After the doctor left, Imuel tossed and turned in his bedroom, restless and unable to sleep.

The Grand Duke gazed at the moonlight outside the window, thinking to himself, 'Did I go too far?'

The instructors at the Duke's Mansion were strict and had high expectations for the etiquette of male servants. A single movement would be taught over and over again, and training until midnight was a common occurrence.

With the doctor's personality, could he endure it?

Would he feel it was a waste of time and never want to come to the Duke's Mansion again?

Imuel hesitated. The doctor was his savior. Making his savior a male servant and forcing him to learn etiquette did seem a bit much.

Just as he was agonizing over this, the rhythmic sound of heels striking the ground came from outside the window. The silver-haired old butler was walking hurriedly straight toward the Duke's bedroom. Imuel paused and thought, 'Perfect timing. I'll just tell the old butler to go a little easy on him.'

In short, to let the doctor come back before midnight.

Imuel was just about to speak when he saw the old butler covered in a cold sweat, saying urgently, "Grand Duke, the male servant you just selected, that male servant..."

He was old and frail, and having run a few steps, he was panting as he spoke. Imuel suddenly stood up. "What happened to Bai Yu?"

The old butler replied, "He said he needed to feed his cats, and then just left."

"..."

The Grand Duke gripped his teacup expressionlessly. "Left?"

The old butler wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "It's my fault for not being thoughtful enough. Since he was selected as a male servant, I gave him a pass token for entering and exiting the Duke's Mansion. Then I told him and the other person to wait where they were for the instructor. As a result, he took the token and left the mansion directly, and even..."

Imuel asked, "And even what?"

The butler didn't dare to look up. "He even left a note under his teacup explaining where he went."

Imuel's chest heaved. "Where's the note?"

The butler respectfully presented it.

Imuel recognized Bai Yu's handwriting. The doctor's handwriting was just like the man himself—clean, elegant, cold, and aloof. It was a sticky note meant for medicine, casually torn off by the doctor, written with a pen that was running out of ink: "Good evening, Your Grace. I apologize for leaving without saying goodbye. However, just as you mentioned, I have two young cats at home that need feeding. I shall return shortly. Once I finish feeding the kittens, I will naturally confess my sins to you."

—Crack.

The butler expressionlessly made a mental note: Teacup damage +1, to be included in next month's procurement plan.

Imuel's chest heaved, and he sneered, "Good, very good."

Seeing the Grand Duke on the verge of going mad with anger, the butler hastily said, "Duke, this servant is truly unappreciative of your kindness. Doing something so contrary to etiquette, it would be better to remove his name first, then lock him in the dungeon to teach him some rules, and then..."

Imuel didn't hear a word he was saying. Gripping the tea tray tightly, he just gritted his teeth. "Fine. In the middle of the night, he'd rather walk home just to feed his cats. I really want to know what kind of kittens they are to be so lovable."

"..."

Although he was angry, why did the focus of the Duke's anger seem a little off?

Imuel paced around the bedroom. In the silence, he suddenly thought of something and abruptly turned his head. "Where is the investigation report from the personal guards?"

The butler replied, "They were sent out to investigate the moment you finalized the candidates. Please wait a moment; there will be results in two hours at the latest."

The Duke gave a slight nod, showing a satisfied expression for the first time tonight.

The butler probed cautiously, "Then should I send someone to punish Mr. Bai?"

Imuel sneered, "No need for you to do it. I'll do it myself. Didn't he say he would confess his sins to me? I want to see just how he'll confess."

Bai Yu walked alone on the streets of Illyria, the moonlight stretching his shadow long behind him.

Ever since the Duke's return, he had deployed a large number of guards for night patrols. The gangs and thugs had restrained themselves significantly. Although there were still gang wars and brawls in the alleys, no one dared to make a move on Central Avenue anymore. It was quite safe here now.

System 55 stared apprehensively at the dark spots unreached by the moonlight, constantly feeling that a guard might pop out from somewhere and knock its host to the ground. It spoke with lingering fear, "We're just leaving like this?"

Bai Yu asked in return, "What else?"

The doctor was always very clear-headed. His current primary goal was to get the Duke to order his execution. He needed to earn the Duke's disgust, not the Duke's affection. Under these circumstances, earnestly serving as a male servant was something with negative returns.

Rather than wasting time here, it was better to go back and feed the tabby and the tortoiseshell their bowls of milk.

System 55 replied, "That's true."

In truth, Bai Yu had left enough food and water at home for the tabby and tortoiseshell to eat. He had also left a small door on the first floor open so that if the doctor didn't return for a long time, they could go back to the streets.

The so-called feeding the cats was merely an excuse to provoke the Duke's disgust.

Bai Yu walked to the door of the clinic and saw that the mailbox was full. He opened it, intending to fetch today's newspaper.

The original owner had subscribed to the newspaper, which the newsboy delivered every morning. Later, Bai Yu also developed the habit of reading the paper daily. However, today's selection had been too early, so he hadn't had the time to grab it.

As a result, the moment he opened the mailbox, a letter suddenly fell out.

Illyria's technology was backward, and the transmission of many messages still relied on mail. But the original owner was clearly a reclusive person. Ever since Bai Yu transmigrated over, his mailbox had been completely empty. There was never anything in it.

Bai Yu bent down and picked up the letter. It was a printed advertisement stating the opening of a certain tavern on Central Avenue. The printer had clearly chosen the cheapest printing method. Some of the fonts were bold, some thin, and certain words were even blurry. System 55 glanced at it and yawned, "Looks like nothing worth paying attention to."

However, Bai Yu read the letter from beginning to end, then laid it flat on his desk and pressed it down with a piece of glass.

He said, "I went to a print shop a few days ago. The ink leakage of inferior printers isn't like this. This letter was deliberately written this way. System 55, cross-reference it with the Black Robe Society's cipher and try to decode it."

Bai Yu had previously printed some missing cat flyers, but due to the original owner's identity and Illyria's chaotic situation, he had reservations and ultimately didn't put them up. Now, they were locked in his drawer.

System 55 paused, immediately floating to the space above the desk to carefully cross-reference. Only then did it realize that the printing seemed messy, but it actually contained a pattern that perfectly corresponded to the book. The system compared and decoded it item by item:

"Hmm, it says, 'Raven, I heard you have successfully passed the assessment and entered the Duke's Mansion. Congratulations. It is reported that there is a restricted area beneath the garden of the Duke's Mansion. It is strictly controlled, and trespassers will be killed. It may involve the Grand Duke's secrets. Please proceed to investigate. Report any results at the regular meeting on the 15th of next month.'"

Bai Yu mused, "Restricted area?"

He recalled that the old butler had also warned him not to wander around the Duke's Mansion, or else he might bring fatal disaster upon himself.

The original owner had died right at the selection site and had not received any mission. Instead, this task had fallen onto Bai Yu's head.

The doctor casually picked up the slip of paper and cleanly ripped it apart a couple of times. Only when it was torn into unrecoverable shreds did he flush them down the drain.

System 55 asked curiously, "Host, will you do it?"

Bai Yu replied, "I can't do it. I won't live to see the regular meeting next month."

He took out some fresh red meat, which was food for the tabby and the tortoiseshell. Then, placing it on the cutting board, he finely chopped it up. "Illyria's Duke clearly doesn't have such a good temper. For me to leave the mansion halfway, he should be extremely angry. I figure my time of death should be today."

Having said that, Bai Yu continued mincing the meat into a paste.

The tabby and tortoiseshell were huddled together sleeping. Hearing the commotion, they scurried over from a distance.

Perhaps because they were rescued by Bai Yu, these two stray cats were not afraid of humans. On their first day back, they exposed their bellies to the doctor. The doctor skillfully scratched their chins one by one, letting them meow as they circled around the kitchen. Then, he brought out the food and let them eat freely.

The two little cats ate happily, while Bai Yu tied on his scarf and prepared to return to the Duke's Mansion.

At this time, it was almost dawn, but the lights in the Grand Duke's living room were still brightly lit.

Grand Duke Imuel was busy with affairs and often stayed up all night handling official business, which wasn't unusual. But right now, the Grand Duke's stunning features were lowered, and the atmosphere was frighteningly oppressive. The butler and the personal guards stood in attendance to the side, and surprisingly, no one dared to speak.

On his desk lay the personal guards' investigation report.

The Black Robe Society had worked very cleanly and left no flaws. In their haste, the personal guards weren't able to find out much either, only gathering a basic overview.

The Grand Duke was looking at the two cats Bai Yu was raising.

Both cats were strays. They jumped up and down in the clinic, and any observant person passing by the window could draw what they looked like.

Imuel looked at the pages critically.

The personal guard who drew the pictures had mediocre artistic skills. He had drawn the tortoiseshell and the tabby as two black briquettes. They looked dark and silly, just two stray cats without any redeeming qualities. Imuel made a haughty comparison and felt that he outshone them by a thousand or ten thousand times.

Imuel looked sideways at the scroll. "Are they ugly?"

"..."

"..."

They looked at each other in dismay. However, there was no one else present, so he could only be asking them.

The two upper-class elites of Illyria bowed their heads simultaneously. "Ugly, they are ugly."

In Illyria, pure coat colors had always been more prestigious than mixed ones. The nobles mostly kept white or black cats. The coat colors of tabbies and tortoiseshells destined them to be unpopular among the aristocracy. From this perspective, it truly could be said that they were ugly.

At the same time, platinum blonde was also superior to mixed colors. Whether it was the volume of fur or from any other angle, Imuel looked better than them.

Then, the Duke became even angrier.

Judging from the food the doctor purchased daily, Bai Yu treated the kittens equally. The types and portions of food fed to them were similar. The furball actually didn't receive even a bit of his favoritism.

Imuel started scratching at the desk.

Although he didn't have claws anymore, it was his habit.

The butler and the personal guard who delivered the materials broke into a cold sweat. They watched the Grand Duke look left and right at the uninformative portraits of two cats, turning a blind eye to the large stack of materials behind it. He just wouldn't turn the page. His expression was gloomy and illegible, making it impossible to know what he was thinking.

It was under these circumstances that Bai Yu stepped into the Duke's Mansion.

He didn't have the slightest awareness of being a male servant. As soon as he stepped through the door, he took off his trench coat and hung it on the coat rack. Then, he bowed to the Grand Duke with a distinct lack of sincerity. "An emergency came up, and I was forced to leave for a moment. I ask for the Grand Duke's forgiveness."

The butler and the personal guard began to sweat profusely again.

Imuel raised an eyebrow, his gaze fixating on Bai Yu's bow tie.

The doctor had petted cats and rubbed off fresh cat hair onto himself.

—After having a Duke, he actually went to pet two such ugly little creatures.

An anonymous fury rising in his heart, Imuel's tone became even more eccentric. "Mr. Bai, coming and going from the Duke's Mansion as you please, how carefree. Not sleeping in the Duke's Mansion in the dead of night, but going home to feed cats, what did you apply to be a male servant for?"

Bai Yu said coldly, "Please forgive my sins."

Imuel retorted, "And if I don't accept?"

Bai Yu replied, "Then please punish me."

The doctor's tone was light and indifferent.

Imuel lowered his eyes and stared at him intently. Suddenly, he smiled, his lake-blue eyes as cold as a frozen polar sea. "Punishment? Do you know what kind of punishments the Duke's Mansion has?"

Illyria had abolished cruel torture after entering industrial civilization, but as a Duke, he always had privileges. The punishments of medieval Europe were second to none, with things like needle boards and nail beds utilized to the extreme. This was also why Imuel was so angry—if the Duke were anyone but him, Bai Yu would have died a tragic death thousands of times over for daring to act like this.

Imuel scoffed coldly and turned a page of the report. "Butler, tell the doctor, what kind of punishments are there?"

The butler bowed in compliance and began to speak.

System 55 listened dumbfounded.

The methods of the Duke's Mansion, if excerpted, could easily form a book of the Top Ten Tortures of the Qing Dynasty.

Bai Yu, on the other hand, remained calm. He had taken an elective in European history and had heard of these things.

Imuel felt upset and distracted.

He naturally wouldn't use these methods on the doctor anyway; he was just furiously angry and wanted to scare him, to show him who was boss and force some other expression onto Bai Yu's cold face. But halfway through listening, before Bai Yu could even react, he himself felt distressed first.

...Would the doctor think he was very brutal?

The Duke irritably flipped through the dossier, making the thin booklet rustle loudly. When he flipped to a certain spot, he suddenly paused, his fingers stopping.

It was a testimony provided by the owner of the print shop.

"Mr. Bai once patronized our print shop, asking to print a... uh, 'missing cat flyer'."

"He was looking for a platinum blonde munchkin kitten with lake-blue eyes. He said it was his pet. On the flyer, Mr. Bai stated that if anyone had information, he was willing to offer a ruby as a reward."

"Did he put them up? That I don't know."

Imuel's finger stayed on that page, not turning it for a long time.

The doctor had looked for him?

And to find him, he was willing to pay the price of a ruby?

The Grand Duke sort of wanted to wag his tail.

But he didn't have a tail right now, so he could only cross his legs reservedly, interrupting the butler's ceaseless introduction. "Doctor, I see from the dossier that you had another platinum blonde kitten?"

The butler, who was in the middle of explaining branding irons: "..."

Bai Yu said indifferently, "Yes, but it went missing."

His expression was far too cold, making the Grand Duke unsure if the doctor was actually sad. Propping up his chin, Imuel scrutinized the doctor with his lake-blue eyes and suddenly asked a completely unrelated question:

"That kitten... did you like it?"