Duke, Please Let Go of My Ankle! - Chapter 26

“……They’re close. Too close.”

Eyes burning like fire fixedly stared at the cheerful couple.

Lucas, who had been alone since birth, couldn’t understand his lord.

‘It’ll only hurt more to look, so why does he keep following and watching? He’s not a pervert or anything.’

Who knew Duke Frith had a hobby of torturing himself.

On the other hand, the Kevelson young lady seemed comfortable. She even personally chose clothes for the strange man at the clothing store, and stood close to him, playing around.

They seemed quite familiar with each other.

‘She’s too good for Your Grace.’

Lucas unknowingly took Audrey’s side.

Wasn’t she the one who even prepared baby toys, not knowing it was a fake story?

She’s too precious to be with the harsh Duke Frith.

Derek, unaware of his aide’s disrespectful thoughts, clutched at his chest.

His tightly constricted heart felt stuffy.

It was hard to breathe as if even his lungs were bound.

But no matter how much he furrowed his brow, the pain didn’t lessen.

“……”

Though there were clearly no visible wounds, it felt as if he was rotting inside.

It was even more so because the two looked too good together.

Unlike the gloomy Derek, the man was bright. His bright and cute smile, resembling Dodori’s, was incomparable to Duke Frith’s crooked sneer.

“……Let’s go back.”

Derek, who had been standing like that for a while, turned around weakly.

With each step away from Dodori, it felt like a nail was being driven into his heart.

All of this must be punishment for hurting Dodori.

Then suddenly, anxiety struck.

‘What if Dodori never changes her mind? What if she doesn’t come back?’

There’s no guarantee that Dodori will return just because he quietly serves his punishment.

He became afraid of losing Dodori forever.

─Pause.

‘Lose Dodori? To that guy?’

Just imagining it felt like all the blood was draining from his body.

The ruthless fingertips that had taken lives for survival now trembled with a fear worse than death.

The pale-faced Duke Frith clenched his trembling hands.

“……Investigate that man thoroughly.”

“Investigate?”

Did he mean to catch and beat him up?

But Duke Frith didn’t respond.

‘I get it, I get it!’

Lucas, understanding in his own way, immediately began to plan a kidnapping.

Oh ho. How dare he make His Grace uncomfortable?

‘You’re dead now, you bastard!’

That guy will pay a terrible price in blood.

***

“There’s really no place like home!”

Arnold happily breathed in the morning air.

Though he only returned once or twice a year, home was still his sanctuary.

“It feels like I haven’t heard birdsong in ages.”

Unlike the noisy magic tower, he liked the quiet morning.

The garden, cultivated over generations, was quaintly beautiful.

“Ah right, wasn’t there a treehouse on that tree? Drey loved it! She stubbornly insisted on sleeping there during a typhoon and got scolded badly by Father. Her swollen face was as cute as a pufferfish.”

Arnold chuckled, recalling their childhood days.

Every corner of the house was filled with memories of his beloved sister. He even preciously kept memories of their mother, whom his sister couldn’t remember, as the family representative.

─Rustle. Rustle rustle.

Even the sound of the garden grass in the wind was heartwarming. It was a sound he could never hear in the magic tower, standing alone in the vast plains.

The Kevelson Count’s house really hadn’t changed at all.

Arnold approached the bushes with a happy smile.

“Hum, hum, hum. Let’s take a sniff-, hmmph!”

At that moment, a strange hand shot out from the bushes, covering his mouth and pulling him in.

“Mmmmph!”

“Shut up, you bastard.”

“Mmph mmph!”

─Rustle. Rustle rustle.

Arnold, who had been struggling for a while, disappeared beyond the bushes.

All that remained were scattered leaves in disarray.

─Rustle. Rustle rustle.

As the sound of rustling bushes gradually subsided, the Kevelson Count’s house was once again enveloped in deathly silence.

It was a quiet morning like any other.

***

“Ugh……”

When Arnold, who had briefly lost consciousness, woke up, he was in the underground prison of the Duke’s castle.

In front of him stood 10 large men with ominous looks. Their bulging biceps were almost the size of an adult man’s head.

“Ha!”

Lucas, who was trying to look the ‘most menacing’ among them, stepped forward.

“You’re a dead man once His Grace the Duke arrives!”

“Uh…… Why am I here……”

“You bastard? Don’t you know what you did wrong?”

“Ugh.”

Lucas grabbed his collar and roughly pulled him.

Arnold, tied to the chair, swayed helplessly like the last leaf.

“Huh? You should face your opponent. How dare you make His Grace uncomfortable?”

“……”

“Do you know who he is? You’ll come to your senses after getting a proper lesson from His Grace, you bastard!”

─Creeak.

At that moment, the iron door opened with an unpleasant metallic sound.

Derek appeared with neat footsteps.

Lucas, like a valiant hunting dog, straightened his shoulders and turned to his lord proudly.

“Your Grace! I was just about to teach this bastard a lesson.”

“……Why, this man.”

“Didn’t you tell me to investigate him thoroughly? I’m going to make him cry his eyes out!”

“……”

Derek was at a loss for words looking at the tied-up man.

Sometimes his aide acted stupidly. Like now.

‘Investigate’ meant to secretly hire someone to do a background check.

What was the point of kidnapping him outright?

It was problematic even if they sent him back nicely now.

Wasn’t that guy already acquainted with his Dodori?

The moment he says something wrong, Derek is sure to incur Dodori’s wrath.

‘……Then we’d become strangers forever.’

His eyes, glaring at his aide, were full of undisguised anger and exasperation.

After all that blustering. In the end, Lucas had made his lord more uncomfortable than Arnold.

And he was even gloating, oblivious to the situation.

“Shall we start by splashing water?”

“Ha…… That’s enough.”

“Pardon? Then shall we begin with the branding iron for old times’ sake? We’ll make his skin nice and smooth until he confesses-“

“……”

“Your Grace?”

Lucas tilted his head.

Why is he acting like this? Did I bring him too gently? Should I have broken all his limbs?

Meanwhile, Arnold was looking around with confused eyes. He looked like a frightened herbivore.

But it’s strange.

That trembling appearance seemed oddly familiar somehow.

Derek approached him, trying to ignore the creeping uneasiness.

Though this wasn’t the intended situation, he wasn’t particularly sorry for this fox-like guy either.

“Um, why am I…”

“……You were standing too close.”

“Pardon?”

“You even went as far as to hug her.”

“I really don’t understand what you’re talking about……”

Right, since it’s come to this, he should scare him enough so he never loiters around Dodori again.

Derek gritted his molars and coldly interrogated.

“Where did you learn such a petty trick as preparing a box?”

“Box?”

“How can a man born use such a cowardly method? So shamefully.”

“Box…… Oh, do you mean Audrey?”

“Don’t casually call her name.”

“Huk.”

Suddenly, a chilling killing intent flowed out.

The sharply honed air felt like it would strangle him at any moment.

Arnold could only tremble, unable to do anything. It was taboo for magic tower mages to use magic on ordinary people.

“What’s your name?”

“Ugh, A-Arnold.”

“Arnold? Are you a commoner? How dare a mere commoner,”

“Arnold Ke, Kevelson……”

“……”

“A-Arnold Kevelson. I really don’t understand why you’re doing this to me-“

“……!”

Was there another family in the empire with the surname ‘Kevelson’? No. Logically, that’s impossible.

The underground prison instantly turned into a joint funeral hall.

The deceased was ‘Duke Frith’s love’ and ‘Lucas’.

The chief mourner was Derek, who had lost his senses.

“Huk! Y-Your Grace!”

“You’ve ruined someone else’s love as you pleased!”

“I didn’t do it on purpose-“

“If you had, your head would have been cut off already.”

“I-I’m sorry……”

“……”

Derek was still angry.

‘No wonder.’

The familiar sight of him whimpering with wronged eyes.

His sister’s brother shared ‘cuteness’ with Dodori.

Though he felt like vomiting at having such thoughts about a man, considering he shared blood with Dodori, it was somewhat understandable.

“I must have been blind. It’s obvious you’re Dodori’s brother. Such cuteness isn’t easily found.”

“……It’s all my fault.”

“What should I do now?”

Derek’s situation grew more complex.

He had caused trouble for her brother while he was already busy seeking forgiveness from Dodori.

***

For now, they urgently freed Arnold and guided him to a guest room.

“Um, where are we going?”

“To a special…… hospitality room.”

“Special hospitality? Ah! Is it a party?”

“S-Something like that.”

“Yay!”

“……”

“Oh, but could I borrow a pen and paper? I didn’t prepare an invitation!’

It was to buy some time, as they couldn’t send him back like this.

For now, they hurriedly pushed food, wine, cake, firecrackers, etc. into Arnold’s room.

However, no matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t come up with a suitable excuse.

What on earth should he say?

That he mistook the person? That there was a misunderstanding? Or… that it was a surprise party?