“So… you ended up here because you were chasing a cat, huh?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
With a squinty-eyed look at his answer, the Duchess examined Rudell and couldn’t quite believe it.
But soon her expression relaxed, and she shrugged as if to say, “What does it matter?”
“What’s your name?”
“I-I’m Rudellheit Weinstein.”
To be honest, Rudell wanted to escape from this situation immediately, but he couldn’t.
He was already suspicious of being a shady character; if he tried to run away, he’d be utterly finished.
Answering in a small, restrained voice, Rudell looked at the Duchess, trying to gauge her reaction.
“Weinstein… Weinstein… Nope, still have no clue.”
“…”
The Duchess frowned as if searching her memory and then glared at Rudell.
It was only natural.
He was a low-ranking viscount, not even a count or marquis.
On top of that, he had no actual power and was tucked away in a remote territory of the Kingdom.
If she actually knew about Weinstein County, that would have been the strange part!
“Cheese, give it here.”
Meow!
At the Duchess’s command, the cat spat out the brooch it was holding in its mouth.
By the way, can that cat actually understand human speech?
“Here you go.”
“Ah, thank you.”
As Rudell took the brooch she offered, he wiped it clean and pinned it back to his chest.
“Anyway, is that cat… yours, Duchess?”
To break the awkward atmosphere, Rudell asked her.
“Huh? Cheese? Well, it’s not my cat, more like I take care of it.”
Meow!
As she spoke, the cat rubbed its head against the Duchess’s leg and meowed.
By the way, Cheese? Nice and simple naming sense there…
“Well, I’ll take your word for it.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Luckily, it seemed he had passed a big hurdle.
Rudell bowed his head and let out a sigh of relief.
“But!”
“…?!”
At that moment, the Duchess approached Rudell and said that, making him tense up.
“It’s a secret that you saw me here. Got it?”
“Y-yes! Understood!”
Who in their right mind would defy a Duchess’s command?
“Good.”
Satisfied with his answer, she squatted down and pulled something out of her pocket.
What she took out was a piece of red-dried meat.
“Alright~ Snack time!”
“Eh…?”
With a bright smile, the Duchess began tearing the jerky apart.
Rudell, watching her, could only voice an out-of-it sound.
Meow! Meow!!
Meow!!
Cats seemed to go wild at the sight of the jerky, flocking around the Duchess…
Just as she was about to give the shredded jerky to the cats…
“Ah, no!!”
“Ugh!? What’s going on suddenly?!”
Rudell’s urgent shout burst out.
The sudden yell startled not only the Duchess but also the cats, and they all looked at him in surprise.
“W-what’s wrong? Why are you suddenly shouting like crazy!?”
“Jerky is dangerous for cats!”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
The Duchess shouted back, sounding like she’d never heard such a thing.
With urgency in his voice, Rudell responded to her question.
“It might be fine for adult cats, but the salt in jerky is dangerous for young ones!!”
While it could be okay for adult cats, food made for humans is poison for kittens.
Especially jerky, which contains a lot of salt during production, was extremely harmful to still-growing young cats.
“Is that… really true?”
“Yes! Really!”
At his shout, the Duchess gave him a look of disbelief.
But as Rudell nodded and looked at her, she ultimately put the jerky back in her pocket.
The cats meowed sadly at her actions, but she replied in a sorrowful tone.
“I’m sorry. I’ll give you snacks later.”
Meow…
Meow…
Did they understand her words or what?
The cats stopped whining, starting to rub against her legs instead.
The Duchess carefully petted the cats while Rudell released a sigh of relief.
Time passed, and then…
“By the way, I still haven’t introduced myself.”
As she said that, the Duchess stood up, lightly lifted her dress, and bowed politely.
“I am Leje El Lagrind from Lagrind Dukedom.”
“I am Rudellheit Weinstein from Weinstein County.”
Even though he had already introduced himself, he couldn’t ignore her greeting.
Bowing respectfully, Rudell stated his position again.
“I’ll keep this in mind. I almost did something bad to those kids without realizing it.”
“N-no need to remember it…”
To be honest, Rudell wished to be forgotten and tossed into the depths of oblivion.
But looking at the glimmering eyes of the Duchess, he sensed it was a futile wish.
“You seem to know quite a bit about cats?”
“I’m just a bit interested, that’s all.”
In reality, he had never owned a cat.
Most of his knowledge came from YouTube channels.
In his first life, he lived day by day, and in his second life, due to his cat-allergic mother, he couldn’t keep a cat.
“Hmm…”
At his answer, a low groan slipped from the Duchess’s lips.
Rudell felt cold sweat forming as he observed her.
Did he say something that irked her with that last answer?
If the Duchess was offended, wiping out a mere viscount from the outskirts would be a piece of cake.
Moreover, he also had a plausible excuse since he had stepped beyond the guest-allowed areas.
Just then…
“Lady! Where are you!!?”
“Lady!!”
Panicked voices from multiple people started ringing from nearby.
“Oh no, have I been found out already?”
“Whoa!?”
Rudell made a perplexed face at the sounds, and simultaneously, the Duchess grabbed Rudell’s arm and started running somewhere.
With the strength of a mere 8-year-old child, Rudell was pulled along without having the strength to resist.
“Here, they won’t find us, right?”
“…”
Stepping into a small storage room, the Duchess wiped the sweat forming on her forehead.
And Rudell was dumbfounded by her appearance.
Is this really the Duchess I know?
The personality of the Duchess as he remembered it was not like this.
In a good light, she was cold.
In a bad light, she was close to being a cold-blooded person.
But the girl in front of him looked like an 8-year-old naive mischievous child.
“Shhh…!!”
“…”
As the Duchess put her finger to her lips, signaling for silence, Rudell nodded silently.
“Nothing’s here!!”
“Quick, find it! If we don’t find it, it’ll be our necks on the line!!”
The next moment, hurried voices began spilling from beyond the storage room walls.
Feeling his heart racing, Rudell held his breath next to the Duchess and observed the situation.
After a little while…
“I’ll go this way, you guys check over there!”
“Yes! Understood!”
As several footsteps grew distant, a sigh of relief escaped the Duchess’s lips.
“Hehe! They would never think I’d be here, would they?”
With a mischievous voice, the Duchess snickered.
What on earth is going on…?
While observing the scene, Rudell felt utterly confused when suddenly.
“There you are.”
“EEK!?”
A voice came from behind them, startling the Duchess as if she had committed a great sin, making her flinch.
Like an old doll, she turned her head stiffly, and what she saw was someone watching them through the window of the storage.
With a strict appearance, tied back black hair, and large glasses perched on her deep red eyes was a woman dressed neatly in a maid outfit.
Her name was Alma Marend.
She was the Duchess’s personal maid and somewhat of a mother figure to her since she had lost her own mother early on.
“Alma! I thought you had the day off today…!?”
“I postponed it. The Duke asked me directly.”
Looking at the Duchess trembling and stuttering, Alma responded with a short sigh.
“Ah, Dad!?”
“Yes. The Duke seems quite furious. Everyone in the mansion is looking for you.”
“Heehee… did I go too far with the pranks?”
Alma answered in a calm voice, while the Duchess sheepishly stuck her tongue out.
“I don’t think the Duke will let this one slide. You’ll probably get a punishment of at least half a year.”
“H-half a year!!? No way!!”
“I think that’s very generous considering you setup a decoy and ran away during your birthday party.”
The Duchess protested, but Alma calmly replied in a cold tone.
‘A decoy? Who? The Duchess?’
Rudell looked at the Duchess in disbelief at that comment.
“By the way, who is this person?”
Only then did Alma finally notice Rudell, looking puzzled.
It was only natural to be curious as there was a boy next to the Duchess whom she had never seen before.
“This person? Um, he’s… a friend?”
“A friend…? Is that so?”
The Duchess hesitated before responding, and Alma’s eyes widened in surprise.
Her red eyes scrutinized Rudell from head to toe as if piercing through him…
“If our Duchess has done any wrong, I’ll apologize on her behalf.”
“Wait! I haven’t done anything yet!”
As Alma bowed her head, the Duchess exclaimed with a look of disbelief.
“I think the situation itself is already quite a faux pas.”
“Ugh…!!”
The Duchess let out a low groan at Alma’s precise comment.
“Now, let’s head back quickly. If you apologize now, maybe the Duke will ease up on his anger.”
“Ugh… I really thought I wouldn’t get caught this time…”
With a sigh of regret, the Duchess stood up and turned to Rudell.
“Well then, see you later, Count Weinstein. You should head back since this is a restricted area.”
“Y-yes…?”
See you later?
Rudell’s voice came out dazedly as, without any explanation, the Duchess began to walk away with Alma.
Before too long, their figures disappeared from his view.
“Haah…”
Muttering in a frustrated tone, Rudell plopped down at the spot.
And thus, his somewhat noisy day was fading away.
