Duke, please let go of my ankle!

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

Dodo seems to be a master of intrigue. She stole his heart with a letter without ever showing him her face.

It’s been two weeks now. Derek waited every morning for her to show up.

In the meantime, his heart grew bigger and bigger. What had started as curiosity and unfamiliarity had morphed into longing and impatience?

But there was still no word from Dodo.

At this point, I began to worry.

‘I wonder if something has happened to her.

A sudden carriage crash, a kidnapping by a villain.

‘……!’

Derek dropped his pen. At the same time, the eyes of the Treasury turned to one place.

‘……anyone who touches my dodo, will never, ever, be safe.

The bloodshot eyes glittered with targetless rage and life. Derek snapped the fountain pen in two with his bare hand, vowing to himself.

He would protect his dodo for the rest of his life at all costs, and if he touched a hair on her head, he would make her suffer for the rest of her life in a torment worse than hell.

‘Huh? Weird?’

‘…….’

But first, I need to do something about that stupid backside. Duke Frit watched the back of Audrey’s head with displeasure as she busied herself. Every odd move she makes is annoying, and he can’t leave her alone.

Derek didn’t hesitate to start pressuring Audrey to do her job properly.

‘I assume you’ve finished sorting out the loan notes?’

‘What? You said it was definitely by noon-’

‘So. Are you saying you didn’t?’

‘……!’

The round face instantly colored with panic. As she hesitated, I could tell she was flustered.

‘If you’re in a hurry, I can get it done in forty, thirty minutes.’

And so the air cheque was sent. She hadn’t realized that ‘by noon’ in the Duke’s castle meant ‘finish and report within ten minutes’.

Duke Fritz scowled as if he hadn’t even been expecting it in the first place.

‘Are you trying to play a little game here?’

‘……Ah, no.’

‘Then you should have finished two when I ordered one. You can’t be this slow to integrate into the ducal system.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Peacock Castle isn’t for you unless you’re in the Academy’s Bechan department.’

‘……!’

‘I don’t know if there is such a department.’

Ugh, how could he say such a harsh thing?

Audrey pressed her lips together to hide her trembling lips. She was on the verge of tears with frustration.

She’d worked tirelessly, lying flat on her back, trying her best to stay out of the snow, especially when it came to organizing the archives. She thought she made some progress in that area.

However, I felt like all my hard work was wasted in an instant. It was too much.

‘I swear, she’s the best bechan of bechan.’

‘…….’

‘So I’d rather you leave now, because you’re not only ungrateful, but you’re also terrible.’

‘……!’

Audrey’s head snapped up from her sulking.

‘Zee, is that real?

Why hadn’t I thought of this before? There was a way to leave the duchy without having to fulfill my contract! If I had known, I would have been fired an hour earlier. I should have been fired an hour earlier for messing up so badly!

Derek, meanwhile, stared at the shocked face with heartless eyes.

‘I see you’ve finally realized you’re afraid of dukes.

Strangely enough, as I watched her freaking out, I felt an unexplained pang of guilt.

‘Maybe all those romance books have made me too sentimental.

But Derek refused to be weak.

His tenderness was only for Dodoi, and no one else’s business. ‘You must only be kind to my woman,’ it said in the book of love. He warned her that if she was affectionate with any other woman, she would be abandoned.

‘No, I can’t do that.

Duke Frit’s dream was to live happily ever after with the Dodo, so the only thing he could offer the slug was shock therapy, not affection.

‘Now that you’re properly frightened, I’m going to do some work.

Audrey stammered, still in a daze.

‘Did I…… get fired?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh, well, then I guess I’ll have to’

‘Your Excellency.’

A second soldier appeared from out of nowhere. It was Claude, full of justice.

‘She’s a little clumsy, but she’s doing her job.’

‘You’re taking sides on personal terms.’

‘No, sir, it’s not that. You’ve gone too far by giving her unilateral notice of dismissal.’

‘Too much?’

‘Yes. Audrey’s quick to adapt and responsible. She’ll be a great asset to the Treasury one day.’

‘……!’

Audrey felt like grabbing him by the crotch. If Duke Frit changed his mind, she’d be tied down.

‘Brother, please don’t do that!

I sent him a pleading glance, but he just smiled at me, as if to reassure me.

But to my great relief, the Duke of Fritz looked unhappy.

‘This is not going well.

I was going to scare him a bit and then give him a second chance, but the unexpected interruption interrupted my plans. I thought it would be ridiculous to change my mind and nip this in the bud.

‘……There is no going back. Young girl should return home.’

‘Your Excellency!’

‘Oh, I’m fine.’

‘Audrey.’

Audrey clutched at Claude’s collar and shook her head wistfully. Pitying glances rained down on her helpless head, but she was fine.

‘I don’t have to come now.

You don’t have to face that uncomfortable face, and you don’t have to live in constant fear of being discovered at any moment. By being fired, she’d be off the dragon’s radar forever!

Audrey faked a bitter face. If she got too excited about being fired, she might raise suspicions.

‘In the meantime, thank you…….’

Goodbye, everyone!

‘Take care, everyone.’

I’m off to freedom!

The heavy footsteps of my departure were followed by a series of wistful sighs.

‘…….’

Derek looked a little flustered. He’d expected her to look back at least once.

But the back of her head remained steadfastly forward.

Just before she boarded the carriage. Audrey looked up at the ducal castle, which had become a rose castle.

‘Hooray, she’s free!

It’s time to say goodbye to the tiresome Duke of Frit.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

‘I can’t stand by and watch any longer.’

‘What?’

‘We have to do something.’

Lucas was stunned.

‘This is what we’re supposed to do?

For a man who had surrounded his castle with roses, he had no conscience.

The Duke of Fritt was as stubborn as ever. No matter how many times I told him it was a threatening letter, he wouldn’t believe it, as if the dreadful challenge was a genuine love letter.

‘I want you to contact the newspaper and have it published immediately, first thing tomorrow morning.’

‘…… Got it.’

Derek stared out the window, his face grim.

If his prediction was correct, if there was anything even remotely wrong with Dodo, he would…… hunt down those who had harmed her, destroy them all, and marry her.

The next morning, however, Derek could hardly hide his displeasure when he read the headline.

‘(Exclusive) Duke’s threatening letter, handwriting to be examined… blackmailer identified.

‘Duke Fritz is furious… “I will never let him go”

‘What’s wrong with the knight?’

A threatening letter, a blackmailer. And anger?

He swore he didn’t remember him sounding like that. All he had said was that he was going to have his handwriting examined to find the author of the letter and that he wanted to find her and spend the rest of his life with her.

‘You’re writing a novel.’

And then the journalists wagged their pens at me.

The title of the book is pretty damning. It’s like they’re looking for Dodo to kill, and if he doesn’t find her, it’ll be all because of them.

‘Make sure you have a supply of …… reporters.’

‘Why, why do you say that?’

‘Without Dodo, they have no lives. They will be held accountable.’

Duke Fritt tore the newspaper to shreds.

‘The search for Dodo begins in earnest today. Something must have happened to her.’

‘…….’

Lucas slapped his chest in frustration.

‘No, he’s just a blackmailer?

I don’t care what happens. Why would she not show up if he’s covered in roses like that? He knows he’s not going to die a pretty death if he gets caught.

‘You will circle the capital and find the owner of this seal.’

‘…… Yes.’

‘You must find him before the golden hour passes. We must hurry, and you may have the Duke’s Knights stand by if necessary.’

‘…….’

‘I will rescue Dodo before it’s too late.’

Derek looked like a commander now. The reputation that had struck fear into neighboring countries was being rekindled in an unexpected place.

The focus that refused to give up in the face of adversity, the dog-bite tenacity, the unblinking patience to hold on until the opponent fell into a trap.

Lucas remembered something about his master he’d forgotten.

‘That’s him. That’s what he was like.’

The end of the war did not mean the end of man’s nature. The lord may have looked like he was sitting calmly in his castle, but he was still hiding his sharp claws beneath his feet.

‘I will get …… back, I will, I will.’

Even if the threatening letter had been a genuine love letter, it wouldn’t have made much difference. The end destination would be the same, only the destination would change from a coffin to a wedding, and there would be no escaping him.

Duke Fritz is the world’s most persistent man. Besides, this was the opportunity of a lifetime for a man who had been in love all his life and wanted to marry, so there was no way he was going to let go of the fish that had swam to his feet.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊