Chapter 110
Of course, at that time, Ruan had just spent a very long day and was in a state of complete relaxation.
To begin with, hadn’t the day started by staying up all night waiting for the Grand Duke who had left to avoid him? Right after spending the night in worry and anguish, Ruan had to go around with Ralph from the morning to recruit talent.
Although things went well, it doesn’t mean there was no tension. While Ralph, who was with him, was a tireless dog were-animal, Ruan was just an ordinary human, and by the time the work was done, he was in a state of physical exhaustion.
In the midst of all this, didn’t he suddenly hear that the Grand Duke had obtained a ring for a proposal? Didn’t he become aware of his own feelings because of that? And when he tried to return to the Grand Duke with an urgent heart, wasn’t he suddenly kidnapped by Rafael?
On top of that, as a final blow, he heard from Rafael that the object of his newly realized one-sided love was going to propose today. By the time he faced the Grand Duke, Ruan was in a situation where he was completely worn out, both mentally and physically.
And in that situation, he ended up hearing a confession he thought he would never hear. Honestly, at that time, it was natural that he couldn’t see anything else…
‘…No, that’s not right. Even so, that was a bit much.’
Ruan let out a deep sigh as he recalled his misconduct in front of the knights.
How should he face the knights now?
It’s not like he was a beast in heat. No, wait. The Grand Duke said that Ruan was in heat, which made him react that way too, so does that mean he really was a beast in heat…?
“Your Grace, yesterday when I was acting like a beast in front of people, couldn’t you have stopped me…”
Ruan was about to say something like, “If I was doing something foolish, you should have stopped me since you were the one who was still normal,” but he had to close his mouth when he met those alert eyes with narrowed pupils.
Expecting a cat to play the role of stopping someone. He should wish for the right things. It would be fortunate if the cat himself didn’t cause trouble.
‘To date a cat, it seems I’ll need to use my brain for two people’s worth.’
Gaining this new realization, Ruan retracted his words.
“Never mind.”
“Like a beast? What are you talking about?”
But it seemed the Grand Duke had no intention of letting go of the words he had already heard. The Grand Duke spoke with sharp eyes, like a cat that had spotted a moving object.
“Shouldn’t I know what you’re talking about so that I can decide whether to stop you or not next time?”
A cat with such a face never gives up. Swallowing a sigh, Ruan had no choice but to bring up the words he had tried to bury.
“Well… yesterday, in front of people… I kind of threw myself at you, didn’t I?”
And regret followed immediately.
“Threw yourself at me? You mean when you kissed me and fondled my chest? Or when I caught you as you were falling, and our legs got tangled, and then our lower bodies…”
Ruan finally chose to cover the mouth of the cat who was speaking so well, in contrast to his previous silence.
“Your Grace. I used to think it would be nice if you spoke more human words.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“A cat that speaks well is quite…”
“Quite what?”
“Um. Nothing. I mean, you’re lovable.”
When he was Kim Ha-jin, he had wondered what a cat would say if it could speak, and now he knew it would say things like this. Just as he was thinking that a cat is a cat no matter what it does, the Grand Duke, who had somehow narrowed his eyes and stretched his neck, opened his mouth.
“But why do you say that’s like a beast?”
“Pardon?”
When Ruan asked back, not understanding the meaning of the question, the Grand Duke spoke as if truly puzzled.
“Even when you threw yourself at me with your whole body, you were weak and flimsy, just like a human. I’ve thought this for a while, but you need to do something about that weakness. Even now, after just a bit of mating, aren’t you squirming in bed like a newborn kitten that can’t even open its eyes properly?”
Ruan finally realized that the definition of being beast-like and human-like differed between cats and humans.
‘Is that the level you need to reach to be considered beastly? Am I not even enough to be a beast? But even for a beast, wasn’t yesterday a bit too much? And why is a kitten being mentioned in this context?’
Confused, Ruan opened his mouth to try to argue back.
“I’m not talking about being weak…”
But he couldn’t finish what he was about to say. As soon as he opened his mouth, unexpected words sprang from the Grand Duke’s mouth.
“You should train a bit, if only to faithfully keep up with the new routine.”
Routine…? Why is that coming up here?
Come to think of it, he seemed to have heard something about a routine before losing consciousness… Was it not a misconception?
Recalling the terrifying memories of routines created by cats who clearly knew how to read clocks and had to stick to a schedule once set, like waking up screaming in pain at 4 AM every day to 4kg of weight pressing like a needle right above the ribs as punishment for briefly petting at that time, or being startled awake at 5 AM by a loud meow shot directly into the ear canal as punishment for doing something once at that time…
Ruan felt a chill run down his spine.
“New routine? What kind of routine has been added?”
And the answer that came back from the Grand Duke did not betray the ominousness Ruan felt at all.
“Mating with you, that is.”
Did he think earlier that dating a cat would be all happiness?
Ruan quickly discarded that thought.
It seemed that dating a cat was not going to be easy at all.
* * *
While Ruan was trying his best to dissuade the Grand Duke from the new routine, and the Grand Duke was pondering how to make his weak mate a little less weak while thinking things like ‘only a few hours left’…
And while the overly concerned knights were raising a toast to celebrate the successful proposal, even though the preparations they had made for the young couple who disappeared and hadn’t shown up until late couldn’t be used, and Joachim’s feelings were becoming complicated as he kept witnessing dramatic moments in his brother’s love life…
At that time, the capital was in an uproar.
It was because of the Northern Grand Duke, Dietrich Reinke, who had become the center of attention as soon as he appeared.
The social circles had been bustling since the rumor spread that Grand Duke Reinke had obtained a ring for courtship. It didn’t take long for this romantic story to spread from mouth to mouth, as a man resembling the protagonist of a novel was actually acting like the protagonist of a novel.
Moreover, this rumor wasn’t just about the topic and romance. The factor that made people so excited about this rumor was…
‘So who on earth is the protagonist of this heartbreaking—although the Grand Duke never said he was heartbroken over his lover, in people’s minds it was already the most heartbreaking and thrilling romance in the world—romance, the Grand Duke’s lover?’
The fact that nothing was known about who the owner of that famous ring was.
As a result, whenever the topic of the Grand Duke’s courtship came up, the conversation always flowed in one direction. That is, speculating about who the Grand Duke’s lover might be.
People were enthusiastic about the game of guessing the protagonist of this romance. Whenever they gathered, people passionately debated about who the Grand Duke’s lover might be. The fervor was so intense that in the process, “The Heart of Winter” was breaking sales records day after day, and the sales of Reinke products were also rising.
Many diverse speculations arose, and some popular hypotheses emerged, but no definitive answer seemed to surface. However, the high difficulty of the deduction did not cool down the heat that covered the capital. Rather, the unpredictability and mystery acted as fuel, and the enthusiasm for this topic only grew stronger as time went on.
While everyone was caught up in the excitement as if the highlight scene of a romance novel was unfolding before their eyes, keeping their nerves on edge over every move the Grand Duke made…
An unexpected answer flowed from the mouth of Rafael Bettin, the Marquis who was the troublemaker of the social circles, who usually didn’t particularly mingle or interact with anyone.
‘Oh, that. The partner is the Grand Duke’s assistant. I even saw the proposal… They were both so passionate, weren’t they? I didn’t know the Grand Duke was that kind of person. Anyway, I was worried, but it turned out well.’
The unexpected truth about the part that had been unknown until now, and even an eyewitness account of the passionate proposal. Thanks to the Marquis Bettin’s statement, the interest that had already been overheated literally exploded.
It took no more than a day for the identity of the Grand Duke’s lover, who had been hidden behind a veil, and the story related to the proposal to spread throughout the entire capital.
And of course, that story…
Reached the ears of one of those who receive all rumors in the capital the fastest.
The ears of a certain merchant guild leader.
None other than Ralph Steiner.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
