Duke, Please Let Go of My Ankle! - Chapter 31

As the end of the workday approached.

Duke Frith proposed dinner with an unusually stiff expression.

“Together, it would be good to have dinner.”

“……!”

Damn it!

Derek inwardly cursed.

He had meant to say ‘It would be nice if we had dinner together’ but messed up. It was because of that damn nervousness.

Still, he believes the meaning was conveyed properly since the subject and predicate order were similar.

His hands and legs hidden under the desk trembled anxiously.

“Well…….”

Dodori, who had been rolling her eyes for a while, bowed her head deeply. She must be feeling shy.

Even such a sight was truly lovable.

“……Y, yes.”

“……!”

The trembling permission, like a goat’s bleat, pounded Derek’s heart.

─Abruptly.

“……Follow Lucas.”

“Yes, sniff.”

In the end, he had no choice but to stand up first.

First, he needs to slash about 20 dummies in the training ground and change clothes.

It’s their first date, after all. He can’t go out looking this shabby.

Derek shook his head, looking down at his own clownishly ridiculous clothes.

The frills and lace fluttering around his neck were far from enough, still far from enough.

He intended to wear the clothes he had been saving.

For this special day.

“……What?”

“Gasp!”

A gaze full of shock clung to him familiarly.

Duke Frith was heading to the banquet hall in the most bizarre outfit he owned.

His appearance was a total disaster to the point where one couldn’t pinpoint just one thing to criticize.

A complex pattern with indecipherable meaning.

Stiff frills encircle the entire neck.

Jewels dangling like a mobile beneath the frills.

Pink pants wallpapered with all kinds of lace.

Pointed fairy shoes to top it off.

It seemed there wasn’t a single normal part except for his face.

‘First, pull out the chair, then match the eating speed…….’

However, Derek, unaware of this, reviewed what he had learned with a tense face.

Though no one knew, it was the most nervous he had ever been since birth.

***

But about 2 hours later.

‘……How utterly pathetic.’

Derek buried himself in bed, feeling desperate.

The dinner with Dodori, which he had looked forward to so much, had ended in a mess.

Certainly, the start was good. The atmosphere was harmonious, with just the right amount of tension.

He took care of Dodori very attentively throughout the meal, as he had studied beforehand.

But then a problem arose.

“J, just, sniff, kill me please!”

“Can I, sniff, leave my head, sob, here?”

“Pe, perhaps, did you plan to poison me?”

“Or are you going to tear me limb from limb?”

“Sniff, please kill me quickly!”

Would you believe that Dodori, not knowing his intentions, begged to be killed throughout the entire meal?

Bewildered, Derek tried desperately to comfort Dodori.

But Dodori’s tears wouldn’t stop.

“M, Miss! It’s getting late, so you’d better go now!”

In the end, as Lucas evacuated the nearly fainting Dodori, their historic first date came to an end.

Derek began to blame himself, retracing each step of what he might have done wrong.

‘I should have shown a more caring side.’

How dare he let those tiny hands cut the steak themselves!

What if those leaf-like fingers had been cut off…….

He should have done everything himself, from cutting to feeding.

Even letting her hold the water glass with those adorable hands, was he in his right mind?

How could he be so heartless!

‘I should have spoken more affectionate words.’

He didn’t even call Dodori affectionately.

Something like ‘my baby kitten’, or at least ‘my lovely Dodori’.

Due to excessive nervousness, he couldn’t even remember what he had babbled.

It was probably far from affectionate.

‘……Looking again, I don’t think the clothes were good either.’

And what about the clothes?

They were so flashy that nothing else would be visible when entering the banquet hall.

He had dressed up excessively without considering Dodori’s outfit.

He was nothing but a greedy man.

The two of them must have looked like a mad clown and a circus ringmaster rather than a pair of nightingales.

“Sigh…….”

Derek closed his eyes weakly.

There probably isn’t another man in the world as naive as Derek.

At the same time, he regretted the past days terribly. He should have fallen for it when Dodori said she liked him…….

He should have held the wedding right away as soon as he received the letter.

Abruptly.

“……Wedding?”

Derek’s eyes flashed.

He looked as if he had gained some great insight.

***

It was around 2 AM when Knight Harriet and Monte detected a suspicious noise.

“Who’s there!”

“Don’t move!”

“…….”

While on their regular patrol, they suddenly heard the sound of something falling in the ‘Memorial Room’ on the first floor.

The two rushed there and shone their lanterns towards the silhouette in the darkness.

There stood Duke Frith with dark circles under his eyes.

“Y, Your Grace!”

“We have committed a mortal sin! Please forgive us!”

The two were startled as if they had seen a ghost.

No, it would have been better if it were a ghost.

As the lantern light spread widely, it cast eerie shadows on the portraits and statues of the previous dukes.

In the middle of this chilling scene stood Duke Frith.

“…….”

He looked around at the knights once, then began to wander around the Memorial Room without saying a word.

He looked as if possessed by a ghost.

-J sector. This is the headquarters. Why is there no report?

Oh no.

Monte looked alternately at the communicator and Duke Frith, then whispered quietly.

“……There was a small misunderstanding. J sector all clear. Will return after patrolling up to L sector. Over.”

The two, who had been quietly observing the situation, left to patrol the next sector after a brief greeting.

The dull noises coming from the Memorial Room continued until dawn.

***

Today too, Audrey couldn’t escape the fate of the Dodori cart.

If there was one thing that changed, it was that the shape had been modified to a chair-like form, thanks to Lucas’s suggestion.

‘Well, at least it’s better than prison…….’

Of course. Anything would be better than being a criminal.

“We’ve arrived, Miss.”

“……Thank you.”

“Then, have a pleasant time!”

The knight who had been glaring at her until yesterday had become a completely different person.

From wearing a tuxedo instead of the chilling armor, everything was different.

He greeted Audrey with a smiling face and began to push the cart very gently.

His attitude of asking if she was uncomfortable from time to time was also extremely kind.

‘What on earth is going on?’

It’s really incomprehensible.

Are the people of the Duke’s mansion always this capricious day by day?

Duke Frith, who she thought would point a sword at her at any moment, not only kept postponing her execution but also alternated between showing kindness and making threats.

Until the words “Please kill me” came out of Audrey’s mouth first.

If all this was a new form of harassment, they had succeeded.

“G, good morning.”

“……You’re here.”

Audrey entered awkwardly.

It felt ridiculous even to herself that she was greeting with “good morning” now, when she had been frantically begging to be killed before.

Meanwhile, Derek felt like he would die of heartache seeing Audrey’s swollen eyes.

‘Has a doctor been called?’

No, if a doctor had been called, she wouldn’t still have such adorable puffy eyes.

How uncomfortable it must be to view the world through half-closed eyes all day.

Unable to bear it any longer, Derek secretly summoned his aide and instructed him to bring medicine good for swelling.

“We must hurry.”

“Yes.”

An awkward silence fell over the office again.

Today too, Derek couldn’t concentrate on his work and kept stealing glances at Dodori.

‘……Does she hate me that much now?’

The words “Please kill me” came from the mouth of the person he loved.

Ah, could there be a more cruel thing to say?

He had wanted to be the most wonderful, warm, and devoted man in the world for Dodori…….

‘I can’t give up like this.’

Derek steeled his resolve.

There was still so much he hadn’t shown Dodori. Isn’t it too early to talk about the end?

Let’s think about it after pouring out everything to the point of no regrets.

“There’s a place we need to go.”

“……!”

“Together.”

Derek recalled a passage from the book he had read yesterday.

《How to Capture Her Heart!》

Use ‘honesty’ as a weapon to appeal to your charm. Charm is not a weakness that would be terrible if discovered. Therefore, it should not be hidden, but boldly revealed.

……(omitted)……

True love is the heart that can give even the key to the storehouse. This is what love is. Having no secrets from the other person.

Are you truly in love?

Derek vowed to show everything of himself.

Whether it was his charm, the key to the storehouse, or his heart, just everything.

Of course, the choice after that was entirely up to Dodori.

***

“Um, why are we here…….”

“This is where the history of the Duke’s mansion is kept.”

“…….”

Audrey couldn’t understand at all.

Before even starting work, he suddenly said there was a place to go, and the place Duke Frith brought her was the ‘Memorial Room’.

“This is my father. The previous Duke Frith.”

“……I see.”

“People say we look very much alike.”

Duke Frith turned to look at Audrey while standing in front of his father’s portrait.

It was as if he was kindly offering a comparison.

“But I don’t think so.”

“…….”

“My father might have been a good knight, but he wasn’t a good husband. He prioritized the empire over his family. So my mother was very lonely.”

Derek looked up at the portrait right next to it.

There was a fragile-looking woman. Her face was smiling, but she looked as if she was crying.

“I am absolutely not like my father.”

Duke Frith immediately turned to the side.

It was a space that still looked very new, as if it had been created recently.

‘The Life of Derek Frith……?’