Duke, Please Let Go of My Ankle! - Chapter 10

“Why?”

“……Huh?”

“You just looked at me with really greasy eyes.”

“G-greasy? Hey, when did I-, I didn’t!”

“Why are you acting like that again?”

Her obviously suspicious face as he avoided eye contact was quite unsettling.

Unable to speak easily and continuing to stall, he looked exactly like a debt collector coming to borrow money.

‘Don’t tell me, you?’

Audrey’s eyes narrowed.

She had no desire whatsoever to lose the golden mansion she had just barely acquired.

“……What on earth are you thinking?”

On the other hand, Hans shook his head as if in disbelief.

Those suspicious eyes that doubted before even speaking made him feel unreasonably hurt.

As this strange standoff continued, a familiar voice was heard nearby.

It was a department colleague of the same age who was crazy about gossip.

“Oh, right. Did you know? Today is Confession Day!”

“Confession Day? Is it a day to confess your sins and repent?”

“Pfft, um, no, it’s a day to confess your feelings to someone you like.”

“If you like someone, you just confess, why do it on a specific day?”

“On Confession Day, the success rate for couples is higher than on other days. Well, it’s kind of like a superstition or magic.”

“Really, there’s a day for everything these days.”

“But thanks to that, we might get some interesting things to watch. Maybe even someone from our department-“

“……!”

─Flinch.

Audrey felt her heart suddenly grow cold.

Her awkwardly stiff face was practically screaming, ‘That spectacle is me!’

Hans, standing next to her, was no different.

His unfocused, wandering eyes aimlessly drifted through the air.

Then their eyes met squarely.

“……!”

“……”

Audrey startled like a rabbit caught in a trap, while Hans looked at her suspiciously.

Somehow, he felt uneasy.

“Hey, you’re not-“

Just then, a kind department colleague addressed the two of them.

“Oh my, how forgetful of me! It’s the first time for both of you at the banquet hall, right?”

“Ah, yes!”

“You’ll probably be surprised. It’s the largest after the Imperial Palace! When all the Duke’s employees gather, it’s quite a spectacle!”

“Wow, re-really? I’m looking forward to it!”

Audrey seized the opportunity and moved away with an awkward exclamation.

Behind her, someone’s disapproving gaze followed her for a long time.

‘……It can’t be, right?’

Hans was still bothered that he couldn’t ask properly.

But what could he do? The opportunity had already passed. Prying too much without knowing the extent might look even more suspicious.

Hans could only follow them with a frustrated sigh.

***

The eastern banquet hall of the Duke’s mansion was reminiscent of an entire average mansion in size.

The endlessly high ceiling and the vast expanse of space were indeed worthy of being called second only to the Imperial Palace in scale.

The magnificent chandelier that looked like stars pouring down, candle holders made of solid diamond, and even the fresh flower decorations running across the middle of the tables.

Even in the casually placed decorations, one could feel the unapproachable wealth and elegance.

“Wow……”

“How unsophisticated. Your jaw’s about to drop.”

“Hmph. You’re talking as if you’re used to this.”

“At least I’m not acting unsophisticated like someone. This is what being ‘mature’ looks like.”

“Why you!”

The two bickered as usual.

Around them, people from the Finance Department began to take their seats one by one.

Audrey only came to her senses when she saw the empty seats dwindling.

‘Oh no! Where’s Claude Oppa? It should be time for him to arrive……”

Her green eyes busily scanned the surroundings.

Then, spotting Claude who had just joined, her face immediately brightened.

“Claude Oppa!”

“You were here already? I looked for you in the archives but you weren’t there.”

“Ah, well, I had some work……”

“It’s fine as long as you find your way here. I was worried you might have gotten lost. Did you come with the Finance Department people?”

“Yes.”

Claude smiled broadly as if impressed.

“Well done. Keep doing that from now on. When you’re going somewhere, follow others’ lead, and if there’s something you don’t know, ask. That’s how you learn one by one.”

“……Y-yes.”

Somehow, her cheeks felt warm.

She was already overjoyed just securing a seat in front of him, and now she was getting his concern and praise on top of that!

Audrey bit her lips and secretly tapped her feet in excitement.

‘Great. Now I just need to watch for the right moment and pass the letter without anyone noticing……”

But at that moment, there was an uninvited guest pushing through the bustling crowd.

“Excuse me, Mr. Miller. I’ll just pass through for a moment.”

“……?”

“What, why?”

“……”

It was Hans.

There was no hesitation in his approach as he pushed aside his superior like a toy block.

Audrey looked at him with disgusted eyes.

“What are you just staring at? Move over a bit, will you?”

“Ugh, get away!”

“What can I do if the seats are narrow.”

“I said go away!”

“If you’re that uncomfortable, why don’t you move?”

It was truly exasperating how he sat right next to her as if keeping watch.

But for Claude’s sake, who was smiling contentedly, she absolutely couldn’t show any signs of discomfort.

“His Grace the Duke is entering!”

And so, as the three’s joy and sorrow intermingled, the evening banquet officially began.

***

“Hey, where are you going?”

“……!”

Again. Audrey had been caught in Hans’s surveillance net for who knows how many times now.

Thanks to that, her plans to follow Claude out had repeatedly failed.

‘Seriously, what does it matter to you where I go?’

Even Audrey, who had been pretending nothing was wrong out of embarrassment, felt wronged by this point.

Moreover, Duke Frith’s gaze, staring at her as if he wanted to kill her, was so piercing. It was suffocating.

“I’m going to the bathroom! Why! What!”

“You, you……!”

Hans’s face, which had been full of confidence until just now, turned bright red.

Covering his face with his large hands, he mumbled incoherently about how the girl didn’t know shame, and why she had to say such things so loudly, looking quite suspicious.

Audrey seized the opportunity and quickly slipped away.

However, there was one problem.

“Where should I go?”

She had no way of knowing Claude’s whereabouts.

After hesitating for a moment, Audrey had no choice but to use magic.

─Pong.

With a cute sound, the wall bulged out.

“Take me to Claude Oppa.”

─Pwee!

As if answering, the wriggling lump suddenly shot out without warning.

“Ah!”

Audrey, with a startled face, immediately ran after the lump.

However, the fist-sized lump moved entirely on its own whim.

It would disappear in an instant as if going berserk, then go down to the first floor, only to climb back up to the sixth floor, repeating this erratic behavior.

“Wait for me!”

Audrey, panting heavily, desperately chased after the lump.

Then suddenly, a suspicion arose.

‘Could it be, magic interference?’

Sure enough.

She noticed the small magic stones embedded like decorations on the corridor lights.

A decorative safety device is usually installed in spaces where high-ranking nobles stay.

“Oh my!”

This was Audrey’s 1018th invention and also a bestseller of Lockt.

She felt happy at this unexpected encounter.

“You guys……”

Product name ‘Nesco’.

It was a magical tool that protected clients from intruders like cockroaches.

The principle was simple. It emitted a tiny amount of magic 24 hours a day to interfere with intruders’ magic.

Nesco’s defense was no exception even for its developer.

“You’re doing your job well, aren’t you?”

How admirable!

Audrey immediately neutralized the location-tracking magic.

Of course, since she made it herself, breaking Nesco was no big deal.

But the VIP collection products had an alarm function installed, so she didn’t want to complicate things if possible.

“……By the way, where am I?”

Suddenly, the pitch-black darkness around her felt unfamiliar.

The once bright corridor was nowhere to be seen.

Unlike other places, this area had no windows or wall lights, making it so dark that she could barely distinguish her surroundings.

It felt like standing alone in the middle of hell.

“Ugh.”

Audrey, all huddled up, followed the faint light, feeling her way along the wall.

As the darkness was coming to an end, she heard a familiar voice from where the light was pouring in abundantly.

“The moon is so beautiful tonight.”

“……!”

It was Claude.

His back, leaning against the large window and looking up at the moon alone, somehow seemed sorrowful.

The unusually blue moonlight tonight was shimmering around him like a halo.

Looking at this mysterious scene, she felt as if her breath might stop at any moment.

Audrey unconsciously gripped the letter in her pocket tightly.

Yes, this might be an opportunity. Now’s the time to give it to him.

“Whew.”

Audrey, who had been catching her breath leaning against the wall, gathered her courage and stepped forward.

Just as she was about to call out to him,

“Oppa-“

─Tok, tok, tok.

“Mercedes!”

“……!”

Suddenly, the sound of a beak tapping on the glass window stole her chance.

‘Ah!’

As her body, which had half-emerged, hurriedly retreated to its original position, the large window opened wide.

─Flutter.

What landed on the corridor with powerful wing beats was a familiar messenger bird.

“Wait a moment, that’s right.”

Claude looked as excited as a child receiving a birthday present.

When the bird nuzzled his face as if asking for praise, he gently stroked its body, while his hand untying the letter from its ankle was uncharacteristically hasty.

‘It’s the first time I’ve seen Oppa make such an expression……’

Somehow, an inexplicable sense of unease welled up.

As Claude read the letter, he smiled softly, blushed, and fidgeted with his ear for no reason.

Audrey stood hidden behind the wall, staring blankly at the scene.

‘No way, it can’t be, it can’t be.’

She wanted to believe she had seen wrong.

But she knew too well the meaning of that face, that expression, those gestures.

It was exactly like her own appearance when she couldn’t sleep thinking about Claude.

“I miss you.”

“……!”

“If I say I love you…… will you distance yourself?”

Claude muttered these words like a sigh, burying his face in his palms.

‘O-Oppa……’

Audrey bit her lips. If she didn’t, she felt like she might burst into tears at any moment.

But her large eyes were already brimming with tears.