Chapter 81
Our cat…
The Marquis’s ideal ruler?
No, he wasn’t interested before.
But why suddenly?
Ruan reflected on the Grand Duke and Marquis in “Tales of the Sirah Empire” and the current Grand Duke and Marquis.
If the Marquis were to take an interest in the current Grand Duke Reinke…
“I thought Reinke would continue to exist as an isolated fortress in the clouds. Hasn’t it always been the land of steadfast knights? But to think he’d use the monsters that isolated Reinke to create connections with other regions and increase his influence. That’s the method you suggested, isn’t it?”
‘So that was it.’
Well, Reinke, always forced to endure sacrifices without receiving anything in return, wouldn’t have been an object of interest for the Marquis. But now, Reinke was seeking change based on what it had built up until now.
It seemed that these developments in Reinke had caught the Marquis’s attention, and that interest had extended to the Grand Duke.
Ruan took a fresh look at the Marquis.
For Marquis Elenroth to be interested in the Grand Duke as a ruler… Although it was something he hadn’t considered at all…
‘Isn’t this a complete win?’
Marquis Elenroth was by no means a good person.
As a renowned scholar, he clearly understood the morals and common sense that prevailed in this society. Not only that, but he was so learned that he could recite the social and historical significance that accompanied the process of their creation and development. However, such knowledge never influenced his thinking or decisions.
Only extremely simple and firm principles of action formed his foundation.
Let’s say countless people were dying before his eyes. Hartmann Elenroth was the type of person whose initial reaction would not be human sympathy, but rather calculating how this event would affect the plans he had made.
As a result, he was certainly not the type of person one would want to be close to, but…
Honestly.
‘He’s a person who can be sufficiently utilized.’
Once you knew his fundamental desires, there was no one easier to predict.
Of course, Ruan neither sympathized with his way of thinking nor supported his intentions. However, the Marquis was a person with an extremely simple thought structure and no variables. He was ‘reliable’ in the sense that it was clear how he would act.
It meant that if the conditions were right, he would move exactly as expected or desired.
Moreover, he was an extremely capable individual if one could utilize him.
Wasn’t it this very Marquis Elenroth who made Volker the emperor solely because he fit his ideal image of a ruler, and who worked behind the scenes to make Louise his counterpart?
For Ruan now, the capital was essentially enemy territory. It was a place where Volker and his subordinates, who had every intention of manipulating Reinke for their own benefit, were present.
Although Ralph was in the capital… he was ultimately a merchant and a quasi-baron. What he could do and know was limited in scope.
But if the Marquis, who was at the core of that place, were to move to support the Grand Duke…
‘No matter what situation arises later, or what choices are made, it will definitely be helpful.’
The risks would clearly decrease, and the possibilities would increase.
A neat smile appeared on Ruan’s face as he reached his conclusion.
“What have I done? I merely shared some fanciful thoughts. It was all Your Grace who made it possible for those ideas to gain substance and be realized like this.”
He needed to draw in Marquis Elenroth.
What Ruan had to do for this was as simple as the Marquis’s principles of action.
All he needed to do was to appeal to the Grand Duke as a ruler and impress upon the Marquis that he was close to the ‘ideal ruler’ image in his mind.
Conveniently, Ruan was now in the role of introducing the domain that the Grand Duke had carefully cultivated to the Marquis.
“If you want to examine Reinke, we should start with the city walls, which are like the soul of the Reinke people. I’ll guide you. Reinke’s city walls are…”
After all, a butler is a being that falls ill if they can’t regularly boast about their cat. He was a specialist in cat boasting.
As Ruan led the Marquis to the city walls, he thought to himself.
He would make sure to thoroughly inform this man of the greatness of their cat.
* * *
In fact, only his assistant Ruan saw the Grand Duke as a cute, adorable, kind, and innocent cat. To everyone else, Dietrich Reinke was the very embodiment of a cold, powerful, and competent ruler.
Therefore, it wasn’t difficult for Ruan, who knew exactly what the Marquis’s ideal ruler looked like, to show that the Grand Duke perfectly matched that image.
The Marquis initially seemed to think that Ruan might be gilding the lily when he heard him extolling the Grand Duke’s greatness as if his tongue had been oiled…
But as he followed Ruan’s guidance and saw what the Grand Duke had accomplished, and how the people of Reinke moved within the system the Grand Duke had created, openly revering him as an object of admiration, the Marquis seemed to half-accept Ruan’s words.
This was even more so because Ruan had meticulously selected and ordered what the Marquis would see and hear for optimal storytelling.
‘Now when he returns to the capital, he’ll probably conduct his own investigation and solidify his thoughts based on that.’
And the results of the Marquis’s investigation would support, not deny, what he had seen and heard through Ruan, and what he had come to think.
Then the Marquis’s interest in the Grand Duke could only grow.
Ruan guided the Marquis to his assigned room with a satisfied feeling. As the Marquis entered the room, he seemed deeply lost in thought, allowing Ruan to head towards the bedroom where the Grand Duke would be waiting with an even more satisfied feeling.
‘Even setting everything else aside… the Marquis won’t say anything to Volker that could worsen Reinke’s situation when he returns.’
That alone allowed him to set aside some of his worries for now.
So now the important thing was… the cat who might have to leave his territory and go to a far-off place.
Ruan unconsciously let out a deep sigh.
It was already such a big deal just to take a cat to the vet for a moment, let alone the capital, which wasn’t even close. What a hurdle this was.
‘I should go talk to the cat quickly.’
Ruan trudged to the front of the bedroom. Just as he was about to open the door…
Bang-
The door opened by itself…
“Your Grace?”
The cat appeared.
Momentarily frozen in surprise at the door suddenly opening right in front of him, Ruan saw the giant cat who had flung open the door look at him with a disgruntled expression before turning away abruptly.
Ruan only grasped the situation as he watched the black backside of the cat sauntering back into the room.
‘Did he… just open the door for me?’
How long must he have waited to open the door himself? Ruan entered the bedroom, half touched and half apologetic.
As soon as Ruan closed the door and entered the bedroom, the cat jumped onto the bed and was vigorously swishing its tail, seemingly in a bad mood.
Ruan carefully approached the cat, choosing his words.
First, what he wanted to say most was…
“Your Grace, thank you so much for your hard work until the end of the monster wave.”
With Marquis Elenroth suddenly arriving and talks of going to the capital, things had become quite complicated due to too many events, but today was the day when the long and arduous monster wave had finally ended.
Moreover, it was a day when the monster wave had ended much earlier and with far less damage than usual, thanks to various efforts accumulated over time.
How much had he worried watching the struggling cat, and how long had he waited for this day?
Today should have been a day for celebration and rest rather than worrying about the future.
Ruan sat next to the Grand Duke on the bed, gently stroking his pitch-black back as he continued speaking.
“This winter, the monster wave was concluded with much less damage compared to previous years. It’s all thanks to you, Your Grace. You are truly a wonderful ruler. Now that the monster wave is over…”
The movement of the tail, which had grown thick and fluffy during the winter, calmed a bit under the gentle stroking.
Seeing this, Ruan said,
“I thought Your Grace would be able to rest now.”
At Ruan’s words, the Grand Duke, who had been looking elsewhere, suddenly turned his head to look at Ruan. His face, which looked infinitely strict, solemn, and serious even in cat form, was plastered with displeasure and disbelief.
‘As expected, the Grand Duke must have been very upset about the sudden arrival of the special envoy and the imperial order when he should have been resting.’
Guessing what might be displeasing him, Ruan stroked the Grand Duke’s back more attentively as he spoke.
“For a special envoy to arrive so suddenly like this. I don’t know how they managed to time it so perfectly. Your Grace should be resting.”
Completely unaware of why the Grand Duke’s tail-swishing had intensified again.
“And to be summoned to the capital on top of that. How could they…”
As a result, as Ruan continued to complain about the sudden special envoy…
“Is that what’s important to you right now?”
In the blink of an eye, he found himself trapped between the naked Northern Duke and the bed.
