The day after the banquet, I didn't get up until noon.

"...Huh."

Unfortunately, my memory of last night was very vivid.

If I was so drunk that I did something incredibly impulsive, I shouldn't have remembered it.

Why did my brain cells have to work overtime and make a fuss?

'Most people don't remember things like this.'

I sighed deeply, rubbing my forehead.

'Why don't my defense mechanisms take action at times like this? Don't they need to get it started right away?'

If you were drunk and had an accident, you should forget it yourself.

"It's crazy."

My first kiss was with Ian Wade, not anyone else.

Besides, we weren't lovers, we weren't exchanging confessions, we were just impulsive.

"I should have tried to kick him before he confessed to me..."

I murmured sadly.

"How did he end up kissing me...?"

It was like shopping a lot the day after I decided to do minimalism.

Even so, I moved first. Of course, after that, Ian rushed in and swallowed... Oh, oh, oh.

"Don't remember. Don't think about it."

I groaned and pulled my hair.

"No, but how can I not think?"

I thought about it last night, but now I couldn't figure out how to look at Ian's face.

"Wait a minute."

Of course, I wasn't the only one who was drunk and wasted.

'Has Ian been pretending that he doesn't remember that night?'

Then it was a very reasonable choice.

'That's a good strategy. I need to bookmark it.'

That was how I decided to cheat Ian in no time.

Until now, all I thought was, "Ian and I can't." Even though Ian seemed to like me.

I didn't want to have such a complicated relationship or love.

Originally, my life plan was to meet some guy, and then go out with him, who was comfortable.

Having been obsessed with Ian Wade for eight years, I wanted to live a different life.

'But the kiss was good.'

In the meantime, I bit my lips and thought.

'That alone, I don't hate Ian, do I...?'

Of course, I didn't hate him. Was that all? Ian was my ideal type, which I had mentioned many times.

I wondered how many women in the world would hate Ian Wade.

People had different tastes, but I had a very general taste.

'I said I didn't like complicated love, but why do I keep making lame excuses? Do I not like Ian?'

A single kiss made me very confused. It was then.

"Are you up, Annabelle?"

Before I could continue my thoughts, I heard the urgent voice of my mother.

"Yes I am! Come on in."

I sprang to my feet and opened the bedroom door.

My mother then spoke with a restless look on her face.

"I thought you were tired, so I didn't want to wake you up... I think we should get ready soon. Prince Robert is coming."

"What? Why? No, more than that... Did Ian say anything yesterday?"

I asked urgently in case he said a line that was unnecessary and senseless, such as 'I'll take responsibility for your daughter'.

"Do you remember? Ian brought you here."

Fortunately, what I was worried about didn't seem to have happened.

It was because my mother's expression of his name was normal.

My mother asked, grabbing my face, looking around.

"He said you had a drink and fell asleep. Why do you seem so much like me?"

"Is mother weak when it comes to alcohol too?"

My mother, who confirmed that I looked fine, opened the closet and replied.

"Yes. Just a sip makes my heart pound and my vision blur."

"When I thought about it yesterday, I never had anything like wine in my meal, so I wondered if my family was weak in alcohol."

"That's not true. Oscar and Aaron are pretty good at drinking. I just don't drink because I tend to make a fuss when I do."

"Oh..."

I nodded.

"Anyway, it's a real mess. Ian came early in the morning, and all the rumors were circulating here and there, and he said that the Prince would come..."

"What?"

When Ian said he had come, my heart dropped. I asked my mother back in protest, more absurdly, for fear that she might find me disturbed.

"Why did he come so early in the morning?"

"It's Ian's house, isn't it?"

"That's right..."

"He told me not to wake you up, but to let you sleep. And he said he'll wait until you wake up."

"It's too much. From morning, making the family uncomfortable. What is..."

"He's our employer."

"...Right."

"Well, what about this dress? It's obviously for indoor use, but it's very pretty."

My mother didn't continue any longer, but took out a piece of clothing as if it were the most important thing in the world and said seriously.

"I couldn't decorate it openly because I wasn't feeling well because of a hangover, but it's perfect for creating a beautiful appearance."

My mother murmured as she examined the clothes again.

"I'll have to come back soon... Why do letters pile up so early in the morning?"

"What letters?"

"There's a line of people who want to reserve a dress."

The mother said with a proud look on her face.

"My daughter must have been pretty yesterday. Well, I did my best."

Just by the look on my mother's face, I thought it was a good thing I went to the banquet yesterday.

"The rumor that there was a duel went round the capital. I was very worried this morning, but Ian told me you weren't hurt at all."

In the meantime, Ian remembered and looked after my family.

'It's driving me crazy. Just hearing Ian's name makes my heart pound.'

I was so confused with these symptoms that I quickly changed the subject.

"But didn't you say it was a mess earlier?"

"Well."

My mother sighed deeply.

"I've given up on my daughter's ordinary life."

"...What?"

"No matter who you meet, I'm just saying I'll be rooting for you. Even if it's as the first commoner in the empire to marry an imperial family..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Now at my house... No, there are all kinds of gifts pouring into the separate house of the Duke of Wade."

"What presents? Who?"

"People say they support your love...that they wished nothing sad would happen to a commoner for love."

"Oh."

I accepted my mother's clothes.

"What a vain cheer! It would be more likely to cheer the sparrow to beat the eagle."

"How can you ignore it at once? The capital is so noisy now that Prince Robert is coming in person..."

"Because it was the banquet last night. It will soon subside."

After all, I wasn't the type to care much about what others thought of me.

I had been swimming on the floor of reputation since I was a child.

Reputation and rumors were to be taken care of by someone like Ian Wade, who had been respected. In this life, I was already doomed.

Anyway, at least this time, there was a small advantage in being talked about.

It was because people who like to talk to others send gifts anyway.

"Anyway, the banquet was very good, wasn't it? It's not like there were no rumors, but all of a sudden, the..."

My mother interrupted.

"I've never been there, but seeing all the gossip after the banquet, it must be a place where men and women speak."

"...I'm not sure if that gossip is right, though it's definitely true."

I kissed Ian, but the rumors were about Robert and I.

"Anyway, this rumor is completely false, so don't worry about it."

I emphasized once again to my mother.

"It's not a big deal that the Prince is coming. He's just here to discuss the future plans for something related to black magic."

In fact, I didn't expect him to come in person, but he must have been conscious of the rumors spreading in the capital.

"In any case, get ready. Ian has been waiting a long time too."

But when I washed up and put on the clothes my mother had prepared, I heard that Robert had already arrived. He seemed to have rushed here quite fast.

'When I see Ian's face, I think I'll only remember the moment I kissed him, but...'

I slapped myself in the face and breathed heavily. There was something much more important than that now.

'Let's settle the Carlon thing first and then think about it. The whole family couldn't stay at the Duke of Wade's forever, and mother seemed to want to go out to the dressing room as soon as possible...'

I pulled myself together again and went down to the drawing-room of the annex.

~*~

Ian and Robert were sitting in the drawing-room. Robert spoke first, with a gentle look on his face.

"Miss Annabelle, I heard you got drunk and went home first. Are you feeling better?"

"As you can see, I'm alright."