Annabelle stood blankly, then gave a strange expression.

Ian breathed in a rough breath and spoke mournfully.

"I... I thought I was going crazy because I thought you might get hurt."

It was true.

Ian was insane the whole time he ran all the way there.

Not only did he fall in love with Annabelle's honesty, who even made a difficult confession, but his heartfelt like it would burst as he recalled that she liked him.

But when he thought that she could be beaten by a foreign criminal who drank illegal drugs, he really saw nothing in sight.

When he ran like crazy and arrived at the Smaho forest, what he saw was Annabelle, who was desperately cutting bamboo, barely avoiding Lagian's sword.

Ian was afraid that she might be attacked by him, so he would not be able to say 'I like you regardless of that'.

His heart was impatient, and he knocked down Lagian and poured out what he had been wanting to say to Annabel for a while.

"You can hit and curse as much as I want, or rather, I would be grateful if you would, so please don't say that you will leave my life...."

"...Hey, hey, just stop!"

Annabelle called out quickly.

Of course, Ian, who did not know anything, continued.

"You said you like a common sense person. Even if it goes against common sense, I will also tell you the truth. I'm jealous even when your sword is pointed at someone else..."

"Aaaaah! I'm telling you to stop! Stop talking! Please!"

Annabelle ran quickly and covered Ian's mouth with her hand.

Because she was aware of what was going on.

"Oh... So, wait a little bit and say it!"

Shouting out loud, she added.

"This bamboo forest itself is the origin of the last black magic! And this bamboo forest has the power to make humans unhappy..."

The bamboo forest was still thick and the wind was blowing consistently towards the capital.

Annabelle was speaking her words in an almost weeping voice.

"I mean, the conversation is being delivered right now to the capital city!"

"...What?"

It was a moment when everyone except for Annabelle hardened.

Even Carlon and Robert, who were clinging to the cliff, stopped breathing.

~*~

Of course, everyone in the capital also hardened.

At that time, most of the people were talking about Ian.

Lagian started praising Ian, and everyone expected Ian to be the main character of today's awards ceremony, so the story could not come out.

~"It is said that the Empress obtained illegal drugs. It probably went to this guy."

Due to Ian's voice, the previous illegal drug commotion became a fact as it was.

However, the conversation that was more chilling continued next.

~"I cast acceleration magic with the magic crystal in my house..."

At those words, the leader of the magic tower, who was in the VIP seat, abruptly got up and shouted at Braden.

Pls read only at pm tl.

"I-I-Is that true? He said he broke that gigantic magic crystal? Just to cast acceleration magic?"

He grabbed the back of his neck and even gasped for his breath.

"The Wade family has been holding out saying that they are safer than the magic tower and that they will never return it! Seriously, are those terrible words true?!"

Braden nodded his head with a grim expression.

"That's right."

Those short words had many meanings.

The most important thing, for now, was that these voices were not manipulated, but were really lively and raw conversations.

~"I love you so much that I'd let you stab me with your sword now. As you said, if crazy people do this for love... I'm just going to be the craziest guy in the empire."

The mouths of the people who had gathered were frozen.

"What should we do..."

Murmured Leslie, who in a second had become the mother of the craziest man in the Empire.

"My son..."

Meanwhile, the wind continued to transmit the voices.

~"This bamboo forest itself is the origin of the last black magic! And this bamboo forest has the power to make humans unhappy... I mean, the conversation is being delivered right now to the capital city!"

At the sound of the voice carried in the wind, everyone in the capital closed their mouths solemnly.

They couldn't help but believe Annabelle's bewildered voice.

The conversation was too embarrassing for it to be fabricated, as the dragged Empress claimed alone, 'that's a strangely manipulated magic'.

And no more voices were heard.

"The show is over."

After a long silence, Aaron crossed his arms and muttered.

"Now, I think everyone will remain silent until they get rid of those bamboos in the forest."

Aaron's prediction came true, and from one moment on, even the wind that had delivered the sound of a sword stopped blowing at all.

"It's really shocking."

He rolled his eyes and spoke.

"Ian likes my sister. It's a combination no one could have imagined. Since he has that kind of taste, no wonder he hasn't dated any woman yet."

Cessianne answered right away.

"Right. Everyone praises Ian, but since I saw him yesterday, he seemed like a strange person. After all, not everyone has common sense."

"Oh my gosh."

Marilyn, too, muttered in a dismayed voice.

"I didn't know it would have been this difficult to wish that my daughter would just be quiet with an ordinary man instead of being talked about."

"Mom, I don't think this combination is too bad."

Aaron said seriously.

"Because she's the only woman who can do that to Ian. Aside from his personality, he probably won't be shaken by any other woman in his life."

"Yes, that's right, but..."

Of course, everyone other than them began to murmur cautiously.

No one knew what had happened between Annabelle and Ian.

So, everyone had no choice but to guess that 'Ian likes Annabelle, who beats and bullies him one-sidedly'. (pr/n: lmao they're gonna think he's a weirdo pervert masochist fkjsahfasklj)

Of course, no one could have even imagined that Annabelle liked Ian, or that they'd exchanged confessions with each other.

As a result, Ian's one-sided confession had no choice but to remain in their minds.

"Hah..."

"Did Ian really like things like that?"

"I do not know. Come to think of it, I think he was very impressed with the opera in the past."

In that bustling atmosphere, Leslie and Braden looked at each other with bewildered eyes.

He was a son who had only grown up in a normal way to the point where he wasn't much fun.

"My son must be paying in a lump sum."

Leslie muttered, startled.

"He makes me worry about one day for the rest of my life, he did all the things I wanted him to do throughout his life, and he did things in one day that I would be ashamed of for the rest of my life."

She looked at Braden and asked with a blank expression.

"...What's going on now, honey?"

Braden answered blankly, his eyes lost in focus.

"Well, if Annabelle doesn't accept Ian's heart, the Wade family will end. I have to somehow beg Annabelle to take that bastard with her. It looks like Ian couldn't even kneel, but I should kneel too. A crisis like this, because Annabelle's ideal type is a common-sense person..."

Taking advantage of this opportunity, there was a movement to try to reverse the atmosphere once again.

It was the Marquis of Abedes.

"Hmm."

He slowly got up and looked around him. And then, slowly, the atmosphere began to change.

This situation, which was now unfavorable to Carlon and the Empress, had a great impact on him, who was a representative of the Crown Prince faction.

"Isn't this all a bit of a lie? As you all know, Duke Ian Wade wouldn't say something like that unless he was really crazy."

"But isn't it true that he broke the magic crystal?"

To someone's question, the Marquis of Abedes shrugged his shoulders and answered.

"How do you know what's going on in that forest? Could it be that Annabelle Rainfield is using black magic?"

At that, Marilyn jumped up.

"Hey XX, the XX who dared to XX on the daughter of another person who is making an achievement for the empire..."

"Now, what about your daughter? You hadn't thought of her in 22 years?"

The Marquis of Abedes grinned and said sarcastically.

Still, Marilyn's expression, who was guilty of not recognizing her for a while, hardened in an instant.

"At least I have been conscious of her for 22 years. Who knows her better, you or me? Ah, but bloodlines are scary."

Seeing Marilyn unable to answer, the Marquis of Abedes added sternly.

"Even if you've lived for 22 years no matter what, you still have the same low-key habit. Noble of nobles, Duke Ian Wade, how could he like such a woman?"

It was then.

"He likes her."

A loud voice was heard through the crowd.

"That crazy man." (pr/n: he about to recount Ian's embarrassing drunk story fjkashfks)(tl/n: nah fr tho)

The main character of the voice was a man who looked just like Oscar, who appeared with a procession of knights behind his back.