Duke, please let go of my ankle!

CONTNUED…

‘Phew, that’s right. By the way, are there any decent girls in the mar top?’

‘Huh? Why all of a sudden?’

‘You’re already twenty-seven, you should find a relationship before it’s too late!’

It wasn’t that I wanted to lose him to another woman.

But Arnold frowned as if he had thought of something terrible.

‘But all Mar top people are weird.’

‘…….’

Audrey’s eyes narrowed.

Were the people of Mar top really weird? Didn’t they think Arnold was weird?

‘And I want to live with my sister for the rest of my life.’

‘……!’

No, what a horrible thing to say!

But then again, it’s Arnold, so it’s entirely possible. He would sneak into Audrey’s luggage wagon and then claim the front yard of the newlyweds’ house, saying he could sleep in the doghouse.

‘…….’

Not even the most dear brother would do.

‘Oh, by the way, guess what he brought, huh? He brought our acorns!’

Arnold forgot what he had just said and held out a box with a lot of excitement. It was the kind of showmanship that a ten-year-old would have loved.

‘Curious, curious hands!’

Audrey sighed quietly.

‘I’m not a child…….

My brother hasn’t kept up with his sister’s growth. What’s the point of pretending to be a clown in front of your 20-year-old sister?

His hands were fidgeting with the gift box. It was the same as when Arnold was playing with little Audrey just before he entered the tower.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

Derek was still lurking near Count Kevelson’s house today. He hid behind the wall, waiting anxiously, not daring to approach him for fear of offending Dodo.

And then. A caravan of cargo wagons with large boxes pulled up in front of the Count.

‘What is that?

An instinctive alarm went off in Derek’s head. The crate, large enough to require several porters to carry, looked five times as large as the basket of flowers he had prepared.

‘…….’

The ever-growing basket of flowers felt somehow shabby.

‘This won’t work, I’ll have to bring something bigger tomorrow.

Derek’s competitive spirit was unnecessary. His sincerity and heart for Dodo were too much to lose to others.

Suddenly, he wondered what that box was. If it was from Count Kevelson, it should have been delivered to the manor house. Was it a gift to be left on the doorstep?

‘Strange. Such a large gift in a house with only Count Kevelson and Dodo?

Suddenly he had an ominous premonition.

No romantic would send a man-sized gift to an almost fifty-year-old count. That leaves…….

‘My dodo!’

For a moment his eyes sparked.

‘How dare you! How dare you! How dare you! How dare you!

‘You …… want to die.’

The flesh crawled up Derek’s back. A part of him wanted to shred the box before Dodo found it.

After only a few days, the flies had caught on! Guarding the cute little dodo was both rewarding and exhausting.

‘What if the dodo gets away?

A sinister image ran through my mind. The sinful man was a child’s play.

But for now, he clenched his fists tightly and endured. This, he thought, was God’s punishment.

A few hours later, the sun rose and the day dawned.

The lovely Dodol opened the door and came out. As usual, he was surprised.

‘I’m glad you seem to like it.

Derek smiled, then turned serious. The dodo’s attention had shifted to the box next to him.

‘I’m sure it’s a cheap piece of crap that’s only worth its weight in gold or mana.

But the dodo was too slow for him, and he stood near the crate for a long time. Then he had one of his servants gingerly open the box, not even paying attention to his flower.

‘Voila! Surprise!’

‘……!’

Quack.

Derek clutched the hilt of his knife.

‘……I should have sliced it already. I’m going to cut him to pieces!

A lone man popped out of the crate. He hugged his dodo tightly and beat his body, as sly as a fox cub with a soft smile.

‘What a sly wretch!

Derek rued.

Why couldn’t he have thought of something more ingenious, like squeezing himself into the basket of flowers?

But Dodo, oblivious to Derek’s thoughts, let the fox-like creature into the mansion.

‘Who do you think you are……!

Derek glared at the other man’s gate for a long time. If he sensed the slightest hint of suspicion, he was ready to barge in at a moment’s notice.

‘Your Excellency, it is time for you to return home.’

‘…….’

The heat-exhausted aide hastened Duke Fritz’s departure without a second glance; he had no time for this, given the mountains of papers on his desk.

But the lord had been slow today.

‘Your Excellency?’

‘I’m canceling today’s schedule entirely.’

‘What?’

‘…….’

‘Ugh, Your Excellency, I’m coming with you!’

Shrugging off the aide’s remarks, Derek took his place in front of Count Kevelson. It was like a five-minute waiting list.

Derek stood there for a long moment, gripping the hilt of his sword, before following the two men out the door.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

‘That’s …… close, too close.’

His fire-blazing eyes stared intently at the cheerful pair.

Lucas, alone since day one, did not understand such a lord.

‘Why do you even bother to stare at them if it’s only going to hurt you, and you’re not even a pervert?

I never knew the Duke of Frit had a hobby of torturing himself.

Young Lady Kevelson, on the other hand, seemed at ease. She picked out the stranger’s clothes for him in the wardrobe and stood close to him and joked with him. They seemed to be quite familiar.

‘She’s too good for you, Your Excellency.

Lucas unwittingly sided with Audrey.

He didn’t realize it was a fake story, and he’d even given her a baby toy. She’s far too good to be next to the nasty Duke of Frit.

Derek groped his way across his chest, unaware of his aide’s blasphemous thoughts. I felt a tightness in my chest. It was hard to breathe as if my lungs were chained together, but no amount of frowning would lessen the pain.

‘…….’

I feel like I’m rotting inside, even though there’s no outward wound.

It was made worse by the fact that the two of them were so well-matched. He was a bright man, unlike the dark Derek. Even his bright, dolphin-like smile was no match for Duke Frit’s sneer.

‘……I’ll go back.’

Derek stood there for a long moment, then turned around. Every step he took away from Dodo felt like a nail in his heart.

All this for the pain he had caused Dodo.

Suddenly, he felt anxious.

‘What if she never changes her mind, what if she never comes back? What if she never comes back?

Paying the punishment quietly did not guarantee that the dodo would return. I was afraid that I would lose him forever.

─Pause.

‘Losing Dodo? To me?

Just thinking about it drains the blood from my body. The merciless fingertips that had taken the lives of others trembled with a fear worse than death. White as a sheet, Duke Fritz curled his trembling hands into fists.

‘Shake off the …… author, shake him off.’

‘Shake him down?’

Does he mean to grab him and beat him?

But Duke Fritz had no answer.

‘Pretence is pretense!

Lucas, having made his point, immediately began planning the kidnapping.

Oh no. How dare I offend His Excellency?

‘You’re dead now, you bastard!

He will pay a heavy price in blood.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

‘Home is the best place!’

Arnold breathed in the morning air with pleasure. Even though he only returned once or twice a year, home was still his sanctuary.

‘I haven’t heard the birds in ages.’

It was nice to have a quiet morning, unlike the noisy pagoda, and the garden, which had been tended for generations, was lovely in its tranquillity.

‘Oh yes, there was a hut in that tree, wasn’t there? Acorn used to love it! I used to insist on sleeping there during storms, and my father used to scold me. He was cute as a puffer fish with his swollen face.’

Arnold chuckles as he remembers the two of them as children. The house was filled with memories of his beloved brother. Even the memories of his mother, which he doesn’t remember, he cherishes as a representative of the family.

─Sasak. Sasak.

The sound of the grass in the garden rustling in the breeze is soothing. It was a sound that could never be heard from the tower, which lay in the middle of nowhere. Count Kevelson had indeed not changed.

Arnold laughed merrily and stepped closer to the grass.

‘Hmph, hmph, hmph. Let’s smell it-, hmph!’

Just then, an unfamiliar hand shot out of the bushes and clamped over his mouth.

‘Ugh!’

‘Shut up, you bastard.’

‘Uh-uh!’

─Sasak. Sasak.

Arnold, who had been shouting for a while, disappeared beyond the bushes. All that remained was a mess of scattered leaves.

Sasak. Sasak.

As the swaying of the bushes gradually faded, Count Kevelson was again enveloped in a deathly silence.

It was the same still morning as before.