Chapter 53
Ruan, who had been momentarily dazed, belatedly came to his senses and hastily added,
“Ah. I’m sorry. The beast-person I know always walks around naked without a care…”
Understanding the situation, Ralph smiled and replied,
“No, it’s fine. In my case, my mother carefully trained me from a young age. Even my father, until he met my mother, didn’t think about needing to wear clothes, I hear.”
“Trained…”
Ruan’s eyes clouded as he heard Ralph’s words and muttered,
“That seems unreasonable…”
What on earth did Dietrich Reinke do and how, to make such a kind person make that expression?
‘Come to think of it, that beast-person he knows must be Dietrich, right?’
Beast-people were extremely rare beings. Even Ralph, who had acquaintances in all walks of life due to his wide network, only directly knew two beast-people: his father and the Grand Duke.
Realistically, the possibility of another beast-person being near Ruan, the Grand Duke’s closest aide, and trusting Ruan enough to reveal their identity was extremely low.
The only beast-person scent Ruan could detect was Dietrich’s.
But now, it was an unprecedented situation where his beast-person identity had been discovered by someone else.
Slightly disheartened by this first-time experience, Ralph thought it would be better to confirm and cautiously opened his mouth.
“Did the Grand Duke tell you about beast-people?”
It was an ambiguous question that didn’t definitively state that the Grand Duke was also a beast-person, in case Ruan didn’t know the Grand Duke’s identity.
In response, Ruan also gave an ambiguous answer.
“Ah. You’re… friends? So it seems you know.”
An answer that could be interpreted as either Ralph knowing the Grand Duke is a beast-person because they’re friends, or the Grand Duke knowing about beast-people because he’s friends with Ralph, who is a beast-person, depending on the situation.
‘Even if Ruan doesn’t know Dietrich is a beast-person and meant it in the latter sense…’
If he really didn’t know, the first response would have been ‘Why are you bringing up Dietrich?’ rather than this.
Which meant… it was highly likely that Ruan, like Ralph, had deliberately spoken ambiguously because he didn’t know how much the other party knew.
Ralph looked at the aide who had had an enigmatic expression ever since he mentioned his friendship with the Grand Duke.
‘Ruan knows that I’m the same kind of beast-person as Dietrich, and that I’m Dietrich’s close friend. Plus, I brought up Dietrich first.’
It was a situation where the person who had been keeping the Grand Duke’s secret alone could speak more easily than ever before.
But even in this situation, Ruan chose his words carefully instead of speaking rashly. He was constantly being cautious to protect the Grand Duke’s secret.
Ruan Daen was truly…
‘A kind yet cautious person with loyalty!’
Ralph’s inner tail, which had been lifelessly pointing towards the floor after his identity was discovered, began to wag gently.
“Yes. The Grand Duke and I are friends who share a secret. So, just as His Grace does, I will trust you too, Aide.”
As Ralph, who had slightly regained his original spirit, offered words of trust,
“Yes. Thank you for trusting me. I will keep the secret thoroughly as much as you’ve trusted me.”
Ruan returned a promise to definitely respond to the trust.
Despite Ralph deliberately mentioning that he and the Grand Duke were friends who shared a secret, Ruan still excluded any acknowledgment of the Grand Duke’s secret, speaking only of trust with Ralph.
Ralph looked at Ruan with eyes full of admiration.
Indeed, Ruan was a person of firm integrity.
How could one not trust the promise of such a person?
Ralph moved closer to Ruan, sitting so their thighs touched. He felt a body temperature slightly lower than his own through the contact.
He recalled how earlier, despite clumsy hand movements, Ruan had tried to pet him in the way Ralph preferred. This made him feel so good that his tail would have wagged busily if it had been out.
‘A good person.’
Ruan was truly a good person.
Any dog living in the same pack with this person would undoubtedly be happy.
With that thought, Ralph suddenly wanted to be petted by this person.
So Ralph took Ruan’s hand, which had been awkwardly resting on his knee as if unsure where to put it, and placed it on top of his head.
He felt Ruan stiffen through the contact, seemingly surprised. Ralph rubbed his head against the hand that was just awkwardly resting on top of it without moving, and asked,
“Aren’t you going to pet me?”
In response, Ruan rolled his eyes and asked,
“Should I… pet you?”
Ralph liked people, and he especially liked physical contact with people.
But he also knew well that he shouldn’t ask for physical contact from just anyone.
As a result, he only asked for petting from those who met his complex criteria.
“You’ve already petted me once, haven’t you?”
Ruan had already been classified as a ‘person who can be asked for petting’.
But Ruan, who didn’t know such things, was just confused by the shameless expression of the dog – now in human form – staring at him intently.
“Does that mean… if I pet once, I have to keep petting…?”
Ralph, wagging his inner tail gently, added an explanation.
“Ah. My mother said that if I go around asking just anyone to pet me, I’ll get a reputation as a playboy like my father and cause trouble. And she said not everyone likes petting you, so I have my own rules for when to ask for petting. And you, Aide…”
Black eyes, no different from when he was in dog form, stared at Ruan.
“You’ll pet me, won’t you?”
With that, Ruan had no choice but to pet Ralph’s head.
As Ruan petted Ralph in the way he had learned through trial and error to pet a dog, he said,
“I’ve been thinking this, but it seems the Baroness trained you strictly.”
To this, Ralph pressed his head more firmly into Ruan’s palm and said,
“Yes. She always emphasized that basic training is important to live well and mingle with people.”
Don’t rush at just anyone. Don’t cling to just anyone. Wait when you need to wait. Don’t bite people even in play. Act calmly in places where you need to be calm. Things like that.
It had to be that way because…
“My father caused quite a stir in social circles.”
After saying that, Ralph suddenly realized that Ruan was making a face that said ‘What is he talking about?’
“Ah. Is this your first time hearing about my father? I was rude, assuming you knew since my parents’ story is quite famous.”
“No. I just… don’t know much.”
Ruan, who inwardly complained about this being a problem for a transmigrator and becoming a person lacking common sense, asked to hear the story.
Ralph recalled the story of his parents that he had often heard since childhood.
* * *
Ralph’s father and the 3rd Guild Master of the Steiner Guild, Ludwig Steiner, was a very unique individual.
The Steiner family, originally of common class, got their name into the nobility register during the time of the 2nd Guild Master. When the Steiner family became a baronet family in recognition of their contributions in pioneering new trade routes and supporting wars with supplies, and gained the qualification to attend banquets held at the imperial palace. Ludwig, the son of the 1st Baron Steiner, was an eighteen-year-old young man.
And that year, on the Emperor’s birthday, when a young man beautiful enough to remind one of the high-class dolls made of ivory, gilded with gold leaf and with jeweled eyes – one of the popular products of the Steiner Guild, a steady seller to the extent that many of the nobles present had memories with such dolls – appeared at the banquet hall, the social world was said to have been turned upside down.
Of course, this was partly due to his soft yet splendid appearance, as if spun from gold thread… But what was truly shocking was the behavior he showed with such a beautiful appearance.
To the eyes of the nobles in the social world, he truly seemed… a unique person.
His exceptionally beautiful appearance and a level of friendliness never experienced before made it difficult to feel ill will towards him, but nonetheless, the fact that he was very unique remained unchanged.
The nobles had never seen such a strange ‘human’ before, and Ludwig Steiner came as a tremendous shock to them.
In fact, this was only natural. Ludwig Steiner wasn’t just a human, but a dog beast-person.
Moreover, a dog beast-person without proper basic training.
His father, who traveled the world as a merchant, didn’t think much about giving his son etiquette education, and as a result, Ludwig grew up as quite a free-spirited dog beast-person.
If there was anything fortunate, it was that despite overflowing energy and inability to control his large body, he was a gentle dog who didn’t show aggression. Of course, when such a large dog couldn’t control its body, that in itself created destructive power.
Anyway, without basic training, a large dog who loved people madly, was very curious and excited, was let loose in an environment with many people and interesting things… While the nobles, who had never seen such a sight in their lives, were in shock.
The one who ended this chaotic situation was none other than Edeline Brandenburg, the eldest daughter of the Margrave Brandenburg family.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
