Chapter 35
The Grand Duke was spending quite satisfactory days lately.
As with most of the Grand Duke’s recent emotional changes, this too was because of his aide.
For the past few days, the aide seemed to be overflowing with affection and loyalty towards the Grand Duke.
Of course, the aide had revered the Grand Duke before, but since a few days ago, the degree had changed. It was like the difference between a state where all four paws could be off the ground and a state where he could tolerate having his paws touched.
And as part of such changes, the aide had become even more capable.
Originally, the aide was capable. This was an undeniable fact.
Even when he used to behave like a cat crawling on the floor with his belly pressed flat, watching the Grand Duke’s every move all day, he did his job very well.
His way of working was so different that the Grand Duke wondered if he really held the same position as the “aides” he had known before. But the aide’s methods, though unusual, were certainly effective and efficient.
Even the Grand Duke, who tended to dislike changes and was picky about new things, accepted the changes made by the aide as improvements.
This capable fellow, since the Grand Duke started behaving like a cat, gained the ability to anticipate what the Grand Duke needed and prepare for it. Now, he had gone beyond that and started to take initiative in his work.
If before it felt like he was helping the Grand Duke care for his territory as part of assisting the Grand Duke, now it felt like he viewed the Grand Duke’s territory as his own territory that he needed to contribute to.
The aide was doing his best for the Grand Duke’s territory, just as he had said.
Solely.
‘Because it’s important to Your Grace.’
Because it was important to the Grand Duke.
Does deep affection guarantee continued stability regardless of external threats?
Watching the aide working hard for what was precious to him, the Grand Duke no longer felt threatened by the existence of other cats. After all, someone who had opened all his senses and emotions towards the Grand Duke couldn’t regard another cat the same way as the Grand Duke.
When such thoughts occurred, the Grand Duke would unknowingly make a purring sound due to the languid satisfaction welling up inside him.
The Grand Duke was satisfied with all situations.
If there was just one thing he was dissatisfied with in the midst of this…
The Grand Duke’s gaze turned to the aide who was crouched on the floor, busily rubbing something on the carpet. It was a sight he had seen often these past few days.
After the Grand Duke’s repeated refusals to be brushed, the aide had procured adhesive, paper, and short sticks from somewhere and started making something by sticking these together and peeling them off.
The Grand Duke found this very… displeasing.
Originally, the Grand Duke’s daily evening routine was to go on patrol, then visit the aide to spend time together before falling asleep. This was the Grand Duke’s favorite time of the day, and it had been reduced recently due to increased work from the delegation visit.
To savor this limited time, as soon as he arrived at the aide’s bedroom, the Grand Duke would even fetch the quill pen the aide had hidden—though the aide might think he had hidden it, the Grand Duke wasn’t one to not know where it was—and bring it to him.
But since making that object, the aide had started to neglect this time.
Even when the Grand Duke returned from patrol, far from welcoming him, the aide would barely raise his head to acknowledge him and just continue with his work. He wouldn’t chatter nonsense in a much higher voice tone than during the day, and the frequency of scratching the Grand Duke’s face with his fingers and waving the quill pen had noticeably decreased. Moreover, the time they lay down together was also significantly delayed.
The Grand Duke was upset by the aide’s attitude. The aide couldn’t treat the Grand Duke like this.
So he tried sprawling right in front of the focused aide, but… the fellow who would usually barely touch the parts the Grand Duke allowed while staring pervertedly at the Grand Duke’s belly area, just scratched the Grand Duke’s head a couple of times before shifting his gaze back to the paper.
He tried bringing the quill pen and placing it in the aide’s hand, but where had that usual mischievous dexterity gone? The halfhearted waving only provoked the Grand Duke’s anger.
Finally, when the enraged Grand Duke swatted the paper with his front paw, crumpling the paper with adhesive on it, the aide just muttered “The cat did nothing wrong” with a crestfallen expression before focusing on his work again. He paid no attention to the Grand Duke at all.
It was the same now. Not even looking at the Grand Duke glaring at him, just rolling that object…
Rolling…
Roll…
“…”
The Grand Duke’s eyes, which had been glaring at the aide, began to follow the movement of the object sliding up and down.
The Grand Duke’s pupils alternately dilated and contracted with predatory aggression.
He had always thought the aide knew how to make the quill pen quite enticing to cats when he waved it. But this was captivating in a different way, impossible to take his eyes off.
As the movement continued, above the bubbling displeasure… hunting instincts began to slowly raise their head.
His front paws twitched involuntarily at the linear yet unpredictable movement scrubbing the floor. The tip of his tail, which had been thumping the floor to express dissatisfaction just moments ago, began to sway gently.
Without even realizing it himself, the Grand Duke was calculating the optimal timing and direction to pounce on that object.
All the muscles in his body tensed up.
Finally, at the moment when the Grand Duke’s pupils dilated after calculating the perfect attack route.
“Ah!”
The paper, with one end stuck to the carpet, unrolled long and drooped.
“Was this adhesive too strong?”
The aide, scratching his head at the repeated failure, began to peel off the paper stuck to the carpet.
And the Grand Duke…
In an inescapable sense of futility…
Slumped down in his chair.
* * *
‘Why is he acting like that?’
Ruan glanced at the Grand Duke, who was sitting dejectedly for some reason, and then began to gently peel off the lint roller prototype that had become one with the carpet.
‘I thought this one turned out pretty decent.’
Making a lint roller wasn’t as easy as he had expected.
While making the lint roller, Ruan had to go through various trials and errors. Sometimes the adhesive was so strong that once rolled up, it would stick to itself and become impossible to separate. Or sometimes the adhesive was so weak that it barely existed, unable to effectively remove cat hair tangled in clothing.
Due to the many trials and errors, it took much longer than expected, and there were various interference tactics from the bored cat Grand Duke, but…
The fourth prototype, which overcame these interferences, didn’t stick to itself and separated hair well, but it seemed the adhesive was still a bit too strong.
‘But I think I’m starting to get the hang of it now.’
As Ruan was thinking about how to make the fifth prototype…
The Grand Duke, who had been watching Ruan dejectedly, asked,
“Why is that allowed when the quill pen isn’t?”
“Pardon?”
When Ruan, not understanding the intention behind the sudden question, asked back, the Grand Duke spoke again.
“Didn’t you take away all the quill pens, saying I couldn’t use them in the office? So why is that allowed?”
‘If it’s about that…’
Ruan looked at the lint roller in his hand, following the Grand Duke’s sharp gaze, and finally understood what the Grand Duke meant.
‘Ah. The Grand Duke cat reacts to the lint roller just like he does to the quill pen.’
Although preferences for favorite toys varied slightly, there were quite a few cats who were crazy about the movement of mopping hands or lint rollers. It seemed the repetitive movement felt like a hunting game to them. Among Ruan’s pet cats, there was even one whose hobby was following and swatting at the hardworking robot vacuum cleaner.
‘Why did it look so majestic while bullying a machine that couldn’t even fight back…’
Anyway, it seemed the Grand Duke was also one of those cleaning-interfering cats. For the sake of smooth cleaning in the future, Ruan kindly explained,
“The quill pen can be replaced with something else, but it’s hard to find a better cleaning tool than this to handle the fur Your Grace sheds.”
And he added words he had always wanted to say to cleaning-interfering cats but couldn’t convey due to not being able to speak cat language:
“This is cleaning, not play. I’ll wave the quill pen diligently for you after work, so for the sake of improving the office environment, I hope you could just leave this alone…”
But even if it was a cat that could understand words, a cat was still a cat. Cats weren’t docile creatures that would obediently follow instructions just because they understood them.
The Grand Duke, having heard Ruan’s words, asked with an expression of genuine incomprehension:
“How can you expect me to stay still when something like that is wiggling right in front of me?”
Ruan looked at the giant cat, who couldn’t understand how one could ignore something moving back and forth right in front of them, with a complex feeling.
‘Then at least let me brush your fur…’
Of course, even if he could brush the fur, it would still scatter, so the lint roller would still be necessary.
