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Chapter 18

Strange things I’ve believed in (6)

“It’s a bit silly to say she saved me…”

Braden shook his head as Ian mumbled with a sigh.

“That’s not what Leslie said.”

Leslie folded her arms and spoke nonchalantly.

“Let’s just look at the case. You didn’t get poisoned during your escort, she warned you of terrorism in the bar first, and today, she got hit from the explosives instead of you?”

“Today is a coincidence.”

“I’m more grateful if it’s a coincidence.”

“But I think…”

“As long as we’re human, of course, parents and children can have different opinions, right?”

Leslie spoke lightly, but in the end she hinted that she wouldn’t listen to Ian.

Then, she looked at Braden and grinned.

“And my thoughts are the same as yours, right?”

While being asked almost forcedly, Braden made eye contact with Leslie and laughed.

“Well, your thoughts are mine.”

Ian touched his forehead.

Braden and Leslie had a good heart, so Braden listened to Leslie much more than him.

“But I don’t know who the hell is trying to hurt you.”

Leslie ordered her servants to collect the fragments of the book and request them to be commissioned by the Wizard Guild, and then murmured seriously.

“There wasn’t much political movement.”

“Maybe it’s a warning of the continued friendship with Prince Robert.”

At Leslie’s words, Braden wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“The imperial movement is getting worse.”

“…”

“There’s a rumor going around that Prince Robert had a meal with Miss Annabelle, and it says that he is trying to usurp the throne by force.”

Braden was a little different from Leslie, who had little interest in the world.

So she knew very little about social rumours and political movements.

When Braden mentioned Robert and Annabelle, he even noticed Ian’s eyes flash momentarily.

“Miss Annabelle was second place throughout the two swordsmanship competitions anyways. And the acquaintance between you and the prince is known in secret. The fact that Prince Robert has taken you and Miss Annabelle at the same time could mean that he has set a course for both of you.”

Leslie listened to Braden and nodded as if she agreed.

“Yes, Miss Annabelle is in a poor situation where no one actually cares for her, so even if Prince Robert reaches out a little, she’s in a position to pledge loyalty. But since your situation is a little different, someone might have sent a warning, so be careful.”

Braden sighed slightly and added.

“I don’t think it was a dangerous bomb. It’s more reasonable to think it was just a warning.”

Ian didn’t answer.

In his mind, there was only one sentence floating around in this serious and complex political situation.

‘Even if Prince Robert reaches out a little. Robert reaches out a little. Robert reaches out a little…’

Clearly, Annabelle was in a pretty poor position.

He didn’t know, but based on what he had heard from Leslie, it was even more so.

Robert was quite a political person and was natural at manipulating someone.

Wouldn’t Annabelle have already pledged her loyalty since Robert bought her a meal and a drink at a fancy restaurant to celebrate her birthday?

No, not just the pledge of loyalty…

“If I knew how to do that, would I be doing this right now? I would have been the empress!”

It was a fact known to all the people of the Empire that Robert was coveting the throne.

‘Are you sure you’re not having a strange dream?’

To fall for a meal, a bottle of wine, and to dream of being Robert’s wife or something like that.

Ian bit his lower lip as he watched his parents having a conversation about Annabelle.

To sit next to Robert, how absurd…

No, wait.

Was there any reason why Robert shouldn’t like her?

“No, your eyes are closed.”

Annabelle was right.

His eyes definitely seemed a little weird.

Annabelle had suddenly opened his door while looking so pretty.

It was just a pink dress with no decorations, and her hair was just straightened out without any hair piece.

Wasn’t that when Annabelle said his eyes got weird?

Especially when she climbed on top of him and grabbed his wrist, his heart was beating like crazy. Then she looked into his eyes for a long time…

“Oh, Ian!”

Leslie grabbed Ian’s arm in surprise.

“Nosebleed! Are you hurt too?”

The nosebleed that had stopped earlier began flowing again.

Ian sighed and touched his forehead.

For the first time in his life, he disliked his body.

It made no sense to just think of a moment like this and…

“I know it’s a misunderstood situation, but I don’t care the slightest bit about your body.”

How much did Annabelle want then?

While Ian had all sorts of thoughts on his own, Braden was squinting and watching his son.

So far, Ian had not said anything else, but it was very strange that his eyes kept changing.

‘That look is like…!’

Braden snorted and thought.

‘The look on my face while thinking about Leslie when I was young!.’

His son had a similar appearance to him, so it was not difficult to read the fine-grained muscle movements, no matter how expressionless he was.

‘I’m sure your head is desperately trying to deny it.’

Leslie was a complete grazing type, so it didn’t seem to matter if her son got married or not, but Braden, who had been raised as a successor from the beginning, had a different stance.

‘If he gets married from an arrangement, we may not be able to see an heir. But if he looks at a woman with those eyes, she should be my daughter-in-law.’

Braden had already succeeded in schematically welcoming Leslie as his wife.

‘If by any chance Ian doesn’t know his heart…’

His blue eyes gleamed sinisterly.

‘I’ll have to use my brain and help my son somehow.’

~*~

In the middle of the night, I secretly followed Reid.

It seemed that I would only be able to sleep with my feet stretched out if I saw with my own eyes that Reid had thrown his future into the mud.

Unsurprisingly, without any hesitation, Reid headed to the gamble house.

Yep, that man’s light and impulsive nature never dragged him for long.

I watched him go to a table with a sign reading ‘The 12th Swordsmanship Contest Winner Prediction’.

“I put my bet on Annabelle Nadit.”

As soon as Reid offered a note, everyone in the crowd giggled and laughed.

“Oh, you’re being loyal to your sister now?”

“Calm down, Reid. Your sister has never lasted five minutes against Ian Wade.”

I lifted my heels and looked at Ian’s dividend rate.

1.0003.…

This was a dividend rate to the extent that no commission was paid.

That meant he was the clear winner.

“Get out, you bastards. Don’t beg me to buy you a drink later.”

Reid confidently took out a cigar and smiled.

People who were camped at the gambling table began to speak sarcastically.

“Well, it’s not like you’re bluffing from the 10 gold, is it?”

“Look at the amount.”

I noticed that Reid kept flirting with some of the girls mixed in with the crowd.

“Huh? Isn’t this almost all of your fortune?”

Apparently, the amount of the bill was large, and people began to murmur. Among them, there were also women who Reid kept looking at.

“Now, are you going to call it a bluff?”

Reid threw another envelope on the table with an exaggerated gesture.

‘It’s crazy. This was what I intended, but he’ll be a human whose future is as cloudy as a storm.’

It was a house document.

Not knowing that his future was unfolding as much as people’s reactions were bursting out, Reid smiled happily.

“Everyone, let’s see if our Annabelle wins.”

They would have nothing to watch, and neither would I.

So all the fortune my mother had earned from my birth was being burned at a gambling table.

Anyways, I had confirmed that the miserable future of Reid would be thrown into the gutter, so it was time to go home and think about sleeping.

But one table caught my eye.

‘Prediction of the next emperor’

The next emperor?

For a moment.

I knew the ending.

I glanced at the dividend mixed from people.

The odds of Robert, who would eventually ascend as the next emperor by using all kinds of political tricks, were thirteen times.

Well, now that the Crown Prince was healthy and young, and the Empress was alive with both of her eyes open, Robert’s dividend cannot be low.

However, he was considerably lower than the other members of the imperial family.

In other words, he had a low chance of becoming emperor, but it also meant that he was evaluated immediately after the Crown Prince.

‘It’s thirteen times the amount I bet…’

But I had no money.

No.

I swallowed dry saliva.

Here, anything that can be converted into cash, such as a house document, could be wagered unconditionally.

What I pulled out of my pocket was a meal ticket at Rainfield Restaurant.

‘I’m sorry, Oscar. But soon, I’ll go buy thirteen of them.’

So I went to the table and handed out the meal ticket.

“I want to bet on Prince Robert as the next emperor.”

Unlike the upcoming swordsmanship competition, it was unknown when the throne would change, so there were very few people at the table.

Without anyone’s attention, I had the dealer appraise the value of the meal ticket.

The dealer added that he would receive a betting confirmation right as it was.

“Cancellation is possible up to one month later, and the fee is 20%.”

I could cancel?

I paused, thinking that if Reid’s last ploy didn’t work out, I might cancel the bet.

Then there was only one way.

‘Hey, it’s hard, but I can’t help it. I have to watch him go blank.’

“There is nothing to cancel. Good-bye.”

After making a rough plan, I said my final goodbye to the dealer and turned around.

That was then.

“Oh my.”

Without taking off the robe, a voice that could not be called unfamiliar now suddenly followed.

“I’m touched.”