Duke, please let go of my ankle!

In a rush, Derek ran into the bookstore, which had just opened.

‘I was hoping you could spare a moment.’

‘Me, me?’

‘Yes.’

The corners of Charlotte’s curved mouth twitched. Judging by the way her eyes darted around, she was stabbed somewhere.

‘Huh!’

Something was thrust in front of his face. A familiar book and a solid gold frame.

‘……Yes.

This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Charlotte instinctively fired up her refund manual.

‘This one. What do you think?’

‘I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t offer refunds in our bookshop. Paper is too environmentally sensitive-’

‘Sounds like the same thing to me.’

‘What?’

His fierce eyes flicked between the book and the stationery.

Blinking for a long moment, Charlotte lowered her gaze to follow his.

‘I thought you were here to complain about the inventory.

If not, I’m relieved.

Charlotte quickly regained her friendly face.

‘Aye, I see, sir. Wow, you’ve written so well, with all the right book references, you’re amazing!’

‘……Yes, it is.’

‘Your writing, um, your writing, it’s very attractive. It’s very personal and unique.’

What a compliment for a grown man. Even if it was just part of customer service, it was still a bit overwhelming.

‘You’ve traveled all the way here, on a Saturday morning, just to have the contents of a letter examined?

It reminded her of someone, anyone, who was a friend.

But the man didn’t do a handstand or dance in response to the compliment. Was this not enough?

‘Where else can I get this book?’ he asked.

‘Oh, no, only in our bookshop. The publisher has a lifetime exclusive contract with us, so it’s only available at Charlotte’s Study. It’s a rare book, like a rare masterpiece that you can’t get your hands on.’

‘……I see.’

One corner of his mouth drew an arc.

The clues to Dodoi were everywhere, and she wondered why she hadn’t noticed them before.

Charlotte, who knew nothing, shrugged her shoulders with a look of pride.

‘So, who did you sell this book to?’

‘Umm. I’m sorry, sir, but that’s private information, and I can’t divulge-’

‘You want to be “Charlotte’s Tomb”.’

‘……!’

The state-of-the-art security system of Charlotte’s Study lasted less than a minute.

A terrified Charlotte rattled off a string of information about her customers, from their biographies to useless information about books.

The books he swept up were not bestsellers, they were duds that didn’t sell, and only two copies had been sold in over five years. The rest were rotting in a warehouse, he said, and he showed me.

‘So, who else has bought this book besides me?’

‘Uh, a friend of mine…….’

‘Name.’

‘Oh, Audrey, Audrey Kevelson!’

‘…….’

─Wait.

Derek’s mouth dropped open for a moment. The name sounded vaguely familiar.

Count Kevelson, vassal of the Duke of Frit, and the daughter of the house.

‘…….’

The woman he’d cut down with his own hands yesterday. Along with more verbal abuse than he could contain.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

‘Your Excellency, I have found the owner of the seal, for from the first sight of it, the quality was just right, just custom-made!’

‘…….’

‘So I’ve searched every workshop in town!’

‘……I already found him.’

‘What?’

Lucas stopped dead in his tracks. Somehow, the excitement had been broken.

‘Of course, Your Excellency.

So it is. Duke Fritz was always a man ahead of his time. I was embarrassed to open the sealed piece of paper.

‘Well, of course you are, but why are you so keen, and where were you?’

‘Ha…….’

‘Your Excellency?’

‘I’m in trouble. I’ve made a very big mistake.’

‘What?’

‘I didn’t realize she was there…… and I kicked her out with my hand, and I didn’t mean to.’

‘Next to? You kicked her out?’

The aide shook his head and shuddered as if he had been struck by lightning.

‘Are you kidding, kidding, kidding me, Kevelson?’

‘Ha…….’

‘Oh, my God, that frail-looking man is a blackmailer, no way!’

Derek shot his aide a look, his eyes full of life, as if to ask when I had sighed.

‘Frail. It’s neat. And again, I’m not a blackmailer.’

‘Eh?’

‘Dodo, Audrey……. Yeah, that’s what it was.’

Ah, the power of imagination.

Derek’s demeanor changed in an instant. One minute he’s a carnivore, a slug, and the best of the best, and the next he’s trying to be neat and cute and manipulative.

‘I think it’s too late to go back.

Lucas looked at his master with wistful eyes. He could see a ship in the distance, already gone.

Derek, meanwhile, wanted to slap his old self.

How frustrating it must have been for Dodo to drop such a lovely hint and not even notice it! How frustrating it must have been for him to see it right in front of him and not find it.

‘Wow, that must have hurt, by the way.’

‘…….’

‘If that’s a love letter, you’ve just been dumped by your crush, and you’ve been bullied out of your job. Ugh, how miserable you must be!’

‘…… Shut up.’

‘Humph!’

Derek began to pace around his desk.

‘What am I going to do?

What should he do, he wondered, he’d said something so unknowingly harsh, he’d made her feel so unkind, and he’d drained her of all her kindness. Maybe she never wants to see his face again.

‘……!

For a moment, it felt like the world was falling apart.

Why is fate so cruel? Does everyone else fall in love in this heartbreaking way?

‘If I knew love was like this, I shouldn’t have started in the first place…….’

Her behavior is finally beginning to make sense.

Why she volunteered for a temporary job at the duke’s castle. The way she avoided him, unable to make eye contact, the way her head always lowered towards the ground when she saw him. And her body, which was somehow stiff.

She was sending him signals over and over again. ‘I like you.

‘But I didn’t say that, so……. ‘Yeah, that’s why it was so hard for you to see the flowers and approach me.’

Derek replayed everything he’d said to her.

‘You’re a mess. What the hell is wrong with you?

‘I’d rather go home than do it all over again.

‘I recruited temps, not slugs. I’d rather not do it this way.

‘I’ve never seen such an inefficient way of doing things.

‘One person doing the work of two people. A very different way of creating jobs.

‘What a slug.

‘A peacock castle is not a good fit for Young-ae unless you’re in the academy’s Bechan department.

‘…….’

There was not a single warm word, not a single compliment.

‘What a mouthful!

Why was he being so stingy with her, choosing such harsh words in front of such a cute being?

Suddenly, he remembered Audrey leaving the Treasury for the last time.

‘Thank you for everything…….

‘Take care, everyone.

Her eyes looked wistful. And eyes that looked like they could burst into tears at any moment.

Oh, what have I done to that sweet little kitten?

Derek wrapped his head in his hands, a pained expression on his face.

‘I can’t. I can’t let him go like this.’

‘What? What else are you going to do…….?’

‘I’m going to get the dodo back. I will beg for forgiveness, and I will ask him to stay with me.’

He immediately pulled out all the books. His fingertips trembled slightly as he hurriedly flipped through the pages.

‘Please…….’

Derek quickly flicked through the pages, his eyes desperate. Hoping that the answer was in there.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊