Chapter 2

Wanting to Escape (1)

I sighed deeply while opening the closet to go out.

Two worn-out gray training suits…

After I stopped growing, I wasn’t given any more clothes. Other than that, there were only old leather hair ties and rough cotton indoor clothes.

I can’t believe these are the only clothes I have in such a nice mansion. I knew it, but anger rose in me again.

I originally accepted without much thought.

“You can’t focus on the sword if you’re obsessed with dressing up.”

Now that she has passed away, she is not in this mansion, but my mother, Caitlyn used to say that.

In the meantime, of course, I thought she was right.

Ian had also believed that he should not ask for anything other than a sword without winning.

However, when I remembered my previous life, I objectively realized how pitiful my situation was.

“Have a meal, lady.”

The meal brought by the maid was more irritating.

It was just a bunch of dry, tasteless meat and a few veggie leaves that were about to wither.

“Diet control is essential for the body.”

Reid and Caitlyn always ate upscale meals, and I ate only a few meals by myself in a room.

Very occasionally, they would give me part of the leftovers.

Up until now, food has been thought of only as fuel for the body to perform swordsmanship.

But, I know that this is not the only life I can live. So, I shouldn’t go by eating this kind of garbage.

“Is there anything else? I get tired of eating like this every day.”

As I grumbled, the maid responded kindly.

“But until the swordsmanship competition… Mr. Reid told me to take special care of you.”

Even after the swordsmanship contest was over, he still gave me meals like this with the words: ‘unfortunately, you finished second, so you should prepare for the next swordsmanship contest from today’.

But now, I don’t even have the strength to make a fuss, so I quietly picked up the fork.

‘Ugh, it doesn’t taste good.’

As far as I know, this is low-grade meat, and it was the worst meat in all of my memories from my previous life.

‘It’s really bad that the meat doesn’t taste good.’

However, since I was going to use my body today, I had no choice but to swallow it up and eat it all.

I picked up the best condition of the training clothes in the closet and brought my sword.

On the way out of the mansion, Reid was enjoying an afternoon tea set with some pretty girls who he had invited.

‘That scum…’

In the meantime, I wanted to get just one sandwich, but I didn’t have time.

I looked and went out to the side of the road. Even though it was the world I saw every day, the air felt somehow different.

Just remembering my past life made me realize that it was a world in a book.

Above all else, I looked around the street and saw a lot of handsome men.

Even the store clerk showed off the beauty of the world.

So, after I remembered my past life, my standards of appearance lowered significantly.

As a result, everyone looked like models as if they were on a movie set…

‘I can’t do anything about it, so I’m going to be the greatest flirt here. That’ll be my new strand of life.’

Even if I was born as a supporting role who didn’t get involved romantically in any way, it was something I could do if I were in a romance film.

What is this, people passing by on the street look like movie stars?

Well, even the people on the street look like movie stars.

‘Let’s live a life that has nothing to do with him.’

~*~

Ian Wade was a man with distinct features. Thanks to his small face and well-balanced body, he was an attractive man that stood out even from a distance.

As the only heir to the Duke of Wade, he was extremely aristocratic in his ascetic appearance, restrained attitude, and neat gestures.

Now, he was indifferently checking the escort procession for an upcoming mission.

It was a great honor to escort the High Priest. Therefore, even the knights of Wade led by him selected were only the elites.

Among them was his lieutenant, Aaron, who was talkative but his skills were acknowledged.

“Isn’t she quiet these days?”

Aaron followed Ian and said.

“Who?”

Aaron chuckled in response at Ian’s blunt question.

“Who else? The 2nd place in the last swordsmanship contest where she came to Ian every day to swear and get kicked out.”

Ian didn’t even respond, but Aaron kept talking.

“The only person who dared to criticize Ian was Annabelle, but I feel a bit sorry for her.”

“Don’t be silly and get ready to go.”

Without even giving Aaron a glance, Ian jumped on his black horse.

He responded bluntly to Aaron’s words, but he was also conscious that Anabelle had been very quiet these days.

Annabelle Nadit. An illegitimate child in her family who had been officially defeated by him twice, and unofficially defeated over 2,000 times.

Now, if he defeated her one more time in the upcoming swordsmanship contest, he would officially win three times.

Him and Annabelle were both 22 years old, but after this tournament, they won’t compete again, so it will be over.

It can be said that she’s quite beautiful when she rushes with her sword, but he was really fed up with her.

When she came to visit him from time to time and applied for a match and accepted it, she used all kinds of mean tricks.

She used very absurd acts, such as hitting him in the head when greeting him, or attacking his back when he turned around.

After getting defeated even more, she poured out all kinds of mean words and curses.

“XX, XX you XX XXX and XX, XX you XX it!”

The level of profanity and curses were absolutely vulgar.

No matter how much Annabelle has half of the blood of the marquis, she’s still a commoner.

However, there was no basic dignity in treating Ian so harshly since he was the only heir to the duke and commander of the Knights.

Ian simply ignored it because he thought she would be the same person if he sincerely refuted the ridiculous curses.

“She was, of course, very stubborn. It was ridiculous that she hated people so much after losing to them with her skills.”

“Then don’t wait.”

“Still, it was quite a spectacle in this desolate training ground. Watching the fight is the funniest thing ever. Haha. That’s not too far away.”

Everyone was now familiar with Annabelle, who always flew in while leaving the gatekeepers out of the way, shouting and raiding behind Ian’s back.

The knights who first ran wildly while saying it was rude had already adapted to it.

But anyways, if he completely beats her in this final swordsmanship competition, it would eventually be quiet.

Because she will no longer have a reason to beat Ian.

He knew she wanted to win the first prize in the swordsmanship competition and get a title to be recognized as a member of the Marquis.

Clearly, her desire for first place made her even more desperate, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t lose to an opponent she could easily win.

“In that sense, I haven’t seen her face for a few days, aren’t you feeling empty? It’s the first time we haven’t seen each other for so long since I was probably 14.”

“Not at all.”

He was far from being empty.

He couldn’t like Annabelle, who often insults him, as she’s not good enough for Ian, who believes in himself to be fair and virtuous.

He, who prides himself on being a very common-sense and normal person, could never understand Annabelle, who constantly causes trouble to others.

“I will never give up on beating you. Because swordsmanship is everything in my life. So accept me as your opponent! Don’t look at me with such disrespectful eyes!”

Perhaps if it wasn’t for what she said one day, Ian would have already put her in jail for insults.

There was only one thing, the attitude that swordsmanship was everything in life was pitiful and she was letting go.

No chivalry was found from her, but the earnestness of the sword touched somewhere in Ian.

It’s been like that since they first met, when they were 14 years old.

“I hope she’s not working on more strategies with the contest coming up. Or to poison Ian.”

When Aaron spoke up, Ian replied coldly.

“All I do is bear the sword. If she crosses the line without a sword, she’ll pay for it.”

Aaron immediately shut up at his gruesome words.

Annabelle, who had not been seen for several days, appeared when he entered the main road leading to the Imperial Palace while escorting the high priest.

As he watched the high priest’s procession, he saw her pale purple hair tied high among the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

“Oh.”

Aaron, who found Annabelle, murmured.

“It’s not like she’s rushing to fight here right now. Her eyes are already ready to catch someone.”

Ian, who never had a good time being entangled with her, sighed once in vain and didn’t respond.

Even Annabelle, who is a nobody, would not hurl curses in front of so many people.

However, it was because she had always kept the very basic line of breaking into Wade’s residence and requesting a fight.

That was then.

Annabelle, who was in the crowd, jumped.

Naturally, Ian was the first to notice the movement.

‘You’ve come a long way, Annabelle Nadit.’

She must have been crazy to try and attack him in front of so many people.

Ian reflexively drew out his sword towards her.

No matter how incomparable she is to him, she was second in the swordsmanship contest. No one in his knighthood was stronger than her, so he had to deal with her himself.

“Ah, Miss Annabelle!”

Then Aaron, Ian’s lieutenant, was astonished and called out her name.

It is also because the poisonous stinger that flew from somewhere went right in Annabelle’s back countless times, which blocked Ian’s right arm.