Duke, Please Let Go of My Ankle! - Chapter 15

“Hah.”

Derek, having finished his scolding session, immediately tore off the annoying wrist frills as soon as he returned to his office.

So much for clothes-making the man, his appearance was now full of irritation.

“Still no way to identify the spy?”

“I’m thinking of placing a custom order with Rokt.”

“Custom order?”

“Yes. They’ve been refusing orders for a year now, but there are rare cases where they accept.”

“Nothing’s as reliable as magical tools. Let’s proceed with that for now.”

“Yes.”

Derek was finally alone.

After tapping on his desk for a while, lost in thought, he opened a drawer with a key.

In the middle of the spacious drawer, there was only a single piece of paper. It was a carefully laminated love letter.

He read the letter again, which he had already read dozens of times.

“…It seems quite cute.”

Even though he already knew what was coming next, it felt new and made him smile every time he read it.

Over the past few days, his days began and ended with this letter.

Being loved by someone was truly a wondrous thing.

The familiar world seemed to look a bit different, and he found himself smiling involuntarily from time to time.

Just because someone loved him.

Like clothes getting wet in a drizzle, his daily life was slowly turning upside down.

“It should be visible from afar, I’m worried.”

Derek looked at the hundred roses placed by the window.

The letter had asked for a single flower to be placed, but fearing it might not be visible, he put as many as possible.

‘This much should be clearly visible even from the old continent.’

Derek became eager to see the face of that shy person soon.

A one-sided love letter, how bold. All he could do was sit and wait.

‘How dare they make a Duke wait?’

If they appeared, he planned to give them a sweet scolding.

Derek, uncharacteristically, began to read the romance book with a twitching corner of his mouth.

***

Amelie, who had been working at Rokt for five years now, was a veteran among veterans.

She could eerily guess what was needed just by looking at the face of someone entering through the door.

“Welcome to Rokt.”

“Um…”

“Please feel free to tell me if you need anything.”

Hesitant attitude. Nervously rolling eyes. Hunched shoulders. Clothes that seemed to be thrown on haphazardly.

‘Oho!’

The sticky smell of an illicit love affair was thick in the air. Amelie’s area of expertise.

“My, you seem to need some calming down. Let’s not do this here, I’ll guide you inside.”

“Th-th-thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

She guided the customer beyond the black curtain behind the counter.

As the man with the haggard complexion entered, she didn’t forget to carefully close the curtain while looking around.

After walking through a maze-like passage for a while, they arrived at a secret room. Somehow, it had a strange atmosphere as if a demon should be summoned.

Amelie first offered a seat and then sat down opposite him.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Is, is it possible to place a custom order?”

As expected.

She put on a very sympathetic face.

“I’m sorry, but we haven’t been taking custom orders for a year now.”

“Ah.”

“What do you need it for? I’ll recommend something as similar as possible.”

“Well…”

The dejected man now looked troubled. His demurely drooping eyelashes were dripping with sadness.

However, far from feeling sympathy, Amelie’s eyes sparkled as she picked up a pen and paper.

“My wife is having an affair.”

“Oh my.”

“So I told her I wanted a divorce… but she insisted there was no evidence.”

It was an interesting request that had come in after a long time. Amelie’s chair inched closer.

“And then?”

“…My child, who has just started babbling, asks for mom every day. But the child’s mother doesn’t even come home. She’s set up house with the man she’s having an affair with.”

“Good heavens!”

There’s even a child involved? This is more intense than I thought.

Amelie unconsciously dropped her pen.

“The lawyer says it’s difficult to file a lawsuit without evidence. The child is crying, the child’s mother doesn’t even come home… If we could at least get divorced, I could receive child support for our daughter.”

“Oh my, my.”

“So I came here as a last resort. Perhaps… do you have any tools that could induce a confession?”

“Ah, about that…”

Noticing Amelie’s hesitation, the man delivered his final counterpunch.

“When I think of my child who hasn’t even been held by her mother once, sob!”

“What a truly wicked woman!”

“……”

“Hah. We don’t usually take custom orders, but your situation is really pitiful. I’ll make a special request to our chief researcher!”

“Sob, thank you. How can I ever repay this kindness……”

“You must stay strong, if only for your child! Now, what’s your name?”

The man who had been shaking his shoulders suddenly changed his expression.

“It’s Lucas.”

“It should be ready within three weeks at the latest. You can come back then.”

However, Amelie, furiously scribbling in anger, failed to witness this scene.

When she raised her head again, Lucas was squeezing out fake tears.

“Sob, th-thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Oh my. Why are there so many bad people in this world! It’s not your fault, Lucas.”

“Yes….. I must stay strong for my son’s sake.”

The mission was a success. But at the same time, a sense of self-loathing crept in.

A bachelor with no lover playing the role of a pitiful father. He felt a sense of loss as if he had lost his preciously kept chastity.

Should he be glad that he found a way to identify the spy, at least?

Lucas hurriedly left Rokt.

‘If I can’t get married, it’s surely Your Grace’s fault!’

His retreating figure, meticulously covering his face even though no one was watching, looked thoroughly deflated.

Meanwhile, Amelie, mulling over the story while cleaning up, suddenly felt something odd.

“Wait, didn’t he say daughter earlier? But then he said he’d stay strong for his son?”

“Wait, didn’t he say daughter earlier? But then he said he’d stay strong for his son?”

Was she so distracted by the affair that she misheard?

“Well, what does it matter? I guess he has both, whatever.”

However, she didn’t dwell on it and brushed it off as insignificant.

It was almost time to clock out, after all.

***

A week had already passed since the love letter arrived. Yet there was still no news from his lover.

“Strange.”

Derek placed an armful of red roses by the window every morning.

“Isn’t this a clear enough expression of intent? When they asked for a single flower to be placed.”

So shouldn’t his lover know to come looking for him?

“……Should I make a rose garden or something?”

The wealthy lifelong bachelor pondered seriously.

He began to suspect if there might be some profound meaning he didn’t understand in the phrase ‘a single flower’.

Despite the request for a single flower, the roses, which started at a hundred, were steadily increasing in number.

Just in case they weren’t visible enough.

The number of roses doubled with each passing night.

A few days ago, he even installed tiered shelves in front of the window, completely covering one window with roses.

‘Now it should be impossible not to see, even if they tried not to look.’

But the person he was waiting for didn’t come, and only the hapless Lucas kept frequenting his office.

“Your Grace, the newspapers are in an uproar.”

“There’s no way they can’t see it.”

“We’re getting dozens of interview requests every day-“

“Tomorrow, have the entire castle wall decorated with roses.”

“……”

The aide sighed with a haggard face.

As if it wasn’t busy enough, he was going crazy with the flood of interview requests.

Amidst all this, his lord, seemingly obsessed with roses, kept giving strange orders.

‘But, I thought you were in love!’

Why does he keep repeating these incomprehensible eccentricities instead of actually dating?

Where will this inexplicable madness end?

《(Breaking) Anonymous castle insider: “Duke Frith’s mental instability rumors somewhat true”》

《Duke Frith’s fashion causes stir… ‘Whose clothes did he kill for and steal?’ Empire citizens are abuzz》

《(Exclusive) Ingmeri Church leader: “Duke Frith definitely made a contract with the devil… The blood-red painted window is proof”》

《Two years after the half-century war. Who has made him like this?》

《Castle tailor missing for 3 days… Investigative authorities: “We will do our best to locate”》

Lucas silently gathered the newspapers delivered this morning.

Despite being so afraid, the newspapers were full of stories about Duke Frith.

Thanks to it being front-page news, it was so visible even when folded in half.

“……Please read the articles when you have time.”

The aide quietly retreated after placing the newspapers in a corner.

‘Of course. His Grace, in love?’

Seeing his lord who seemed somewhat anxious, a deep sense of relief spread through him.

‘He’ll be dragged to a monastery before he even holds a woman’s hand.’

With rumors of his insanity rampant throughout the empire, who would date or marry him?

His steps leaving the office were as light as if he were walking on clouds.

***

“What could that be?”

“Well, I suppose they’re decorating or something.”

Audrey tilted her head, looking at the rose decorations hanging on the castle walls.

There must have been thousands of them.

With the shouts of the workers, the castle walls were instantly covered in roses.

‘Are they starting a new business or something?’

Well, whatever Duke Frith did was none of her business as a mere vassal.

Rather, she hoped she wouldn’t run into him even by chance, given how incredibly busy things had become.

Audrey lost interest and hurried her steps.

But as expected, there was another commotion in the finance department today.

“Miss Audrey, did you see the rose decorations on the castle walls?”

“Yes! I’ve never seen so many roses in my life.”

“Phew, it gave me goosebumps. Why does His Grace like such a bright red color?”

“I thought they were hanging beast hearts from afar, you know? Like trophies.”

“Oh? Come to think of it, it is heart-red-“

─Flinch.

…As red as my heart… flowers…

What is this?

Audrey froze mid-sentence like a stone. An odd sense of déjà vu unpleasantly brushed past her.

‘I’m sure I’ve heard this somewhere before?’