Chapter 24
Yount, a farmer in Reinke, had stayed up all night yesterday.
It wasn’t because he had some work that required him to pull an all-nighter. It was simply because… he had to go give a face-to-face report to ‘that Grand Duke’ the next day.
Yount was in charge of a project to introduce new crops and test if they were suitable for Reinke’s soil, and then improve them, as per the Grand Duke’s orders. It was an honor to be entrusted with this task, having been recognized as the most knowledgeable person about farming in Reinke, but… at this point, when he had to give a face-to-face report to the Grand Duke, Yount couldn’t help but think about how insignificant honor was compared to a peaceful and stable life.
If it had been any other task, he could have somehow passed the report on to someone else. Like… to Ruan, the assistant that the Grand Duke had been keeping close and doting on recently.
The thought of His Grace having a romantic partner was surprising. Even considering it might be a foolish first love of youth, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the person, thinking, “What is this kid trying to do?” But… separately from that, Ruan was the Grand Duke’s lover after all, so he probably wouldn’t receive severe punishment even if he slightly offended His Grace.
Or maybe not. Come to think of it, His Grace might be just as merciless to his own lover.
Yount shuddered as he recalled the Grand Duke’s ice-cold face.
‘Let’s just come back alive…’
Although he was so afraid that he couldn’t even sleep, Yount had no choice but to go and report in person.
Introducing various crops to increase Reinke’s self-production was one of the important projects the Grand Duke was pushing forward, and because he valued this project so much, the Grand Duke insisted on receiving face-to-face reports from the person in charge.
Yount, with dark circles under his eyes, tightly hugged his beloved wife before leaving the house.
‘This is the kind of warm person you should fall in love with, how did that Ruan end up…’
After unnecessarily worrying about someone else, Yount headed towards the Grand Duke’s castle with timid steps.
The Grand Duke he faced… was emanating a frightening aura as usual today.
‘How on earth did Ruan end up with someone like that…’
Yount, frozen stiff by the Grand Duke’s cold atmosphere, began his report.
“These are the crops we’ve started cultivating recently. Although the aroma and quality are significantly lower compared to when we first brought them in, the yield itself…”
Yount, with trembling hands, took out the crops he had brought and placed them on the Grand Duke’s desk.
The Grand Duke then leaned slightly forward to look at them.
He slightly opened his mouth and furrowed his brow.
It was an expression that seemed to convey utter disbelief or incredulity.
What might have been an insignificant expression on anyone else’s face looked almost like a death threat when placed on the Grand Duke’s intimidating face.
The Grand Duke was famous for having no change in expression, although his face itself was scary. Even during the grueling times of reclaiming Reinke, when he personally beheaded the madman who committed embezzlement just to save his own skin, the Grand Duke maintained his usual expressionless face without the slightest change.
But for such a Grand Duke to make such a ferocious expression…
‘Just how angry is he…’
Sensing the Grand Duke’s terrifying rage like hellfire, Yount clasped his trembling hands together and thought of his wife who had hugged him warmly before he left.
‘I’m sorry, Anita… I might not be able to come back…’
* * *
Ruan, watching the pitifully pale farmer Yount, squeezed his eyes shut.
‘That’s not what it means…’
Unlike humans who only have noses as olfactory organs, cats have another olfactory organ besides their nose. It’s an organ located on the roof of their mouth, used to analyze smells and gather information.
But because this organ is located inside the mouth, to detect smells, they have to open their mouth and wrinkle their face…
And that’s what the Grand Duke’s facial muscles were doing right now. It was a movement to analyze the smell of the new crop and gather information.
Therefore, it was absolutely not an ‘expression’ meant to show any emotion, especially not a negative one.
However.
‘I can see why it would be misunderstood…’
Honestly, even to Ruan who knew everything, it looked like an angry expression on the scary Northern Grand Duke’s face. So to people who didn’t know the truth and were already terrified of the Grand Duke, it could only be perceived as scary.
A cat with no intention to threaten, and a human trembling in fear, interpreting that appearance as a great threat. Watching the two, Ruan could understand how the cat Grand Duke’s image had become so distorted.
The Grand Duke was doing cat things, and from the perspective of humans viewing it through the frame of ‘scary Grand Duke’, it just looked like ‘scary Grand Duke’ behavior, which in turn reinforced the ‘scary Grand Duke’ frame. That must have been repeating over time.
‘Why did God give a cat the shell of the Northern Grand Duke…’
But he couldn’t just blurt out that this Northern Grand Duke-like Northern Grand Duke was actually just a cat and that was a Flehmen response, given the situation.
‘I guess I’ll have to act as a bridge between the two for now.’
Ruan, swallowing a sigh internally, intervened between the two who seemed to be in completely different genres.
“Mr. Yount. Is this the one you said was delicious when cooked into a stew last time?”
Yount’s gaze, which had been trembling as if he was about to die, landed on Ruan, then on the Grand Duke who was looking at the suddenly intervening Ruan, then back to Ruan.
His expression seemed to say, ‘What are you trying to do by stepping in here, can’t you see that look? At least you should survive.’ Ruan forced a smile and continued speaking.
“Even if the aroma is a bit weaker, you said the texture was okay and it would be fine if mixed with other ingredients, right?”
As Ruan persistently continued, Yount timidly responded.
“Ah… It’s true that it’s lacking in terms of aroma and size, but in those aspects…”
“I see. So even though the size has decreased a bit, the yield itself isn’t bad, right?”
As Ruan kept asking questions, and the Grand Duke remained silent, Yount, perhaps seeing this as an opportunity to somehow survive, cautiously began to elaborate on the results he had achieved. However, he kept glancing nervously at the Grand Duke.
Finally, after finishing the report he had prepared and confirming that his head was still attached, Yount looked at Ruan with an expression that seemed on the verge of tears. When the Grand Duke, who had been sitting quietly, gave instructions about future directions and told him to leave.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Ruan learned what the face of a truly grateful human looked like.
Yount, who had shouted with all his heart several times, left the place with a face that seemed unable to believe he was still alive.
‘Though the Grand Duke seems to have become displeased by that loud voice at the end…’
As Ruan was thinking that he should tell Yount later that it’s better not to raise his voice in front of the Grand Duke, he turned around. He saw the Grand Duke, who had already brought out his fluffy ears and tail. His ears were slightly tilted back, apparently displeased by the loud voice that had just sounded right in front of him.
Since revealing his identity to Ruan, the Grand Duke had started bringing out his cat ears and tail when they were alone. At first, Ruan thought what a bizarre combination of words ‘Northern Grand Duke with cat ears’ was, but…
As he kept seeing it, Ruan couldn’t help but realize.
That overwhelmingly harmonious features could make even seemingly incompatible things harmonize.
Just as cats are cute and lovable even when they do silly things simply because they look like cats, the Grand Duke’s handsome face looked like a dignified and majestic handsome man even with cat ears.
And that appearance had an unexpected effect…
Ruan’s gaze turned to the fluffy tail thumping on the floor.
With the ears and tail visible, the Grand Duke’s expressions of intent became easier to understand.
‘When I first became an assistant, I felt like I was holding onto a bomb that could explode at any moment because I couldn’t tell what the Grand Duke was thinking.’
Now, Ruan had reached a point where he could understand the Grand Duke’s thoughts just from his small movements.
‘I didn’t know he was such an easy-to-understand person…’
The Grand Duke expressed his emotions very honestly and transparently. There was nothing particularly hidden.
But it was in his way as a cat, so everyone else just couldn’t understand.
Ruan sighed as he recalled the scene from earlier where misunderstandings were created in real-time just because a cat was doing cat things.
‘Our cat is so honest and pure… it’s a shame he has to be misunderstood like that.’
He knew it couldn’t be helped.
A cat’s expressions of intent were fundamentally different from humans’ in many ways. That’s why even with ordinary cats, people who don’t know cats well often misunderstand them as being unaffectionate or strange. And on top of that, they didn’t even know he was a cat. There was no way the Grand Duke’s expressions could be properly understood.
But you can’t ask a cat to communicate in human ways…
No, wait.
‘That cat… originally knows how to speak human language, doesn’t he?’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
