Duke, Please Let Go of My Ankle! - Chapter 1 - Prologue
“Come in.”
“……”
A feast of lavish foods was spread out.
However, Audrey couldn’t enjoy it with peace of mind.
‘Could this be… my last supper?’
Even death row inmates receive their most extravagant meal right before they die, don’t they?
Her frightened hand began to tremble pathetically. Following its movement, the water in the glass cup also vibrated finely.
Derek, who was cutting his food, glared at her with a cold gaze. He seemed quite displeased that she was still only holding the glass.
‘Is she ill somewhere?’
Her pale face, seemingly devoid of any appetite, was worrying.
The increasingly emaciated body also kept bothering him.
He looked at her skinny wrist with concerned eyes and urged her to eat with worry.
“…Do you want to starve to death?”
“N-n-n-no!”
However, Audrey turned even paler. It was because of the death threat, which she couldn’t count how many times she had heard by now.
Now even her knees hidden under the table started to tremble.
This terrifying and vicious Duke clearly has no respect for life.
Among the numerous ways to die, starvation? Is it a warning that he won’t kill her gently?
Derek tilted his head in confusion as he watched her turning white.
‘Eek!’
Audrey was frightened once again. That calm movement must surely be asking, ‘Then would you prefer to die by another method’!
Pushed by his knife-like gaze, she grabbed anything within reach.
Unfortunately, it was a knife.
‘…Even if I’m going down, shouldn’t I at least try to resist?’
However, her face, which had been filled with hope, was instantly colored with despair.
No matter how many scenarios she considered, the probability of defeating him and escaping on her own two feet converged to zero.
No matter that she was a mage, her lowly talent of using only household magic was no match for the youngest Sword Master.
…Unless he bound himself and quietly allowed himself to be stabbed.
Meanwhile, Derek glanced at Audrey reluctantly nibbling at her food and became satisfied.
Although his ‘satisfied face’ was very far from society’s general standards, he was nonetheless overwhelmed to see her so diligently pecking at the dinner he had prepared.
‘How adorably she’s cutting the lettuce.’
It felt as if his heart was melting.
What on earth did this little bird eat to grow up to be so lovable even when just breathing?
His hands holding the fork and knife involuntarily tensed.
─Crunch.
The metal pieces said to be made of the highest grade steel from a distant continent, crumpled like paper in an instant.
Yet it wasn’t enough.
It felt like he needed to strike a wall right away to get rid of this strange tingling sensation.
‘…Should I step out for a moment?’
Derek imagined uprooting all the straw dummies stuck in the training ground and slashing them to pieces.
Whenever he saw his little bird, an inexplicable violence kept surging from within, driving him mad.
Just recently, while thinking about her, didn’t he split his office desk in two with his bare hands?
It seemed the day when the Duke’s castle would come crumbling down wasn’t far off.
However, Audrey, unaware that the man before her was fidgeting while looking at her, bowed her head deeply and tried to estimate the last moments of her life.
‘Thirty minutes? An hour?’
Probably by the time this meal ends, she would no longer be a person of this world.
The charge was extortion. The mistake of accidentally sending a passionate love letter, unintentionally threatening the Duke.
It was frustrating and heartbreaking enough not to be able to confess, but to be framed for extortion on top of that! What an unlucky life indeed.
‘Father, Brother…’
Thinking of the family she would leave behind, tears welled up already.
Audrey tried her best not to shed tears while randomly poking at the plate in front of her.
Her vision was blurred, and she could hardly see anything properly. But she clenched her jaw and cut as diligently as she could.
She had to cut something to buy time, didn’t she?
“Hic, hiccup.”
But hiccups kept escaping from her throat without any consideration. At this rate, she might get her neck cut even before the meal ends.
Audrey, who had been glancing at him nervously, quickly stuffed food into her mouth to block her throat.
Even in this situation, Derek was watching her with a very satisfied expression.
‘It must be so delicious that it brings tears to her eyes.’
If he had known she would like it this much, he should have fed her more earlier. The way she was eating heartily was as adorable as a piglet.
He felt an unnecessary sense of pride, even though it wasn’t a dish he had made himself.
Somehow, he felt like he couldn’t resist giving her more.
He quietly pushed the most delicious items towards her side.
Along with a kind suggestion.
“It would be best to eat it all.”
Because each and every one of them is precious and delicious.
Derek grinned, imagining how pleased she would be.
However, far from looking kind, that smile exuded a bizarre feeling like that of a great psychopath.
“…!”
Sure enough.
Audrey froze like a rabbit placed in front of a lion. Her round eyes were brimming with the fear of death.
“C-cough!”
What would happen if she didn’t eat it all? If she left even a little food, did it mean she wouldn’t die peacefully?
Her plump lips, barely closed, began to tremble.
“Oh my.”
Derek, who had been staring only at her, quickly handed over the glass.
But it was strange. Although it was a caring gesture, once it passed through him, the intention became quite suspicious.
It felt like a mocking threat, as if saying, “Do you think I’d kill you so easily?”
Naturally, Audrey was terrified. The malicious intent of not killing her outright but just intimidating her by pushing her around was truly wicked.
Audrey, who had been bravely holding back her tears, finally broke down and cried miserably like someone who had given up on everything.
“J-just, hic, kill me please!”
“……”
Her tear-stained face fell onto the table with a thud, her neck stretching out. As if telling him to strike her neck right now.
Along with the uncouth sound of sniffling, her skinny shoulders also shook violently.
“Can I, hic, leave my head, hic, here?”
“…What are you saying now.”
“P-p-perhaps you’re planning to poison me?”
Duke Frith didn’t even blink an eye despite someone wailing right in front of him.
Indeed, he was a man living up to his name as the ‘Evil Spirit’.
Audrey hiccubed pitifully, imagining her severed head rolling to the end of the long table.
“Or are you, g-going to tear me limb from limb?”
“……”
“Hic, please kill me quickly!”
However, for Derek, this whole situation was just bewildering.
Why was his little bird crying so miserably? Why was she asking to be killed in the middle of a meal?
When he imagined tomorrow without her, it felt like his heart would stop right away, so why was she saying such terrible things so casually?
This situation wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the romance books.
Despite his cold exterior, Derek was quite flustered and didn’t know what to do.
His hands, hidden under the table, were trembling anxiously.
He tried his best to comfort her, carefully choosing his words from what came to mind.
“You’ll… choke.”
“…!”
Somehow, her tears showed no signs of stopping. She began to wail as if she really was about to choke.
‘He wants to watch me die!’
The blood-red eyes staring down at her were chillingly cold.
Unable to bear his gaze, Audrey tightly shut her eyes.
His blood-red eyes staring down at her were chillingly cold enough to give her goosebumps.
Unable to bear his gaze, Audrey squeezed her eyes shut.
Meanwhile, Duke Frith was floundering behind her closed eyelids.
‘Should I go and get a book even now?’
The only thing he could rely on was romance books.
But wasn’t today their historic first date? He couldn’t act like a novice and open a book right next to her, stumbling through it.
He had barely managed to leave his books behind, only to find this unfortunate situation waiting for him!
‘I should have kept at least one book close by.’
He blamed himself for his complacency. Meanwhile, his little bird continued to wail heartbreakingly.
Could he leave her alone while she was crying and come back?
No. Even with his limited experience as a lifelong single, he knew that was absolutely not an option.
Suddenly, a passage from a romance book flashed through his mind.
《Key Point 23. How to comfort your lover》
There’s no better method than sweet skinship.
If you want to comfort your lover, try giving them a sweet and deep kiss. All problems fly away in the face of love’s touch!
-<Secrets to Capturing Cunning Foxes>
But there was one problem.
“……”
The two of them had never even brushed fingertips.
And now he should give her a sweet and deep kiss? Wouldn’t she be surprised?
Just imagining it made his face turn beet red. He fiddled with his hot ears, uncharacteristically shy.
‘I can’t do that. The first kiss must be on a hill under a shower of stars.’
Yes. He couldn’t just throw away their first kiss, which should be a lifetime memory, like this.
Their first kiss would be a story to tell even their children and grandchildren later.
The story whispered to softly sleeping children should definitely be beautiful.
While Derek briefly imagined the distant future, Audrey was still crying her heart out.
His face became serious. He was afraid that something terrible might happen if this continued.
‘I need to comfort my little bird. But how?’
Perhaps… could she be doubting his feelings?
She might be throwing a cute tantrum at him, who was blunt and clumsy.
‘That makes sense.’
Derek approached Audrey closer.
And while smiling as warmly as possible, he whispered his love so that only she could hear.
“I will be with you, until death.”
“Eek!”
However, she, who had briefly opened her eyes, was horrified. At the same time, she squeezed her eyes shut as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.
It was because the cursed words whispered with a grotesque smile were chillingly persistent.
‘He’s saying he won’t leave me alone even after I’m dead…!’
It was entirely possible for that man. Audrey would not find peace even in death.
Meanwhile, Derek became serious, wondering if he had misunderstood something.
‘Is this not it?’
Somehow, her trembling was getting worse as time passed.
He stood there for a long time, unable to do this or that. He felt like an idiot, fumbling and unable to comfort one crying woman.
Romance was indeed a difficult thing for a lifelong single.
Translator
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arwendolyn
Nooooo, I already love him 😭😭😭