Chapter 125
Are you happier because you met me, not someone else?
Were the changes that came from meeting me good for you?
By meeting you, I was able to find the reason I came here. I could spend days thinking about future happiness rather than guilt. You made the ground beneath my feet solid, allowing me to do anything standing on that land.
Not a single thing you’ve given me isn’t happiness.
Has meeting me given you such happiness too?
Ruan, looking up at the Grand Duke gazing down at him, suddenly spoke.
“Your Grace, if you’re happy, would you meow for me?”
The answer came immediately.
“Are you asking me to meow like a kitten?”
Ruan burst into laughter at the exact answer he expected. Laughing, Ruan leaned his forehead against his lover’s chest. And rubbing his forehead against the firm chest, he said,
“I knew you’d answer like that.”
Because his lover is a chic and solemn cat who considers meowing as infantile regression.
But Ruan thought it was okay not to hear a meow as an answer right now. They would have more days to spend together in the future than they had spent together so far. And Ruan would strive to make all those days happy together.
Maybe someday, you’ll also think that meeting me was happiness.
As Ruan was thinking this.
“Meow.”
Ruan froze at the voice from above his head. It wasn’t the typical cat meow sound, but rather a “me-ow” accurately pronounced in a low voice, even for an adult male…
But still, that was clearly.
“What did you just…”
Ruan raised his head abruptly at the unexpected sound. Then, the Northern Grand Duke, looking strict, solemn, and serious as if he would never utter such a word as “me-ow” even if he died and came back to life, laid his cat ears back and said,
“Are you asking me to do such a shameful thing again?”
As if he was truly ashamed, the Grand Duke, who never averts his gaze first, slightly rolled his eyes.
Seeing this, Ruan thought, I can’t take it anymore.
So he grabbed the Grand Duke’s nape and kissed him. It was a kiss filled with such intense affection that it felt violent rather than sensual. After a smacking kiss, Ruan pulled away to see the Grand Duke’s eyes widened. Seeing that made the emotions bubbling in his chest even more intense, and Ruan pulled the Grand Duke’s nape towards him once again.
Smack.
After kissing, he felt even more eager. Because the Grand Duke’s eyes looking at him were lovely. Because at some point the Grand Duke closed his eyes. Because the sensation of their lips touching felt good.
Ruan kissed him again and again.
After showering him with kisses for a while, in the interval between their lips parting, the Grand Duke spoke.
“You’re really strange. Why do you like that so much?”
In between speaking, Ruan couldn’t resist and planted quick kisses on the beautifully moving lower lip, then asked,
“Do you dislike it?”
“No.”
Taking advantage of the moment their lips parted again, the Grand Duke continued.
“There are parts I struggle to understand, but… that’s not a reason for me not to love you. And.”
The Grand Duke’s rough tongue licked Ruan’s eye area.
“The lovable parts of you that I can understand far outweigh those.”
Ruan saw the Grand Duke’s eyes narrow in what seemed to be genuine satisfaction. Then, mirroring that expression with his own eyes curved into crescents, he said,
“I’m truly happy being with you too, Your Grace.”
All the issues Ruan had been wary of since his possession passed without major incident. But he couldn’t be certain that was the end of it.
In a world that had changed much more than intended, the knowledge he had as a possessed person, which wasn’t very useful to begin with, had now become completely useless.
Still, in this moment, Ruan felt an unfounded but optimistic certainty that if he was with this lovable person, he could overcome anything that came their way and be happy.
Ruan licked the Grand Duke’s lips with his tongue, just as the Grand Duke had licked his eye area, and said,
“Your Grace has so many lovable points too.”
At those words, the Grand Duke gazed deeply into Ruan’s eyes. Ruan let out an uncontrollable smile.
“For example, the fact that you meow for me even though you think it’s infantile regression?”
Looking at Ruan like that, the Grand Duke bit the annoying lips that were smirking. As Ruan nibbled on the Grand Duke’s lips in retaliation, the Grand Duke’s tongue delved into Ruan’s mouth. Feeling the rough protrusion licking the tender flesh inside his mouth, Ruan unwittingly let out a moan.
Their eyes met. The Grand Duke’s eyes, pupils now dilated, held a fierce light.
It didn’t take long for their bodies to be buried in the bed.
* * *
What comes to your mind when you hear ‘Northern Grand Duke’?
A cold expression devoid of even a grain of emotion?
The strength to slice up a giant monster in one breath?
Or perhaps the strictness of keeping one’s word even unto death, or the obsession with one’s territory?
If so, then Dietrich Reinke, the Grand Duke who owns this castle, could be said to be the very embodiment of the term ‘Northern Grand Duke’. He’s extremely blunt, shows unpredictably aggressive aspects, and is an inflexible lord who doesn’t tolerate any deviation from plans.
But if you look beyond these outward appearances and observe him more closely, you’ll realize that’s not the only word that can describe him.
For example… while walking down the spacious corridor of the Grand Duke’s castle, leaving ample space, he deliberately, deliberately comes close, bumping his weapon-like shoulder against the frail shoulder of the civil official as he passes by. At first glance, this might seem like intimidation, but.
“Ruan. Really… The Grand Duke really likes you a lot. We were apart for just a moment, but he’s that happy to see you?”
Stefan, a young administrative officer of Reinke Castle, watched with a peculiar expression as the love-struck Grand Duke, unable to endure even that brief moment of passing in the corridor, expressed his affection to his fiancé before leaving.
And watching Stefan, Ruan exclaimed as if deeply moved,
“Right! I told you it’s not a shoulder bump but an expression of affection? Like marking his territory?”
Slightly startled by Ruan’s intense reaction, Stefan pushed Ruan’s back and said,
“Ah… alright. Who’s saying otherwise? Instead of wasting time here, hurry and go. His Grace will be waiting.”
“Oh, right! I’m going! See you later!”
Ruan, who was already in a hurry because he had something he was determined to accomplish today, started moving as soon as his back was pushed. He might have heard a voice behind him muttering something about how people forget about friends and everything else when they’re in love, but that wasn’t important to Ruan right now.
Because Ruan…
‘Today, I’m going to grab the Grand Duke and give him a thorough brushing.’
…was strengthening his resolve.
Someone hearing this might wonder what on earth he was talking about. They might find it strange to see Ruan striding along with such an odd determination.
But at this moment, Ruan was extremely serious.
Because the famous Grand Duke Dietrich Reinke is…
A real cat that sheds an enormous amount of fur every day.
As Ruan opened the door to the Grand Duke’s office with a determined heart.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
A long, fluffy tail tapping the floor in a steady rhythm greeted Ruan. Ruan watched with a grave expression as fur flew with each movement of the tail.
Yes. He had been patient for a very long time. Today, he would definitely do something about that fur. Even if he had to declare a strike, he would thoroughly brush that ball of fur. Steeling his resolve, Ruan opened his mouth.
“Your Grace. I didn’t become your aide to clean up cat hair.”
At this resolute voice, the Grand Duke, who had been fixing his gaze out the window, finally turned around. To the Grand Duke, who seemed to be wondering what on earth this guy was going to say with such a serious look, Ruan said,
“Just brushing would make it much better! If you keep refusing to be brushed and keep shedding fur like this… I’ll quit my job as your aide!”
It was a determined declaration and an ultimate move made after long deliberation.
Seeing Ruan’s seemingly sincere appearance, the Grand Duke’s tail swished.
Then.
“You.”
Calling Ruan in a solemn and low voice, the Grand Duke, with a strict, dignified, and serious face, proposed.
“Would you like… to touch my paw pads?”
Actually, this wasn’t the reaction Ruan had expected. Ruan had made his ultimatum to reach an agreement with the Grand Duke, who refused brushing by considering it ‘full-body grooming’, not for any other purpose.
But…
“You’re going to let me… touch your paw pads?”
A cat offering to let someone touch its paw pads? A cat asking if you want to touch its paws, an extremely sensitive area that also restricts movement when held?
This is really…
“Your Grace, you really love me a lot…”
Isn’t this love too incredible to refuse?
At that moment, Ruan’s fiercely burning fighting spirit melted away.
When he came to his senses, Ruan found himself approaching the Grand Duke, having put down the brush he had prepared.
He had a slight feeling that this cat was getting better at handling him… But still, if they’ve reached the stage of touching paw pads, isn’t it almost done? At this rate, wouldn’t brushing succeed soon too? So this time, maybe he could just enjoy this happiness…
As Ruan approached the Grand Duke while making excuses to himself, the Grand Duke, who seemed to have mixed feelings despite making the proposal himself, let out a quiet sigh, changed into his cat form, and held out his front paw.
And at the moment when Ruan finally grasped that front paw with a trembling hand, he thought.
How fortunate he was for not running away from the Northern Grand Duke who had seemed only scary. How right he was to choose to make an effort to approach someone whose way of thinking and expressing was completely different from his own.
If he hadn’t, the day he would be granted this soft, fluffy, and tender symbol of affection and trust would never have come.
Ruan, filled with emotion and carefully fondling the paw, opened his mouth.
“Your Grace…”
The cat’s yellow eyes, which had been staring into the distance as if resigned, turned to Ruan. The Grand Duke, seeing his partner’s earnest gaze, was about to wonder what this guy was going to say now, when…
“I love you too, but do you really hate brushing that much?”
He opened his little mouth and let out another quiet sigh.
“Didn’t you say you’d continue to live happily with me? Then brushing is really essential… Your Grace?”
“Your Grace. Are you listening?”
“Your Grace?”
As he turned his head to avoid the aide who kept pushing his face closer, the Grand Duke realized.
Just as he had given in and offered his front paw, the day would soon come when he would allow this guy to groom him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
This was a delightful read. I hope both of them live forever happy together. And I also want to touch the paw pads…🐾