"I have a favor to ask of you, Annabelle."

Marquis Abedes had a much more emaciated face than I had last seen.

I think the last time I saw him was the day of the paternity test.

His unexpected appearance surprised not only me but also my family.

As soon as he saw me, he gasped and knelt down.

"Please ask Prince Robert for the mercy of my Richard..."

"What?"

"Annabelle, you know."

The Marquis of Abedes said with a mournful expression, still holding my hem.

"I invited you to dinner even before the paternity test. Let's get along well."

"Oh..."

"Please speak well to Prince Robert. Can't you listen to me? The disciplinary action against Richard is too strong for a guy who hasn't even come to his senses yet..."

I folded my arms to see how far he would go.

"If that's hard, at least cancel the Treasury audit."

He continued, looking earnestly at me.

"For the sake of old times, please..."

I was dumbfounded and asked back.

"...Old times?"

It was exhilarating to see someone, who once ignored me and tried to use me, crawl in front of me. However, "old times" was a remark that went beyond exhilaration and felt unpleasant.

The Marquis of Abedes continued in a hoarse voice.

"Elburn can't sleep every day either."

That was good news to hear. Maybe it was because he was going to get disciplined like that too.

When I was about to give him a scathing answer, the drawing-room door opened again carefully.

"Excuse me... Oh my."

A middle-aged woman I saw for the first time in my life came in and opened her mouth when she saw this.

The Marquis of Abedes, whose back was to the door, had of course not seen the woman.

Even if he heard a voice, he thought it was just a maid.

"Annabelle, Annabelle."

I was a little surprised by the appearance of an unexpected person, so I couldn't answer for a while, but Marquis Abedes seemed to have misunderstood that I was hesitating.

He glanced at my family standing behind me and continued in a squeaky voice.

"If it weren't for the paternity test, you could have been the youngest of a Marquis, not this lowly commoner family. I would really accept you..."

I thought I could read the expressions of my parents without looking at them from the words "lowly commoner family."

I didn't need to hear any more.

"Marquis."

I looked down at him holding the hem of my dress and said,

"Don't do this. It's dirty."

"It's okay. This is me speaking from my heart..."

"What are you talking about? My mother's hand-made clothes have the dirty Marquis's hands on them."

Speaking coldly, I snatched the hem of my clothes.

"Caitlyn was the one who stuck like a leech when it looked like she had something to gain. I guess there's a reason why you two got along."

"You, you..."

Marquis Abedes looked at me with an angry face.

I looked around and dropped a cup of tea in the drawing room at his feet.

"If you don't want to pay for dinner that night, take this. It's quite expensive, so it's about that much."

The teacup spilled over and his shoes were wet.

"I'll give you enough time to think about old times. If I hadn't been involved with Prince Robert, he would have treated me like this."

I grinned back at him for the first time in my life experiencing such an insult.

"Actually, isn't this appropriate? No matter how many years I've been involved in a fake family."

I added what he said to me when I first met him.

"We don't even look like each other."

The Marquis of Abedes sprang to his feet and gnashed his teeth.

"You arrogant, lowly commoner bloodline..."

He seemed to have noticed that I had no intention of listening to him no matter how he asked.

I was fine, but I was mad at him for insulting my parents. Just as I was about to say one more thing and get upset.

"How do you feel about hanging on to the hem of a snobbish and vulgar commoner's clothes? I'd appreciate it if you could elaborate a little bit."

Coming into the drawing room earlier, a middle-aged woman I saw for the first time chuckled.

"I think it'd be perfect if we put it in the newsletter we're to send out tomorrow."

The Marquis of Abedes opened his mouth.

"Maiena Plymon?"

I blinked in surprise too. Maiena Plymon, I'd heard her name a few times.

Wasn't she the president of the common people's council? And the person who informed everyone throughout the capital about my activities at the banquet?

The person who made the cheering banners of Robert and I piled up on the front porch of the house.

I added with excitement.

"Then this scene is going out as a newsletter tomorrow, right?"

"Yes. It sounds like a lot of good news for the common people."

"Now, Marquis,"

I said, looking at the stunned Marquis of Abedes.

"Whatever you say, it'll be a loss. Why don't you go away?"

I was right about that.

It was a funny situation since he was angry with me and begging me.

He gushed and sniffed, kicked the rolling teacup hard under his feet, and left the drawing room.

And I shouted at his back.

"Actually, this wasn't an expensive tea cup. Your feet must have hurt."

Maiena and Aaron giggled at my words.

Afterwards, Maiena reached out one hand to me and smiled.

"Hello, Miss Annabelle. I'll officially say hello. My name is Maiena Plymon, the president of the commoner's council."

"Annabelle Rainfield."

After greeting each other, we sat in the drawing room.

Aaron left the drawing room with my parents.

When it was just the two of us, Maiena smiled and said first.

"I came here in such a hurry without contacting you in advance, and it saw an interesting sight. If Miss Annabel doesn't want it, of course I won't put it in the newsletter, so don't worry."

"No, I really want it."

I answered in a natural way.

"Be a laughing stock in the capital. I've lived like that for eight years, and it's not as big a deal as I thought."

"But it's getting noisy again around Miss Annabelle..."

"I don't care. I like getting attention."

I looked at her and asked her in earnest.

"But why did you come to me like this?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

Maiena looked at me with twinkling eyes.

"You know that the trajectory of life that you have walked is a great help to the common people, right?"

Suddenly, an atmosphere like a preface to a great person was formed. I answered, rolling my eyes.

"I did it, not for the common people, but for myself..."

"Even so, you're a very meaningful person to improve the rights of the common people. So, you know."

Maiena said, holding my hand.

"Don't think it's too impossible to marry Prince Robert."

"...What?"

"Because our council is supportive."

I sighed deeply. I didn't mean to blame the Maiena's illusion.

Robert didn't involve himself in any scandal with any woman until...

He immediately granted permission to request a paternity test.

He suddenly raced to the mansion.

Invited her to be his partner, not only to the opera, but also to his birthday banquet.

It was all me.

Looking forward and backward, this was just going well. And I also used it to some extent to get things going.

"It's not going to be successful, so you don't have to support us."

I said, pulling my hand from her.

"I know it sounds a little strange, but despite everything that's happened, I don't like him as a man."

"Well, that's possible. I respect your taste too."

Maiena nodded unexpectedly mildly.

"Even Prince Robert is close to Ian Wade. Does that mean you two have similar tendencies... I thought for a moment that Miss Annabelle might not like it."

"..."

It was a conjecture on the other side of the truth.

"Why did you publish such an article when you thought so?"

"Because even if you don't like him as a man, Prince Robert is a very attractive marriage partner."

"What? What does that mean...?"

"Well, Miss Annabelle. Think about it."

Maiena looked at me straight with her eyes shining.

"Would the Marquis of Abedes have knelt down in front of Miss Annabelle without the rumor of an affair with Prince Robert?"

That was the right thing to say.

In fact, due to the rumor of the scandal, it was possible to conduct a paternity test.

"No matter how times change, that's what royal power is. If it's not a scandal, but a marriage..."

She whispered as if she were telling me a secret.

"The Marquis of Abedes couldn't even say 'a lowly commoner' at the Rainfields."

"..."

"Miss Annabelle, why don't you be the highest commoner of this time? All the other commoners will feel vicarious satisfaction when they see Miss Annabelle."

Maiena continued with a smile.

"Leslie Wade should no longer be blamed for being a commoner-born duchess. The time has come for a commoner-born princess."

"I don't..."

I immediately refuted.

"If I become the highest commoner of this era, it's not because I borrow the authority of the royal family, it's should be because I'm a good person myself."

Maiena put on a grimace expression.

She seemed to have finally noticed the contradiction.