Chapter 92
The overheated interest in the Northern Grand Duke from the novel naturally spread to this real-life Northern Grand Duke.
Everyone wanted to know about the real Northern Grand Duke, Dietrich Reinke. However, the problem was… no one knew exactly about Dietrich Reinke.
Of course, everyone knew that he was a knight with inhuman strength and a powerful ruler who had reclaimed lands that had fallen to monsters. The story of the tragedy that befell Reinke, the recapture of lost territory, and its reconstruction was very famous.
But no one knew the human side of the Grand Duke, Dietrich Reinke, who had accomplished all this.
The Grand Duke hadn’t visited the capital since he was young, and even when he came to the capital long ago, he didn’t interact much with others. There were bound to be few people who truly knew what kind of person he was.
Of course, there was one person who claimed to know the Grand Duke well. Someone who had met Dietrich Reinke during his childhood visit to the capital and who had recently been doing business with Reinke.
Unfortunately, this only person with specific information about Dietrich Reinke was Ralph Steiner, and since no one believed Ralph Steiner’s “good person” claims about everyone he met, the information from his mouth had no real influence.
With many wanting to know but little known, a mysterious image was quickly added to Northern Grand Duke Dietrich Reinke.
With little known, the only information people could gather about this mysterious Grand Duke were rumors that had leaked out of Reinke. People listened to these rumors.
According to these collected rumors, Dietrich Reinke was said to be a heartless, severe, and resolute ruler. He never forgave those who broke his rules. He was said to rule the cold land with overwhelming charisma and intimidating force, without explanation or excuse.
People who heard these rumors all felt a strong sense of déjà vu. Because the Dietrich Reinke in those rumors… matched surprisingly well with Kaien Raberk, the male protagonist of “The Heart of Winter”.
Naturally, interest in Northern Grand Duke Dietrich Reinke increased even more as a result.
Given such high expectations, if the real person had been unremarkable, interest would have quickly cooled… But Dietrich Reinke, who appeared amidst such hot interest, was beyond everyone’s imagination.
His face, with assertive features harmoniously arranged, was manly yet beautiful. His body, solid enough not to look lanky despite being much taller than average, was powerfully built as if visualizing his reputed strength.
This Northern Grand Duke, who caught attention with rumors similar to the character in the novel, was truly a handsome man as if he had stepped out of a storybook.
Of course, this young power holder was indeed very cold, intimidating, and seemingly heartless as rumored. But these aspects only made him more fitting as the ‘Northern Grand Duke’.
“It’s thrilling.”
Many conversations took place behind the fans of young ladies who had read “The Heart of Winter” to the point of wear.
“He really… looks like Lord Kaien.”
“How… it feels like the temperature in the ballroom is dropping just by looking at him.”
“But even if he shows such an appearance to others, surely in front of his lover…”
And Ruan, who overheard these quiet conversations while crossing the ballroom to reach the Grand Duke, unknowingly stopped in his tracks for a moment.
‘What did I… just hear?’
Ruan had heard through Ralph’s letters about the existence of a novel called “The Heart of Winter” and that its popularity was subtly affecting sales revenue. He had also thought, ‘That sounds similar to the rumors about our cat at home,’ when he heard that the male protagonist of the novel was a ‘cool-headed Northern Grand Duke’.
Even so, since it was a favorable response to Reinke and thinking it could be useful if the direction of the rumors was managed well, he had discussed it with Ralph.
But the influence…
‘Was it to this extent?’
He slowly scanned the interior of the ballroom. And as a result, Ruan couldn’t help but realize.
Most people’s gazes in the ballroom were directed at the Grand Duke. Even those who seemed to be talking among themselves kept glancing towards the Grand Duke, showing where their interest lay. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that everyone was looking at the Grand Duke.
It was somewhat expected. In a situation where interest in Reinke had increased in many ways, and the Grand Duke of Reinke, about whom there had been no information, had appeared. It was natural for attention to be focused on the Grand Duke.
If there was something different from expectations… it was the direction of people’s interest.
Ruan observed the Grand Duke, and then the people looking at him.
The Grand Duke was in a very uncomfortable state due to too many people, too much noise, and too much attention. As someone who could guess how stressed he must be, Ruan found it truly pitiful and touching to see the Grand Duke trying to fulfill his duties as ‘the Grand Duke’ despite looking so displeased.
But that was from the perspective of Ruan, the Grand Duke’s caretaker and aide. Based on past experience, people’s emotions towards the Grand Duke in this state were usually fear of the violent Grand Duke emitting an ominous aura.
However, now, what was in people’s eyes was not fear.
The emotions pouring towards the Grand Duke were not fear, but rather…
“By the way, isn’t he still unmarried?”
“If he’s such a handsome man…”
“Oh my, that incredible…”
It was goodwill and curiosity. Even with sexual emotions and judgments added.
Ruan suddenly recalled Volker, whom he had met in the audience chamber the day before.
As expected, Volker showed a quite favorable attitude towards the Grand Duke, probably due to Marquis Elenroth’s various interventions. There were none of the aggressive questions or traps that Ruan had anticipated, only light conversation that felt like confirming what Marquis Elenroth had said.
Faced with Volker, the Grand Duke also showed a very plausible appearance of the Grand Duke of Reinke that Ruan had originally wanted to portray. And with Marquis Elenroth standing by Volker’s side also adding words, the audience proceeded very smoothly without Ruan needing to do anything.
There was a moment when Volker showed interest in Ruan, who had contributed greatly to Reinke’s recent changes… and the Grand Duke’s mood soured at that moment… but as it was also expected, they were able to get through the situation reasonably well.
It was a smooth audience at the level he had thought, no, even smoother than he had thought.
Thinking that the audience was ending without problems, that was the case except for the words that popped out of Volker’s mouth as he stared at the Grand Duke.
It was something Ruan had never thought about before.
‘Come to think of it, isn’t the Grand Duke going to get married?’
The Grand Duke’s marriage.
Shocked in many ways by this word combination he had never considered, Ruan’s thoughts momentarily stopped.
But he couldn’t remain thoughtless for long. Soon, breaking through that confusion, the realization that Volker was someone who would politically exploit the ‘Grand Duke of Reinke’s’ marriage came to mind.
Ruan immediately came to his senses and poured all his capabilities into deflecting the conversation before Volker could bring up potential marriage partners for the Grand Duke that would benefit him. During this process, the Grand Duke’s gaze towards Ruan was a bit strange, but Ruan, focused on Volker, didn’t notice it.
Anyway, although he was surprised for a moment, he was too busy managing the situation, and after managing it, he was too relieved to continue his thoughts.
Now, recognizing the unexpected gazes directed at the Grand Duke, Ruan couldn’t help but recall that conversation Volker had brought up.
‘The Grand Duke getting married…’
In fact, one of the points that shocked Ruan the most was that he was shocked to hear this story.
When they first met, he was too preoccupied with the thought of when his neck might be wrung to think about the Grand Duke’s age, and after learning that the Grand Duke was a cat beastman… his sense of age had become blurry because he was a cat, so he hadn’t thought deeply about it, but. The Grand Duke, who had recently had a birthday, was now twenty-three.
In fact, considering his status as a high-ranking noble, he should have been married long ago. Even if it had been delayed due to various issues in Reinke, now that the situation had settled considerably, it was quite reasonable for this topic to come up.
Moreover, given the recent heat issue between the Grand Duke and him, it was something he should have thought about, something worth considering…
To think that he only thought about this after hearing it from Volker, and to be so shocked just by hearing it.
