"Ah, yes... Alright."

"Oh! And one more thing."

Braden hurriedly summoned the servant.

"Tell them that it is best not to leave the mansion for a while. I don't have a good feeling for some reason."

The servant left the room with a confused face.

Leslie also looked up at Braden with a puzzled expression.

"...Um, darling? Now this..."

"I'm going to set them up in advance. Miss Annabelle felt terrible for her family."

Braden gave Leslie a determined smile.

"It's not something I should let go for Ian's marriage."

"Well, good luck. I think it's just that Ian's..."

"Opponent is Annabelle?"

"But it also depends on Annabelle's personal will..."

"Annabelle will be our daughter-in-law. Think carefully."

In the end, Leslie sighed and muttered, unable to deal with his shaking gaze.

"Fine..."

She rolled her eyes and added firmly.

"...I'll go see Marilyn myself tomorrow and have some tea time. I'll even bring a simple present."

"You never did that for the Empress, Leslie."

Braden smiled and stroked Leslie's hair once.

He said as she squinted her eyes and felt the touch, as if she had suddenly remembered it.

"Then why are you telling them not to go outside the duchy?"

At those words, Braden's expression darkened slightly.

"The face of the Marquis of Abedes was unusual. It was a face that wanted to do something... I'm worried that he might do something extreme if he finds them in a corner."

"Hey, don't worry."

Leslie waved her hand and said brightly.

"Richard was the only person in the house who could use his head boldly, didn't they say he was unconscious? I guess you don't have to worry about it."

Hearing Leslie's bright words, Braden began to be genuinely concerned.

~*~

"Brother... I did what I was told."

Richard listened to Elburn's report in the room who gave instructions one by one.

Externally, Richard was still unconscious.

It was because there was a decree that he had to appear in the Imperial Palace as soon as he became conscious.

"By the way, if it's a bit like this... It looked pretty cool."

Elburn blinked his eyes and chose his words carefully.

"In the past, when I mobilized assassins myself, not only did they purposely get themselves followed, but they also found out the exact number of people."

"So, you weren't fully prepared."

Richard responded angrily without even looking at Elburn.

"Let's do everything we can."

"That... Right..."

Richard had Elburn look for illegal drugs and magic items.

And he selected only those that worked best among them.

It was Richard's idea to kidnap Annabelle, because he said she was so talented that he had to force her to deteriorate before the kidnapping.

The Rainfields were stuck at the Duke of Wade's mansion, and in the end, Annabelle was the only one they could negotiate as a hostage.

"It's all because of those damn commoners... I've known her since the day she ran wild because she wanted to be part of our family on the topic of commoners."

Richard grated his teeth and muttered.

With his high self-esteem and narcissism, it was difficult for him to admit that he was wrong in his decision to follow Carlon.

Therefore, all the reasons for failure were being attributed to the bubbly Annabelle.

Adding to the fact that his own head was injured because of her, his crooked hatred only grew stronger.

"You will never come to the capital in good health, Annabelle Rainfield."

~*~

We were a very good-natured couple, so when we came to the capital, we refrained from showing affection in front of others.

We were especially careful in front of Robert.

I knew that he really liked me, Ian knew it, and Robert knew it.

Besides, Robert and Ian were old friends.

Although Ian had no intention of choosing friendship in the slightest over this. (tl/n: no shame) (pr/n: lmao)

Still, we used to sit side by side and chat about various things as we walked down the street.

"What do you think of everyone in the capital?"

"Well, is there anything wrong?"

I muttered anxiously, and Ian replied with a shrug.

"Everyone knows I've been begging you with my eyes turned upside down."

"..."

"You're really... Are you okay?"

"It's not even a fake act, but it's okay. What about you?"

Ian looked really innocent.

"But no one knows your heart, so your father must be in a panic."

I remembered Braden's words that it was okay to be an alien, and I let out a grunt to myself.

Just thinking about the large magic crystal in the drawing room made me sigh.

It was said that in the drawing rooms, the most precious things of the family are on display, but it must have been empty now...

"Anyways, even in the worst case scenario, there is nothing worse than not being able to get married."

After reading my expression, Ian said with an indifferent expression.

"If you feel uncomfortable, it's up to you."

I also answered with a coy face.

"You speak so bluntly about such things. How cute and charming."

It was then.

"I'm sorry to interrupt the calm expression of affection, but I just got a call from your Majesty."

Robert came over coughing with a pigeon.

"When you both get to the capital, they want to arrange a friendly match between the two of you."

Ian and I looked at each other in surprise.

"It's because both of you couldn't participate in the last swordsmanship contest in your life for the sake of the public good."

"Uh, but then the 912th winner..."

"Aaron Rainfield said he was in favor since he was a substitute participant anyway, and the issue of title is ambiguous."

"Ah."

Since Ian withdrew, I thought that Aaron could win the championship.

If so, there was no need to be aware of the 912th winner.

Aaron only took part on a whim, and even with this momentum, he would have a good chance of winning.

"He has already received the medal, so it'll be fine. Even though he dedicated it to his lover."

I rolled my eyes in a strange feeling.

In the end, Cessianne was awarded the medal of the winner of the 912th Swordsmanship Competition.

"What do you think about it? But in this state, I don't know if Ian will be able to properly attack Annabelle."

"What state?"

"Being crazy over Miss Annabelle. I don't think he could cut even a single hair on her head now."

Ian answered with a straight face.

"That is different. When a knight raises a sword, it's polite to do your best."

He raised an eyebrow and added.

"And this time I could really lose to Annabelle. I am not in a position to be so relaxed."

"Well...okay. Of course, how people will react to the outcome of the contest..."

Robert hesitated slightly.

I immediately recognized the nuance of his strange words.

So, almost everyone, including Robert, thought I was going to lose to Ian.

As Ian said, if I had won, everyone would have thought that Ian, who was crazy about me, was only looking after me.

But even if it was embarrassing, it couldn't be helped.

"Anyway, I don't mind."

Still, being able to compete with Ian officially again was something I was very happy with.

Probably because it was complicated to just skip the last swordsmanship contest.

It wasn't because of the title, nor because of other people's gaze, but it was a pity that the match with Ian, which I had been waiting for 8 years, was canceled.

'If I had waited so long, would I have planned a crime...ha.'

Ian happily nodded his head, saying that he liked that.

I was about to turn around, saying that Robert should send a reply telling them to proceed.

"By the way."

Suddenly thinking of something, I suddenly called Robert.

"Has Richard ever been detained?"

Although the charges were certain, Richard was unconscious and was being cared for by a doctor at the Marquis of Abedes.

He had not yet been interrogated and determined that there was no danger of escape, so they did not immediately arrest him.

When he comes to his senses, he has only been given the order to appear directly at the Imperial Palace and be investigated.

"I asked, but they said he wasn't conscious yet."

"...Okay."

I nodded without asking any more questions.

'Weird. He should've woken up by now.'

Although I was not a doctor, I had a history of studying in that field to trouble Ian in various ways in the past.

Injuring the head by dropping something like a flagpole or a pole was also something I had tried quite a few times. (pr/n: hfdhf)

I had to calculate the date to prevent Ian from participating in the competition, so I had consulted the doctors in advance until roughly the time of recovery.

According to the information at that time, even considering that Richard was a weakling, he should have already come to his senses.

'Are you wasting time by pretending to be unconscious on purpose? But that wouldn't make any sense.'

From the perspective of the Marquis of Abedes, the story was that they had to live in hiding for the rest of their lives, but it would have been better to spend a few years in prison.

'Unless... Perhaps... Are you planning any other schemes?'

In fact, that was more likely if it was Richard, a sly rogue who never gave up.

'The only thing he could do now was kidnapping, confinement, attack, or something like that.'

It was very fortunate that my family was still staying at the Duke of Wade.

For once, my family would never be touched.

This was because, in the duchy, knights with skills comparable to those of the Imperial Palace Knights were encamped.

There was no way he could touch Prince Robert or Ian because he was afraid of the aftermath.

'Wait, but if you think about it in a different way...'

I swallowed dry saliva at the sudden passing thought.

'I'm the only one he can touch, right?'