Chapter 120
Except for spring, Reinke was always in a state of war, so discipline was quite strict. Moreover, since the leader, the Grand Duke himself, was a stern ruler sensitive to rule-breaking, Ruan, who knew nothing about Reinke in the early days of his possession, had to hear many stories about those punished by the Grand Duke for breaking the rules.
Especially stories from when Reinke had fallen.
It was a terrible time when monsters trampled the territory, and the lord lost his life during the chaos. The newly enthroned young lord tried to reclaim the territory by rallying the people of Reinke, who were no different from defeated soldiers, but in reality, Reinke was in such a deplorable situation that it was difficult to imagine hope.
In a desperate situation where no way out seems visible no matter how much one struggles, some choose the ‘easy’ path rather than crashing and breaking. At that time, not a few in Reinke showed their worst sides and betrayed those who had been their neighbors.
The finance officer tried to embezzle and flee with what little resources were left, and knights abandoned their responsibilities during operations and fled from enemies. There were those who spread false information to others just to survive, and those who tried to monopolize remaining resources or engaged in looting and violence.
Seeing such behavior from those who had been neighbors for generations and the damage suffered from them further eroded the already rock-bottom morale. Reinke, already once fallen to monsters, was about to collapse again due to humans.
It was Dietrich Reinke, who had just become the Grand Duke, who resolved this situation. The young Grand Duke personally punished those who violated discipline. It was a time when blood flowed every day.
The coldness, charisma, and overwhelming force that Dietrich Reinke showed at that time were strongly imprinted in the minds of the Reinke people, who were wavering like candles in the wind.
Dietrich, who had been known as a cruel and excellent successor from the beginning, solidified his position as a revered ruler. Leading those rallied around him, he succeeded in recapturing and rebuilding Reinke.
Of course, the stern nature he showed in the process and his power that developed day by day to the point of not feeling human further strengthened the reverence for him.
So, His Grace the Grand Duke is truly a great person and deserves respect, but at the same time, he’s a very scary person, so you must be careful. He may seem uninterested, but he sees all wrongdoings and unexpectedly beheads you… Ruan had heard such stories countless times.
Even when he heard the story of a vassal who was suddenly beheaded one day without knowing what he had done wrong, Ruan just thought, ‘Ah, I guess he really does kill without context sometimes. I really need to be careful.’
But thinking about it now… There was something bothersome about that story, which he had simply considered as ‘one of the scary Grand Duke’s scary deeds’.
‘First of all, the Grand Duke wouldn’t reduce manpower without reason in a situation where his territory is in danger, so as others suspected, that vassal must have committed some crime.’
And that crime… must have been serious enough for the Grand Duke, who considers any human who enters beyond a certain distance as a piece of his territory, to mercilessly eliminate someone he always kept close.
Unlike others whose crimes were clear, the reason for his punishment was not known, and people only knew that he suddenly lost his life to the Grand Duke one day.
Someone who could always approach the Grand Duke, deeply reaching the core of Reinke. A serious harm, unknown what it was, that such a person inflicted on the Grand Duke’s territory. And the people of Reinke who don’t know that the calamity that drove Reinke to the edge of a cliff started from the machinations of Volker’s spy, and the Grand Duke who alone knows this fact.
Unlike before when he knew nothing about the Grand Duke, now that he knows the Grand Duke well, a hypothesis suddenly occurred to Ruan.
‘Could it be… that person who was said to have been close to the Grand Duke was Volker’s spy?’
* * *
The suspicion that had once arisen continued to circulate in Ruan’s mind until he returned to the bedroom after completing a hectic schedule.
‘To think that someone who was close to the Grand Duke was a spy who almost ruined Reinke…’
Ruan entered the bedroom with complex feelings.
“Your Grace, I’ve returned.”
The Grand Duke, who had returned to the bedroom first, seemed to have been grooming himself in cat form on the bed. As if grooming the fluffy fur on his chest wasn’t easy, the Grand Duke turned to look at Ruan with a mouthful of chest fur.
Seeing the cat’s appearance, which seemed unlikely to easily release the fur even if it stretched its neck and shook its head considering the length of a cat’s neck, Ruan reached out his hand. Instead of avoiding or being wary of the outstretched hand, the Grand Duke readily surrendered his chest to Ruan’s hand. While gently pulling out the fur stuck in the cat’s mouth, Ruan thought.
‘To think that such a cat might have allowed a spy to be close to him…’
Feeling relieved now that the annoying fur was removed, the cat flopped over, exposing its belly. Where did the firmness from when he was human go? Just revealing a soft, fluffy, harmless furry belly defenseless, looking at Ruan as if to say ‘why are you just standing there?’ – the strict, solemn, and serious cat’s appearance made Ruan finally close his eyes tightly.
‘This won’t do.’
He could no longer allow a human who betrayed this cat to fatten their own belly to roam the cat’s territory. Although he unintentionally dragged out time wondering how to bring it up… During that time, some wretched human might continue to betray the Grand Duke and Reinke. If that’s the case, it would be better to bring it up quickly and deal with it.
“Your Grace. I have something to tell you.”
At Ruan’s serious voice, the cat lying down raised its head and stared at Ruan’s face. And then.
“Speak.”
He instantly changed into human form. Ruan covered the Grand Duke’s naked body, which was distracting his mind, with a blanket and said,
“Your Grace. Do you perhaps remember what the Emperor said before we left the capital?”
“That man talks a lot. Which of the things he babbled about then are you referring to?”
As if just recalling Volker put him in a bad mood, the Grand Duke’s tail that was sticking out from under the blanket started to flick. To this, Ruan carefully began to speak.
“I mean when he mentioned the rumors in Reinke about Your Grace’s and my relationship.”
“I remember.”
The Grand Duke’s tail-flicking became more intense and violent. Seeing this, Ruan thought perhaps he should have approached it differently, but he had already started speaking. In the end, Ruan voiced the words he had been pondering on how to confess.
“It seems that someone who acts as the Emperor’s ears is in Reinke. In fact… not just the Emperor’s ears.”
And at that moment. The tail that had been flicking casually suddenly stiffened and puffed up.
Looking at the shoulders that had tensed up in an instant and the fierce eyes with pupils unstably repeating contraction and expansion, Ruan quietly swallowed dry saliva.
The Grand Duke was angry. To a level he had never seen before.
A sinister voice that sounded like a growl flowed from the Grand Duke’s mouth, revealing his fangs.
“Has another rat spawned in my territory?”
Rat. It was essentially an accurate metaphor. Ruan voiced the words he had prepared, applying that metaphor.
“Yes. Since it’s similar to rats… even if we catch them, new ones will keep appearing and popping up from somewhere.”
At the words that rat-like creatures were running rampant in his territory even at this moment and would continue to do so in the future, the Grand Duke’s eyes glowed fiercely. The tip of his tail, which was stretched out as if about to pounce on his enemy right away, was trembling finely. But that’s why he had to say all the words he had thought of.
“So I’ve been thinking… if we can’t completely eliminate them, why don’t we keep those rats within sight and manage them?”
“You mean instead of killing them as soon as they’re seen, keep them within reach of my front paws? The rats?”
At the Grand Duke’s words, which seemed to not understand, Ruan continued speaking in the most gentle tone he could manage.
“Yes. We properly identify and monitor them, taming them to eat only the food we give. So that they don’t covet anything more, don’t even think of anything more, and only move within the range Your Grace allows.”
Eliminating spies is only temporary. That only gives the suspicious royals reason to be wary of Reinke and create new spies. But if we properly get our hands on the spies they send.
“Once they’re completely tamed like that, we can make them move according to Your Grace’s will when needed.”
Conversely, they could be used as a shield to protect Reinke, or as a dagger to stab the opponent.
“They planted spies and so boldly revealed that there are spies… Shouldn’t they accept at least that much?”
The Grand Duke, who had been watching Ruan speak in a low voice, opened his mouth.
“Your saying this means you’ve already prepared a way to find the hidden rats and drive them into a cage, doesn’t it?”
It was true that he had secretly found the spies, and in the meantime, while pondering how to tell the Grand Duke about this, he had done the groundwork to ensnare and recruit the spies so that work could begin as soon as he received the Grand Duke’s permission, so Ruan answered obediently.
“Yes. But if Your Grace is reluctant about this method…”
As he was about to say that he understood that from a cat’s perspective, it might not be pleasant to manage a risk factor long-term rather than eradicating it.
“Do as you wish.”
The Grand Duke suddenly said. It was a plain permission, in contrast to his still growling voice that hadn’t subsided from anger. When Ruan made a slightly dazed expression at the situation different from what he had prepared for, the Grand Duke sighed as if trying to control his emotions. Only then did Ruan notice that the ears that had been pinned back as if they wouldn’t hear anything had somehow turned slightly towards him.
The danger to his territory was the most important issue that permeated the Grand Duke’s entire life. And spies were even a critical issue that had once driven the territory to the brink of collapse. Even now, he had shown anger to a degree never seen before at the story of there being spies. As such, it was cautious to bring up the story and to suggest a method different from what the Grand Duke might want.
“It’s true that it’s different from the method I would choose. My method would be to catch all the rats until they’re not visible anymore. But still, it’s the method you chose. Whatever method it is, in the end, it must be for me and my territory.”
The Grand Duke was saying that even if he couldn’t immediately understand Ruan’s method in such an important matter, he would trust and leave it all to him. Just like how he entrusts his body to Ruan’s hand instead of avoiding it when Ruan suddenly reaches out.
While meeting eyes filled with complete trust, even as his tail continued to flick as if unable to shake off his displeasure, Ruan suddenly recalled the Grand Duke from when they first met.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
