Duke, Please Let Go of My Ankle! - Chapter 13

Confession?

Lucas only blinked.

It would be irrelevant to Your Grace anyway. Why is he curious about that?

As if that irreverent thought was clearly conveyed beyond his face, Derek’s expression hardened.

“Forget it. I should ask the person directly.”

“Of course I do! When I was seven… I think?”

“You may leave.”

“……”

Strange? Was it my imagination that I heard a faint sound of mockery?

A peculiar sense of superiority swirled in those blood-red eyes.

As an aide, it was perplexing.

‘Why is he acting like that when we’re in the same situation?’

Not all who are alone from birth are the same kind of alone.

Well, sure, they say they can’t meet because there’s no time and no opportunity, but Your Grace is…

Doesn’t he have anyone he likes?

The two were clearly different.

That’s why Lucas had even worried in advance about ‘how to deliver a wedding invitation without offending the mood of his bachelor lord.’

Underlying that was the certainty that he would get married first.

But to instead cause worry for Duke Frith?

Though he couldn’t show it, his pride was severely hurt.

“I’ll be going out this afternoon. Have the tailor ready by the time I return.”

“But it hasn’t even been three months since you had your spring clothes made.”

“Still, we need more. It’s spring, after all.”

“Spring, you say?”

“Is there a problem?”

“…No, it’s nothing. I’ll do as you command.”

Lucas withdrew with a puzzled expression.

A person who wears only black clothes all year round says he’s getting more spring clothes. Won’t they just be black anyway?

It’s rather amazing to distinguish subtle differences within the same black.

‘They say no two colors under the sky are the same.’

Does black also divide into deep black, midnight black, dark black, smoke black, real black, shadow black, and so on?

Lucas’s limited knowledge couldn’t comprehend it at all.

***

A while later. The place where Duke Frith’s footsteps led was a bookstore.

“Ah, here it is.”

Lucas naturally picked out only the books his lord would like.

<12 Torture Methods (for Those Who’ve Given Up on Being Human)>, <Who Put a Knife to My Head?>, <How to Kill>, <Creative Interrogation>, and so on.

However, even after filling the book cart, Derek did not appear.

—Clatter clatter clatter.

“Huh? He’s not in the weapons section.”

Lucas wandered around the bookstore with a bewildered face, pulling the cart.

He had checked all the sections where he might be, but Duke Frith was nowhere to be found.

“He wouldn’t have left without me, would he?”

A female clerk, seeing her chance, kindly approached him.

“Sir, are you looking for a particular book?”

“Well. Not a book, I’m looking for a person. Have you seen a man with a fierce look and blood-red eyes? You probably would have felt weak in the knees just seeing him.”

“Oh! If it’s that person, I think I saw him in the romance section. He’s tall, right?”

“…Pardon? What section?”

“Romance. I’ll show you the way.”

“……”

Did I hear that wrong?

Lucas had a sour expression as if he’d heard something preposterous.

‘Nah. I must have misheard ‘banquet’ or something.’

Yeah. How could it be that person?

However, Duke Frith betrayed his aide’s faith all too easily.

“Y-Y-Y-Your Grace?”

Somehow, he felt dizzy.

It was because Derek was standing right in the middle of the romance section, just as the clerk had said.

Moreover, he was so engrossed in a book that he didn’t even notice his aide approaching, and the title was shocking in itself.

<Wolf, Step Aside!: Fatal Seduction Techniques More Charming Than a Wolf>

It could be believed to be an ancient text excavated from a 400-year-old tomb.

Moreover, it was so long unsold that dust flew every time a page was turned.

The clerk, sensing an easy mark, openly showed an excited face.

“Sir. Have you ever written a love letter?”

“Love… letter?”

“This book is just a romance manual. You could say it’s a basic and essential text.”

She recommended a strange book titled <Write Love Letters for a Week and You’ll Write Like Casanova>,

“Oh my, what was I thinking? This is really something. It’s usually sold out, but I’m giving it to you specially.”

She also presented a creepy book titled <Secrets to Capturing Cunning Foxes>.

Judging by the white dust settled on it, anyone could see it was just clearing out old stock.

Lucas tried his best to dissuade his lord.

“Ahem. Your Grace.”

“This looks good.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’ll pay in gold coins. Keep the change.”

However, Duke Frith immediately confirmed the purchase as if possessed.

He seemed anxious as if someone might take it while he hesitated.

“Your Grace. Perhaps we should consider more carefully-“

“What are you doing?”

“……”

“Why aren’t you quickly having a servant load them?”

No matter how much he tried to dissuade him, there was no one as stubborn as this.

Rather, he even sent a look that seemed to say, ‘What would you know, you who’ve only received a confession at seven years old?’

‘Why is he suddenly acting like this?’

Lucas was dumbfounded.

He had felt uneasy since the talk of confessions came up…

Had he belatedly opened his eyes to romance? No, even so! Where in the world do people learn about love from books?

However, his lord, who had been alone since birth, seemed more excited than usual. As if he had encountered a whole new world.

“Thank you! Please come again!”

“……”

Having finished the payment and returned, Lucas discreetly observed Duke Frith’s mood.

Somehow, his lord’s actions seemed unusual.

“Um, but why are you looking for books of a kind you’ve never read before?”

“Shouldn’t I try this thing called love now too?”

“Pardon?”

Your Grace? Love?

The aide carefully chose his words, like a parent trying to protect their young child’s innocence.

“W-well, if I may be so bold, love is basically something that can’t be done alone-“

“…It’s not done alone.”

“Pardon?”

Derek looked up from the book he was examining.

Glaring with fierce eyes as if to kill, he seemed somewhat offended.

‘Does Your Grace have a woman?’

That can’t be.

Lucas just blinked, not understanding what was going on.

On the other hand, Duke Frith took this opportunity to boast.

“I also have someone who likes me.”

“…!”

“So I need to study in advance.”

“Y-y-you’re saying there’s someone who likes Your Grace?”

“Yes, there is.”

“…!”

The aide was quite shocked.

‘Impossible!’

In the world, there’s a woman who likes Duke Frith?

Even he, with all limbs intact, mentally healthy, decent-looking, and earning quite well, was still single.

Perhaps she has a huge patch on her crown, or only two strands of hair left and right, or some defect like 500mm feet?

Otherwise, why would she like his lord? What could possibly be lacking?

‘Even Your Grace has a woman…’

Why was God so cruel only to him?

Lucas, steeped in a deep sense of defeat, couldn’t speak for a while. It felt as if he was the only single person in the whole world.

***

The duke’s mansion was enveloped in shock from Monday morning.

It started with the visit of a florist.

“I’ve brought the Ruby Rose you ordered.”

“Um… I think you’ve come to the wrong place. The duke’s mansion doesn’t order flowers unless there’s a special event.”

“Pardon? But I’m sure it said the duke’s mansion-“

At that moment, Derek, who was unusually late in his preparations, stepped out himself.

“You’ve come on time.”

“Y-Your Grace.”

Despite the sun having risen long ago, he was still in his black velvet robe, unlike usual.

“Go and prepare a vase.”

“Yes!”

“Bring the flowers this way.”

“It’s an honor!”

Derek personally led the way to his office.

The robe, swaying gently with the movement of muscles and bones, reminded one of a black panther.

The florist, following with an awkward gait, couldn’t help but admire.

It was because the sensuality of an adult man was overflowing from his broad back.

“I plan to place them here.”

“…Ah! Y-yes.”

The florist, who had been secretly staring at his back, was startled.

The two had already stopped at the window of Duke Frith’s office.

In front of the window, which was twice the height of an adult man, stood a knee-high platform.

“When the vase arrives, I’d like you to trim them well and put them in.”

“I-I-I will do as you command!”

“They need to be arranged so they’re visible from outside. Make sure they can be seen clearly even from outside the capital.”

“Yes!”

Having finished his instructions, Derek disappeared to complete the rest of his preparations.

***

It was an hour later when the bedroom door opened.

“Your Grace. Good morn- Eek!”

“Did you sleep we- Oh my goodness…”

Astonished gazes followed the duke as he left his bedroom. However, the person in question didn’t seem to mind.

‘What in the world is going on?’

Only Lucas, who knew the cause of the problem, was going out of his mind.

His lord, who used to collect only black clothes by the millions, had new spring clothes tailored.

However, there was one tiny problem.

“With this.”

“Pardon? Ah. You mean the design?”

“No, I mean the color.”

“…This color?”

Last weekend. Derek had briefly shown the magazine <Hey, You Can Dress Well Too> that he had bought on the clerk’s recommendation.

It contained a compilation of the latest fashionable socialite men’s fashion.

The part he was particularly fixated on was the page that gathered only the trendiest items.

“Look here. It says pink for men.”

“P-p-pink? But…”

“This design. Can I have it by Monday?”

“We’ll make it without fail!”

“Good.”

His attitude of demanding exactly what was in the magazine without allowing any alterations was truly upright.

As expected of a man who had rolled around on battlefields. Why did he have to stick to such strict principles even in fashion?

‘Being so inflexible like that, really.’

You should follow trends but modify them to suit you.

Thanks to that, the result was nothing short of disastrous.

“It feels awkward since it’s my first time dressing according to trends. Is it alright?”

“…Yes. The clothes are pretty.”

He couldn´t bring himself to say Your Grace is pretty, even if it kills him.