I heard.”
“What? But why bring that up?”
“Well, they say it was a misunderstanding, but… looking at how the guild master acts these days, don’t you think he really does like the assistant?”
“Oh. That seems true.”
Ruan belatedly realized.
While cats don’t show emotions through facial expressions, dogs mimic human smiles to express emotions…
Compared to cat expressions that are often misunderstood, dog expressions that evolved through communication with humans are much more intuitive and clear to people.
In other words, even without physical contact, the relationship between Ruan and Ralph still appeared unusual to others.
