“Truly beautiful……. Today, too, the dragon is dazzling to behold.”
Francois murmured as if entranced by something. Though Yellian couldn’t openly show it, they sincerely agreed with his words.
Geumdong grew more beautiful as he matured. His size had now grown to half that of a human, making it quite a challenge to play with him, but his proportions had also balanced out, making him pleasing to look at.
The grown Geumdong was no longer the chibi-like figure he once was. His head was small, and his body had grown sleek and elegant.
“Take him out.”
“Understood.”
At Leonard’s command, Francois led Geumdong out of the room. Geumdong let out a displeased ‘kyuung’ sound, but he didn’t resist leaving. Thanks to that, the room quickly fell silent.
“Why did I have to turn into a cat right now of all times?”
“As I’ve said before, I’m the one most annoyed here, so don’t say anything. And ‘right now of all times’? Is there a reason I shouldn’t be a cat in this situation?”
“There is.”
Grumbling, Yellian blinked their round eyes at Leonard’s response.
* * *
The day after turning into a cat, Yellian understood why Leonard had sighed.
Yellian approached the mirror to look at the ribbon tied around their neck. A deep blue ribbon asserted its presence. It paired well with their ash-tinged beige fur and the deep blue color.
Above all, in their current cat form, what wouldn’t suit them? Even if they were smeared with dirt, their face was so cute it would still look good.
The problem lay elsewhere.
“So, Leonard, there’s something I don’t understand.”
“What is it?”
Leonard replied as if annoyed. More precisely, it seemed to carry the meaning of, ‘I’m already busy and overwhelmed, so why are you making a fuss too?’
However, Yellian also had something they absolutely couldn’t comprehend, so they couldn’t back down.
“We…… what was it, anyway, didn’t they say a delegation from the We-something Empire is coming?”
“That’s right.”
“And Leonard, you’re a lord, and under His Majesty the Emperor’s orders, you have to welcome this delegation, right?”
“Indeed. You know well.”
“Then why are you taking me to that event?!”
Exactly. Yellian couldn’t understand why Leonard insisted on bringing them to a place where a foreign delegation would be present. Wasn’t this sheer madness? No matter how much he liked them, shouldn’t he at least separate personal and professional matters?
“I’ve already informed Abigail about it.”
“So what did he say? Didn’t he call you crazy?”
“He burst out laughing and told me to do as I please.”
“You do realize that doesn’t actually mean ‘do as you please,’ right?”
Yellian clutched their head as if in agony. Though to others, it only looked like a cat holding its head with its paws, Yellian was too busy lamenting how they ended up with such a lunatic, making their life so miserable.
“They say a lord is coming from their side too! I heard it all from Elton. A lord is a really high-ranking person, right? That person is going to think you’re crazy, they’ll look down on you!”
“No one can look down on me. Not if they’re in their right mind.”
That was true. As the mad duke in the novel, Leonard exuded an intense aura that suggested he had never been beneath anyone. His overwhelming presence was a bonus. So, unless someone was extraordinary, they wouldn’t dare look down on Leonard.
“Even so! I heard that the lord from their side isn’t someone to be taken lightly either, that they’re not an ordinary human!”
Thanks to Elton’s incessant chatter, Yellian knew a bit about the lord leading the delegation from the other side. They heard he was cold-blooded, ruthless, yet overflowing with dignity.
“Even if a god came, I wouldn’t care. So, you just need to stay quiet.”
“You keep telling me to stay quiet…….”
Yellian grumbled but couldn’t help imagining what the lord from the We-something Empire would look like.
They couldn’t help but worry that Leonard might end up looking ridiculous because of that lord’s extraordinary presence.
* * *
‘……This guy’s insane.’
Yellian was careful not to let the words that popped into their head slip out by mistake.
If Leonard was the lunatic who brought a cat to a meeting with the empire’s delegation representative, then the lord who came as the representative of the empire’s delegation…… brought a doll.
Leonard carefully held Yellian in his arms while thoroughly scrutinizing the man sitting across from him.
Black hair, skin so pale it was almost ghostly, burning red eyes. And luxurious formal attire. Lastly, a human-shaped doll with a pink head stuffed into the pocket of his attire, bulging to the point of bursting.
He was a lunatic Leonard didn’t want to associate with. Stroking Yellian gently in his arms, Leonard thought that if such a person was a lord, the Wedepia Empire must be quite a peculiar country.
Meanwhile, Mikhail Orlov, the lord of the Wedepia Empire who had brought the doll, hardened his expression as he looked at Leonard, who was tenderly holding a cat.
He had reluctantly attended as the delegation’s representative at the earnest request of his close friend Andrei. Naturally, since the travel and stay would total nearly a month, he couldn’t come alone, so he intended to bring Yuri along.
But Yuri, who had been living perfectly fine as a human, unfortunately turned back into a doll just the day before. Thus, Mikhail had no choice but to bring the doll Yuri to the delegation’s welcome tea time.
Of course, Mikhail didn’t mind. Even though Yuri had screamed until the very last moment, ‘Please come to your senses! Why would you bring a doll to such an event?! You lunatic!’
But upon arriving at the tea time, he saw the opposing lord holding a cat in his arms. With a chilling appearance, constantly stroking the cat in his embrace, it could only be described as,
‘This guy’s insane.’
Mikhail thought as much while lifting his teacup to take a sip of the well-brewed tea. If it weren’t for the doll protruding from his pocket, he would have looked quite elegant and impressive.
Watching this entire scene, Yellian seriously pondered why on earth these lords were behaving this way.
One showed up to tea time holding a cat, while the other brought a doll. It was clear neither of them was in their right mind.
“If it’s alright with you, shall we dismiss the others and have a private conversation?”
“That’s fine. It would be more comfortable that way.”
At Leonard’s suggestion, Mikhail responded. Soon, the members of the Wedepia Empire’s delegation and those gathered from the Lapelsnia Empire to welcome them left, leaving only two people…… no, two people, one cat, and one doll in the garden of the duke’s estate.
“Though you will soon have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor to discuss this again, our Lapelsnia Empire wishes to maintain a friendly relationship with the Wedepia Empire. Of course, this applies to trade as well.”
“I’m glad to hear that you wish to maintain a friendly relationship with the Wedepia Empire. That is precisely why we have come to visit the Lapelsnia Empire.”
The two began discussing complex diplomatic matters. They went on about exports, imports, tariffs, and other difficult topics.
Yellian, unable to understand half of the conversation, kept yawning out of boredom.
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