The greatest consideration I could offer for that sad remark was a flat refusal.

"Prince, I'm not good at using my brain, so I can't be burdened with the position of an empress."

"What? You seem to have a knack for tricks."

"Even if I have talent, I don't want to use it. I have a theory that my head suffers when I use it too much."

I said with a deep sigh.

"I'm going to retire a large number of brain cells after this. I've been overdoing it lately."

"If you're worried that you're going to have to scheme for the empress..."

"But most of all."

And I pointed out the most important fact.

"As you know, I don't like you. I want to marry someone I like."

"Well, you can't try?"

"No, I can't."

"Even if I don't suit Miss Annabelle's ideal type, not everyone gets married, so somehow..."

"But I can't. My ideal type isn't important."

"Then what's important?"

"I can't because my mind is somewhere else."

I answered relentlessly.

"Anyway, let's wrap this up here, and let's finish our discussion."

"...You're really convinced? Well, there's no room for negotiation."

"It's all for you, Prince. You know that. It's the worst thing to negotiate for this kind of cause."

Robert sighed but seemed to have nothing more to say.

What could I do?

In addition, things to come in the future were too important to push me further on this matter.

"Anyway, I'll have to call Ian on the coast of Banafarim."

Robert said as he prepared to write a note to the pigeon.

"No. Banafarim and Smaho Forest are close. Can we meet there?"

He mumbled, frowning.

"There's a reason why. The swordsmanship contest is too close... I didn't mean to ruin Ian and Annabelle's last sword fight."

Robert counted the days by pointing his finger.

"...Isn't that too short? We have to start right now, somehow..."

"Oh, no."

I interrupted his words.

"That's why I asked for a warp ring."

"Huh? You want to use warp now? I don't know if Carlon will follow or not, and what if you don't come back to the capital by the day of the swordsmanship competition..."

It was alright.

Everything changed when you knew that I didn't want to participate in the swordsmanship competition.

"The sword contest is... I'm only going to let Ian participate. Ian can't go into the Smaho Forest anyway."

I laughed bitterly and Robert stuttered in surprise.

"Oh, oh, Miss Annabelle... Do you mean you're going to give up your last swordsmanship competition now?"

"Yes, we should get rid of the origin of black magic during the swordsmanship contest."

"Why the day of the swordsmanship competition?"

"To be exact, it's the day after the award ceremony... There's a lot of people in the capital that day. I have to work then to make sure that Crown Prince Carlon is sent away."

If the origin of the third black magic I guessed was right, I could tell everyone in the capital about the atrocities of Carlon.

This was because the characteristics of the origin of the black magic were related to 'notifying the unspecified majority'.

'I know there are several versions of that fairy tale... In the end, I think there was a story with an ending that was never destroyed. Perhaps that story has passed.'

Robert spoke incredibly while I was lost in thought for a moment.

"Miss Annabelle, but Miss Annabelle has been..."

"My family's safety is more important than the final of the swordsmanship competition. I have to finish this quickly so that my mother can get back to work... But there's no reason for Ian to be absent..."

Looking at Robert's shocked face, I slowly continued.

"I'd like to stop by the coast of Banafarim on our way to the Sumaho Forest and send Ian to the capital with the warp ring on the day of the swordsmanship competition."

"Well...even if we call him to the capital right now, there could be variables such as a road being cut off, so a warp ring is a sure way to get him to participate in the swordsmanship competition unconditionally. But it's hard to believe."

Robert murmured with a stunned face.

"I can't believe you're not going to play your final match against Ian..."

"I'll lose anyway."

"You don't know that, so until now, the truth...No, you didn't make that fuss, did you?"

"Thank you so much for the correct evaluation regardless of the feelings I have. If you are so objective, you will become a saint."

Robert and I made a few more plans that day, and I tore up a painting in the hallway and got a warp ring.

And he promised to start at the right time to arrive at the coast of Banafarim just in time for the swordsmanship competition.

~*~

The coast of Banafarim was quiet.

The calm waves scattered on the sand. A cold sea breeze blew on the already sunken shore.

"Even if it's a little cold, night fishing is quite nice. The stars are pretty."

The retired former High Priest was leisurely fishing at night while sweeping his beard.

"I apologize for what I said last time you came to protect me for nothing."

And he suddenly said to Ian, who was holding a fishing rod together next to him.

"Bellinock is missing. Huh..."

A few days ago, Ian suddenly appeared in front of him, who was going fishing as usual.

"The Little Duke Ian Wade? What is going on here?"

"I'm here to escort you in case of danger."

"Me? I'm an old guy in the back who doesn't have any influence anymore... The atheists don't even touch me anymore. Don't worry."

"Anyway, I'll be your escort for the time being. There's a reason I can't tell you."

"It sounds like a lie, but... Since you're here, just take a good rest."

That's why he and Ian have been together for days.

For the former High Priest who lived alone, being with Ian was not a bad routine.

Recognizing that Ian was unexpectedly very good at housekeeping, he often advised him to stay for a long time.

While fishing with Ian without any tension, he was surprised by the news from the capital.

Bellinock, the current High Priest, was missing without a trace.

"There must be something very scary going on with the temple."

He murmured seriously.

"When I see a great power like a Little Duke attached to me as a former High Priest."

It was not particularly the subject of the temple, but Ian did not bother to answer.

"If you have to pack, please tell me in advance. I want to let my grandson in the capital know."

His son and wife died in a carriage accident, leaving only one grandson.

"Pack?"

Ian's reply was answered with a blink of an eye.

"There will be a swordsmanship competition soon. Of course, you'll participate, so you can't escort me, can you? Of course I'll follow you."

"..."

"But I can't afford to leave now."

Ian looked back at the distant sea with a thoughtful face. The day became dark, so even the horizon was hard to see.

Another day went by like this.

It was not that he was not conscious of the schedule of the upcoming swordsmanship competition day by day, but there was no contact from the capital. Despite the news that Bellinock was missing.

Robert's communication ring was silent and no pigeons flew in.

Of course, he could just throw it all away and go up to the capital.

As the former High Priest said, he should have started early to participate in the swordsmanship competition.

But there was no contact, so he was just waiting.

This whole plan was conceived by Annabelle. Therefore, he wanted to obey her will unconditionally.

Even if he was stranded off the coast of Banafarim like this and wouldn't be able to participate in the swordsmanship contest.

Even if all this was Annabelle's plan to win the swordsmanship competition, it didn't matter.

"Huh, it's a matter of security."

He smiled broadly beside Ian, who remained silent.

"If the Little Duke is next to me, I will be safe. That's enough for me."

If Bellinock's disappearance really meant his death, then the former High Priest would actually be safe now.

This was because there was no one who could now transfer the divine power to the devil.

Of course, they could have brought in the grandson and threatened to ask him directly.

But Carlon wasn't a man of such moves.

It was because the former High Priest would refuse or lie to the end.

'But why the hell didn't you contact me...'

His thoughts kept spreading to the bad side.

When he left the capital at the end, people were all talking about the union of Robert and Annabelle.

The hardest thing for him was not to leave the capital without a promise with the swordsmanship competition just around the corner.

The thought of Robert and Annabelle being together in the capital now seemed to burn him with jealousy.

'I really... I'm so impatient.'

In his head, he knew that even if the person he likes didn't like him, he would have to pray for the other person's happiness, but his heart had yet to accept that.

'Maybe it was all my misunderstanding.'

Ian began to reflect on the thoughts he had pondered over and over again.

When they were training alone, their gazes and tension were often crossed. The trembling, excitement, that air and atmosphere that surrounded them when their lips met.

He thought maybe she might like him too...

"Then can I ask you something a little lighter? Will you inherit the duke title after this last swordsmanship contest is over?"

"Perhaps."

"I guess you will then have to turn your eyes to something other than the sword. For example, marriage."

"..."

"I'm sure the Duke and Duchess of Wade wouldn't put any pressure on the opponents."

"Well, I suppose so."

In response to Ian's indifferent answer, the former High Priest asked, with bright eyes.

"Then what would be the ideal type of the Little Duke?"

Ian, who was thinking about whether Annabelle had gone to bed by now and what the atmosphere of the capital would be, coughed for a while.

'My ideal type.'

It seemed to be worth thinking about, even to clear the thoughts about Annabelle.

"Of course, I think you'd want a nice, decent woman..."

The former High Priest mumbled as Ian thought seriously.