Mᴀʀʀʏɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴜᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴀᴠᴇ ᴍʏ ᴄᴀᴛs!?『ɴᵉᵘᵛⁱˡˡᵉᵗᵗᵉ ˣ ʳᵉᵍʳᵉˢˢᵒʳ!ᴍʳ』

I

A ᴅᴇᴀʟ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ

A sigh breaks into the silent morning air as a young man stands in front of a giant gate as he waits for permission to enter the manor of the Grand Chief Justice.
"Sorry for the wait, Monsieur Laurent. Right this way, the duke wasn't expecting you–"

"Of course he wasn't, I came unannounced."M/n says effectively stonewalling the guard as he quickly walks by. He had seen the garden from the other side of the gate on multiple occasions growing up, M/n had always wanted to walk the large garden but now it was nothing but a dead feeling in his chest. He wasn't here for fun, way beyond that.

The guard soon leaves a maid to guide M/n to the dukes' study, it is quite a walk but he doesn't mind, the walls tell a simple story of the chief of justice, from his childhood with his father and mother, to his mid-teens, and to now.
"Admiring the duke?"

"Mmh...You could say. I'm also surprised by the many portraits. There isn't anything like this in my home, it's nice to see that he was loved."The maid tilts her head, it was a strange comment because, to her knowledge the Laurent family valued their only male, it was even said that he had the most freedom out of all his sisters not to mention that he was the only child to resemble the mother; Beautiful ginger hair that complimented his S/t skin, and frosty greys that stood out. He and his mother were the only two people in the family that were dramatically different from the rest.
"May I ask why Monsieur Neuvillette suddenly allowed my unannounced visit?"

"Uh...I believe the guard mentioned your hair color—"

"Ha, figured. I'll go alone."M/n gives the woman a gentle smile before walking into the study and closing the door behind him.
"Afternoon Monsieur Laurent–"

"Let's drop the formalities. I'm only here for one reason and nothing else. I have a deal  that'll benefit you more than it will benefit me."M/n turns around with a serious look on his face, he walks over, drags a chair to the desk, and takes a seat.
"......"

"Monsieur Neuvillette, it's just as rude not to reply. Even if you're thinking hard on this neither of us has the time to truly think about this now do we? I know that if you wish to keep your duke status your father worked so hard on, you'll have to get married to stay as the reigning dukedom of Fontaine. You don't want to marry Rhodeia—"
Neuvillette slams his hands on the table and M/n doesn't even flinch from the sudden bang on the table.
"Why do you know this?"

"Are you that oblivious? The Steambird is blasting your business across the nation. Everyone knows."M/n said rolling his eyes at the man before him, he wasn't lying about this part since he remembered it clearly that on this day, the Steambird posted multiple articles about the goings on of the Duke.
"You don't wish to get married and I don't want to be sold off to some creep. The Knave better known as Weiss DuPont wishes to marry me and offers an unbelievable amount of mora."

"What do you wish for if we form a contract?"

"Protection. I don't care what you do in your free time and I won't meddle in your private affairs. I'll attend events at your side as a spouse should but other than that I'll be out of sight and out of mind. The same applies to me as well. Stay out of my business and there shouldn't be anything to worry about. I don't want your love, but in public, we'll pretend to be a happy and in-love couple who can't get enough of each other."M/n pulls an envelope out of his pocket and places it on the desk. Neuvillette is a bit baffled by this and opens the envelope. One thing causes his eyebrow to inch up.
"What?"

"Cats?"

"Ah, they're what I consider my family nowadays. They have to be here with me."

"Bring them tomorrow. I wish to enter this contract as quickly as possible. We'll discuss the story of how we met later."

"Or, you can stand there be tall and pretty. Let me handle the story."