Chapter 1

"Abby, I'm off then."

"Goodbye, Father."

Abby, whose real name is Abigail Haze, saw her father off as he headed to the castle.

Her father was a baron without a fief, serving as a civil servant at the castle. Originally a commoner, her grandfather had earned a barony for his valor in war.

"Being a baron without a fief is tough. You have to spend money on noble socializing, but there's no tax revenue from a fief."

"But because of the barony, Father got his job at the castle. We shouldn't complain. We should be grateful."

"You're right, Mother."

Abby is the only daughter of the Haze barony. She is petite with a charming, cute face.

Her light brown hair is tied up high, and her deep green eyes reflect her quick wit.

The Haze household has no servants, so Abby helps her mother with the housework.

One day, while hanging laundry in the garden, a passing elderly neighbor called out to her.

"Abby, have you found a good match yet?"

"Stop asking me the same thing all the time. I don't want to."

Their house, located in what is nominally a noble district, is actually on the border between the commoner and noble districts. Most of their neighbors are commoners.

"How old are you now, Abby?"

"I'm twenty-four."

"You should hurry and get married."

Abby, who laughed it off, is petite and has a childlike face. She has always been small, and her height is the lowest among her peers.

She tells people she doesn't mind, but deep down, she wishes she were at least five centimeters taller.

At twenty-four, Abby has no intention of getting married.

There is a big reason for this, but even her parents don't know it.

Her parents and the neighbors have brought up various marriage proposals, but Abby has turned them all down without even meeting the candidates.

"Why not?" her parents ask worriedly, but she has no intention of telling them the real reason.

※...※...※

Today is the festival day in the commoner district.

Her mother hesitantly asks Abby,

"Abby, aren't you going to the festival with anyone?"

"No, I'm not. I'm doing embroidery and sewing. Sorry, Mother."

Abby doesn't want to go to places with lots of people.

She doesn't want to see happy couples, married couples, and mothers with their children, as it makes her feel down.

"There are people who never get married. Just save money for old age and live modestly. Even if I lose the barony for lack of an heir, I won't mind."

Abby earns a decent income from embroidery and sewing. If she were a commoner, she could manage to live. Today, she started on the embroidery she was commissioned to do, but her mother's voice interrupted her again.

"Abby, can you go find Ted? He's supposed to be at the festival, and he's been called to work."

Ted, who is two years younger, is a commoner and a childhood friend.

After his mother overworked herself and fell ill, Ted started working when he was ten.

"Ted is good with a crossbow, so if he's at the festival, he's probably at the target game. I'll go find him."

"Thank you. Please hurry."

Walking to the festival grounds, Abby found Ted still competing in the target game.

His brown hair is cut short by his mother, and his mischievous, slightly upturned eyes are also brown. Ted, who is somewhat short for a man, looks younger than his twenty-two years.

He is standing with another man in what seems to be the final round.

"Alright, it's the final round!"

The announcer's voice rang out, and Ted readied his crossbow.

The crossbow has a round, ink-soaked cotton ball at the tip, and the score is determined by the ink marks on the target, designed to avoid injury if it hits someone.

"I'll call him after the winner is decided."

As Abby watched, Ted aimed his crossbow at the target and was about to shoot when he suddenly turned around.

"What is he doing..."

Before Abby and the audience could react, Ted fired the crossbow.

The arrow flew over the heads of the spectators and headed toward a tall man standing a bit away. Everyone was shocked as the targeted man quickly deflected the arrow with his sword.

With a metallic clang, the arrow hit the cobblestones, and the tall man, still holding his drawn sword, ran toward Ted on the platform. Seeing this, Abby ran without hesitation. She was much closer to Ted. Ted tried to run but was blocked by the crowd.

As Abby reached Ted, the man also arrived and swung his sword. Abby pushed Ted away and turned to face the man.

The audience screamed.

Everything happened in a short time.

The man tried to change the direction of his sword to avoid Abby, but the tip of the sword grazed her forehead despite his best efforts.

Abby fell backward, seeing her own blood splatter.

"Abby!!"

Ted, standing a bit away, realized Abby had been cut and screamed. The man, who was about to go after Ted, had his leg grabbed by Abby, who was still on the ground.

"Run! Hurry!"

The tall man tried to pull Abby off his leg, but she clung to him with surprising strength and tenacity.

"Run! Hurry!"

"Get off!"

"Don't kill him!"

The security guards patrolling the festival arrived.

Both Abby, whose face was covered in blood, and the man with the drawn sword were surrounded by the guards.

Ted ran away.

※...※...※

Abby is receiving medical treatment at the security building.

Her forehead, cut by the sword, is being stitched with a very fine needle and silk thread. The wound runs from her hairline to the end of her left eyebrow, a rather large cut.

"You're very brave. Many people scream or faint when being stitched."

"I can endure the pain. Doctor, do you know what happened to Ted?"

"He shot an arrow at a noble. You should be prepared for the worst."

If a commoner harms a noble, the minimum punishment is several years of forced labor, and the worst is the death penalty. Since it was a toy crossbow, she hopes it will be forced labor, but it depends on the person.

The thought of Ted, who grew up like a brother, being sentenced to death made her chest tighten.

"Go ahead and cry, but don't move your face. I'm trying to stitch it as finely as possible to minimize scarring."

"Okay, okay."

"I overheard that your friend aimed at a famous person. Have you heard of 'The Apostle of Slaughter'? Your friend did something very foolish."

Even Abby, who is not well-versed in noble society, knows of 'The Apostle of Slaughter'.

He is a renowned swordsman who achieved great feats in the recent war and the subsequent civil war. He has been called this by both enemies and allies due to the many enemy soldiers he killed. He is a favorite of the king.

"Why would Ted do such a thing to someone like that?"

Abby felt hopeless and closed her eyes.