Duke, please let go of my ankle!

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

When Audrey drove to Lockt early on Saturday morning, she was aghast.

‘Oh, telecoms, cheaper than electricity.

‘…… Is that what they put up as a promotion?’

Damn you, Hans! I wanted to grab him right now and give him a good talking to, bragging about how he came up with the killer copy! Who the hell is going to come to you after seeing that insincere advert?

‘This is what you do to ruin someone else’s new product……!

Audrey scowled and opened the door.

‘Is the CEO here?’

‘Amelie, what’s with all the publicity outside? It’s Hans’ fault, that’s right!’

‘What? Yes. Isn’t it so fresh and nice?’

‘No! Who’s going to buy it after seeing that-’

─clink.

‘Are they cheaper in the telegraph district than in the western district?’

‘Oh, come this way!’

‘…….’

The first customer who came to the shop after seeing the advertisement immediately bought a light bulb. I didn’t even have to explain. If it’s cheaper than an electric light bulb, that’s it.

‘Hmmmmm. But it’s a good start.’

‘I don’t understand …….’

Somehow she felt like an idiot. Audrey shook her head and set the wooden box down.

‘This one’s a telegraph, this one’s a customized item.’

‘If you had told me, I would have gone to pick it up. By the way, how’s Claude?’

‘Huh? Mmm, well……. he’s a terrible person, by the way.’

‘Ugh, don’t tell me, he was crying.’

‘Ugh.’

I sighed sadly as I remembered the story of the customer.

Lockt had stopped taking custom orders a year ago. They hadn’t taken any custom work in over a year. When Audrey ran out of time to chase after Claude, she went on strike.

‘I want love or death!

‘Hey, ……, what are you doing?

‘This is what you hired me for, to make money and go to the goal! I want to live like a human being, you evil boss, wake up!

‘Hey, you crazy ……!

Wake up, wake up, wake up!

Audrey chased Hans around for a week, chanting until her ears bled. She even set up a portal in his room and visited him at night.

In the pitch blackness. Audrey squatted beside the bed and whispered in her friend’s ear.

‘Freedom to Audrey……. ‘Love to Audrey…….’

‘Zzzz, zzzz!’

Hans had nightmares every night, not knowing why.

Eventually, within a week, he surrendered. And just like that, Lockt’s customization was publicly consigned to the dustbin of history.

However, there were very few people who would accept it, depending on the circumstances. Most of the time, it was for the powerless or disadvantaged. It was a way of giving back.

‘I’d like you to have this one too.’

‘Huh? What’s this?’

‘Baby toys.’

‘Wow.’

Audrey slid a sphere that looked like a telegraph into the wooden box. It was a light bulb that spread light across the room

The light would soon become a three-dimensional image, transporting her to mountains, oceans, space, canyons, animal habitats, and anything else. For the father, who is probably busy.

‘Call me later when he comes!’

Okay.’

Audrey handed Amelie the box and disappeared behind the curtain. She was going to meet the customer face-to-face and give him some comfort. And teach him how to use his tools.

A clang.

‘Oh, you’re here! Wait a minute, we have a representative.’

‘What? No, you don’t have to

‘The CEO!’

Lucas, who had come to pick up the confession tool, stood nervously in front of the counter.

‘Why do you have to call the boss?

I’m so embarrassed, I just want to take it and go home…….

Amelie disappeared behind the curtain without another word. Lucas, left behind, began to look around in embarrassment.

‘Madam, that’s him.’

‘Hi. Audrey Kebbel, uh, your aide?’

‘……!’

Lucas’s eyes fluttered frantically as he looked at the tools.

‘Well, this place belongs to Emilton Youngsick…….’

‘Ah. But I’m the owner, Hans is the boss of the treasures!’

‘…….’

‘Humph.’

Audrey understood his reaction a bit too late.

‘That’s right! My wife cheated on me, I mean, the baby!’

How embarrassing it must be to tell someone you know about a domestic dispute. She regretted pretending to know in the first place.

‘Uh, here, take this, take it with you.’

‘Oh, okay.’

‘This is a baby toy, you can press it here…….’

The longer she talked, the more awkward the atmosphere became. The two of them couldn’t make eye contact and stared wistfully into space.

‘But your aide is unmarried, ugh, look at me. I’m sorry!’

‘No, it’s just, uh, circumstances.’

‘Well, I’m sure you’re busy, but, uh, go ahead.’

‘……Yes. Thank you.’

Lucas’s face was devastated as he left the store.

Now he was going to be a real father to a real child! And it was all because of his lord.

‘All I’m guilty of is working hard…….’

It was Duke Fritz who discouraged Lucas from posing as a prison guard. He urged for a stronger, more effective method, and his entourage agreed: ‘Poor baby daddy’. It seemed like the best match for Lucas.

But little did he know that one letter would shatter his pristine bachelorhood.

‘If I told people I was a virgin bachelor, would they believe me? Would they believe me?

Sooner or later, rumors will spread like wildfire. he was already in tears of frustration.

If Lucas never marries, it will surely be the Duke of Fritt’z’s fault.

Audrey, meanwhile, gaped in astonishment.

‘Wow, you don’t look like that at all, and I didn’t realise you were married, and even fathered a child!’

‘Who’s that?’

‘Huh? Just, just…… someone I know.’

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised. But I figured there had to be a good reason for hiding the fact that he was married. Having witnessed her working feverishly beside Duke Fritz, I naturally felt sympathy for him.

‘If you’re working so hard, who’s going to raise the children?

Audrey knew the drudgery of a father raising children alone: her father, Count Kevelson, had to work overtime seven days a week just to take his children to a single picnic. Even Lucas, the aide-de-camp at Duke Frit’s side all day, must have his hands full.

Audrey began to worry about the faceless baby.

‘Amelie, how old did he say her child was?’

‘Oh, wait, he said he’d just started babbling, so maybe two or three months old? I’m not sure.’

‘Oh my god…….’

How does that little thing know if Daddy left the house or went to work? He can’t even babble and has to wait for his dad to come home…….

‘Oh no. We should send him a present.’

‘A present?’

‘Yes. It must be hard to raise a child alone, and every child deserves to grow up healthy.’

‘That’s true.’

Amelie shredded the paper, agreeing. It was Locke’s iron law. Client identity and confidentiality.

‘What does the child need most?

Audrey wondered, trying to think of a gift to send anonymously. ‘I don’t want to put too much pressure on them by naming names. Oh, I suppose I could send some nutritional supplements or snacks.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

Derek hasn’t neglected his studies during his search for his Dodo.

Today he was going to practice writing a love letter for the weekend. He wanted to be able to write back to Dodo one day when he saw him.

Derek opened Love Letters, One Week and You’ll Be as Good as Casanova, with a serious face.

‘Of course.

The clerk’s eyes weren’t deceiving. The book was a little dusty from storage, but it was full of information.

‘Let’s get started.’

The Duke looked reverent as he read from the book with a sheet of paper beside him.

‘(Repeat after me ten times!) A beautiful way to capture his/her heart.

‘Just ten times? That’s easy.’

Derek wrote each word with heart and care.

‘You’re a cute little kitten……. Your, eyes, blind, me, like, the sun, in, the, sky…….’

It felt awkward and unfamiliar with writing such a fancy formula in my hand. I couldn’t write quickly enough, and I stopped and ran my hand through my hair.

‘…… doesn’t sound familiar.’

There were a lot of unnecessary formulas for beautiful expressions. They were like frills on his sleeves, cluttering up his sentences. Pretty to have, but useless.

The thing he wrote the most in his life was telegrams. In the war, telegrams had to convey maximum meaning with minimum words, so Derek favored a dry, concise style.

But writing a love letter like a telegram would be a faux pas.

‘No way.’

If he hadn’t found this book, his love letters would never have come to this.

An agreement. Marriage requested. Expecting a quick reply.

‘That’s awful.’

What a shame, to give the sweetest, most sentimental dodo in the world such a dried-up letter. Derek shook his head and flipped through the pages.

Then, suddenly, he stopped.

‘…….’

The example sentence was full of phrases he’d seen before.

It’s still hard

Still confused? Try these expressions.

1. How to make a confession

: Repeat the story with a third party called ‘that person,’ and finally reveal that ‘that person’ is the other person. The other person will be caught off guard and their heart will drop.

*Examples: That person is warm as sunshine. That person is as thin as a cotton ball. ……(middle)…… That person is you.

2. Redefine the relationship

Use a metaphor to describe your relationship with the other person. Try to imagine them as inextricably linked. Emphasize the inevitability of the two of you. Heart and electricity, fork and knife, paper and pen, tuna and fisherman. All good.

*Examples: You are electricity. That’s why my heart can’t beat without you. That’s why I can’t live without you. You are my mate, sent from heaven.

‘……!’

He knew this one. He couldn’t not know. He had read it hundreds of times already.

Had his dodo read it, too, because he had trouble writing love letters like that?

‘Ha…….’

Derek covered his mouth, his dodo was so adorable he couldn’t stand it.

It was so sweet, and she must have felt the same way. To strive to give the other something better.

‘I see we are already one.

His eyes slowly closed. It was too good to be true.

It was a feeling he’d never felt before, except for when they’d held swords to each other’s throats on the battlefield. To think he’d feel this way! They would be good companions for each other.

A couple of children, or no children. There is no need for Dodol to give birth himself, for the storks will bring them to him if he wishes.

‘Now I feel like I’m one step closer.’

Derek’s eyes flashed with happy imagination.

Now he knew how to find her.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊