Why the hell was Ian here?
As I was muttering about the cake at the unexpected appearance of him, Robert asked again.
"Why are you here all of a sudden?"
"…That."
Ian hesitated a little.
It was then.
"Late greetings, it's Aaron Rainfield."
Instead of his usual training clothes, Aaron appeared elegantly dressed in a uniform.
Although, he didn't show up with Ian to change clothes."Since the prince is here, my father would've personally greeted you, but please understand that since he's not in town, I'll be doing the honor instead. How was the food?"
So, it was to welcome the royal family and make his mark as the representative.
"It was great, what about Miss Annabelle?"
"Everything was good thanks to you, Your Highness. I had a great time."
The imperial family must be great, for it was enough to make Aaron rush here to say hello from the duke's residence.
I blinked slowly while taking another sip of wine.
The fact that Anabelle Nadit, Marquis' illegitimate daughter, ate in a restaurant with Prince Robert would spread to the aristocracy.
'I don't care.'
I have no intention of becoming a member of an aristocratic family anymore.
It was a desire that Caitlyn and Reid had almost brainwashed me to be recognized by the Marquis of Abedes.
To be honest, I didn't work hard because I wanted to become a noble.
It was only because if I got first place, I knew Caitlyn and Reid would then love me happily.
'I can't get love anyways, and now I don't even want to get along well with someone like Reid.'
Sadly, when I came up with a plan to hurt Ian with Reid, I had the thought of becoming intimate with him.
So, I agreed excitedly to all sorts of bad things.
'It was stupid.'
'You don't have to be loved by your family.'
When I let go of that thought, my resentment towards the Marquis of Abedes disappeared completely, and I thought that I should just eat and live well.
As I was drinking the wine, I felt a gaze on one of my cheeks.
It was Ian
"Then why are you here?"
I asked bluntly because I had Robert confirm that Ian really hated me.
Even though I deserved to be criticized for the way I acted and everything, I still felt a little hurt.
He had the most rotten expression I had ever seen.
"That's…"
As always, I patted the sword behind my back.
We didn't need to say hello to each other and explain why we were here.
"Since you appeared like this, of course, we should fight!"
When Ian and I met, all we could do was start a fight.
Of course, I didn't really intend to fight.
Even if it were me, Ian, a gentleman, would not draw his sword in a place like this.
So, of course, I thought that Ian would scold me for what I was doing at the restaurant.
"Well, yes."
However, Ian, who had expected that I would challenge him like this, answered strangely half-heartedly.
"I'll deal with you. Get up now."
Huh? I was the first to start it, but he was going to accept it with such pleasure?
"Fine. I was itching to see you anyways."
But I bluffed and jumped to my feet.
Of course, I did not forget to pour all the remaining wine into my mouth.
My head was spinning since I drank too much alcohol in an instant, but I exclaimed proudly.
"If you stare like that, you know you're afraid!"
Of course, I was a little scared because I knew I would lose, but I had to face it anyway.
At least, until the sword contest…
"No!"
It was Aaron who became contemplative and stopped us.
I always thought it was his hobby to watch our fights, but it was surprising.
Maybe he suddenly became a pacifist when he became a temporary restaurant owner…
"Could you please go out and fight? The props here are quite expensive."
It wasn't that, maybe he was just becoming a capitalist.
"Yes, let's go out and fight."
I answered quickly because I didn't want to lose in front of everyone.
"As expected, Miss Annabelle."
Aaron raised his thumb.
"Of course you're going to lose, but I will still root for you."
It was a line that irked Ian and I at the same time.
Something tells me it was intentional…
"Thank you for the meal, Prince."
Anyways, I greeted him politely and then strode out of the restaurant.
Ian caught up quickly.
"This is not a good place for damage, so let's go to the Duke's training ground."
"You want to go there? Isn't that a little far?"
"You can ride a horse."
"Seriously."
"We can ride together."
I stumbled on his horse because I couldn't say no since I initiated the fight first.
"Oh, oh, oh, wait."
His presence behind me felt weird. Close to feeling frozen, I grabbed the mane of the horse and tightened my waist.
When he grabbed the reins of the horse, I stiffened myself to the core since it felt like he was hugging me.
I had to try desperately not to touch his arms or back. If the horse faltered a little, our skin would touch.
No, were we supposed to be this close when riding a horse together?
Ian didn't even think about that, so I could feel his muscles getting tense.
In the meantime, the alcohol level rose in me and my vision began to blur as my head started to spin.
~*~
It was the first time Ian had ever ridden a horse with someone.
He put Annabelle in front of him and grabbed the reins since he had seen others do that before, but then he became concerned about her slightly touching his body.
Fortunately, he liked Annabelle's athleticism, for she seemed to be balanced well by herself.
But both of them were very nervous and did their best trying not to touch each other.
Ian was so stiff that even his shoulders hurt.
Whenever the wind blew, Annabellel's pale purple hair flew and tickled his cheeks.
She had also said bluntly that she was embarrassed.
"If you thought I would thank you for a ride, you would be wrong. Heh, after you sewed up all your buttons, I hope that the first button will fall off at the end!"
The clothes he wore had a lot of buttons.
On the other hand, she was dressed in a gray training suit, as always.
"She's wearing gray training clothes again today. Come to think of it, I've never seen her wear anything else. It's the same with the sword competition, and the last time I saw her by chance…"
Ian suddenly remembered Leslie's words and bit his lower lip.
Clothes were all people needed to warm their body… and his clothes were too luxurious for him to think that way.
Even though he didn't really care, his closet was full of nice clothes.
He normally didn't have any appetite, but the best food was always on the table at his home.
So, he lived his life without even thinking about it.
Not knowing what Ian was thinking, Annabelle mumbled and continued to curse.
"Even though it was just a simple course meal, she was extremely impressed… I heard that she only ate frozen yeper meat every day."
Just from the name, the meat sounded really dry.
He didn't know what frozen yeper meat was, but Leslie's indignation was that it was very bad.
Had she really not been eating well?
Even though she was not that small, she seemed to fit into his arms…
No, why was he thinking like this about Annabelle and not anyone else?
Even if there was only one woman left in the world and it was Annabelle, they would only fight until the end.
Even if the two were trapped on an uninhabited island, it was a relationship that would push each other into the sea like crazy.
Knowing she was in his arms, how could he have such a crazy idea?
Annabelle's body tilted slightly around the time he was disillusioned with himself.
Grabbing her in a hurry, Annabelle shrugged it off with an excuse.
"No, it's my first time drinking too much…"
"Alcohol?"
"His Highness bought me wine."
If he looked closely, he could see the tip of Annabellel's ear.
"Because it's my birthday…"
"…It's your birthday today?"
"Yes."
Ian swallowed a groan without realizing it.
Robert asked for wine on her birthday while Ian asked for a fight.
Even if he didn't like Annabelle, isn't it too much to ask for a birthday fight?
He forgot that it was actually her who started the fight first, and became lost in thought.
How far did he go?
Suddenly Annabelle's body leaned back.
At the same time, Ian's heart dropped.
Annabelle was completely drunk and fell asleep with her eyes closed.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!"
Ian held her body half-heartedly so she wouldn't fall off and said.
"Hey, Annabelle Nadit?"
Annabelle was just sleeping soundly.
While stiff, Ian arrived at the dukedom with minimal contact with her body.
~*~
"So."
Leslie folded her arms and looked at her son's pathetic behavior."You brought her here for now?"
Annabelle's body was hanging on his black horse.
Perhaps upon arriving at the dukedom, she must have been placed on the horse, and Ian probably got off and dragged her like a sack.
"Of course, if she had been drunk to this extent, you should have taken her to her own house… No."
Leslie shook her head."She probably won't eat anything but frozen yeper meat there anyways. I'm glad you brought her."
"What?"
Then, Leslie spoke more refreshingly to her son, who had the most stupid look on his face ever.
"Well then, you can get out of here."