The Northern Grand Duke and the Cat Are Not So Different

Chapter 28

Cats generally don’t drink much water.

This is because their ancestors lived in deserts where water intake was difficult, surviving only on moisture from their prey. Inheriting this habit, many cats don’t actively seek to drink water.

However, the eating habits of cats living with humans are different from their ancestors. In the changed environment, low water intake easily leads to kidney disease, causing many cats to suffer from it. Naturally, most cat owners live with the constant worry of how to make their cats drink even a little more water…

According to Ruan’s observations, spending almost all day with the Grand Duke, the Grand Duke also had a very low water intake, typical of cats.

‘I’ve never seen him put his mouth to water…’

Cats prefer fresh and clean water if they’re going to drink at all. Because of this, owners always try to make water look fresher by serving it in glass bowls, setting up fountains, or making it flow – really going to all lengths. Ruan was no exception.

Ruan had done his absolute best within his means to increase the Grand Duke’s water intake. Yet, he was despairing over the proud cat who wouldn’t even touch water with the tip of his tongue. That’s when…

‘Water from melted eternal snow.’

As a water-obsessed cat owner, Ruan’s ears perked up at this story.

‘Water from melted eternal snow… that’s like Evian.’

It sounded incredibly clean, and for some reason, it seemed to match well with the Grand Duke’s chilly aura and stunningly handsome appearance.

‘Maybe the Grand Duke cat would drink that…’

Of course, even if he got water from melted eternal snow, there was no guarantee that His Feline Grace would drink it.

Cats are animals that often ignore the thing you buy for them and obsess over the box it came in, aren’t they?

Moreover, their likes and dislikes are so clear that once they decide something is not to be eaten, they won’t even touch it with the tip of their tongue.

But cat owners are the type to buy things anyway if they’re said to be good for cats, despite knowing and experiencing all this countless times.

Water that might increase my cat’s water intake?

It helps my cat’s kidney health?

Once aware of its existence, a cat owner couldn’t resist.

Ruan immediately started asking around to get water from melted eternal snow.

It wasn’t too difficult to obtain as they were in the midst of making distilled spirits ahead of exchanges with the dwarves.

But “not too difficult” doesn’t mean there were no problems at all.

“So… you need this because you want His Grace to drink clean water…?”

Ruan could only manage an awkward smile at Paula’s strange expression as she handed over the water bottle.

The general consensus regarding the scandal between the Grand Duke and Ruan was that ‘the scary Grand Duke took a liking to Ruan and wanted to keep him close, so Ruan, unable to refuse, was just trying to please the Grand Duke.’

Given the image the Grand Duke had built up over time, the minority opinion that ‘Ruan also likes the Grand Duke’ was easily dismissed. Sure, the kid had become a bit lacking after losing his memory… and he seemed to have trouble distinguishing what was dangerous and what was safe… but even so, he had eyes and a brain, right? The majority opinion was that surely he wouldn’t harbor romantic feelings for His Grace the Grand Duke.

There were hypotheses that the youngest Daen had a unique taste for fear and thrill and felt love for a man who might rip out his throat at any moment, or that he was mistaking the trembling and heart-pounding from fear for love. But still, wasn’t it more plausible that Ruan, like anyone else, was just enduring because he couldn’t defy what the scary Grand Duke wanted?

As a result, when Ruan started living in the Grand Duke’s castle, theories of kidnapping and confinement arose, and it was a natural progression for Ruan Daen to become ‘a pitiful young man oppressed by the Grand Duke,’ receiving sympathy from all the people of Reinke.

In the midst of this, the public confession incident in the corridor during lunch hour shocked the people of Reinke.

Ruan Daen really liked the Grand Duke? He loved the Grand Duke so much that he couldn’t bear to be apart for even a moment and voluntarily entered the Grand Duke’s castle? How was that possible? He couldn’t get his head straight for a while after being hit by an orc, did something go wrong?

After various speculations, Ruan’s position in Reinke recently changed from ‘a pitiful young man violated by power and violence’ to ‘a thoughtless little sister who’s so infatuated with a dangerous man that she doesn’t even know what she’s doing.’

Everyone wanted to dissuade him, but they were too afraid of the Grand Duke who stuck close to Ruan with fierce eyes to interfere, so they just wore expressions of ‘Oh dear, what are we going to do with this child…’ And now, Ruan came looking for even cleaner water to give to the Grand Duke, who was both his boyfriend and his lord…

As he handed over the water bottle, Paula’s face was full of worry and concern.

‘When I leave, he’ll share that worry and concern with others… and soon, the thoughtless little sister will evolve into an even more thoughtless little sister who’s so blinded by love that she’s busy giving away everything she has and doesn’t have…’

Ruan could already imagine the expressions Hans and Joachim would wear after such rumors spread.

Having unintentionally accumulated new rumors again today, Ruan forced a smile and accepted the water bottle.

At first, he seemed to have had the will to somehow correct the rumors. But as the rumors evolved in an uncontrollable direction, he was starting to give up and even became curious about what rumors would spread next. It was like the feeling of an idol who had seen an outrageous fanfiction starring themselves.

‘I’m not sure why I’ve come to understand such things in this other world…’

Ruan looked at Paula’s face, which was filled with conflicting thoughts – should I smack some sense into this kid right now? But what if the Grand Duke rips out my throat if I do?

‘Telling her not to worry would only make her worry more.’

Finally deciding to just express his gratitude, Ruan opened his mouth.

“Thank you as always, Paula.”

Paula’s expression crumpled at Ruan’s words, delivered with an awkward smile. With a face that seemed to say ‘Oh dear, how did such a child end up like this…’, she patted Ruan’s shoulder and said,

“Alright, Ruan. If you need anything or need help… just say so anytime. At your age, there are things that seem right at the time, but later you realize they weren’t. When you start having such thoughts, it’s wise to back out. You understand?”

“Yes. I’ll be sure to do that. Have a good evening, Paula.”

“Ruan! If something feels wrong but it’s hard to change on your own, you must tell someone! Okay?”

Leaving Paula repeating her entreaties to the end, Ruan headed towards his room where the cat would be.

With the subtle immunity to rumors developed while living in Reinke and his strong identity as a cat owner added to it, Ruan now cared a hundred times more about the cat’s health than about rumors that might spread unpredictably.

Ruan looked at the water bottle that might increase the cat’s water intake with an excited heart.

‘This is locally sourced water from melted eternal snow…’

Honestly, as a human, Ruan couldn’t tell the difference from regular water.

But for a cat with sensitive senses, it must be different somehow. Moreover, for some reason, didn’t the Grand Duke look more suited to Evian than Dasani? So his reaction should be much better.

Getting hold of a new cat-raising item filled him with unfounded confidence that even a cat with clear likes and dislikes would surely take to this.

A cat owner preparing a new item for their cat tends to fall into an emotional state similar to a game user before rolling gacha. In his mind, Ruan had already envisioned a cat drinking plenty of water, gaining healthy kidneys, and living happily ever after with him. With a pounding heart, he opened the door to his bedroom.

“Your Grace!”

And was immediately pounced on by a giant ball of fur.

Ruan’s body wobbled momentarily as the giant cat, who had been waiting at the door and rose up as soon as it opened, put his weight into the body slam.

“Oops.”

After a brief moment of crisis from the unexpected body slam, Ruan regained his balance. The Grand Duke, firmly planting his two large front paws on Ruan’s body, began to smell his assistant with a serious air, as he had been doing recently. How long had he been watching this pitch-black cat, save for its golden eyes, seriously wiggling its pitch-black nose?

Just as he was thinking it seemed to be taking a bit longer than usual, the cat’s gaze shifted to the water bottle in Ruan’s hand.

Ruan inwardly marveled at this.

‘As expected of water from melted eternal snow! Is he already interested?’

Excited at the thought of trying out the new cat-raising item, Ruan immediately presented the water bottle to the Grand Duke.

“Your Grace! Look at what I’ve brought!”

NOTES:

“thoughtless little sister” is being used metaphorically to describe how people in Reinke view Ruan Daen.