Chapter 2

1. The Life I Want to Escape

I opened the wardrobe to get dressed and let out a deep sigh.

There were only two worn-out gray training outfits…

Ever since I had stopped growing, no new clothes had been given to me. Other than those, all I had was an old leather hair tie and rough cotton nightclothes.

How could someone living in such a fine mansion have so little clothing of her own? I already knew the answer, but anger still welled up inside me.

Originally, I had accepted it without giving it much thought.

“If you let yourself get distracted by dressing up, you won’t be able to concentrate on the sword.”

That was something my mother, Caitlin, used to say constantly. She had already passed away and was no longer in the mansion.

Until now, I had naturally believed she was right.

I had always thought that since I couldn’t even defeat Ian, I had no right to ask for anything unrelated to swordsmanship.

But after remembering my past life, I was able to objectively see just how miserable my circumstances actually were.

“Miss, it’s time to eat.”

The meal the maid brought me was even more irritating.

It consisted of nothing but a tough, tasteless piece of meat and a few wilted leaves of vegetables that were on the verge of dying.

“If you want to be agile, controlling your diet is essential.”

Rieard and Caitlin always ate luxurious meals, while I lived alone in my room eating nothing but this sort of garbage.

Very occasionally, when Caitlin and Rieard happened to have leftovers, they would generously toss them my way, and I would hurriedly eat them.

Until now, I had thought of food as nothing more than fuel for the body I used for swordsmanship.

But now I knew that there was more to life than this. I couldn’t possibly spend the rest of my life eating garbage like this.

“Isn’t there anything else? I’m tired of eating this every day.”

When I grumbled, the maid answered politely.

“But until the swordsmanship tournament… Lord Rieard specifically told us to be careful about your diet.”

Even after the swordsmanship tournament ended, they had given me meals like this, saying, “Since you unfortunately came in second, Lord Rieard says you should start preparing for the next tournament today.”

But now I didn’t even have the energy to make a fuss about it, so I silently picked up my fork.

Ugh. It tastes awful.

As far as I knew, this was meat from an Iffer, a low-level monster. Even when I considered all the memories from my previous life, it was still the worst-tasting meat I had ever eaten.

Meat that tastes this bad? This is truly the worst.

But since I planned to use my body today, I had no choice but to cut it into small pieces and eat every last bite.

I chose the least-worn training outfit in the wardrobe, put it on, and took my sword.

On my way out of the mansion, I spotted Rieard enjoying an afternoon tea set with several pretty women he had invited over.

That piece of trash…

For a moment, I wanted to ask him for just one sandwich, but I was running out of time, so I resisted.

After shooting him one last glare, I stepped onto the street.

It was the same world I saw every day, yet even the air felt different.

Just remembering my past life was enough to make the fact that I was living inside a book feel real.

More than anything, when I looked around the streets, I noticed that there were an absurd number of handsome men.

Even the shopkeepers were blessed with otherworldly good looks.

So apparently, after recovering the memories of my past life, my standards for appearance had dropped considerably as well.

Everyone looked like models, as if I had wandered onto a movie set…

No, this won’t do. I’m going to become the greatest flirt in history. That’s the direction my new life should take.

Even if I had been reborn as a supporting character who couldn’t have a romance, there was nothing stopping me from having one.

I mean, even the random people walking down the street looked handsome enough to be movie stars.

To do that, however, I had to escape from my current role as quickly as possible.

I need to hurry up and live a life that has nothing to do with that bastard.

Ian Wadeiros was a handsome man with striking features. Thanks to his small face and well-proportioned physique, he was an attractive man who stood out even from a distance.

As befitted the sole heir of House Wadeiros, his austere appearance, restrained demeanor, and every neat, measured movement were unmistakably aristocratic.

At that moment, he was calmly inspecting the escort formation for the mission that was about to begin.

Being assigned to escort the High Priest was an enormous honor.

Therefore, only the elite members of the Wadeiros Knights under his command had been selected.

Among them was his deputy, Aaron, a man who talked far too much but whose skill was impossible to deny.

“But hasn’t it been rather quiet lately?”

Aaron said as he followed Ian.

“Who?”

At Ian’s curt response, Aaron chuckled.

“Who else? The second-place winner of the last swordsmanship tournament, who used to come looking for Lord Ian every single day, hurl abuse at you, and then get thrown out.”

Ian didn’t even bother responding, but Aaron continued talking.

“I’m actually a little disappointed. Lady Annabelle was the only person who dared to insult Lord Ian.”

“Stop talking nonsense and get ready to depart.”

Without even looking at Aaron, Ian effortlessly mounted his black horse.

Although he had responded indifferently to Aaron, Ian himself had noticed that Annabelle had been unusually quiet for the past few days.

Annabelle Nadit.

A swordswoman born as an illegitimate child who had officially lost to him twice—and unofficially more than two thousand times.

If he defeated her once more at the upcoming swordsmanship tournament, it would officially make three victories over her.

He and Annabelle were both twenty-two years old. Since neither of them would be eligible to participate after this tournament, it could be considered the end of their rivalry.

One could even say that there was something beautiful about the sight of her charging toward him with a sword in hand.

But honestly, Ian was sick and tired of her.

She would come looking for him at all hours, challenge him to duels, and then resort to all sorts of underhanded tricks whenever he accepted.

For example, she would strike him over the head while they were formally greeting each other, or attack him from behind after the duel was already over and he had turned away.

She repeatedly behaved in utterly ridiculous ways.

After casually parrying her attacks a few times and defeating her miserably, she would shower him with all sorts of insults and curses.

“You XX, you XX, you XXX your XX, XX! I’ll XX your XX so XX!”

The level of her profanity and curses was truly vulgar beyond belief.

No matter how much of Marquis Abedes’s blood Annabelle possessed, her current status was still that of a commoner.

Yet she treated him—the sole heir of House Wadeiros and commander of its knights—with such blatant disrespect that she seemed to lack even the most basic sense of dignity.

Ian felt that seriously responding to her ridiculous curses would only make him as foolish as she was, so he simply ignored her.

“Of course, she was incredibly unreasonable. It was ridiculous how much she hated someone who had clearly beaten her through sheer skill…”

“Then don’t wait for her.”

“Still, she was quite the source of entertainment in this bleak training ground. Watching people fight is always the most fun. Although, come to think of it, that won’t last much longer either.”

Everyone had become accustomed to Annabelle’s usual antics.

She would somehow evade the guards, fly into the training grounds, suddenly shout, “Let’s duel!” and ambush Ian from behind.

Even the knights who had once raged about her rudeness had grown used to it.

Still, once he thoroughly crushed her in this final swordsmanship tournament, she would eventually quiet down.

After all, she would no longer have any reason to defeat him.

Ian knew that she wanted to win first place in the swordsmanship tournament, earn a noble title, and be recognized as a member of House Abedes.

Her desire to come in first was certainly far more desperate than his.

But that didn’t mean he could deliberately lose to an opponent he could easily defeat.

“In that case, don’t you feel a little empty after not seeing her for several days? This is the first time since we were fourteen that you haven’t seen her for this long.”

“Not at all.”

Rather than feeling empty, Ian felt as refreshed as though a nagging tooth had finally been pulled.

As someone who believed himself to be upright and honorable, Ian simply couldn’t bring himself to like Annabelle, who constantly insulted him despite lacking the skill to defeat him.

He prided himself on being a perfectly sensible and normal person, and he simply could not understand Annabelle, who constantly caused trouble for others.

“I will never give up on defeating you. Because swordsmanship is my entire life! So acknowledge me as your opponent! Stop looking at me with those eyes that completely dismiss me!”

If she hadn’t said those words to him once, Ian would probably have already had her imprisoned for insulting him.

There was only one reason he had tolerated her antics.

He felt sorry for her because swordsmanship was her entire life.

There wasn’t a trace of chivalry in her behavior, but her desperate devotion to the sword had somehow touched something deep inside Ian.

It had been that way ever since they first met at the age of fourteen.

“As the swordsmanship tournament approaches, she isn’t planning some even more elaborate scheme, is she? Like trying to poison Lord Ian.”

Aaron spoke slyly, and Ian replied coldly.

“I only show mercy when she holds a sword. If she crosses the line while she isn’t holding one, she’ll have to pay the price.”

At his lord’s chilling words, Aaron immediately shut his mouth.

Annabelle, who had been nowhere to be seen for several days, finally appeared when the escort procession entered the main avenue leading toward the Imperial Palace.

Among the crowds that had gathered excitedly to see the High Priest’s procession, Ian spotted a head of pale violet hair tied high.

“Oh.”

Aaron muttered when he spotted Annabelle.

“She isn’t going to come charging at us and ask for a duel right here, is she? The look in her eyes already makes it seem like she’s about to take someone down.”

Ian let out a weary sigh.

Not once had anything good come from getting involved with Annabelle, and he had no desire to respond.

Even someone as reckless as Annabelle wouldn’t charge at him in front of this many people demanding a duel and hurling insults, would she?

After all, despite everything, Annabelle had always observed one very basic boundary: she would break into the Wadeiros training grounds and challenge him to a duel there.

Then it happened.

Annabelle suddenly leaped into the air from within the crowd.

Naturally, Ian was the first to notice her movement.

She’s really gone too far this time, Annabelle Nadit.

To attack him out of nowhere in front of this many people…

She had undoubtedly lost her mind.

Had the approaching swordsmanship tournament really driven her insane?

Ian instinctively drew his sword toward her.

No matter how incomparable their abilities were, she was still the second-best swordswoman in the Empire.

There wasn’t a single knight in his order stronger than her, so he would have to face her himself.

“L-Lady Annabelle!”

At that moment, Ian’s deputy, Aaron, shouted Annabelle’s name in shock.