Chapter 119
Ruan knew that the Grand Duke’s autonomy was higher than other lords due to Ardenheim’s various special characteristics. But… he never imagined it could handle matters to that extent.
He thought he had become quite familiar with life in Ardenheim and knew it well, but was that just arrogance?
In any case, after investigation, it turned out the Grand Duke really could enact laws regarding same-sex marriage within his domain if he wished. Of course, it would be difficult to consider a vow made through this as a legally binding marriage throughout the empire, but… an official vow is still an official vow.
Ruan could really marry the Grand Duke.
He had given up thinking it was impossible, but it wasn’t that he didn’t want to marry the Grand Duke as he had said when giving the ring. But he never thought what he dared not even hope for, believing it could never be his, would become reality.
Ruan was overwhelmed by the impact given by his powerful cat lover.
Moved to tears, Ruan rushed to the Grand Duke to express his emotions, only to be told, “Isn’t marriage what humans call becoming mates, meaning living as one group for life and not being able to mate with other individuals? I thought that was almost the only likable thing among humans’ needlessly complicated habits… You said you’d be my mate, but didn’t think we’d actually get married? How can a human be like that? Did you want to have a cat-style mating in a non-human way?” But being called non-human by a cat didn’t detract even slightly from the impact Ruan felt.
Ruan expressed all his affection to the Grand Duke, who had become quite talkative, and made a decision.
He would truly do his best to prepare for the wedding with the Grand Duke.
However, it didn’t take long for Ruan to realize how half-hearted his “best” was.
* * *
What Ruan didn’t know was how quickly the people of Ardenheim, hardened by terrible things like monsters attacking daily and manpower shortages that squeezed people to their limits, could work when they got serious.
When he first returned to Ardenheim and was being congratulated by everyone in town, hearing comments about wedding preparations here and there, Ruan, who still thought marriage was impossible, thought it was just part of the congratulations. He smiled and responded, thinking they were just exaggerating excitedly in the midst of all the excitement.
Little did he know it was all completely sincere without a hint of exaggeration.
Head chef Paula had already been researching what food would be best for the wedding day before Ruan returned. The dwarves were preparing decorations and all sorts of props for the wedding – when asked if they really started making these after hearing the rumors, given the quality that seemed impossible to prepare in such a short time, the dwarves chose to exercise their right to remain silent. Hans, who had been crying about how they could marry his youngest child, had almost perfectly completed the paperwork for enacting the law.
Ruan was shocked to learn this only after the Grand Duke officially announced he would hold a wedding ceremony.
‘Everyone thought I was dating the Grand Duke even before I realized my own feelings… And wedding preparations were already underway when I didn’t even know I was getting married?’
The people of Ardenheim… Ruan shuddered at the thought that he might have only realized he was getting married at the actual wedding venue if things had gone wrong.
And it wasn’t just a quick start. Ardenheim was a place where all procedures were carried out swiftly, as it was often in emergency situations. Add to that the characteristic of Ardenheim people who know no brakes when excited, and the influx of talent to a place that always suffered from manpower shortages. The wedding preparations were progressing at a frightening pace.
Ruan knew that Ardenheim people basically lived with the mindset of “What? Later? Where is later! We might die tomorrow!” but he never expected it to be to this extent. As a fake Ardenheim native who had only lived there for a year, Ruan couldn’t keep up with the pace and was completely overwhelmed.
No. It’s good that the wedding preparations are going smoothly. But still…
“Is this pace really okay?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Ruan, who had unconsciously muttered to himself, dazed by the busy schedule, snapped back to reality at the voice of Anita, the seamstress who was measuring him for his wedding outfit.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Just talking to myself.”
Anita glanced at Ruan, who still looked dazed even as he said this, and said with a smile:
“You must be completely overwhelmed with everyone pushing forward all at once, right?”
It was true that Ruan was completely overwhelmed, being dragged along by people overflowing with both enthusiasm and ability lately… But Ruan smiled back and said:
“I’m grateful that everyone is being so considerate and working hard.”
“Well, they’re all just excited about it themselves. Everyone was very worried about you. Now, raise your arms a bit.”
As Ruan raised his arms as Anita instructed, he carefully opened his mouth.
“Were you all very worried?”
“You love His Grace so much that you even shouted in the hallway about wanting to live with him.”
Ruan’s face reddened at the mention of his dark history from when he still mistakenly thought the Grand Duke had become a cat because of him, which seemed to be brought up particularly often lately.
“Please forget about that…”
“How can we forget when you always react like this?”
Anita giggled and continued:
“But the truth is, His Grace isn’t a merciful person. He’s not one to show affection to anyone. We did think he must care for you quite a bit, keeping you by his side and treating you so intimately… But still, remembering that incident, we were all secretly anxious deep down.”
Ruan, who thought the Grand Duke was actually very affectionate and a cat with a lot of love, asked:
“What incident?”
“Ah. Right. You lost your memories, so you probably don’t know about that incident either.”
Anita’s expression changed to one of realization, as if she had belatedly remembered Ruan’s “memory loss”. Then, while taking measurements, she began to tell the story.
“There was a vassal of the same age who had served by His Grace’s side since a very young age. While everyone found His Grace difficult to approach, only that vassal always stayed right by His Grace’s side and followed him devotedly. He greatly respected His Grace. His eyes would sparkle so brightly when looking at His Grace. Since His Grace, who rarely allows others to approach, permitted that vassal to be by his side, they were really always together.”
There was a human that close to the Grand Duke? This was the first time Ruan had heard of this, and it was completely unexpected. Ruan’s eyes widened at the surprising story.
“Then why now…”
Just as he was about to ask why that person wasn’t by the Grand Duke’s side now, a shadow fell over Anita’s face as she recalled a scene from the past.
“One day, His Grace suddenly ripped out that vassal’s throat with his own hands. Without any warning.”
Ruan then realized this wasn’t a completely new story. Back when he misunderstood the Grand Duke, one of the stories he heard about the “scary Grand Duke” was similar to this.
Unaware of Ruan’s slightly stiffened expression, Anita moved behind Ruan to measure his back length and continued the story.
“It was when Ardenheim was being trampled by monsters, and everything was in a bad state. So many people died committing mistakes while showing their worst sides, so everyone thought that person must have done something wrong too… But even so, that doesn’t make the fear go away. After that, although people still respected His Grace, no one dared to approach him.”
Anita, who had been speaking with a dark expression, cleared her throat as if to change the atmosphere, and then spoke in a slightly brighter voice:
“But to find out that His Grace truly loves you, everyone who had been secretly anxious couldn’t help but get excited and meddle as much as they could. And after hearing the stories from the knights who accompanied you to the capital, and experiencing it bit by bit while preparing for the wedding, we’re starting to think maybe His Grace wasn’t just the scary person we thought he was all this time? Everyone’s talking about it a lot these days. That love has changed His Grace. That dealing with him has become a little less frightening.”
After saying this, Anita began to talk about the changes in the Grand Duke’s impression and unexpected aspects that she had heard from people around her.
It was certainly a positive development that the people of Ardenheim’s impression of the Grand Duke had changed, allowing them to see him without fear. It was the realization of what Ruan had been hoping for all along. But Ruan couldn’t be purely happy.
The story he had heard before kept gnawing at his mind.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
