As a child, all of Ian's teachers praised him for being extraordinary.

Among them, the geometry tutor, who was the best at identifying the student, said the following.

"You have great memory, concentration and endurance. But more than that, your ability to excel in comparison to your peers..."

He continued, looking admirably at Ian.

"It's about identifying the essence and applying it in your own way."

Like a geometry major who specializes in grasping the essence, the teacher's evaluation was quite sharp.

In fact, it was because Ian was good at analyzing events that took place once and solving them in his own way.

In swordsmanship, in academics, and in love.

With that inclination, he thought several times about Annabelle mentioning the wedding by giving him a medal in the friendly match.

Because he also wanted to propose to Annabelle that could leave that much impression.

Simply mentioning the "wedding" couldn't have impressed him this much.

The reason why the lines were so thrilling at that time was because the event called the swordsmanship competition was responsible for a big narrative in their eight-year history.

There was a reason that Braden planned to propose using the opportunity of a friendly competition.

So, after analyzing the past, Ian's conclusion for a touching proposal was as follows.

Since the event called the swordsmanship competition has already been exhausted, except for that, other narratives so far are used to elicit emotion.

The ring had already been put on, but Ian wanted to be tied together under the names.

After the analysis, Ian began to make plans in earnest.

~*~

"We always meet at the duchy. What do you mean, a date?"

Annabelle grumbled and finished her hair.

"You can see me in the training ground, how annoying."

Contrary to what she said, she had left after spending two hours in front of the mirror.

To be honest, her date with Ian was very exciting and enjoyable, except for one thing, it was that it drew people's attention too much.

'The problem is... It doesn't matter if it's attracting attention in a good way, but would he ask me to hit him again? We'll see, we'll see.'

When she talked to Ian, she laughed and tapped him on the arm, and she would hear.

"There's no way that Ian is funny. As expected, they have their own way of expressing affection..."

She expected that they wouldn't have a normal and common sense relationship, but it didn't really matter, but it was a pity that people looked at Ian with strange eyes.

He destroyed the common sense image he had built up so far, saying, "It doesn't matter because it's the right thing to say."

'But still...'

Instead of the Wade Knights uniform, which she usually wore every day, Annabelle, who wore the outfit Marilyn recently made, could not help smiling naturally when she saw Ian in front of the clock tower.

'...So handsome.'

For her, the majority of men were handsome, but Ian was 'extraordinarily handsome'.

Blonde hair glittering in the sun, sharp yet deep, jewel-like red eyes embedded, a well-dressed physique and a neat yet ascetic look.

She knew both sides of him.

A cold, cool, sharp, indifferent face... And a face that was so affectionate that she wanted to cry.

"Annabelle."

Ian found her and slowly approached her with a smile.

Annabelle managed to suppress her desire to drag him somewhere secluded as soon as possible, whether they were on a date or not.

It was a normal date.

They went to a cafe that was recently opened, which is popular for its luxurious atmosphere, and stopped by the weapon store to see the new swords.

It was almost dinner time when she felt something strange.

"I made a reservation for dinner in advance."

Ian led her to the third Rainfield restaurant.

Annabelle, who was trying to attract him, said she could go to the main restaurant with him, but opened her eyes wide when she saw the seat Ian had reserved.

Last birthday, it was the same place where she ate with Robert.

"I was very angry at the time. The way you were eating while talking with the prince."

Ian, sitting opposite her, said with a deep smile.

"It's so stupid, I don't even know why..."

Annabelle remembered that time and laughed.

Suddenly, she also remembered that Ian had barged in that time and was absurd, and she burst into laughter.

It was funny to see the two of them running out of the restaurant, saying they would fight recklessly.

"Now that I think about it, I probably wanted to sit here."

The meal was as good as it was then, but it was much more enjoyable now than it was then.

Talking about those days for the first time in a long time, it was very fun with the feeling that "we had that time too".

One of the more pleasant reasons was that the restaurant staff recognized Annabelle and Ian and added all kinds of services.

"Let's walk a little."

After leaving the restaurant, Annabelle took Ian's hand and walked down the dusk-setting street.

"It's been a while since I thought about the past. At that time, I was making a fuss not to get involved with you."

As she chatted, she suddenly found a place familiar to her eyes.

It was Aylas Square, where paternity tests were conducted in front of everyone in the capital.

"Wow, here... I was out of my mind at the time."

Annabelle blinked in amazement, Ian pointed to one of the stands and said.

"I was sitting there."

"Oh... Were you?"

In fact, Annabelle was not interested in where Ian was sitting at that time.

Ian pulled Annabelle, who was embarrassed, and kissed her head.

"In a state of great impatience, obsessed with the idea that you would really abandon me if you were recognized as the Marquis' daughter."

"But, to throw it away..."

"I wondered if this was how I would disappear from Annabelle Nadit's life. The fact is not so good, but rather unbearable."

Annabelle laughed vaguely as she recalled her misdeeds that were going on at the time.

And she didn't say it, but she was evaluating it as "true love."

"I don't mind being criticized and beaten by you, but I guess I really didn't want you to forget me."

But anyway, it was a fact that she had no idea he was thinking about it at that time.

Annabelle smirked once again at the small innermost thoughts she finally knew.

"Then now... Let's go to one more place on the last course."

Finally, in front of the place where Ian took her, Annabelle smiled in vain.

It was the concert hall where they watched the opera "Don't Go Crazy" with Robert.

Unfortunately or fortunately, there was no performance today, so it was not as crowded as it was then.

"Here? To a date... Here?"

"Do you want to go in?"

"There's no performance."

"We can go."

Ian led her hand so casually.

Indeed, the manager let them into the empty concert hall as if it were natural.

'What? Is this possible for a high aristocrat?'

Annabelle rolled her eyes and walked with Ian in the hallway of the empty concert hall.

"This is..."

As she walked along Ian's path, she really arrived in the hallway in front of the men's bathroom where Annabelle was waiting for Ian.

Like that day, the moonlight poured in softly, and Annabelle laughed again when she remembered that she had no choice but to put an antidote into his mouth.

After giving Ian the antidote recklessly, she was so happy that she would no longer be entangled with Ian.

It was then.

~"Oh, with the full moon, oh, such a beautiful night."

There were no performances, so there were no people, but a familiar singer's voice was heard from the concert hall back there.

"Ian?"

Annabelle was stunned by the singer's voice that roared through the hallway as it was then.

~"You were more gentle than anyone else."

As if all this had been planned, Ian looked at her with a smile, not surprised at all.

~"What do you mean? Hitting or cursing you at that time here? Are you really crazy?"

Ian spoke low to the magnificent aria.

"Maybe I was awakened here."

"What, what?"

~"I want to be next to you even if I get beaten or cursed."

Obviously, it was good enough to overcome even that, but there was room for strange interpretation as the content of the opera was that content.

'What did those singers who prepared for this event think...?'

Annabelle knew Ian was a man of great common sense, but she knew better than anyone what this moment meant to them...

~"It's crazy, you're crazy."

Ian said, staring at her with a very serious expression.

"I won't say I love you so much now, because I will love you no matter what."

The moonlight shaded his sculptural face.

"So will you really marry me now?"

"You're not the person I knew. You have changed in a strange way."

It was a meaningful moment in a place that was really meaningful to them.

But it was a really strange proposal for others to see. He didn't care about that either.

Annabelle could not hide her laughter with a flood of emotion.

The answer was fixed anyway. In , the female protagonist ended up saying, "I still love you".

Annabelle jumped at him like she did then.

Not wine mixed with antidote to his lips, but her soft lips flooded in.