Chapter 96
After hugging and vigorously petting the happy large dog for a while, by the time Ralph had calmed down from his uncontrollable joy, Ruan’s previous gloom had not only lifted but he had become somewhat happy.
‘Is this animal therapy?’
He briefly wondered if it was okay to say that about someone who appeared to be a normal adult man, but… after creating various embarrassing memories, Ruan had given up on thinking deeply about the settings of this fantasy world and decided to just go with it.
Anyway, thanks to this time, he was able to put aside the depression that had kept him up all night.
With a slightly brighter expression, Ruan walked lightly, following Ralph. Though calm enough not to pounce, Ralph, still in an endlessly happy puppy state, couldn’t stay still the entire way to the meeting place.
“Ah, Aide! Do you see that over there? The food there is really delicious. I wanted to go there together because I think it would suit your taste since you like spicy food.”
“Aide. That bookstore over there, they also stock many books about animals. Shall we look around there later?”
“Aide! If we go that way, there’s a park that’s really beautiful this season…”
“Aide! Do you see that flower over there?”
Ruan smiled a little at Ralph, who was bustling about while looking at him with bright, eager eyes.
It reminded him of his friend’s dog from when he was Kim Ha-jin, busy and distracted trying to investigate everything while out on a walk, but also constantly looking back at its owner. Ruan now understood why his friend had smiled every time he made eye contact with the dog looking back.
Receiving such a gaze, feeling the emotion in that gaze so transparently, how could one not smile?
Spending time with a dog felt quite different from spending time with a cat, and as such, it was also unfamiliar.
‘But this is good in its own way.’
Ruan became a little happier as he crossed the bustling street, led by the very excited Ralph.
The recruitment targets they met at the meeting place seemed like really good people, and whatever Ralph had told them, they already showed a favorable attitude towards going to Reinke even before Ruan tried to persuade them.
The conversation proceeded smoothly in a much more cheerful atmosphere than expected and concluded positively. Finally, there was hope of freeing the Reinke clerks, who were likely still battling paperwork even at this moment, from overtime work.
Therefore, when Ruan stood up and returned to the street with Ralph, he was quite… happy.
But that happiness, built up bit by bit, didn’t last long.
Because.
“Hey, did you hear? They say that famous Northern Grand Duke bought an engagement ring as soon as he arrived in the capital! Who’s the lucky one? Does anyone know?”
Ruan’s ears caught this story about his cat Grand Duke, which he hadn’t known or even imagined, as he was walking down the street.
* * *
Ralph also knew about the story that Dietrich Reinke had bought an engagement ring as soon as he arrived in the capital.
This wasn’t because Ralph was the head of the Steiner Guild with unrivaled connections and had to pay attention to rumors due to his profession. Although it was true that he had heard the rumor a bit earlier than others thanks to his position. But even if that wasn’t the case, as long as he resided in Ardenheim, Ralph would have heard about that rumor.
That’s because right now in the capital, it was rarer to find someone who didn’t know about that rumor.
The situation was already such that everyone’s attention was focused on the Grand Duke, with the popularity of “The Heart of Winter” coinciding with the Northern Grand Duke’s visit to the capital. And in the midst of everyone being on high alert for the Grand Duke’s every move, the first action taken by the Northern Grand Duke, who looked like he had stepped out of a novel, in the capital was… to acquire an engagement ring.
It was natural for people who had a great interest in the subject of ‘The Northern Grand Duke’s romance’ to be thrown into a frenzy. People were excited about the romantic story that seemed to be reenacting a scene from the novel right before their eyes. The rumor spread rapidly, like fire, fueled by that excitement.
In the wake of the rumor that spread like wildfire, the same question remained everywhere:
‘Then who is the Northern Grand Duke’s lover who will receive that ring?’
Ralph Steiner, who had heard the rumor earlier than others, also pondered this question.
And if there was a difference between Ralph and others who had the same question… it was that Ralph knew quite a bit about the rumor’s protagonist, Dietrich Reinke, and those around him.
The rumor about the Grand Duke intending to propose reminded Ralph of a story he had heard in Reinke a few months ago.
That is.
‘But what can I do? Ruan is… dating His Grace!’
The story that Dietrich Reinke and his aide Ruan Daen were… lovers.
The moment the word ‘proposal’ and that story came to mind one after another, Ralph felt several times more nauseous than when he first heard those words in a cold corridor corner. The sensation of his breath being cut off resembled the dizziness he felt on a stormy night during a sea voyage, when the ship beneath his feet rocked so much that he couldn’t tell front from back or up from down.
If the words he had heard from Ruan afterwards hadn’t come to mind right after, Ralph would have suffered from that terrible sensation for a long time.
‘His Grace and I are not lovers. Due to the situation turning out strangely, a misunderstanding arose and rumors spread that way.’
Recalling Ruan’s calm voice, Ralph shook himself off several times and thought.
Yes, hadn’t Ruan said that he and the Grand Duke were not lovers, that it was all a misunderstanding? The Grand Duke’s intended wouldn’t be Ruan.
‘Then who on earth is Dietrich’s intended?’
He tried to think carefully if Dietrich Reinke had shown any signs when they met last autumn… but nothing came to mind.
Scratching the ground with his foot due to the lingering emotions that wouldn’t easily clear, Ralph finally came to the easiest conclusion.
‘Since I’m meeting with the Aide, I’ll find out if I ask him then!’
But…
“His Grace… bought an engagement ring…?”
Ralph looked at Ruan’s pale face. But Ruan, who had been smiling every time their eyes met until just a moment ago, now seemed unaware of that gaze. Instead of looking at Ralph, Ruan stared blankly in the direction where the story about the Grand Duke had come from and muttered.
“Already…?”
The face of the man who had always been calm and neat was stained with bewilderment.
Seeing this, Ralph realized.
‘The Aide didn’t know that Dietrich had bought a ring.’
And he’s… shocked by that fact he just learned belatedly.
Just as Ralph had been shocked when he heard this news.
Why?
‘Why do I feel such intense emotions at the thought of Dietrich proposing to you? And why do you feel such intense emotions at the thought of Dietrich proposing to someone?’
Why on earth?
The question he couldn’t recall at the time because the emotion welling up in his chest and choking his throat was too intense now came to mind. What did that emotion mean?
Faced with someone wearing an expression similar to what he must have worn then, Ralph felt like he could find the answer if he thought just a little more.
But finding the answer to that question wasn’t the important thing for Ralph right now.
Ralph recalled the emotion he felt when he thought Dietrich and Ruan might get married. The emotion he felt then was very, very painful.
And Ralph hoped that Ruan wouldn’t feel that painful. That was the most important thing for Ralph right now.
Ruan’s clenched fist came into view in his pitch-black eyes. Ralph reached out and grasped that hand.
It was a very cold hand, as he had felt whenever it touched his face or head. He had thought it was frozen by the cold air of the north, but seeing it still so cold in Ardenheim welcoming spring, it seemed his hands were naturally cold. He had heard that cold hands weren’t good.
He wanted to lick them affectionately, but… Mother had said that was something he really, really had to refrain from doing.
Ralph enveloped the tense hand with his own two hands, which were much warmer. Then he pulled it towards him and gently rested his face on it. Hoping that warmth and contact would comfort him.
Looking up at Ruan in that state, he saw that Ruan’s gaze, which had been looking elsewhere, had now turned to him.
His face, with the bewilderment slightly lifted, looked more like his usual self than before.
Had his action been somewhat effective? Looking at that face, Ralph gently stroked the back of the hand held in his own with his thumb, instead of sticking out his tongue to lick. Until warmth returned to the white hand with protruding knuckles and the tension left it.
