Chapter 121
When Ruan first became the Grand Duke’s assistant, the Grand Duke watched his every move all day long with a predatory gaze, not missing a single action after Ruan entered his office.
At the time, with the famous Northern Grand Duke staring silently all day, Ruan could only feel scared under that gaze…
‘But thinking about it now, it was only natural. A cat being wary of a stranger approaching him.’
Moreover, if Ruan’s guess was correct, the Grand Duke was a cat who had been betrayed by a human he trusted. How many things must the still young Grand Duke have gone through because of that one betrayal?
Thinking about those painful times, it wasn’t hard to guess what a strange human suddenly entering his living space might have meant to the cat Grand Duke. Of course, he would have been on edge and tense, guarding himself.
A year ago, it was stressful enough to make Ruan dream of retirement, but now knowing the circumstances, the Grand Duke’s behavior back then only made Ruan’s heart ache with sympathy.
And yet, this cat who was so wary of people that he couldn’t take his eyes off them all day…
This cat who had once been betrayed by a human, losing many things and being thrown into serious danger…
To trust a person again enough to entrust them with his most important and sensitive issue like this. And for Ruan to be the one receiving that trust.
Ruan felt the weight of the feelings he received was too heavy. Unable to bear that weight, he ended up tightly hugging the Grand Duke in front of him. The Grand Duke, who had been swishing his tail with an expression that seemed to say “Why isn’t he answering?”, froze at the sudden embrace.
Ruan pulled the Grand Duke even closer and said:
“Thank you for trusting me, Your Grace. I will do my best not to betray your trust. I will never betray Your Grace’s faith in me.”
How could that unknown human betray this kind and lovable cat who even tolerates being suddenly hugged by a person? Especially when he wasn’t even a fully grown cat then. How could they do such a thing to a baby cat? Are they not even human to think of betraying a fluffy kitten that can no longer be seen even if one wanted to? For our Grand Duke to grow into such a big and majestic cat despite experiencing such things, he’s so admirable and precious…
While Ruan was grinding his teeth at the human who betrayed the young Grand Duke and simultaneously being filled with love for the Grand Duke…
The yellow eyes of the cat-person, who had been still because although he didn’t understand why this human was suddenly acting this way, it wasn’t unpleasant, gazed at his mate. Seeing his mate expressing willingness to do anything for him, the Grand Duke seized the opportunity and opened his mouth.
“Then, do your best with the routine…”
But even with love, there are physical limits.
“Actually, keeping trust starts with not making promises that can’t be kept.”
At this immediate retort, the Grand Duke could only swish his tail and plot for the next opportunity.
* * *
It was about two weeks later when Louise secretly requested a meeting with the Grand Duke.
Like with Marquis Elenroth, it was much earlier than in “Tales of the Sirah Empire.”
‘If Erich is still supporting Louise as Ralph told me, I thought Louise would come to Ardenheim soon.’
That’s because recently, Volker had ostentatiously shown off his relationship with the Grand Duke by summoning him to the capital.
Originally, Volker was someone who became a knight claiming to dedicate himself to his brother’s reign, but behind the scenes cultivated his own power in the military. The military of the Sirah Empire was essentially Volker’s support base.
In this situation, for the Grand Duke of Ardenheim, who had an independent nature and commanded the most elite soldiers in the empire, to also side with Volker – there couldn’t have been anything more threatening to Louise.
‘But even so… this is much earlier than I expected.’
It wasn’t long since Louise had crossed over to the Holy Empire. Unlike the Louise in the novel who had solidified her position with Erich’s full support over a longer period, the current Louise’s standing was bound to be quite different.
In this situation, secretly leaving her post and coming all the way here would be quite an adventure, so I thought Louise would come after some more time had passed. Was she in such a hurry that she had to take such a risk?
Ruan’s gaze turned to the woman sitting across from the Grand Duke.
The woman, with a shabby hut in a remote location as her backdrop, was wearing clothes that a poor wandering merchant might wear, probably for disguise. But even in the dim moonlight seeping through the creaking window, even in cheap clothes made of rough fabric, there were things that couldn’t be hidden.
Things she acquired from being raised from birth as one destined to be the ruler of this land. Things that hadn’t completely faded even after being robbed of the position she had never doubted was hers and into which she had poured her entire life.
Ruan suddenly recalled the moment in “Tales of the Sirah Empire” when the boy Rafael, living a life like mud, first met Louise.
A situation where, despite barely escaping with his life, he had to live as if that life didn’t exist, maintaining it only by living in a servile manner. A girl in a situation that didn’t seem much better than Rafael, who was despised by everyone, talking about revenge against the one who now held the most powerful authority in this empire, and usurpation of the imperial throne.
It was such an absurd idea that even Rafael, who hadn’t received proper education, knew how ridiculous it was. But while rationally judging it so, Rafael ends up thinking that it really should happen and will happen.
Because at that moment, Louise appeared to Rafael as someone who seemed to truly belong only in such a life.
Although he didn’t feel emotions as intense as Rafael had, Ruan thought he could understand why Rafael had such thoughts.
Because the Louise existing now before his eyes as a person of flesh and blood, not just words, was someone who didn’t seem like she could ever live an ordinary life.
Looking at the protagonist of the novel, having the same appearance, the same purpose, and sitting in the same space as described in the novel, evoked quite an unfamiliar feeling. It was even more so because the scene of Louise and the Grand Duke’s secret meeting was a weighty scene that he remembered relatively vividly.
Thinking that he felt like a real possessed person even though he was already one, Ruan recalled the scene he had read again.
The words that would probably come out now are…
‘Do you trust the Emperor, Grand Duke?’
“Do you trust the Emperor, Grand Duke?”
When the exact same line he remembered came out, Ruan got goosebumps despite having expected it. Watching the living, breathing human of flesh and blood before him act like a wind-up doll repeating predetermined actions felt like watching a bizarre theater of the absurd.
While Ruan endured an indescribable discomfort, the Grand Duke, looking at Louise, answered:
“I trust that he doesn’t move without reason.”
At these words, spoken calmly as if stating an obvious fact, a smile played on Louise’s face.
“Ah, reason. Yes. Volker Sirah is a man who never moves without reason. There was a reason he pretended to be a humble and devoted younger brother, and there was a reason he frequented the imperial palace unusually often before the late Emperor’s death.”
Louise, hinting at the poisoning of the late Emperor, looked straight at the Grand Duke. Then, in a distinctly aristocratic and precise tone, she said:
“And seven years ago, there must have been a fine reason for him to drive the previous Grand Duke to his death and disrupt Ardenheim’s defense system, causing the walls to crumble.”
The fact that all of the Grand Duke’s misfortunes, just like her own, were caused by Volker Sirah.
It was a truth that would normally have caused outrage or great shock. But the Grand Duke’s face, confronting Louise, showed not a hint of wavering.
Louise, observing the Grand Duke’s reaction, soon realized what it meant.
“You already knew, it seems?”
Louise, showing a momentary look of surprise, spoke as if confirming a kill:
“That it was Volker Sirah who killed your parents and allowed your territory to be trampled.”
Seeing the Grand Duke showing no reaction even to this assertion, Louise muttered softly:
“And you remained still despite knowing that.”
But the hut, isolated from the castle, was quiet, and of course, everyone inside could hear those words.
Louise didn’t seem to have hoped those words wouldn’t be heard. She stared at the Grand Duke, who had maintained a calm face from the beginning until now, and asked:
“But can you continue to live like that, as you have done until now?”
At that moment, as if the night wind had moved the clouds, bright moonlight cut through the window gap and illuminated Louise’s vivid green eyes. Though the light clearly came from a celestial body far away, for those watching the scene, it somehow felt as if they were witnessing the will within her emitting light.
“Isn’t that vile creature sitting in that supreme position, playing with the land you protected like his toy, all to satisfy his own greed after taking everything from you? Moreover, he’s even stealing the glory you carved out with your blood, making it his own. Shamelessly, even though it was he himself who caused so much bloodshed.”
The woman with eyes as green as will and as bright as passion asked:
“Can the Grand Duke continue to live watching that ridiculous and disgusting sight? Continuously, for the rest of your life, kneeling before him?”
The green eyes that seemed to emit light moved from the Grand Duke’s eyes to the sword at his waist. The gazes of others in the room followed.
“The Grand Duke’s sword, which easily cuts through thick monster hide, should be more than capable of slicing through human neck skin.”
Louise’s eyes, which had swept over the sword as if gauging its sharpness, returned to the Grand Duke. After a moment of silence in the hut…
In a calm tone completely different from the passionate voice just before, which made one pay even more attention, Louise asked:
“Isn’t that right?”
Watching this, Ruan thought.
They were certainly the exact same lines that appeared in the novel, to the point of giving him goosebumps. Louise’s appearance as she uttered those lines, and the background where the secret conversation was taking place, were no different from what was described in the novel.
And yet.
And yet, why…
‘Do I keep feeling a sense of dissonance?’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
