Chapter 84
The Grand Duke was very serious.
It was because his aide had started avoiding him.
‘Why on earth?’
The Grand Duke calmly retraced the situation.
It all started when, after finally getting rid of all the interfering monsters, he rushed to his mate, only to find that the Emperor’s dog had entered the Grand Duke’s territory.
He had thought that once he dealt with all the monsters, he would be able to spend time with his aide, but this sudden situation was very displeasing… However, the Emperor had already meddled with the Grand Duke’s territory before and was one of the major potential threats who could do so again. Despite his displeasure, the Grand Duke had no choice but to go and face the Emperor’s dog.
The matter that the Emperor’s dog brought up was as absurd as his sudden visit.
Telling the Grand Duke to leave his territory and come to the Emperor’s domain.
Just remembering his previous visit to that place made him feel unpleasant.
But the Grand Duke also knew that going there was the most efficient way to protect his territory. If he didn’t go, who knows what kind of threat the Emperor might pose using that as an excuse.
Even so, the fact that just thinking about it was stressful didn’t change, and he was thinking about how he wanted to groom himself vigorously when…
Suddenly, a familiar scent touched the Grand Duke’s nose. It was the scent of his aide, who had returned to his original body odor after not being able to take on the Grand Duke’s scent for a while.
Smelling that scent made him feel like his nerves, which had been on edge at the mention of leaving his territory, were slightly soothed. He thought that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad now, with the presence of his aide, who could give him peace of mind anytime, anywhere, by his side.
As that thought occurred, the desire for his aide, which had been temporarily subdued due to the dog’s visit and the resulting unpleasantness, suddenly reared its head again.
He wanted to be together. He wanted to touch. He wanted to rub against him thoroughly so that his own scent would emanate strongly.
From that moment on, the Grand Duke’s only thought was to quickly grab his aide as soon as the dog’s words were finished. He thought his aide would have the same idea since it had been a long time since they spent time together, but…
His aide quickly followed the Emperor’s dog.
Leaving the Grand Duke behind.
Honestly, it was a bit surprising, but… it wasn’t incomprehensible. Didn’t his aide originally place great importance on taking care of the Grand Duke’s territory? So it was quite possible that he would first pay attention to observing the Emperor’s envoy, who might affect the territory.
Besides, there were no monsters to interfere now. There was no reason why they couldn’t wait a little, as they would have plenty of time to be together from now on.
The Grand Duke, who was in a quite generous state, decided to go to his aide’s bedroom, which he hadn’t visited in a long time, and wait for him.
However, the aide who had followed the envoy returned later than expected. The Grand Duke started to wonder if this guy didn’t feel as anxious as he had been during the monster wave period and throughout today.
In this situation, the aide who returned late seemed to be focused only on things like the Emperor and the capital, with no thought at all about spending time with his mate after so long.
Feeling frustrated, he had expressed his courtship to convey his intentions, but…
The aide, who seemed to be responding to the courtship, suddenly ran away like a rabbit that had detected a predator’s presence.
The Grand Duke was quite taken aback by the fact that the person who had been squirming under him just moments ago had suddenly fled from him. His aide had always been desperate to spend even a little time with the Grand Duke and would overflow with joy just by the Grand Duke coming close.
For someone like that to run away from him? Even when he had courted… to run away?
In his extreme bewilderment, the Grand Duke remained frozen for a long time, not even thinking about following and catching his aide.
Not imagining that the aide who had left like that would not return to the bedroom for days…
‘I should have caught him then.’
The Grand Duke’s gaze turned to the cold bed.
Last night too, his aide did not return to the bedroom. For days now, the Grand Duke had been sleeping alone in the bed they usually shared.
This was… a very serious problem.
The Grand Duke, who stretched his body for a change of mood, moved towards the training grounds where the knights would be training as per routine, lost in thought.
What on earth could have been the problem?
Recalling his bewildered feelings when left alone in the bed and the empty bed he had just left, the Grand Duke thought.
It was clear that the aide started avoiding the Grand Duke from the moment he ran away from the courting Grand Duke.
‘That means.’
Was there a problem with the method of courtship?
In fact, this had been a question he had had for a while.
He had heard that he should use a method that humans could understand to clear up misunderstandings, and he had been sticking to this method because there was some response, albeit in his own way, compared to the courtship method he originally tried… But the courtship expression of kissing had inconsistent responses.
Because of this, the Grand Duke had wondered a few times if it was right to continue courting by rubbing lips in this way. But since the Grand Duke didn’t know much about human courtship expressions, he had been maintaining the only courtship expression he knew.
But to think it would not only have a poor response but even have a reverse effect…
‘It seems that kissing was not a very effective courtship expression.’
The Grand Duke recalled the knights he had seen on the day his aide had informed him that kissing was a human courtship expression.
They seemed to have been rubbing their lips diligently. Were they just a bit lacking?
Anyway, there was no need to stick to a method that wasn’t good.
The Grand Duke, having finished guiding the knights, thought as he put his sword back into its scabbard.
‘I should try using a different courtship expression.’
Another courtship expression that humans would understand.
The Grand Duke wouldn’t know such things. If he had known, he would have used it early on instead of just diligently rubbing lips.
Then… just as he had asked his aide, he had no choice but to ask a human who would know about it.
‘There happens to be a suitable guy.’
The Grand Duke turned his gaze to the knight who had been hovering around him for a while.
“Eek!”
The young knight, who had approached as if he had something to say to the Grand Duke, was startled when the Grand Duke turned his gaze to him. He had a scent quite similar to the aide’s body odor.
‘They said he was his blood relative, right?’
A human close to his aide. If he asked this guy, wouldn’t he be able to learn about appropriate courtship expressions?
If Magda Daen had read the Grand Duke’s thoughts, she would have muttered, “But brother hasn’t dated either…” But Magda Daen, who was resting due to an injury, wasn’t present here.
Therefore, the Grand Duke, unaware of Joachim Daen’s dating experience, was satisfied with his choice of consultation partner and asked the question.
“How does one court?”
“Wh… What?”
Joachim Daen, who had been frightened by the Grand Duke’s gaze, then thought hard about something, and finally made a firm decision and looked at the Grand Duke with serious eyes, froze stiffly at the question that suddenly flew at him as he was about to open his mouth.
The Grand Duke, looking at this sight, thought that despite being a blood relative, he was quite similar to his aide in being timid, and spoke again.
“I asked how humans typically court.”
Joachim, whose eyes had returned from serious to innocent in surprise, tried to interpret what he had heard.
How do humans typically court…?
Isn’t the choice of vocabulary a bit unique? But more than that… Isn’t the Grand Duke already in a relationship with his younger brother, Ruan?
But suddenly, as Joachim was thinking about why courtship now, a flash of realization passed through his mind.
‘Ah.’
Could it be.
‘Is it a proposal?’
Joachim’s eyes began to sparkle, having been living with the worry of what would happen if this scary Grand Duke was going to dump Ruan, seeing his younger brother who seemed to have a lot of worries recently, and what would happen to his heartbroken brother.
So it wasn’t that there was a problem between them!
Joachim asked in a trembling voice.
“Are you… talking about a proposal?”
The Grand Duke, looking at the suddenly energetic blood relative of his aide, thought.
‘Humans call becoming mates marriage, right.’
Then asking for marriage must be courtship.
The Grand Duke answered in a calm voice.
“That’s right.”
At those words, Joachim’s face filled with joy. The Grand Duke’s marriage had been one of his biggest concerns ever since he learned that his brother loved the Grand Duke.
Marriage! To think that his brother Ruan could marry the person he loves!
Of course, same-sex marriage was impossible under imperial law, but the person in front of him now was the fearsome Grand Duke Reinke. If it was the Grand Duke, of all people, wouldn’t he have found a way to make anything possible?
Filled with the expectation that his brother could have a happy future without parting from his loved one, Joachim opened his mouth.
