He gently placed his hand on my shoulder and spoke softly.

"I know your skills too, but I don't think you can catch him now."

I felt the body temperature of a soft and warm person, and my body suddenly relaxed.

But...

'Why is his hand trembling like this?'

The fingers on my shoulder were visibly trembling, but his words were calm and low.

"I promise. If chasing after him becomes difficult, the Duke of Wade will come to your aid. We can help track..."

"What? Why?"

I was startled and asked.

Wasn't it in the original story that the Duke of Wade chased Reid's tracks and put me in prison as well?

To prevent that, I had been struggling all this time!

I panicked and started babbling.

"I don't need it! There's no need! Why are you helping me?"

I never forgot to spit out abusive language so I couldn't help but add.

"Regardless of my birth, I have no desire to get along well with you! You're such a boring human being that you don't even look at the toy businessman for fear of getting cheated!"

"What?"

Knowing that he was uninteresting, his face turned red in an instant.

"Who will help you? I'm helping the Rainfields, who have a deep connection with my family!"

Ian lifted his hand from my shoulder, rested his forehead on his hand, and shook his head.

"I was crazy for thinking like that."

I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. It went as planned.

"Anyways, let's go to the Rainfields. Everyone said they would wait in the dressing room."

With a colder voice, Ian continued.

"Because I came after I said I would find you and take you back."

I asked, clearing my throat.

"Um... But why did you say you were looking for me?"

"Because I'm the only person in this world who can chase after you."

There was no playfulness in Ian's words.

I didn't know if that was a compliment to me or him being proud of himself.

But, I felt strangely upset.

Even though everything I knew had changed, it seemed that the relationship with Ian remained the same.

It was strange that it would be a subtle comfort.

I groaned and asked crookedly.

"The capital city is so large, how did you find me?"

"Eight years."

Ian turned around and said as if spitting out.

"You're the one who has fought me the most in the past 8 years, so I am able to keep up with you."

I stared blankly at him.

I swung my sword a lot and attacked his back.

Maybe I was envious of him, so I worked harder.

He had friendly and nice parents, full support from a family famous for swordsmanship, and even a good personality.

"Hey."

As far as I know, he was going to meet with Robert as soon as the High Priest's retirement ceremony was over and prepare a surprise attack.

"I know where the dressing room is. So, you can go about your business."

I meant for him to go and save the world as it was originally written.

"I promised Aaron to bring you..."

'Aren't you a little late for your appointment with Robert already?'

I bluntly cut off Ian's words on purpose, a little worried on the inside, not like me.

"I'm fine, so why are you taking me to my family? We're not a couple, are we?"

I strode past him as if I didn't want to talk anymore.

Ian stopped his steps with a hardened face and didn't follow me any longer.

It seemed that he really hated the word I used.

"What?"

I thought it was a bit too much, so I turned around a little and said shyly.

"Anyways, thank you for bringing me back."

Come to think of it, it was the first time I had said such a positive thing to him.

"And for the advice..."

Ian still remained stiff and didn't answer. I shrugged and started running to the dressing room.

~*~

Ian stood nailed to the spot until Annabelle's back disappeared.

Did he hear her say 'thank you'?

It was something he had never thought he could hear from her.

"Thanks for the advice..."

No, he couldn't help but wonder what she was saying and how her words kept ringing in his ears.

Of course, with that said, the series of events that happened today were absurd.

So, she was not the daughter of Marquis Abedes.

Given the circumstances, it seems that Caitlyn's child had died and she had swapped hers with the Rainfields' child in a public hospital.

Everyone in the square was turned over in this rare scam.

Annabelle mumbled something with her dazed eyes and then she suddenly ran out of the square.

She was so fast that it was hard to follow her movement.

"Annabelle, no, my sister! Where are you going?!"

Aaron, who was supporting the fallen Oscar from the nearby stands, shouted.

He began to wander around, looking for someone to entrust Oscar to as if he wanted to follow Annabelle.

On stage, Marilyn was also gasping for breath, and was screaming 'Annabelle' to her back.

"Oh my."

Leslie muttered blankly.

"Everyone's mood is all over the place... Oh, Miss Nadit, where the hell are you going? Her expression was so bad, shouldn't someone be by her side?"

Then she sighed and slowly leaned over the armrests of her chair and set herself up to stand up.

"I can't. How am I supposed to follow her?"

Aaron quickly shook his head.

"No. Leslie, I'd like to just ask my unanswered father, who passed out on his own without noticing in this situation. I will go get my sister..."

Ian got up without realizing it.

"I will bring her."

"What?"

"Since I'm the only one who can catch up with Annabelle after all."

Aaron stared blankly at Ian.

"That, but..."

Ian reasoned before they would think of something strange.

"Because you are my lieutenant. If it's something that will help the lieutenant's family affairs, shouldn't we help?"

"What? I didn't know you cared so much about me."

"Where should I bring her? There are a lot of eyes in the square."

"The dressing room! Please bring her to the dressing room. I will be waiting with my parents."

Aaron answered quickly, and Ian did not speak any more and ran in the direction where Annabelle had disappeared.

He searched the streets of the city and finally found her.

'Although there's not much time left until the appointment with Prince Robert...'

He said there was an illegal slave auction house in the basement of the Ronopodia General Store building.

It was said that Prince Carlon might be behind the black magic...

The complicated thoughts upon where the world rested were scattered by Annabelle's words.

"We're not a couple, are we?"

Ian almost choked. To be in love with Annabel, what a bizarre feeling that would be.

They had never had anything but conversations with swear words!

"Anyways, thank you for bringing me back...and for the advice."

Wasn't that a normal conversation?

When he thought of it again, he felt itchy from the soles of his feet and his body was tightening.

Just thinking about it, the first time she said thank you to him, heat rose to the tip of his head, and his limbs stiffened.

It was as if his whole body was thrilled by the touch of her finger. It was the same when she handed him a water bottle before, too.

Not paying any attention to him, Annabelle leapt out of sight.

Feeling that she was indifferent to him, Ian almost felt a little upset.

When he put his hand on her shoulder, his hand trembled and he was ashamed of himself.

'Did I say that I would help you till the end? I even heard a word of thanks.'

He thought nervously.

'There was no need for me to do that to someone who was already confused.'

It was strange. Ian had never felt so many emotions with anyone until now.

He has always responded with a bit of indifference and appropriate common sense.

He even did it to Annabelle, who had been tormenting him.

But these days, he seemed to have only regretted it when he got entangled with her.

'I didn't even take her back, who thanked me, and I froze up instead.'

Ian was silent for a moment, then quickly moved to his meeting place with Robert.

He kept running with vain thoughts, and it seemed like he had to focus on something else sooner rather than later.

'Even if everyone in the capital is thinking about Annabelle right now, let me put my mind off it now.'

Even if they disturbed the slave auction house as planned today, they would be busy dealing with it for a few days.

Annabelle would be busy on her own, spending time with her newly found family or looking for Reid.

These days, her entanglement with him always made him upset.

'I just need to concentrate on my mission tonight'

It would be easy for him to find his peace of mind, since he would never run into Annabelle anyways.

'I erased her from my mind once before. Let's not think of Annabelle for the time being.'

He made a promise as he headed for his appointment with Robert.