Duke, please let go of my ankle!

Mmm…….’

After a brief blackout, Arnold awoke in the dungeons of the Duke’s castle. Standing in front of him were ten hulking figures of uncanny proportions. Their bulging biceps were almost the size of adult men’s heads.

‘Chu!’

Lucas, the most ‘gruff’ of them all, stepped forward.

‘You’re about to be killed when His Highness the Duke arrives!’

‘Uh…… why am I here…….’

‘Look at you, don’t you know your faults?’

‘Ugh.’

Lucas grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him roughly away. Tied to the chair, Arnold shook as helplessly as the last leaf.

‘What? You look at him, and you dare to offend His Excellency?’

‘…….’

‘You know what he’s like, you’ll come to your senses when you’ve had a proper education from His Excellency, you little brat!’

─Benefit.

Just then, the iron gate opened with an unpleasant clang. It was Derek who stepped out with a neat stride.

Lucas squared his shoulders like a brave hound and looked back at his lord with pride.

‘Your Excellency! I was just about to put him to sleep.’

‘…… interest, why.’

‘Didn’t you tell me to rob him? I intend to rob him to the bone!’

‘…….’

Derek looked at the bound man and was at a loss for words.

Sometimes his aide could be stupid. Like now.

‘Sneak him out’ meant sending someone to do some digging, but what the hell was he supposed to do if he just kidnapped him?

It didn’t matter if I sent him back nicely. The man already knew his dominatrix, and if he said the wrong thing, Derek was sure to incur her wrath.

‘…… Then we’ll be man and boy forever.

He glared at his aide, his eyes filled with unconcealed anger and pathetic pity. Lucas’s bravado and brazenness irritated his master even more than Arnold’s had. And he was smug without even realizing it.

‘Shall I start with water?’

‘Ha……. I’m good.’

‘Yeah? Then how about we start with the long-overdue pharyngeal? I’m going to cut him to the bone until he confesses-’

‘…….’

‘Your Excellency?’

Lucas shook his head.

What the hell is wrong with him? Did he bring him in too nice? Should I have broken his hands and feet?

Meanwhile, Arnold was looking around with confused eyes, like a frightened herbivore.

Strangely enough, the scurrying was eerily familiar.

Derek approached him, trying to ignore the tingling in his stomach. It wasn’t a situation he’d intended, but he didn’t feel sorry for the fox.

‘Hey, hey, why me.’

‘You were sticking too close to …….’

‘What?’

‘Even cuddling up to you.’

‘What the hell are you talking about…….’

Yeah, I’m going to have to scare the shit out of him so he doesn’t dare hang around Dodo again.

Derek gritted his teeth together and spat back.

‘Where did you get the nerve to bring a box?’

‘A box?’

‘What a cowardly way to be born a man. You’re a coward.’

‘What do you mean, a box……, are you Audrey?’

‘Don’t call me by my first name.’

‘Hmph.’

A chill ran down my spine. The sharpened air felt like it would strangle him at a moment’s notice.

Arnold could do nothing but shiver. It was taboo for wizards of the Tower to use magic on commoners.

‘What is your name?’

‘Uh, Arnold.’

‘Arnold? A commoner? How dare you call me a commoner?’

‘Arnold Ke, Kebelson…….’

‘…….’

‘Ah, Arnold Kevelson. I have no idea what the hell you’re doing to me, why you’re doing this-’

‘……!’

Was there another family in the Empire with the surname ‘Kevelson’? No. Common sense would dictate otherwise.

The dungeon quickly became a communal funeral parlor. The victims were ‘Duke Frit’s Love’ and ‘Lucas’. The pallbearer was a demented Derek.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

‘Hmph! Go, Your Excellency!’

‘How selfish of you to spoil another’s love!’

‘I did not do it on purpose-’

‘If I had, I would have had your head cut off long ago.’

‘Now, you’re wrong…….’

‘…….’

Derek was still furious.

‘Somehow.

Her brother shared a ‘cuteness’ with the dodo. She felt sick to her stomach to think of it against a man, but she did it anyway, given that they were blood brothers.

‘You must have a black eye, you’re Dodol’s brother, and that kind of cuteness doesn’t come around often.’

‘……It’s all my fault.’

‘What do we do about it?’

Derek was complicated again.

While he was busy begging Dodoll’s forgiveness, he’d offended her brother.

He untied Arnold in a hurry, then escorted him to the guest room.

‘Excuse me, where are we going?

‘To the special…… hospitality room.

‘Special hospitality? Oh! Is it a party?

‘Something like that.

‘Yay!

‘…….’

‘Oh, by the way, can I borrow some pens and paper? I didn’t have the invitations ready!’

I knew I couldn’t send him back like this, so I wanted to buy some time. I hastily shove food, wine, cake, and sparklers into Arnold’s room.

But I couldn’t think of a good excuse.

What was I supposed to say? That I had the wrong person, that there was a misunderstanding, that it was a surprise party?

Of course, Arnold seemed to believe it was a surprise party. There was a naïve part of him that resembled a dodo.

‘Come on, come on, everybody, put your hands in the air!’

‘Like this?’

‘If you tie with me or lose, you lower your hand!’

‘Oh, shudder.’

‘Okay, get ready! Rock, paper, scissors, and bo!’

‘Waaaaaah!’

Arnold was playing with the Duke’s hired help in the guest room. Judging by the raucous laughter coming from beyond the door, he was a social butterfly.

‘If he likes it so much, shouldn’t we tell him to leave?’

‘…….’

‘He’s friendly with the Earl of Emilton’s lords and ladies, so I think we can let them all in. And Count Kevelson, too.’

‘I’ll do that first.’

‘Yes!’

The three men, who were intensely engrossed in their work, were ushered into the hospitality room without a word of English. Arnold had given them an unintended holiday.

‘Father! Claude! Hans!’

‘Why are you here, and not at home…….’

‘Brother Arnold?’

‘What, when did you get out?’

Arnold, who had just finished shouting to his hired help, was too busy playing to answer.

‘We’re all playing together!’

‘Waaaaaaaah!’

‘I want one. What the hell is going on?’

The day-long party had consumed eighty bottles of wine, and the turkey that was supposed to be on the dinner table was frozen. But Duke Frit didn’t blame him.

‘If the dodo’s brother was happy, so be it.

If this was the least he could do to make up for his mistake.

He went out of his way to help Arnold forget about the dungeon and focus on the party.

With his support, the party went on for a long time. Until Arnold collapsed from exhaustion.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

Late at night.

An errand boy arrived at the ducal castle.

‘This wine is from Count Kevelson. He wishes to thank you for your hospitality to his son.’

‘…….’

Count Kevelson sent the gift as soon as he returned home. The aide who had kidnapped the family’s precious son, and who had also been so disrespectful. Derek capped it off with a diplomatic note that the future head of the Ministry of Magic deserved such a welcome.

Lucas was spared.

‘Come to think of it, my dodo isn’t the only thing I have to worry about.’

‘…….’

‘Marriage is a union of house and family, and it’s only right that they remain close.’

The aide had a lot to say, but he held his tongue.

His lord can barely walk, and he’s thinking of running. He probably has all the names of his children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren in his head.

‘The Earl of Kevelson is a…… yes. It must be frustrating to work in the Ministry of Justice. I can’t believe they don’t even give the head of a department a separate office.’

The longer Derek spoke, the more uneasy I became.

‘I want Count Kevelson’s office on the fourth floor immediately. At the very least, have it ready for use within this week.’

‘Your Excellency, there is no room for that on the fourth floor.’

‘I suppose we can get rid of something.’

‘…….’

These are all your rooms, Your Excellency.

But the man I was in love with had no regard for my convenience.

‘If we see each other often enough, the Count will feel familiar with me. Like…… son-in-law.’

Derek imagined a close-knit family.

A maternal grandfather and loving mother, a stern but loving father, and a gregarious maternal uncle. The child would be intelligent and loving.

‘Perhaps we could combine our names one letter at a time, Dedric, no, Ded, for a boy, and Odette……. for a girl.

He imagined the children’s faces, mixing the two. But none of the children looked like him, just copies of Dodol, like Dodol_Final1 and Dodol_Real_Final. At this point, Derek was pretty much just lending his name.

‘I hope the storks are doing a good job of fetching it…….’