As Annabelle finished her words, great cheers filled the stadium dizzyingly.

Ian gasped in confusion until the Emperor declared Annabelle's victory.

It was the first defeat he had ever experienced since he was very young when he was just learning swordsmanship.

"Ah."

Ian muttered involuntarily.

"...This is what it feels like to lose."

The tip of the sword felt at his neck was cool. It was the first time he had felt oppressed.

Annabelle was the only person in the world who could make him feel this way.

He slowly lowered the sword he was holding, and looked back at Annabelle.

She was so beautiful that he gasped for breath and with his cheeks burning hot, he felt the urge to get down on his knees and kiss the back of her hand.

Annabelle, who met her eyes with him, said something very similar to him.

"This is how it feels..."

Her voice trembled with emotion.

Ian also did his best, and they both knew after eight years of dealing with each other.

The past years when she was fighting to win over Ian passed by like a lantern. Tears were dripping down.

"To beat Ian Wade..."

This overwhelming emotion was not because of the victory or the title.

If she had to say the reason, it was because of the time that seemed like an evil barrage to those eight years.

"Even when I lost more than two thousand times, I never cried, so why are you crying?"

Ian wiped his tears and whispered.

"I want to hug you here."

Fireworks went off over the stadium. Ian and Annabelle faced each other with courtesy, not to mention who came first.

Annabelle held out her hand to Ian and spoke in a trembling voice.

"It was a good match, Ian."

Ian looked at Annabelle's outstretched hand for a moment, then grinned and held it tight.

"It was a good match, Annabelle."

It was a warm picture that did not appear in the finals of the last two swordsmanship competitions.

Over the heads of the two holding hands, thunderous cheers echoed in the stadium once more.

Of course, there were those who applauded harder than the others.

"I will have to recover all the money lost to the Duke of Wade."

The Emperor was rolling to his feet in excitement, clutching his sweat-soaked handkerchief.

"After all, investment tastes like this!"

It seemed that the blood of the previous emperor, who had invested heavily in mines, had not stopped at all.

Robert, who was watching from the side, secretly made up his mind to keep the Imperial finances tighter.

And in order to prolong the life of the emperor, he only hoped that he would not secretly copy the current Emperor.

"Wow, that's how it ended."

In a different sense from the Emperor, there was a person who was exhausted and exulted. It was Nick.

"Also... It was worthwhile to bet too much money on my niece."

Aaron snapped.

"I knew there was money at stake. You've been really weird since yesterday."

Marilyn shot bluntly in the midst of cheering and rejoicing.

"You were talking about 1 shilling earlier, but you only bet 1 shilling?"

"Okay... Before, I thought it was going away."

Oscar, who saw it, waved the banner, but said it as if he was sorry.

"I'll just give you one shilling... That banner is more expensive than that."

"You were probably better off than me. You think money is so easy."

Nick clicked his tongue and shook his head. And he murmured as he looked down at the arena with delight.

"What can I buy Annabelle with the other money...?"

At those words, Marilyn and Oscar were no longer sarcastically speaking to him.

It was because with that one word, they had to admit that Nick's love for his niece was great.

~*~

"Come on, let's start the presentation."

Unlike the swordsmanship competition, which served as both an awards ceremony and a festival the next day, it was a friendly match, so the award ceremony took place immediately.

For the first time, Ian sat in the audience and looked at the podium.

Annabelle, who was shining brighter than ever, stood in front of the Emperor with an overwhelming expression on her face.

"This special medal was specially made at my discretion, with a small magic stone embedded in it."

The Emperor spoke with a medal that was the same size and shape as the swordsmanship competition medal, but had a different color with the jewel embedded in the center.

"Consider it as an imperial reward personally given to a swordsmen who gave up her personal honor for the sake of the Empire's well-being."

It would be the only medal of its kind in the world, as there would probably never be a second friendly match like this.

"Then I will award this medal to the winner, Annabelle Rainfield."

A thunderous applause was heard. Ian sat in the audience and applauded eagerly.

Then he couldn't stand it and ended up bragging about it.

"That's my lover. That's really cool..."

The person who heard him boast was Leslie, who was sitting next to Ian. She said as she poked Ian's side.

"My disciple."

Braden, who was watching the two of them, was quiet without interrupting for any reason.

The perfect proposal plan he made ended without even trying.

Not thinking that Ian would really lose, he smiled in despair.

It was because he did not expect that Ian could create a more sensible moment than this.

Annabelle Ranfield, who received her medal, turned to the crowd to share her feelings.

Under the pouring sunlight, Annabelle caught her breath of emotion for a moment.

There were even nights she dreamt of this moment every day to receive a title and be recognized by Caitlyn and Reid.

It felt a lot more awesome than she had imagined at the time.

Perhaps it was because it was a fight for herself, not for Caitlyn and Reid.

"First of all, I would like to thank His Majesty the Emperor for arranging this match."

The first words were just a courtesy, so the acceptance speech was just the beginning.

"I am grateful to my parents who embraced me with love. As much as I put them to shame, I will become a daughter for them to be more proud than others."

Even Oscar and Marilyn were wiping away tears. Annabelle smiled and continued.

"And I would like to express my immense gratitude to Master Leslie, who came to me for the first time in my life."

Leslie smiled as she looked as if she had won. Because it was good that she was mentioned before Ian.

Ian looked at Leslie with a leisurely smile.

He naturally expected that his parents, whom she met after many twists and turns, were number one, and he thought it was inevitable that he would be pushed behind Leslie.

'Because of the karma she accumulated over the years...'

When Annabelle's reputation was low and she had no one to depend on, Leslie was the first to reach out to her.

Meanwhile, he was trying to deny that he even cared about Annabelle.

'So being the third one is more appropriate.'

Annabelle's roaring words continued from above.

"I feel a bit sorry for the 912th winner, Aaron, who accidentally missed the spotlight, but I think he'll be able to enjoy all of his full-fledged wins in the 913th competition. And, Saint Cessianne, please, give my family a chance to repay the grace for the rest of my life. I will do my best."

Ian's face hardened slightly.

He had been pushed back to fourth place, so his smile could only fade a little, but he forced himself to comfort himself.

After all, Aaron and Cessianne were family...

"Because I'm talking about that, I would also like to express my gratitude to the former High Minister and Prince Robert, or the Crown Prince, who gave permission for the paternity test. I congratulate you on becoming the Crown Prince."

But once he got pushed behind Orians and Robert, he couldn't control his expression anymore.

"I also thank the Duke of Wade for protecting my family. Also to the gatekeeper of Wade Mansion, who has struggled to run after me for a long time."

Ian had time to seriously introspect whether he was such a childish person.

But no matter how much he thought about it, being pushed behind even by the gatekeeper was too much.

"Ian."

Braden, who was in a good mood just by being mentioned in the award speech, looked at Ian in a blissful tone and said a word.

"Are you going to cry?"

Ian was biting his lips so tightly that he couldn't even respond to those words. He was angry with Leslie next to him.

"Oh, my dear. You're only supposed to say thank you to the most important people."

With those words, Ian threw away even the last glimmer of hope.

Indeed, Annabelle finished the long award speech in a refreshing way.

"Then I will say thank you."

Ian was forced to recall the past karma in a desperate attempt to achieve a mental victory.

The 8 years of ignoring her, her breathing, his advice to live while caring for herself...

It was then.

"And I dedicate this special medal to Ian Wade."

Annabelle didn't say much, and she summed it all up in one word.

With the stadium buzzing, she approached the audience.

She was coming to Ian.

Ian looked at Annabelle approaching him cheerfully with a breathtaking look.

"Come on."

In the midst of so many people, Annabelle grinned and she gave Ian the special medal.

Ian felt tears welling up in an instant. Even that was an unfamiliar feeling to him.

He never expected to have an experience like this.

Annabelle whispered softly to Ian, who was so moved that he couldn't even say anything.

"Bring it to the wedding."

Ian hugged her tightly on the spot. It was a moment of sweet defeat that could be compared to any other victory.

Braden was right too.

In such a place, in such a situation, in such a feeling, it was the feeling of receiving such a gift and hearing such words...

That it was so amazingly ecstatic that he couldn't put it into words.