Chapter 118
Ruan hadn’t been completely unprepared for this.
Following the knights’ love advice to the Grand Duke and then displaying such a scene in front of them, he had naturally expected to be plagued by rumors upon returning to Reinke.
But even expectations have their limits. Of course, this fantasy world always exceeded Ruan’s expectations, but…
Still, he hadn’t imagined that rumors would start spreading even before he arrived in Reinke, thanks to the knight who had returned ahead to announce the Grand Duke’s return. As a result, by the time he arrived, Reinke had already been turned upside down. And because of that, the first thing he saw upon returning to Reinke was…
He couldn’t have imagined it.
“What is that…?”
The first thing that caught Ruan’s eye as he crossed Reinke’s city walls was a massive statue. It was so beautiful that even someone without a shred of sensitivity would be moved to tears just by looking at it. The imposing size added to its overwhelming artistic quality, making it seem like a divine creation made by human hands.
The sculpture, with each strand of hair intricately and elegantly carved as if it would sway in the wind, depicted passionate lovers. Despite being a statue, from the gaze in their eyes, to the angle of their heads towards each other, to the fingertips holding their partner, it seemed as if passionate love was dripping from every detail. It was undoubtedly a masterpiece. In fact, some of the knights who witnessed it were unconsciously tearing up.
For entirely different reasons, Ruan, who felt like crying, couldn’t bear to look at it any longer and tightly shut his eyes.
‘What did I do wrong to the dwarves… in this life or the last?’
He must have done something terribly wrong, if not in this life, then in his past one. Otherwise, there was no way such a… pinnacle of wasted talent would be standing in the center of Reinke.
“Ruan, sniff, doesn’t that look kind of like you…?”
Ruan quickly cut off Joachim’s words, who seemed to have been directly hit by an overflow of sensitivity.
“Brother, please don’t remind me…”
Needless to say, what Ruan had to endure wasn’t just the masterpiece created day and night by dwarves whose eyes had been completely captivated by the touching proposal story – a story vividly conveyed to everyone in Reinke by a certain knight who arrived in Reinke ahead of time, demonstrating incredible storytelling skills about the Grand Duke’s heartfelt proposal preparations, the news of Ruan’s kidnapping that arrived in the midst of it, the Grand Duke rushing out in his elaborate attire, abandoning everything he had prepared, and finally, the moment he faced Ruan upon his return, unable to contain himself, pouring out his passionate confession on an empty street at night instead of the grand backdrop he had prepared with much effort.
“Ruan, congratulations!”
“To think you liked His Grace enough to confess so publicly in the middle of the corridor… I’m glad for you, Ruan. It’s really a good thing.”
“I heard His Grace said he couldn’t live without you from now on? Really… you’re so loved. You should be happy. I sincerely congratulate you.”
“To think His Grace loved Ruan so passionately…”
“And they say he can’t bear to see even Ruan’s nail get hurt…”
“So Ruan just grabbed His Grace’s neck and…”
“Brother, it feels like just yesterday when you were a little kid rolling around on the floor trying to hold a wooden sword like your sister… When did you grow up so much…”
“Don’t worry, Ruan. We’re taking care of all the wedding preparations.”
The people of Reinke, who believed they had watched the Grand Duke and Ruan’s romance from the beginning (though that wasn’t actually the case), showered Ruan with congratulations… every time they saw him.
Congratulations… They were congratulations, but… Why did it feel like a public execution?
Ruan thought for the first time that it might be fortunate this was a fantasy world. If this had been a rural area in Korea instead of the Sirah Empire’s frontier territory, the atmosphere suggested there might have been banners fluttering with messages like “Congratulations! Ruan, son of Reinke! Marrying the Grand Duke!”
Or maybe not. Would easily removable banners have been better than this enormous, divine statue that seemed destined to remain for generations before ending up in a museum?
It had been troublesome before, but at least then, the stories stemmed from misunderstandings, so it was bearable as they weren’t really about him. But now, hearing his actual love story from people he knew, and worse, about things he had done in a state of blind excitement, made him want to crawl into a mouse hole and hide.
Moreover…
‘It’s not just acquaintances who know all these stories.’
When he finally encountered Hans, who was crossing the inner castle in agony from shame and distress, crying profusely, Ruan sincerely felt like crying a little himself.
* * *
“I think you all probably know this from what you’ve heard, but…”
Facing the Daen family members who were looking at him, Ruan said with a serious expression,
“I have indeed started dating His Grace, the Grand Duke. I think I will continue to live as His Grace’s lover from now on.”
Unlike his previous denials of his relationship with the Grand Duke, this was a declaration that the youngest son of this house was really dating a man and would continue to do so. After finishing his words solemnly, Ruan looked around at the faces of those who had heard his coming out.
The Daen family members all had looks of bewilderment on their faces. Ruan held his breath and waited for their response.
The first to break the silence was Magda.
“Hasn’t it been like that all along? Why are you saying this now?”
At Magda’s genuinely perplexed voice, Ruan ran his palm over his face.
Right. He had expected this kind of reaction…
While Ruan wore a slightly dejected expression, making his momentary tension seem pointless in the face of their nonchalant reaction, the family members who had been wondering what he was suddenly talking about began to continue the conversation among themselves.
“Ah. Was it a secret relationship before? Is that why you kept denying it? But for a secret, even the orc passing outside the castle walls probably knew you two were dating, didn’t they?”
“It was… a secret? That? Did I spread the rumor then? I’m sorry, Ruan…”
“No, Joachim, even if you hadn’t said anything, everyone would have known soon enough. Usually, a secret relationship is only a secret to the couple involved, but… even so, Ruan, you were showing it too much.”
“Sniff, our youngest… has grown up so much…”
Ruan, who had been blankly watching his family chatting amicably, finally burst into laughter.
What a carefree reaction. What an anticlimactic coming out. But…
That’s why it was good, actually.
Hearing Ruan’s soft laughter, Julia, who had been handing Hans a new handkerchief, spoke up.
“I know what you’re worried about. But we also know that you’ve become more stable and happier since getting close to His Grace. I’ve always told you this.”
Julia’s eyes, filled with kindness despite her stern expression, looked at Ruan.
“That’s the most important thing, isn’t it?”
Her eyes seemed to say that she knew Ruan knew she would say this. In response, Ruan, leaning back comfortably in his chair, said,
“Honestly, I deliberately told you because I knew you’d say that.”
Unlike the times when he used to worry about causing even the slightest trouble, now he knew they wouldn’t deny any of his characteristics or consider them a burden. He knew that as family, they would sincerely bless Ruan’s happiness and rejoice with him.
That’s why, even though he knew he would face this obvious reaction, he brought up this topic because he wanted to see that obvious reaction. Like stretching his legs in a place he knew it was okay to do so, or acting spoiled knowing it would be indulged.
“Thank you. Mother, Father, Brother, and Sister, I’m really fortunate to be your family.”
As Ruan said this with a comfortable smile, Joachim, whose eyes had become teary at some point, opened his mouth.
“I was also happy to see Ruan looking so happy when he received the proposal back then…”
“Brother, thank you so much. But it seems the tea has cooled down quite a bit. Let’s drink it quickly before it gets colder.”
Of course, even so, it was a bit much for his family to know his love life in such detail.
As Ruan was agonizing over thoughts like how he really shouldn’t have done that in front of people that day, and how he really needed to be more careful from now on, Hans, who was wiping his eyes with the new handkerchief Julia had given him, spoke up.
“By the way, sniff. It’s not just dating, you received a proposal, right?”
“Ah, yes. But since we can’t legally marry under imperial law…”
Before Ruan could finish saying that it was just a proposal to live together forever, Julia, who had been making a strange expression at Ruan’s words, said,
“Of course it’s not recognized under imperial law, but this is the Grand Duchy of Reinke, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is?”
Seeing Ruan’s expression that seemed to say he didn’t understand why this was being brought up here, Hans, realizing ‘Oh right, this kid really did lose his memories thoroughly,’ said,
“To that extent, sniff, we should be able to enact laws recognized within the Grand Duchy. Reinke has many such laws originally because our culture and customs are quite different from the southern regions. Sob. When I heard His Grace had proposed, I thought he naturally intended to do this, didn’t you hear about it?”
Ruan’s eyes wavered, having neither heard nor expected such a thing.
Our cat… was such a powerful figure that he could make an impossible marriage possible?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
