‘There’s no way Duke Kelahinum would be here.’

Because he had heard from the butler that he was busy today and might not return until late at night.

‘It can’t be.’

Drukan shook his head.

For the first time in his life, he denied his excellent eyesight that exceeded 2.0.

That’s how shocking it was.

The shock of seeing Magnus von Kelahinum crouching behind a building, glaring at them.

‘I can’t believe it.’

Drukan shook his head once again.

“What’s wrong, Drukan?”

“It’s nothing.”

“If you’re not feeling well, you can rest.”

“I’m fine.”

“O…kay.”

She nodded with a slightly dubious expression.

“Serena.”

“Yes?”

“Would it be alright if I gave you a gift?”

“A gift?”

Thanks to Bartolin, Serena’s gaze left Drukan.

It seemed he had also sensed the killing intent, as he kept glancing behind Drukan.

Drukan pondered for a moment.

No matter how he thought about it, this didn’t seem right.

‘I heard they were in the middle of divorce proceedings…’

Drukan recalled the owner of the constantly bothersome killing intent and gave a brief eye signal to Bartolin.

‘It seems he even said he would introduce another man himself.’

Bartolin seemed to understand the meaning of Drukan’s action and nodded back.

Drukan also slightly bowed his head.

“Well, if you give it to me, I’ll accept it gratefully.”

Serena said, blushing slightly, seemingly feeling a bit unfamiliar.

Seeing her like this, Bartolin’s face also turned red, and a subtle exchange formed between the two.

‘…What a cute couple.’

It was very pleasant to see such freshness.

It felt like seeing himself and his wife in their prime.

Of course, if his daughter were in Serena’s place right now, he would probably be emitting killing intent too.

Just like Duke Magnus von Kelahinum.

‘Ah, is that why?’

Drukan thought.

‘He’s watched her for 16 years, so he wanted to check what kind of man she’s dating.’

As his thoughts moved towards Magnus, he felt more at ease after finding an understandable reason.

Originally, people tend to become infinitely generous in situations they can relate to.

And Drukan had become very generous.

If Magnus felt similar to Drukan, he could understand and forgive him generously.

‘I should calmly persuade him and send him back.’

In his eyes, Magnus looked just like a child, even if he was a Duke with a ducal title.

If you think of it as feeling for a younger sister, there’s nothing incomprehensible about it.

Because if Drukan’s daughter suddenly said, ‘Dad, I’m going on a date! It’s with the merchant’s son next door!’, he would grab a dagger and quietly follow behind.

Of course, he wouldn’t emit killing intent like that…

‘Or would I?’

Drukan could judge himself objectively.

‘I probably would.’

It might even flow continuously.

“Your Grace, Duke Kelahinum.”

Drukan saw Magnus leaning against the alley wall.

“…What is it?”

He answered Drukan ominously in a deeply lowered voice.

‘What is it? That’s my line…’

Drukan’s eyes blinked.

For a moment, he couldn’t distinguish who this beast-like man in front of him was.

“It seemed like you were following us, so I came to see if there was any problem.”

“There’s no problem.”

‘No, your face looks like there are plenty of problems.’

Drukan barely managed to hold back from snapping like that.

After all, he was his employer’s husband and was somewhat responsible for his current salary.

“…Well, but you keep emitting killing intent…”

Drukan hesitated for a moment before speaking honestly.

A man of such skill and excellent capacity couldn’t possibly not know that he was emitting killing intent.

“Killing intent? Me?”

Magnus didn’t know.

Drukan was at a loss for words.

“…Huh?”

He opened his mouth blankly in confusion.

“…That’s right. You kept emitting killing intent, so I was concerned.”

“…I see, so I was, you say?”

Magnus seemed somewhat flustered by his observation and even put his hand to his forehead.

It seems he really didn’t know.

‘What on earth is this?’

Drukan’s expression darkened slightly.

He had a very bad feeling.

So he just wanted to go back.

‘I should go back.’

Drukan didn’t want things to get troublesome.

But now he had a feeling that things were about to get fiercely troublesome.

“Then it seems I was mistaken. I’ll return to my guard duty now.”

It was just as Drukan was about to turn around after giving a clean and concise greeting.

“You said you’re married, right?”

A terribly wistful voice tapped him from behind.

At this moment, his spine chilled as if grabbed by a ghost.

“Your Grace, I left Mr. Bartolin and Ms. Serena alone, so I need to return to my guard duty…”

Drukan, rarely flustered, blurted out an excuse.

“Seeing that, it seems I’m so angry that I can’t control myself. Since my killing intent was flowing out.”

Of course, Magnus didn’t even pretend to listen.

Because he wasn’t originally the type to listen well to others.

“……”

And Drukan regretted coming here.

He instinctively realized that he had stepped into the wrong place.

Isn’t it usually like this?

People, especially men, hated giving relationship advice to others the most.

And a love triangle at that?

Drukan had no confidence in giving such advice.

Because he had never been in a love triangle.

He fell in love with a woman he met shortly after becoming an adult and lived a truly sweet life.

“…I see. It seems you should control your killing intent from now on.”

Drukan attempted to escape once again.

“I don’t know what to call this emotion. For now, I want to kill that man.”

Of course, the escape failed.

It was because that chilling voice was too sincere to run away from.

Drukan, who was once a hero, didn’t have the heart to watch an innocent citizen die.

“If you kill him, Ms. Serena will be angry.”

He said.

“Is that so? Then would it be alright if I just cut off his arms and legs?”

‘Which part of that made you think it would be alright?’

Drukan barely managed to hold back from asking that in return, clinging to his last bit of sanity.

No matter how he thought about it, this wasn’t right.

“Do you like Ms. Serena?”

“I like her as a friend.”

“……”

There’s no answer to this.

Drukan never thought he’d have to teach from step 1 out of a sequence from 1 to 10.

“Why did you come out here?”

“I came out because I was worried about Serena.”

“What part were you worried about?”

“Well, that she might get involved in some dangerous situation.”

Magnus glanced at Drukan with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Why are you asking strange things?’

Even the great Drukan felt a bit upset at that disdainful gaze.

However, as he was approaching his fifties, he tried to understand with a seasoned and generous heart.

“I don’t want to hear such pathetic talk.”

“It seems it would be better for you to live as lifelong friends.”

Of course, his patience didn’t last long.

From before, Drukan’s patience was prematurely… no, even worse than a candle’s flame.

“Of course we’ll live as lifelong friends.”

Magnus answered well, not even knowing his own heart.

He even looked somewhat proud.

Drukan kept his mouth shut for a moment, as it had been a while since he’d seen someone so clueless.

If he turned away like this, it seemed Magnus would be bound by the fact of being ‘friends’ for life.

“Do you think of Ms. Serena even when you can’t see her?”

“Yes, I do think about what pigsty she might be creating again.”

“……”

‘Is this really liking someone?’

Drukan pondered for a moment. The choice of words seemed too harsh to be directed at a woman.

“Do you get worried if she skips meals or doesn’t come out of her room?”

“Yes, I worry about what if someone dies of starvation in my house.”

“……”

‘This person seems to have no hope.’

Drukan wondered if Magnus would listen even if he gave advice.

It doesn’t seem very likely.

“Is that all?”

“What do you mean?”

“How would you feel if she left the house, skipped meals, or rarely came out of the house?”

“Of course I’d be concerned as a friend. If the house becomes a pigsty, it’s bad for health.”

F*ck.

Drukan felt his 20-year-old self, full of vigor, suddenly popping up in his head.