The Northern Grand Duke and the Cat Are Not So Different

Chapter 9

Despite being possessed by a resident of Reinke, where fighting monsters was one of the main narratives, Ruan had never seen a monster yet.

Except for always having to be near the tyrannical Duke – who had recently become less scary due to his transformation into a cat – Ruan had been living a sheltered life as a possessed person.

Therefore, even for Ruan Daen, who had been wary of the fantasy world’s potential after turning the Duke into a cat with a carelessly uttered phrase, opening the office door in the morning and making eye contact with a real-life giant man-eating monster was unexpected.

The moment he made eye contact with those pale, fierce eyes, Ruan realized that when you’re too surprised, neither screams nor curses come out.

A body with an imposing volume that made it clear it was a ‘different being’ just by looking at it. Pale grayish-green skin and a hideous appearance. A strange existence (monster) that felt like it shouldn’t exist, its alienness going beyond mere difference.

The sight was so shocking that it took Ruan a full 30 seconds to notice the dark blood gushing from its tattered neck.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that its unfocused eyes had dilated pupils, and its limbs, filled with bulging muscles, were also limp.

‘So it’s not alive.’ As he breathed a sigh of relief, he realized something else.

But… whether it’s dead or alive, isn’t it strange for an ogre to be in the office in the first place?

So why is it here…?

While Ruan, whose mind hadn’t fully recovered yet, was wondering, ‘Is encountering an ogre corpse first thing in the morning a common occurrence in the fantasy world? How should I react to this?’

The Duke, quietly sitting in his newly rearranged, cozier spot, said:

“It’s yours.”

“…Pardon?”

Ruan, who hadn’t even noticed the Duke due to the ogre corpse’s overwhelming impact, asked in surprise. The Duke replied in his usual deep voice:

“I said it’s yours.”

Seemingly thinking that explanation was insufficient, the solemn voice quickly added:

“I caught it.”

“…”

After saying this, the Duke began to stare intently at Ruan, as if expecting something.

Why on earth…?

‘But in the meantime…’

Ruan looked at his direct superior who had just confessed to presenting him with this vicious and enormous thing first thing in the morning.

‘Doesn’t he look… somewhat proud?’

With cats you see often, even though their facial features don’t change like humans’, you sometimes get the feeling that you can sense their emotions.

The Duke was like that now.

Clearly, there was no change in the Duke’s stern, dignified, and serious features. The face of the Northern Duke, which only had distinguishable states of ‘scary’ and ‘really scary’, remained the same.

Nevertheless, somehow the angle of his head… his gait… his aura… All of these things seemed to exude ‘pride’ itself.

‘If he had a real tail like a cat, it would probably be standing straight up…’

Then Ruan realized a possibility.

A cat proudly presenting its caught prey to its owner.

That’s totally… a ‘gift from a cat’, isn’t it?

Cats skilled at hunting often bestow gifts on their owners.

It’s a cat’s way of expressing affection, which the owner has to accept whether they like it or not.

Usually, it’s something cats can easily catch like mice or lizards… but this cat, being the Northern Duke, seemed to have caught a giant lizard that could even eat humans.

‘Come to think of it…’

The enormous mass asserting its violent level of presence in one corner of the office began to take on a different meaning.

Most of the gifts from cats are difficult to deal with. Moreover, this ‘gift’ bestowed by a cat addressed as ‘Your Grace’…

‘I really have no idea how to handle this.’

What was just moments ago a ‘threateningly large body’ now became a ‘weight impossible to move alone’, and the dark blood that was ‘fortunately evidence of its death’ now became ‘how on earth am I supposed to clean that up?’

Not only that.

Ruan, who was estimating the cost of disposing of this giant waste, glanced at the Duke.

The Duke was still looking at Ruan with a subtly proud expression.

‘With the giver of the gift staring so intently, I can’t just clean this up right away…’

Hmm… but still, for now…

Whatever its appearance, it’s still a cat expressing its affection by thinking of him.

Ruan said to the Duke, who was staring at him as if waiting for a reaction:

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

Yes. It wasn’t that he wasn’t grateful.

He was grateful, but… to be honest, he’d rather just accept the thought.

As Ruan was pondering how to deal with this situation…

Knock knock knock-

There was a knocking sound.

‘Ah. Was today the day for the regular knight report?’

He had forgotten about it due to the unexpected events right after arriving at work.

And that meant… if things stayed as they were, the knights who didn’t know the meaning of the ogre corpse would see this sight.

‘No way.’

He was already suffering from rumors for days because of that head-butting scene.

If they saw this suspicious sight, it was obvious that the rumors wouldn’t die down, but rather evolve in a strange direction.

Even if he couldn’t do anything about the blood, he needed to at least do something about the body before letting them in.

In fact, if only the blood remained, that would lead to ominous rumors on its own, but at this point, Ruan hadn’t thought that far.

In any case, no matter how urgent the situation, it was impossible for Ruan to move the giant monster’s corpse alone with his physical condition.

So Ruan tried to ask for help from someone who could do it, but…

“Come in.”

That cat was the least trustworthy one, having provided the starting point for all the rumors in the first place.

With the Duke’s permission, before Ruan could do anything, the door swung open and Joachim, with his innocent face, entered.

‘No, why him again…’

While Ruan felt ominous about the appearance of the source of all rumors in this situation, he was still vainly hoping, ‘Even though it really seems like such a thing could happen, if we hide it well, couldn’t everyone pass by without noticing it?’ when…

Joachim’s face, which by default looked soft, suddenly crumpled.

“12 o’clock direction! One ogre detected!”

Simultaneously with Joachim’s shout.

Shing! Clang!

Six swords were drawn at once.

The knights’ swords all pointed at the ogre in one corner of the office.

‘Of course… there’s no way they wouldn’t see something that big…’

Seeing everyone’s attention focused on the giant monster corpse that he had desperately wanted to hide, Ruan rubbed his face with his palm.

And… the expressions of the knights, who were glaring at the ogre with sharply honed spirits, gradually became peculiar.

“…Is it dead?”

“It’s dead, right?”

The knights began to sheathe their swords with expressions as if they had seen something strange.

Joachim, who was putting away his sword following the senior knights, tilted his head and muttered.

“But… why is that thing here…?”

“I brought it here.”

At the Duke’s sudden words, the knights’ gazes swiftly turned to him.

The pupils of the knights were all shaking as if there had been an earthquake.

Ruan could roughly guess what kind of stories were being formed in their heads about ‘the terrifying Duke hanging an ogre corpse in his office and calling his subordinates for a regular report.’

The Duke added in a solemn voice amidst those shaking gazes:

“I gave it to my aide.”

With those words, the gazes that had been on the Duke all turned to Ruan at once.

Receiving gazes filled with all sorts of emotions and narratives, Ruan, sensing that the ‘next topic of rumors’ he had been dreading had once again become about him, tightly closed his eyes.

‘Why are you doing this to me…’

* * *

“Ruan… *sob* His Grace… *hic* threw an ogre corpse at you… *wail* and intimidated, intimidated you…”

Ruan’s father, Hans, started sobbing from the very beginning.

“It’s not your fault.”

Ruan’s mother, Julia, patted Hans’s shoulder and said.

“In the end… it’s my fault for not stopping Ruan from taking the aide position.”

As Julia closed her eyes in despair, the eldest son, Joachim, who was sitting nearby, spoke up.

“Even if it’s His Grace… I cannot accept this. How could… he do such a cruel thing to our Ruan…”

As Joachim couldn’t finish his words and bowed his head deeply, the second child, Magda, who had been fiddling with the sword handle at her waist, stood up abruptly and said:

“I will go and protest. Even if it costs me my life… I cannot let the one who hurt my sibling go unpunished.”

As Magda turned around with a grave face, Julia grabbed her daughter’s wrist and said:

“No. That’s a mother’s duty. It’s enough if I die alone. I entrust your sibling to you.”

“Huuuh… No… No… It’s my, fault… *sob* I should…”

As Hans burst into tears, Julia wiped his tears and said:

“No. You’re too fragile for this. Stay put.”

Joachim, who had been watching his parents’ behavior with concern, took a deep breath and declared:

“No. This is my fault as the eldest son for failing to protect my sibling. I will go.”

And their lovely youngest, Ruan Daen…

‘What on earth is going on…’

He was watching this scene in shock.