Duke, please let go of my ankle!

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

It was nearing quitting time.

Duke Fritz suggested dinner, his face as stern as ever.

“It would be nice to have a meal, together.”

“……!”

Damn it!

Derek cursed under his breath.

He’d blurted out what he’d meant to say, “It would be nice to have a meal together. Damn nerves. Still, the subject and predicate order are staggered, so I’m sure I got the meaning across.

The hands and legs hidden under the desk twitched nervously.

“That’s…….”

Dodo, who had been rolling her eyes and showing concern for a while, lowered her head. I guess she’s shy. Even in that way, she was truly lovely.

“…… yeah.”

“……!”

The goat-like tremor of approval slammed into Derek’s heart.

─Gulp.

“……You can follow Lucas.”

“Yes, black.”

In the end, he had no choice but to stand up first.

First, I’ll have to slice about 20 scarecrows in the rehearsal hall and change my clothes. What a disgraceful way to go out on a first date.

Derek looked down at his ridiculous, clown-like outfit and shook his head. The ruffles fluttering from my neck and the lack of lace still wasn’t enough. He was going to pull out his favorite outfit, one he’d saved for a special occasion.

“……?”

“Huh!”

The familiar stare of astonishment stuck.

The Duke of Frit was making his way to the dinner table, dressed in the most bizarre outfit he’d ever owned, a total mess that defied any single aspect of his appearance.

Intricate patterns of symbols of unknown meaning. Tight ruffles around his neck. Jewellery jingling like mobiles beneath the frills. Pink trousers covered in all sorts of lace. Fairy shoes with pointed toes.

There was nothing normal about her except her face.

‘Pull up a chair, speed up the pace of the meal, and…….’

But Derek didn’t notice, and with a stony face, he reviewed his lessons.

Unbeknownst to anyone, he was the most nervous he’d ever been.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

But about two hours later.

‘……This is pathetic.’

Derek threw himself down on his bed in despair. His much-anticipated dinner with Dodo had ended in disaster.

It had started well enough: the atmosphere was cordial, with just the right amount of tension. He’d done his homework, and he’d been very attentive to Dodo throughout the meal.

But there was a problem.

‘He, just, uh, kill it!

“Can I, uh, leave the head, uh, here, black?

‘Ho, ho, are you planning on poisoning him?

Or are you going to tear him limb from limb?

‘Hmph, please kill me!’

Dodo, unaware of his pace, begs to be killed throughout the meal.

Derek, bewildered, tried to soothe him. But Dodo’s tears never ceased.

‘My dear, my dear, it is getting late, and you had better go.

Eventually, the historic first date came to an end as Lucas evacuated Dodo, who was on the verge of breaking down.

Derek began to beat himself up, going over everything he’d done wrong.

“I should have been more gentle.

How dare I let him slice the steak with his tiny hands! What if those little fingers fell off?” ……. He should have done all the writing and feeding.

And to make him hold a glass of water with those cute little hands, are you out of your mind? How could you be so cruel!

‘Speak more kindly to him.’

He didn’t even call Dodo affectionately. ‘My kitten,’ he said, ‘or my dear Dodo. He was so nervous he couldn’t remember what he’d said. It was probably far from affectionate.

‘…… Now that I look at you again, you don’t look so good.

And what about the clothes? When you walk into a banquet, you can’t see anything but glamour. Dodo didn’t even think about how he dressed, he just pampered himself. He is very greedy. The two of them must have looked more like a mad clown and a circus manager than a pair of flirts.

“Hah…….”

Derek closed his eyes helplessly. There was no other man in the world as stupid as him.

At the same time, he regretted the past like crazy. He wished he hadn’t fallen for Dodo when she said she liked him……. I should’ve married her as soon as I got the letter.

She gasped.

“……Wedding?”

Derek’s eyes widened. He looked like he’d just had a huge epiphany.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

It was around 2 a.m. when the knights, Harriet and Monte, heard a strange noise.

“Who is it!”

“Freeze!”

“…….”

They were on their regular rounds when they heard something falling out of nowhere in the Memorial Room on the first floor.

Rushing to the scene, they shone their lanterns on a silhouette in the darkness, where a bleary-eyed Duke Frit stood.

“Go, Your Excellency!”

“I deserve to die, forgive me!”

The two men were horrified as if they had seen a ghost.

No, it would have been better if they were ghosts. The light from the lanterns spread out, casting strange shadows on the portraits and statues of the dukes of old. In the center of the eerie scene stood Duke Frit.

“…….”

He glanced back at the knights, then began to wander around the memorial room without a word. It was as if he was possessed by a ghost.

-Sector J. This is Headquarters. Why no report?

Apologies. Montet looked back and forth between the comm and Duke Frit, then whispered.

“There was a small misunderstanding. Sector J is clear. We’ll patrol Sector L and return. Over.”

The two men exchanged a silent glance, and with a brief salute, left to patrol the next sector.

The dull noise emanating from the Memorial Room continued until sunrise.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

Today, Audrey was not spared the cobbled-together cart.

The only thing that had changed was the shape of the chair, thanks to Lucas’s input.

‘At least it’s better than prison…….’

Whatever. Anything is better than being a prisoner.

“We’re here, miss.””Thank you …….”

“Well, have fun!”

The dazzling knight of yesterday is a completely different man. He greeted Audrey with a smile and began pushing the cart very gently, making sure she was comfortable along the way. He couldn’t have been nicer, asking if she was comfortable along the way.

‘What the hell is going on?

I don’t know. Are people in the Duchy always this moody?

Expecting her to fall on his sword at any moment, the Duke of Fritz repeatedly delayed her execution with favors and threats. Until the first words out of Audrey’s mouth were, “Please kill me.

If this was a new kind of bullying, they had succeeded.

“Joe, good morning.”

“You’re …….”

Audrey shrugged and walked in. It was ridiculous, even to herself, that she would greet someone with a good morning when they were screaming at her to please kill them.

Meanwhile, Derek’s heart ached as he looked into Audrey’s puffy eyes.

“Did you call the councilor?

No, she wouldn’t still have those cute little crucian eyes if she did. How uncomfortable it must be to see the world through those eyes all day.

Impatiently, Derek summoned his aide and ordered him to get some medicine for the swelling.

“We need to hurry.”

“Yes.”

An awkward silence settled over the office again. Derek couldn’t concentrate on his work today and kept glancing over at Dodo.

“……Do I hate myself so much now?

‘Please kill me,’ came the words from the mouth of a loved one. Oh, what a cruel thing to say. I wanted to be the most wonderful, warm, devoted man in the world to Dodo…….

“I can’t give up like this.

Derek steeled himself.

There was still so much more to show Dodogi, and it was too soon to call it quits, at least not until he’d given it all he had and had no regrets.

“I have somewhere to go.”

“……!”

“Together.”

Derek remembered a passage from the book he’d read yesterday.

“How to win her heart!

“Use honesty as your weapon of attraction. Attractiveness is not a weakness that can be exploited, so you shouldn’t hide it, but show it off.

……(emphasis added)……

True love is a heart that can give away its keys. Love is a feeling like this. There are no secrets from the other person.

Are you truly in love?

Derek vowed to give her everything he had, whether it was his charm, his keys, or his heart.

The choice, of course, was hers to make.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊