Duke, Please Let Go of My Ankle! - Chapter 4

Audrey chided Hans, who was sprawled out as if it were his own room.

“What? Why aren’t you leaving yet?”

“…You ask that so quickly. Today’s the day I give you the ledger, remember?”

“Ah, right.”

Hans shook his head and rummaged through his belongings.

‘It’s not like I’m some germ… bad acorn.’

Does she catch some disease just by being in the same space as him?

Or does he smell like a sewer or something?

It would be nice to chat and hang out a bit since he’s already here. Her face, openly rebuking him, seemed unkind.

Hans grumbled inwardly words he couldn’t say out loud.

Then, what he pulled out was a thick notebook covered in brown leather.

Seeing how thick the ledger was this month, he could already smell the money.

Audrey received the ledger with a happy smile.

“Let’s see, let’s see. What sold the best this month?”

Their relationship was a bit unique.

Out of the 15 years they’ve known each other, 10 were spent as nothing short of enemies, and for the past 5 years, they’ve been business partners running a magic tool shop called ‘Lokt’ together.

All of this started 6 years ago when Hans discovered her secret.

***

That day was no different from any other.

Audrey, now 14, had many secrets, and Hans, at 17, loved playing mischievous pranks.

The one he did most often was flinging open a lady’s door without any warning.

“Acorn, what are you-“

“…!”

But that day, he couldn’t tease Audrey as usual.

The room was in shambles as if a bomb had exploded, Audrey whimpering like an abandoned baby animal, and blue particles floating around the room.

Seeing her lime-green eyes filled with fear, Hans instinctively realized.

This was a secret to be kept to the grave.

At that moment, there was a sound from behind the door.

“Young miss, I’ve brought some snacks-“

“…!”

─Bang!

Hans quickly closed the door and stood in front of it. Somehow, he felt this scene shouldn’t be discovered by anyone else.

─Knock knock.

“Young miss? Young master?”

“…”

The hand gripping the doorknob tightly to prevent it from being opened from the outside had its knuckles turning white.

Hans barely managed to squeeze out his voice.

“…It’s fine. We’ll call if we need anything, so take a break.”

“Yes, understood.”

The large hand didn’t let go of the doorknob until the footsteps faded away.

During all this, Audrey still stood there, not knowing what to do, looking bewildered.

─Bang, crash.

The particles of light emanating from her small body kept spreading, colliding with things here and there.

Following the collisions, objects in the room broke, tore, and flipped over.

As the situation escalated, Audrey’s face became more and more distorted.

But Hans held onto the doorknob tightly even as flying objects cut his face, until the strange light’s rampage subsided.

Magic outburst.

It was a term he had never heard before in his life.

The phenomenon where magic power erupts unexpectedly if not periodically released from the body.

Audrey confided in Hans alone the secret she couldn’t even tell her family all this time.

That her magic manifested around the age of 10, and she had deliberately hidden it because she didn’t want to enter the magic tower.

“…I won’t resent you even if you report me.”

“What?”

Stupid acorn.

Her expression showed she was certain he would report her.

Hans closed his mouth with an incredulous look.

Because he didn’t want to send Audrey to the magic tower.

He didn’t know why. Though they bickered every day when they met, he didn’t want her to disappear from his sight.

Moreover, imagining her cleaning up alone every time her magic went out of control like this… somehow, it made him feel uncomfortable as if something was stuck in his chest.

The first magician appeared about 100 years ago. Since then, the empire has been enforcing magicians’ entry into the magic tower through special laws. There were even rumors that those who refused or concealed their abilities would be imprisoned in the underground dungeon of the imperial palace.

However, Hans made up his mind with just one word from Audrey saying she didn’t want to go to the magic tower.

He would willingly become her accomplice.

“What report? Did you steal something? Why do you look so guilty?”

“…”

“I haven’t lost anything.”

“You…”

“Anyway, what’s with the state of this room? It’s too embarrassing to ask someone else to clean it.”

“…”

“What are you doing? Grab a broom too. This is your room, you know?”

And so, Hans became Audrey’s greatest helper.

The two put their heads together and began studying. Since the magic tower monopolized information about magic, they had to scrape together books from other countries.

Hans collected all sorts of information through his maternal grandfather’s merchant group.

And they achieved quite meaningful results.

That magicians are divided into various categories, and Audrey belonged to the ‘miscellaneous’ type of magician.

It was the most practical ability, less distinct in categories like attack, defense, or healing.

Audrey could use magic as naturally as breathing in daily life and could process magic stones to create magic tools.

“I’ll ask Grandfather about the magic stones.”

“…Thank you.”

Hans felt relieved inwardly.

Wasn’t this acorn someone who couldn’t even kill an ant, let alone hit him?

If she had been of the attack type, it would have been quite troublesome.

‘If she had gone hunting, she would have fainted in less than ten minutes, not suiting her at all.’

Time passed, and the next year arrived.

Audrey’s fifteenth birthday came.

“What’s this, why are you covering my eyes? Are we still far?”

“We’re almost there.”

Hans, who had barged in from the morning, led her somewhere with her eyes covered.

What appeared as soon as he removed his large hands was a magic tool shop named ‘Lokt’.

“Happy birthday, acorn.”

Hans volunteered to be the public face of the business for his still underage friend.

Simultaneously, he appointed Audrey as the chief researcher.

“From now on, you’re the chief researcher. This shop is destined for fame, so you’ll need to create tirelessly. That’s your job, of course.”

“…Are you saying you’re going to work me like a slave?”

“Yeah. You’re a slave now. I’m going to work you like a dog until we recover grandfather’s merchant group investment.”

“Then it’s not a birthday present!”

“Hey! Isn’t giving you the chief researcher position enough? That’s the gift, stupid! Don’t you know honor?”

The two still bickered, but Audrey understood her friend’s intentions.

Hans had prepared this shop to prevent her magic outbursts.

His prediction was spot on.

In the process of creating magic tools, magic was naturally released, and the magic outbursts gradually disappeared.

Meanwhile, the adults didn’t reprimand Hans for gifting an entire shop for his friend’s birthday.

“Of course, of course, it’s a friend’s birthday. Naturally, one should gift at least a shop.”

“Hoho. They say this is how children grow up these days.”

“They’ve been inseparable since childhood, it’s heartwarming to see.”

“Is there anything else you’d like, Audrey? Shall we purchase the adjacent building as well?”

“These youngsters. Their idea of playing house is quite lavish!”

Hans, who stood head and shoulders above Audrey, awkwardly scratched the back of his head, visibly embarrassed.

He was too grown up to hear talk of playing house.

After that, ‘Lokt’, which started as a joke, established itself as the capital’s only magic tool shop.

Every time, it enriched the lives of the empire’s citizens with brilliant ideas and spread like a trend among the nobles.

It was an achievement made in just a few years.

***

Hans stood beside Audrey, who was looking into the ledger and began his report.

“The reaction to the recent new product, the fragrance magic stone, is good, and overall sales continue to rise. Demand has even increased among provincial nobles.”

“Hmm, hmm, hmm. We’ll ride this upward trend for quite a while.”

“Should we start revealing this quarter’s new product soon?”

“I’m going to make a communication device.”

“A communication device?”

Hans blinked his eyes as if puzzled.

The empire already had messenger birds established as a means of communication.

Not only were prices low due to high supply, but the infrastructure was also well-established.

In this situation, she still wanted to create a new means of communication.

However, Audrey expressed her opinion with a very serious face.

“Hey. Do you know how many letters come to our house in a day?”

“How would I know?”

“Over a hundred. But… seventy of them are from my brother.”

“Ah.”

“He asks for just one portrait, he pesters for replies, it really drives a person crazy!”

Arnold was Audrey’s only older brother.

He naturally entered the magic tower after his magic manifested at the late age of seventeen.

It was just before Audrey’s magic manifested.

The magic tower completely changed its attitude as soon as Arnold entered. Only letters were allowed, and visits, outings, and overnight stays were all prohibited.

The duration was until he produced meaningful results in magic tower research. Whether that would take 10 years or 20 years, no one knew.

Even then, he was only allowed to return home once a year.

Arnold, thirsty for human warmth after 10 years of confinement, eventually resorted to writing 100 letters a day.

Of those, 70 were concentrated on Audrey.

Starting with ‘To my lovely Audrey’, these detailed letters were so reminiscent of an epic poem.

‘How can he have so much to say?’

It was amazing enough to surpass human limits.

Still, unable to ignore them, Audrey read all the letters diligently. She even sent back replies spanning three full pages.

But Arnold wasn’t satisfied even with these taffy-like long letters.

…Audrey. It seems some parts of the letter must have been lost on the way.

…My pretty little sister. Are you very busy? Even more than your brother?

…Audrey. Why can’t I reach you? Did something happen?

…Sleep?

…You’re sleeping.

…Sleep well.

…Make sure to reply when you see the letter in the morning.

…I love you, my sister.

The noise of messenger birds pecking at the window at all hours.

‘Eek! I can’t take it anymore!’

Audrey made a resolution then.

She would definitely make a communication device as the next new product.