Duke, please let go of my ankle!

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

‘Hah.’

When Derek returns to his office after a day of fiddling, he tugs at the annoying wrist frills. He looks irritated, as always those clothes are called wings.

‘Do you still have a way to tell the ganja apart?’

‘I’m thinking of putting in a customization request with Lockt.’

‘Custom-made?’

‘Yes. They said they stopped accepting requests a year ago, but there are rare occasions when they do.’

‘Well, there’s no substitute for a tool. Let’s go with that first.’

‘Yes.’

Derek was finally alone.

He tapped his fingers on his desk, lost in thought for a long moment, then used his key to open the drawer. In the middle of the wide drawer lay a single sheet of paper. It was a carefully coated love letter.

He read the letter, which he had already read dozens of times, one more time.

‘…… I think it’s pretty cute.’

Even though he knew what was coming next, it was new and made him smile every time he read it.

For the past few days, his day had started and ended with a letter.

It was an amazing feeling to be loved by someone. The familiar world somehow looked a little different, and he couldn’t help but smile at times, even when he wasn’t thinking about it.

Like clothes soaked in a drizzle, his life was slowly turning upside down.

‘You should be able to see it from a mile away, I’m afraid.’

Derek looked at the hundred roses by the window.

The letter had asked for a single flower, but he’d placed as many as he could, just in case.

‘This will be visible from the Old Continent.

Derek couldn’t wait to see the shy man’s face.

A one-sided love letter, what a bold move. All he could do was sit still and wait.

‘How dare you keep the Duke waiting?

She was going to spank him very sweetly if he showed up.

Derek’s lips quirked up uncharacteristically, and he opened the book and began to read.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

Amelie, who had been working at Lockt for five years, was a veteran among veterans. She had a ghostly sense of what was needed just by looking at the faces that walked through the door.

‘Welcome, this is Lockt.’

‘Hey…….’

‘If you need anything, just ask.’

The stiff demeanor. Eyes rolling uneasily. The slumped shoulders. The haphazardly thrown-together clothes.

‘Ohhh!

The smell of a sticky affair. Amelie’s specialty.

‘Oh, you look like you need to calm down. I’ll take you inside, not here.’

‘Go, go, thank you.’

‘You’re welcome.’

She ushered him behind a black curtain behind the counter. The pale-complexioned man glanced around as he entered, making sure to close the curtain carefully.

After a long walk through the labyrinthine passageways, they arrived at the chamber. There was an eerie atmosphere, as if demons had to be summoned.

Amelie allowed him to take a seat, then sat herself down across from him.

‘So, what can I do for you?’

‘Well, do you do customization, by any chance?’

Of course.

She put on her best wistful face.

‘but we stopped accepting customizations over a year ago.’

‘Oh.’

‘What do you want to use it for? I’ll try to recommend something as similar as possible.’

‘That’s…….’

The man’s sullen face turned into a troubled one. But instead of feeling sympathy for him, Amelie picked up a pen and paper with a twinkle in her eye.

‘My wife,’ she said, ‘is having an affair.’

‘Oh.’

‘So I asked her for a divorce, but she cried…… and said where’s the proof?’

It was the most interesting case I’d heard in a long time. Amelie’s chair drew closer.

‘So?’

‘Well, the …… child, who just started babbling, only asks for his mum every day, and his mum won’t even come home, because she’s moved in with a cheating bastard.’

‘Oh my God!’

She’s left a kid? She’s stronger than I thought.

Amelie dropped her pen without realizing it.

‘The lawyer says there’s no evidence, so it won’t work. The kid cries, her mum won’t even come in…… I’d rather get a divorce so we can at least get child support for our daughter.’

‘Oh my.’

‘So I’m grasping at straws. Do you have any…… tools to get a confession?’

‘Oh, well.’

Sensing Amelie’s hesitation, the man threw a final counterpunch.

‘Just thinking about my little girl, who never got to hold his mum, black!’

‘She’s such a bad girl!’

‘…….’

‘Ha. We don’t usually take custom orders, but you’re in a pinch, so I’ll ask my chief researcher to do a special favor for you!’

‘Oh, thank you. I don’t know how to repay this favor…….’

‘You must be strong for the sake of the child! So, what is your name?’

The man’s shoulders lifted, and his expression changed in an instant.

‘Lucas.’

‘I’ll have it done in three weeks at the latest, and you can come back then.’

But Amelie, furiously scribbling away, didn’t see it coming.

When she lifted her head again, Lucas was squeezing back fake tears.

thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much.’

‘Ugh. Why are there so many bad people in the world? It’s not your fault, Lucas.’

‘Yes……. I have to be strong for my son.’

The mission was at success, but at the same time, a sense of self-doubt washed over me. How could a bachelor without a lover be a poor father? I felt a sense of loss like I had lost my virginity. Should I be thankful that I’d found a way to tell the difference?

Lucas slipped out of the lockt in a huff.

‘If I don’t get married, it will be your fault!

I felt a little embarrassed as I carefully covered my face when no one was looking.

Meanwhile, Amelie, who was cleaning up and pondering the story, suddenly felt strange.

‘Wait a minute,’ she said, ‘I thought you have a daughter, but you’re doing this for your son?’

Had she been so preoccupied with the case of Chijung that she had misheard?

‘Sure. What does it matter? Maybe there are both.’

But she didn’t think much of it and shrugged it off.

It was almost time to go home.