Chapter 51

Why People Change (1)

I again lamented the inconsistency of my poor home schooling.

How come I hadn’t even thought of saying hello to Leslie?

Leslie was the only benefactor who first reached out to me, who was an idiot.

Besides, she was the one who made my parents known, even by chance.

So I nodded quickly.

“Then I have to go.”

“Yes, so when I see Cessianne next time, I’ll put a message in the duke’s mansion. Tomorrow I will officially visit with you.”

Aaron gladly replied, and I returned to the Duke of Wade’s residence after a few days.

On the morning of the day we decided to visit the Duke of Wade, I received a letter from Leslie.

It said, ‘Bring your sword and training clothes.’ I was a little disappointed. This was because, unlike the past where I would bother Ian, I wanted to dress up properly and visit her formally. I would also like to sincerely thank her. ‘And let’s meet at the training ground.’ What followed was even more disappointing. Wasn’t that the place where I always jumped over the fence and ran away from the gatekeeper? There were people of the Knights Templar who parted like a good spectacle every time I came to the training ground. “Oh my gosh.” Aaron, who greeted me most passionately at the time, saw the letter over his shoulder and muttered. “What Leslie said…” As a newly born Annabelle Rainfield, I wanted to show a different side of myself, so I asked bluntly.

“Why? What is this?”

Aaron hesitated for a moment, and then he answered.

“Leslie no longer holds a sword after her leg injury. She has only been to the training ground once because of the sandwich.”

And because I made a riot at the training ground every day, I got caught by her that one time. “From what she wrote, maybe…” Aaron said cautiously. “She seems to want to see sister use a sword seriously.” In the end, I went to the duke’s mansion wearing nothing out of the ordinary.

It felt very strange to go to Duke Wade’s training ground with Aaron, without crossing the fence, and walking leisurely.

“There you are…”

As the gymnasium began to come into view in the distance, my steps gradually slowed down.

‘Am I not ashamed of myself? What if everyone laughs at me?’

Feeling restless, I finally couldn’t stand it and told Aaron.

“You’re still Ian’s lieutenant, but me, who was the most unsympathetic to Ian…”

Aaron opened his eyes and spoke naturally.

“Can’t you see my proud face? How could you think like that?”

“It’s more of a fun look than a proud one.”

“It was a little mixed, but… there is no other place that is driven by the power of common sense as much as the Knights Templar.”

Aaron answered seriously.

“Of course, there were some people who hated him because he had an overly sense of justice. But they were arguably ridiculous.”

“I’m glad you don’t have an overly sense of justice, brother.”

I moved as slowly as possible, but I arrived at the training ground in the end anyways.

The knights, who had been training hard, looked at Aaron and I, stopped their movements, and looked confused.

As usual, they split like the low tide and seemed to be contemplating whether or not to open the way to lan. “I didn’t come to fight today…” Without realizing it, as if I was making an excuse, Aaron accepted it.

“Unfortunately, my sister has become a new person. Those two worked together to turn the illegal slave market upside down.”

As Aaron spoke, regret passed by on the faces of some people.

At the far end of the training ground, Ian looked at the posture of the knights, then stopped and looked up at me. Our eyes met from afar. ‘What? It feels different than usual.’ I swallowed dry saliva and quickly averted my eyes.

‘Is it because I didn’t run all the way? I’ve been reckless here for all 8 years, but my habit is scary.’

I couldn’t think of what to do here if I didn’t run to Ian. Everyone was awkwardly standing in the training ground. “Oka ” y. Leslie’s cheerful voice was heard from the entrance of the gymnasium. “Even if you become a new person, wouldn’t you still be able to fight?” Leslie walked up to me quickly and greeted me first. “Congratulations on finding your family, Miss Annabelle Rainfield.” “Thank you, Leslie.” I greeted her with her courtesy as she smiled brightly. “Thanks to Leslie, I was able to get to know my parents a little bit sooner.” “it wasn’t my intention, right? Other than that…”

Leslie was embarrassed to receive a thank-you, so she lightly skipped the topic.

She narrowed her eyes and looked at the sword I was carrying.

“The sword… Is it different from what you’ve carried before?”

“Before?”

“Yes. The day I came here for a sandwich and saw you and Ian fight for the first time.”

“Ah.” I replied. “That day, I just picked up and used whatever Caitlyn had bought me before…”

“You picked up anything?”

“Yes. That was all I used anyway, and after a little use, its durability weakens, so I change it often.”

Leslie frowned slightly and sighed.

Then she looked at my sword, which looked cheap at first glance, and muttered as if it was understandable. “Caitlyn should be punished…” Most of the swordsmen had their own swords.

It was because it had to move like it was part of their body, so it was good to get a good sword and learn it in their own hand.

Ian also always had his own sword with him.

According to rumors, it was a sword that had been passed down from generation to generation in the Wade family, and it was said that he inherited it from Braden as soon as he reached adulthood.

“I was holding a pretty cheap sword, so I thought it was because I was used to it, but it wasn’t like that.”

Leslie sighed once, and then she called one of the young servants and instructed him to bring something from her room.

Then she looked at me again and said,

“That’s what I called you here for. It’s because your basics don’t seem as solid as you think after looking closely.”

“Basic?”

“During the tournament, it was difficult to notice because you used such brilliant techniques, and the last time I saw you, neither of you were fighting sincerely.”

“But rather, every time I see your movements, you have a strange basic posture. Maybe it was because your teacher was wrong when you were young.”

Leslie spoke seriously.

“I was able to point out Miss Annabelle’s problems because I was just like that. Braden and Ian, who have been educated at the highest level since childhood, would rather not know.”

“To be honest, if you go on like this, you will have no choice but to lose to Ian forever.”

It didn’t feel bad because it was true.

“There is a limit to relying only on special skills and the sense of hitting roughly.”

I instinctively knew. Now, I was being taught by someone greater than any teacher I had passed through as a child.

“There are three things you lack more than Ian. There were three things I lacked more than Braden.”

At some point, I had been training alone because there was no teacher who could teach me, and I suddenly felt my heart pounding.

“Basic posture, agility, and stealth.” She spoke like flowing water, and I nodded as if possessed. “May I teach what you lack?” It was a temptation that I could not refuse. Whether it was sympathy or a projection of Leslie’s childhood, I desperately longed for it. I answered immediately with a desperate look. “Yes please.” Leslie smiled slightly at me and shouted at Ian in the distance. “In that sense, Ian, come here!”

It was an endless instruction, but Ian quietly approached without any answer.

‘I heard that Aaron had sent a message yesterday… He should have been expecting my visit but he seemed somehow surprised.’

I was surprised to think alone.

From a distance, it seemed like a long time, but when I saw him up close, he definitely seemed somewhat different.

Even though my eyesight isn’t great, I instinctively felt his eyeballs concentrating on me.

“Uh? Ian.”

Aaron tilted his head and opened his mouth, apparently feeling the same as me. “What’s up with you?” “What?”

“Now that you’re not just handsome, have you decided to be particularly handsome? It looks like your facial muscles are doing their best right now.”

His blonde hair had always been neat, but today it was particularly neatly swept back to reveal his forehead.

Not only the training clothes that he wore were much nicer than usual, but also the shoes that were supposed to be dirty due to dust during training were clean.

“It must be the mood.” (tl/n: stop lying broo)

At Ian’s blunt reply, I shook my head and took Aaron’s side.

“It’s about how you feel. You seem to have paid a lot of attention to your appearance today.” “No.” “Then what is it? No one has observed you harder than me in the past eight years.” (pr/n: Eheheh)

Ian’s ears lit up at my indifferent words.