"Whoa."

Very naturally, Leslie picked up a sandwich from the tray and sat among the knights.

"Du- du- duchess!"

"Shh."

The knights around her jumped in surprise, but Leslie put her finger on her lips trying to hide her presence.

"Let me take a look."

The light purple-haired woman in front of Ian was someone she knew well.

Annabelle Nadit, the unlucky illegitimate child who always came in second behind her son in the sword competition.

It was said that she was the daughter of Marquis Abdes and of a widow of a fallen aristocrat.

The widow, Caitlyn Nadit, was known by even Leslie, who had little interest in the social world.

Because she used to shove her face in every single place and said, 'if my Annabelle gets recognized as a member of the Marquis...'

She also remembered that Marquis Abedes suffered greatly because of her shamelessness.

'Poor thing, to be the illegitimate child of Marquis Abedes, there's no way she can get away from being recognized by her parents.'

Annabel's biological father, Marquis Abedes, was an irresponsible person even objectively.

He didn't even pay attention to her, as Leslie knew. After Annabelle's birth, the whiny Caitlyn gave her some pennies because she was annoyed.

After bumping into her at her first swordsmanship competition, Caitlyn had said bluntly, 'she doesn't even look much like me'.

Even when Caitlyn died and Reid inherited all the property, he (the Marquis) did nothing for his daughter.

He didn't even know that she was so hung up on getting first place so she could be recognized as a member of the Marquis family.

Leslie also knew that Annabelle would visit her son every day and point her sword at him.

She was not ignorant of the endless challenges from second place to first place because she had her heart for the Duke of Wade before.

So, she didn't bother with Annabelle's constant chase at Ian.

Wasn't that the spirit of the sword-bearer?

However, she was a little bothered when she heard rumors that Annabelle wasn't even showing the basic manners as an opponent...

Seeing her politely greet him and calmly draw out her sword, it didn't seem like that at all.

"She hasn't been here for a few days, but now she has come after a long time."

The knight answered her comment.

"Still, I met her yesterday during the escort of the High Priest."

Leslie's eyes lit up with interest and urged him to say more.

Leslie, hearing about what had happened yesterday, tilted her head.

The knight spoke as if Annabelle had saved the High Priest, but something was wrong.

Why did she have to block in front of the High Priest? Or, why did she block in front of Ian?

Leslie didn't know since she wasn't at the scene, but somehow she felt that Annabelle had prevented Ian from getting injured rather than the High Priest.

Then, the two swords collided.

'You're moving really well. You're sharp with your sword.'

She had seen a fight between the two in a swordsmanship contest, but since it was almost four years ago, the fight between the two now was new to Leslie.

'Wait a minute.'

More sounds followed.

'Aren't both of them strangely insincere?'

Biting her sandwich, her brow furrowed as she eagerly awaited the next round.

'Her back is clear! Ian missed it! Why would he do that?'

It was only for a brief moment, but there was an opportunity to hit Annabelle's back, but Ian let the gap pass.

Of course, Ian wasn't the only one who wasn't sincere.

"Hey, let's just call it off for today."

Even Annabelle roughly dodged his sword a few times before she backed away and said that.

'It's strange. Clearly, there is room for more encounters. I don't think she's tired yet.'

The other knights might not have noticed, but Leslie knew at once that Annabelle wasn't doing her best.

"Don't use your mean tricks."

Ian also noticed Annabelle's rough movements while narrowing his eyes and speaking softly.

"I know all of them. Isn't it one of your 734 despicable moves to suddenly rush in pretending to back off?"

Leslie clicked her tongue.

Her son would not have spit out that number 734 randomly. There was no doubt that he really counted.

"What are you talking about? I didn't mean to end the match."

Annabelle said as she retracted her sword.

"Tomorrow."

"What?"

"Let's finish it tomorrow at 7pm."

Ian frowned and answered.

"No. I have a prior appointment."

Then, Annabelle clung close to him.

Ian, who was surprised, quickly drew his sword.

Annabelle then whispered to him in a very low voice.

Leslie quickly moved forward to hear, but could barely catch a few words.

"Don't go to... Especially..."

'What? What?'

Frustrated, just as Leslie was about to get up and announce her presence, Annabelle retreated and shouted.

"How dare you ignore my invitation for a fight! I hope one of your feet falls into the puddle on a rainy day, and the earthworms will crawl in your shoes! And as you yawn on the street, a passing wagon will splash you in the mouth with muddy water!"

Then, as if she had just appeared, she suddenly left.

Leslie then laughed in vain.

'You said all kinds of insulting curses and swear words, and that's what they were? How cute is that?'

Ian, who was looking at Annabelle's back, had a very subtle expression on his face.

Leslie wanted to be interested in her son's work for the first time in a very long time.

No, to be exact, she was interested in the strange relationship between her son and his rival.

~*~

It was ridiculous.

It must have been some kind of trick.

There was no way Annabelle would do anything to help him.

Annabelle was like a migraine that appeared occasionally in his life after simply beating her in the first swordsmanship competition.

She was kind of like a thing that popped out tenaciously while you were trying to live your life and you couldn't figure out how to get rid of it.

"Don't go to Hibiscus tomorrow night, because something bad might happen to you."

The words that Annabelle whispered were an unexpected warning.

How did she know he had an appointment at a bar called Hibiscus?

"If you ignore my words and go, keep looking ahead. Especially at the western outer wall."

It wasn't really a secret, but he didn't know she was digging into his private life.

As usual, he would have completely ignored it.

But he kept thinking about it and her back that was like a house made of needles with a lot of poison darts on it.

At that time, he was busy with the escort, so he couldn't catch her and talk right away, but her determined expression as she approached his right arm was vivid.

He would think he was crazy when he heard it, but for the first time, he felt that someone was protecting him.

If he thought about it rationally, it couldn't be, but the feeling felt instinctive, so he couldn't help it.

"Have you changed your strategy? What's the big picture?"

Ian finally decided.

He had decided to only listen to half of her warning.

He would still go to Hibiscus, but he wouldn't be drinking alcohol. He became nervous and looked ahead.

As Ian was getting ready to go out, he saw Aaron praying in the duke's garden with his hands folded in reverence.

"Aaron Rainfield?"

Ian frowned and asked.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah."

Aaron replied reverently while his pink hair blew.

"It's raining."

Annabelle's curse of stepping into a puddle in the rain and getting soaked in muddy water must have been interesting to him again.

"And I was praying for the poor earthworm. The earthworm's fate..."

After giving Aaron a big kick, Ian sighed and strode forward.

He had the best ability in the Knights Templar, so Ian made him the lieutenant, but his head was a bit unusual.

Leaving behind Aaron who was wallowing, he sighed and started walking again.

It was a cloudy day and it looked like it was going to rain.

On his way downtown on his black horse, he was too conscious of puddles and wagons to ride his horse as usual.

Whenever such things came into view, Annabelle's face floated in his mind.

It had been like that since he was fourteen when she started getting entangled with him.

"Well, finally, the final of this sword contest!"

At the age of 14, the face of that girl in the final was somewhat evil.

What stayed in those clear blue eyes was a goal in life.

Ian, who grew up to be a young master of a noble family and was famous for his swordsmanship geniusness, encountered such clear hostility for the first time.

No matter how competitive she was, she didn't have to go that far.

Nevertheless, his first impression of the girl standing upright with the sword in her hand was quite pretty.

Apart from the old, cheap training clothes and the stiff face staring at him.

So when he beat her and won the championship, it bothered him a bit.

Defeated by him, she stared while gritting her teeth.

However, it was possible to lose to the opponent who could win.

But Anabelle Nadit, that girl's first impression was definitely good.

Except, the good first impression didn't last a full day.

Since then, he had heard all the swearing that existed in the world from Annabelle Nadit.

Every day, she came to bother him, ran to him in all sorts of mean ways, and did everything that was possible.

Eight years ago, it was enough time to blur even the good first impression that was stuck in his mind.

But, he couldn't figure out why she kept appearing in his thoughts these days.