Duke, please let go of my ankle!

I

Sleep eluded him long into the night, and he didn’t deserve the brief respite. Derek paced the bedroom aimlessly, eventually making his way to the Treasury. He sat down in Audrey’s seat, feeling for any trace of her, and unfolded the paper he’d cursed at her for barely crossing out a line.

‘Why didn’t I know this was ……?’

The cute little letters danced across the paper. The letters looked like they belonged in a love letter, albeit in a slightly different shape. The only thing they had in common was the word ‘cute.’ He had been too stupid to recognize this cuteness.

Yes, it was all his fault. Dodo had done nothing wrong.

‘Hah.’

After another long walk through the Treasury, Derek made his way to the Oval Office, where he sat stiffly at his desk, reading and re-reading the book he’d already read.

‘How to catch her when she’s gone…….’

The words alone made his heartache. His face, of course, was still grim as if he could kill anyone.

‘Show up at her doorstep. Wait all night, and beg for forgiveness from the bottom of your heart…….’

Derek jumped to his feet, a look of enlightenment on his face.

It was already dark outside. But the weather was cool, so what the hell.

No, he had to go out, rain or shine, blizzard or no blizzard. If this was the only way to get her back……. There was nothing Derek wouldn’t do.

‘Yes. You stay put, because now it’s my turn to approach.’

I decided to swallow my pride. For the sake of the dodo who had risked everything to come to me.

It didn’t matter if her heart was already dead. He would do everything in his power to make her open her heart once again.

That was the least she could do for the undeserved love she had given him. Now it was Derek’s turn to be brave.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

Audrey slept soundly and didn’t wake up until noon on Sunday.

‘Hmm? Why are the curtains still closed?’

The room was pitch black. The mansion was eerily quiet for a place that should be bustling. Audrey scratched her head and reached for the curtains.

She was just about to pull them open when Xena, white as a sheet, came running in.

‘Oh, Miss Profit! No!’

‘What?’

The curtains, which had opened as wide as a sesame leaf, slammed shut in an instant. Xena clung to the fabric with all her might.

‘Lady. No, don’t be alarmed, but listen. A strange man is standing outside…….’

‘A strange person?’

‘Yes. I don’t know how long he’s been there, but I saw him at the crack of dawn, and he’s standing right outside the front door, and we’d got a weird vibe about him.’

Audrey narrowed her eyes in disbelief.

No, who the hell stands on someone’s doorstep for hours on end? It’s not like they have anything better to do.

‘Well, if the Count isn’t around……. I’ve drawn the curtains in every room so you can’t see from the outside, and everyone’s pretending he’s not here, so you’ll have to keep quiet today.’

‘But I’m going to Hans’s to-day.’

‘I’ll have the carriage ready by the back door. Are you going to wash up now?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’ll be ready in a minute!’

Xena turned on her heel and slipped away.

Audrey was still standing in front of the curtain.

‘If I open it just a little, you won’t be able to see, will you?

I’m going to open it a finger’s breadth, just enough to catch a glimpse of the psycho’s face, just in case I run into him on the street.

─Sigh.

‘Who the hell…… hee hee!’

─Kudang Tang.

Audrey looked like she’d seen a ghost. Goosebumps shot up her spine.

‘Pfft, it’s the Duke of Frit!

It was Derek, standing in the middle of the gate of someone else’s house.

The nervous breakdown that had been under control had returned.

Had he realized it was from her, and was he here to get her? But if so, shouldn’t he have come in earlier?

‘…….’

Audrey closed the curtains with trembling hands. Then she began to peek out through the tiny slit.

The strangest thing was that he didn’t seem to have any business there. His rugged appearance, his neat haircut, and his shabby clothes were the same as usual.

But why was he standing in front of other people’s houses? He looked like the Grim Reaper, standing there alone, terrifying others. If I took a single step out, wouldn’t he slit my throat at once?

‘I must sneak out …….’

God, I’m scared, I don’t want to run into him, not even by the hairs on Hans’s nose.

‘Someone will have to go and dry him off.

Audrey hurriedly got ready and sneaked out of the mansion.

Derek stood there for a long time, unaware that she had slipped out the back door.