(3rd person pov)
"But Prince…"
Richard protested as if he was wrongly accused, and Carlon shook his head and slyly said.
"You may doubt Miss Annabelle's sword skills, but it was too much. Miss Annabelle is famous in foreign countries too."
"Foreign countries?"
"My escort, who was newly brought from elsewhere, kept talking."
Carlon continued, pointing to Lagian behind him.
"He wanted to compete with Miss Annabelle. He said he would win easily, but I was stopping him."
"It's okay, Prince."
Richard replied with a mean smile.
"Anabelle won't even be in second place anyway."
"Hmm, Miss Annabelle Rainfield."
Carlon looked at Annabel and spoke softly.
"Would you like to have a friendly duel here? In fact, my new escort wants to keep fighting you."
Carlon was confident that there were no swordsmen who would not fall for this.
Annabelle had been suspicious of her skills so far, but it was ridiculous to step down from here.
"I don't want to have a friendly duel, Prince."
Annabelle expressed her courtesy to Carlon and spoke firmly.
"I want to have a serious duel. Because…"
Carlon wanted to cheer for Annabelle's words, but he had no choice but to make a slight expression when he heard the following words.
"It wasn't just me who will be looked down on, but it would be an insult to His Majesty's eye since he said he was impressed with my match."
Even the emperor, who had no thoughts at the words, looked, 'Is that so?'.
"Of course, I will engage in a duel for the honor of His Majesty the Emperor."
Suddenly, Annabelle became a loyalist who pulled a sword for the emperor.
"Oh, Miss Annabelle."
The emperor blinked with an expression of excitement.
"Are you pulling a sword out for me…? It's an honor."
He had been longing for swordsmanship by reading books about swordsmen since he was young, but expectations were already high in the eyes of the emperor, whose physical strength did not follow.
'It's okay. She's going to lose anyway.'
Carlon tried to suppress the ominous feeling he felt somewhere and thought.
'The more you go around like that, the greater your disappointment will grow.'
Lagian, who was standing behind Carlon, clicked on the sword he was holding with excitement.
Carlon applauded once then called attention and said.
"Then, since you don't have a sword and you don't feel comfortable in your clothes, let's move to the imperial dressing room…"
"No, Prince. Thank you for your consideration, but I can fight here."
Annabelle smiled and said.
"The movement path is enough from here to here, so that it won't harm anyone. And you don't have to care about my clothes."
She took off her skirt without a glance.
The colorful skirt fell, fluttering.
At the same time, even a thin sword hidden in active pants was revealed.
It's like a person who came expecting such a duel.
"Oh my."
Some of the nobles whispered without even realizing it.
"…How cool…"
Annabelle had a completely different atmosphere than before.
Under the colorful banquet lights, she was standing with a jeweled top, long stretched pants, and a sword.
"What's cool?"
One of the noblemen, who was ordered by the empress, hurriedly came to his senses and spoke loudly.
"It's a really weird outfit! Can you say that a dress is a dress that hides something like that inside?"
But his words were buried by the emperor's words.
"When did they prepare this?"
Annabelle answered the emperor's puzzled question as if it were nothing.
"Well, swordsmens should always be ready to fight."
"Was it like that? Hm…"
The emperor applauded slowly.
"That's possible… Very cool…"
"If only Your Majesty will grant me permission, I would like to enhance this banquet with my swordsmanship skills for Your Majesty's sake."
Annabelle smiled confidently and spoke to the emperor.
"I'll finish it quickly so that no one gets hurt. I'll show you the power of the empire to a foreign escort."
"Oh, oh."
The emperor hesitated for a moment, putting his hands together as if he was looking forward to it.
Then he sneaked a peek at Robert and said.
"Robert is the main character of this banquet, so you'd better do as he pleases."
Robert applauded curiously as if he had waited for the words.
"This will be a very fun event at my birthday party. I can guarantee an unconditional victory for Miss Annabelle."
The emperor even smiled broadly at the words.
It was a sincere smile that Robert would have been disappointed if he had said no.
The emperor hesitated and spoke carefully to Annabelle.
"Oh, Miss Annabelle."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"May I give you a handkerchief to tie to the sword?"
"What?"
Annabelle knew well that the emperor liked to watch swordsmanship games. Also that he looked forward to the competition held once every four years.
But she didn't know he would like it this much.
Handkerchiefs meant cheering for the swordsman and wishing for victory on that person.
He continued with excited eyes, exhaling a runny nose.
"So, you're fighting foreigners in my honor."
"Yes, I'm very honored."
Annabelle tied the handkerchief handed over by the emperor to the sword handle.
"Ah…"
The emperor's green eyes twinkled as he watched it. (tl/n: he's like a kid HAHA) (pr/n: or like a maiden cheering on the most handsome knight asfsadgh)
Ian did not have an official duel unless it was a swordsmanship competition.
Annabelle had not been in a duel so far unless it was an informal battle to attack Ian.
So even if she was second place, this duel was a huge attraction because Annabelle came forward.
The emperor murmured to himself in an emotional voice.
"I can hand over my handkerchief now…"
He couldn't give a handkerchief to the duels before because he had to treat his people fairly.
This time, the opponent was a foreigner and the emperor was able to give it to Annabelle because she talked about the emperor's honor.
Anyway, that was how the duel took place at the banquet hall.
Carlon held back the anxiety momentarily.
All experts said Lagian was better than Annabelle.
The reason Annabelle looked so confident now might have been because she didn't know her opponent.
Richard whispered quietly, perhaps sensing his anxiety.
"You don't have to worry too much."
Carlon nodded once and winked at Lagian behind him.
Lagian walked with a bit of pride and stood in front of Annabelle.
Because he was so big, there was a considerable difference in size even though Annabelle was not short.
"Then… I'll ask for a duel. Actually, I've really wanted to fight."
Lagian smiled meanly and took off his gloves and threw them by Annabelle's skirt.
"In that sense…"
He twisted his neck once and continued with a crackling sound.
"It's insulting to say that no one will get hurt if it ends quickly."
Annabelle laughed, nodding her head arrogantly.
"I accept it."
It was time for Lagian to frown at Annabelle's absurd informal speech.
"I'm not very cultured, so I treat my duel opponent badly. I don't know, but I did it to Ian, too. I did that to Richard earlier."
She shrugged and continued.
"If you have a concept, you don't want me to treat you better than Ian, do you?"
"Well, then."
Lagian wiped off his smile and said with an eerie face.
"I'll finish it quickly on my end."
Annabelle smiled and raised the sword.
The people at the banquet hall emptied the center following the guidance of the emperor and gave them enough space.
And they stood apart from each other in case of a possible safety accident.
Under Robert's instructions, several elite imperial knights and medical staff were brought in.
"But she's still in second place in the Empire… Annabelle will win, right?"
"Well, look at the difference in weight. In terms, that foreigner is nearly twice as big as her."
"Isn't it because he's so confident?"
People were whispering.
Ian was watching the situation with his arms folded and a firm face.
Of course, people had been reluctant to ask Ian questions.
It was also shocking to see Ian and Annabelle appearing together when they weren't even partners.
Ian hadn't done anything since escorting Annabelle and just kept his place.
He politely declined the dance requests of other noble girls.
It had been a long time since people had seen him at a banquet, but they couldn't figure out why he had come.
But his expression was too bad to ask directly.
Although Ian was praised as a respectful and educated aristocrat, it was a position that many people could not help but find difficult to approach.
So people had no choice but to talk behind his back.
"But why does he look like that?"
"Before, when Prince Robert and Miss Annabelle danced, he looked angry while watching them."
"I don't know… He always had that kind of expression on his face."