The morning of the retirement ceremony was very clear and refreshing. I hummed and chose my clothes.
The High Priest's retirement ceremony was also a paternity test, so the square would be full as it was the first day in almost 100 years to conduct a paternity test.
After choosing the most colorful and pretty dress made by Marilyn, I felt like I was already a rich and capable single.
I was excited to leave the house, but Reid was drinking tea alone in the drawing room.
"Reid?"
I glanced at him and talked to him first.
"You're not going out? The retirement ceremony is starting soon."
"Oh."Reid smiled awkwardly and scratched his chin.
"Go ahead. I have someone to meet for a while…"
"Who do you want to meet?""
"It's someone."
Since my paternity test was decided, Reid had been acting a little strange.
Of course, I thought he would be madly happy, but he just rolled his eyes like someone who was anxious and smiled awkwardly.
"Don't worry. I'll do my best at the swordsmanship competition."
I thought he might give up on the swordsmanship competition.
"But the dividend is huge, so it would be better for you to win first place than to become a noble."
I didn't mean to give him a penny, so I could understand Reid's frustration.
He spoke again with a slight bite on his fingernail.
"Okay, I'll trust you. Hurry up and go. I'll follow you soon."
I couldn't afford to pay attention to him enough to respond to the subtle weirdness.
This was because the thought of becoming Annabelle Abedes in front of countless people boiled the blood of a weak attention seeker in me.
Like that, I hummed and headed to Eilas Square.
Even though there was still a long way to go until the retirement ceremony, Eilas Square, which could be seen in the distance, was full of people.
'Let's get a house first. I'll be Marilyn's neighbor.'
For the first time in my life, my heart felt so excited.
To be honest… What I really wanted was not something like first place or a title.
It was to be recognized by the family.
I wanted to join in recognition by Caitlyn or Reid.
Thinking that I wanted to get along with Reid even after Caitlyn's death, I had been desperate since I was young.
After remembering my previous life, I realized that such a future would never come.
In addition, after admitting that everything I wanted was useless, I became more comfortable.
Reid and Caitlyn were bad families. There was no need to cling to them.
Instead, I decided to cling to what was 'mine'. For example, the right to inherit.
'In the past, I wanted inheritance rights for Caitlyn and Reid, but now, it's only for me!'
After organizing my thoughts step by step, I stopped heading toward Eilas Square.
Because of the shortcut, the place where I was was a rather deserted alley.
Looking back slowly, I quietly spoke to the air.
"I guess you don't know because you don't have any knowledge of swordsmanship. It's a ridiculous idea to follow in the footsteps of someone who's as good as me."
It was a colorful dress, but of course, one dagger was left at the foot of the dress.
"Even if it's 16 people, Elburn."
When I told them the exact number of people, they appeared from all over the place and rushed toward me.
Did you think that Ian was not the only one in the Empire who could deal with me, so you could just finish me off?
Or was it because I was dressed in a dress, so I was looked down upon because I didn't have a long sword that I always carried?
'I'll watch for 1 minute and 40 seconds.'
It was time to clear the situation by immediately stabbing the assassin's arm with a single dagger and taking the long sword.
"Hold on, Annabelle."
A pink-haired young man stood in front of me.
"I'll take care of it."
He sounded relaxed considering that he quickly pulled out the sword.
"…Aaron Rainfield? Why are you here?"
The answer could be heard exactly two minutes later.
After finishing off all 16 assassins, he politely brought them to Elburn, who was hiding behind the alley.
"I was buying some snacks from afar, and I came across it by accident."
"Hmm… Really?"
"That dress was made by my mother. What if your clothes get damaged?"
Aaron spoke naturally.
"At this historic moment, my mother was very happy to see you with the clothes in the Rainfield dressing room. She has been gone since dawn and occupied the front seat, so you can't break that expectation."
"Thank you, Aaron."
Yousaid it wasn't for me, but for my dress, but thank you anyway.
"And Elburn."
I sighed and looked at Elburn standing in front of me.
"You can't show your ignorance like this. I can't believe you were thinking of trying to catch the person who won second place in the swordsmanship competition. And you even followed me yourself? I can notice your presence even if you stand on your hands."
Elburn glared at me to death, but he seemed to know enough that he couldn't fight.
'It's obvious. You must have hated me for being part of the Abedes.'
If I didn't attend this retirement ceremony alone, everything would be fine.
He must have been secretly trying to tie my feet up for a few hours.
Unlike Richard and Marquis Abedes, Elburn was very impulsive.
He was not familiar with what Richard and Marquis Abedes were doing in collaboration with Crown Prince Carlon.
So rather than calculating far away, he would have committed this arbitrarily because he hated this situation right now.
However, because he was too ignorant of swordsmanship, he had done something else absurd.
"…And you just take the right of inheritance for what you did."
Elburn glared at me and grinded his teeth.
"We didn't grow up together, you didn't spend time with our family, but just because there was blood mixed in, why?!"
"Why are you asking me that? Ask the Imperial law."
I shrugged and responded insincerely.
"Then bye."
I didn't mean to deal with him for a long time.
I had no time to devote my energy to Elburn and others now.
Rather, I thought ignoring it and just leaving would increase Elburn's anger even more.
Aaron quickly followed me, perhaps having the same thoughts.
"There's still two of them left." (t/n: referring to Richard and the Marquis.)
Aaron spoke naturally.
"Anyways, I'll escort you to the square for my mother's dress."
I was the one who didn't need escort the most in the world, but the dress was also different.
Marquis Abedes and Richard would not do this, but there was no need to refuse.
"Well, cheer up. It's a day when your family recognizes you."
"The family came at me with a knife, but…"
"I give you my words of consolation. This is real."
Aaron smiled and said.
"And I'm practicing hiding my tracks these days. Someday, I will eavesdrop on Ian singing while taking a shower."
"And you must get caught eavesdropping."
I gave a firm warning.
"That's how he'll feel more ashamed."
"I won't forget to get caught after the bridge."
It was nothing, but I suddenly thought it was fun.
Come to think of it, it was the first time I had such a good conversation with my peers.
"Hey, Aaron Rainfield. Why aren't you in the swordsmanship contest?"
"I'm not really curious about the results, but I don't want to be tense for no reason. I think I'll be in 3rd place."
"Hmm… That's true."
When I saw him dealing with the assassins earlier, I thought he was just that good.
"And unlike Annabelle, I have nothing I want to achieve. The Duke of Wade is very satisfied with the Knights. Ian is also a good swordsman."
Aaron continued his words like flowing water.
"I had a fatal disadvantage that Ian was too boring, but these days, thanks to Annabelle, I have a fun time teasing him. I'm very disappointed that you haven't done it for a while."
"Really? The future of the Knights of Wade is so dark that the deputy is taking the opposite position of the general."
"It's not a day or two that we're the opposite. Besides, I'm a funny person."
That was how I ended up talking to Aaron about this and that.
'What? I think I made a friend.'
I thought awkwardly, scratching my chin.
'I can't believe I'm chatting with someone like this. It's not like me, but I'm having fun.'
Anyways, it was fun to talk to someone who was good at conversing.
Aaron smiled and spoke as if he felt the same way.
"Let's have a tea time with Leslie later. Don't you think it'll be fun?"
"Huh? What…"
I blinked slowly.
"I guess that'll be nice."
Honestly, I nodded because I thought it would be a little fun.
Come to think of it, it was also the first time that I was officially offered to hangout.
When we arrived at the square talking, it was crowded.
Everyone's eyes immediately focused on me as I arrived at the square.
"Then I'll see you soon as Annabelle Abedes."
Aaron greeted lightly and went to the Rainfields in the front.Oscar and Marilyn greeted me with eye contact, so I smiled awkwardly.
Before greeting them properly, a lower priest in a priest's uniform approached.
"Oh, Annabelle is here."
"Yes."
"Everyone is waiting. This way, please."Behind the square was a line of all priests and saints from the temple.
Marquis Abedes and the High Priest were already located on the stage of the square.
Sooner or later… I would become Annabelle Abedes and inherit a huge amount of money.
'I'll cut off from Marquis Abedes for money.'
I, who tried to calm down my pounding heart, took the stage.