Although she now acted like a modest and virtuous young lady, Diana had also gone through a rebellious phase. She felt suffocated by living a suppressed and restrained life and wanted to act freely, escaping her father’s surveillance.

It was around that time when she met Edwin.

Diana had been playing alone in the garden with a ball when she lost it, and while going to retrieve it after it rolled to the training grounds, she encountered Edwin walking with his arms full of clothing.

Until then, the only knights from the Winchester house that Diana had met were the captain, vice-captain, and the knight assigned to guard her father, so this was the first time she saw a knight who looked much younger than them.

Edwin’s first impression was… well, somewhat difficult to express in one word.

Since Diana had only met refined noble gentlemen up until then, Edwin’s appearance seemed different. While Edwin also had a youthful and handsome face, unlike them, his body was not the same.

Broad shoulders, a well-built chest that filled out his frame. With features that seemed delicate yet deep and distinct, he appeared rough rather than refined, and his eyes had a somewhat rebellious look.

His jet-black hair and dark eyes, whose thoughts were unreadable, further emphasized his indifferent atmosphere.

He was handsome enough to catch the eye even if encountered on the street, but he also had quite the face that could make women cry. So from Diana’s perspective, having only seen well-mannered and refined noble young masters, Edwin’s impression couldn’t have looked favorable.

“I greet the young lady.”

Edwin held all the clothing in one hand and picked up the ball to hand it to Diana. To hold a mountain of laundry in one hand…

It seemed like watching a trick, so Diana looked at him with curious eyes. But the moment their eyes met, she looked away.

Handsome men are bad for the heart…

It wasn’t that she judged men by their faces, but strangely, she couldn’t look at Edwin directly. It wasn’t love at first sight, but since this was the first time Diana felt such emotions, she simply disliked him.

She thought that since she wouldn’t have occasion to see Edwin in the future, her feelings toward him would just pass by.

But that wasn’t the case.

Since Diana thought there were many restrictions on her life as a noble that felt suffocating, she had a strong desire to roam freely outside the estate. Looking back now, she was truly immature. Perhaps it was possible because she was at an age full of spirit and vigor.

Unable to confine his daughter, who had entered adolescence and was full of rebellious spirit, inside the house, Duke Winchester hoped Diana’s adolescence would pass quickly and assigned her a guard knight.

The person who used to chase after her then was Edwin. When she skipped lessons and ran away, he was assigned the role of catching her, and Edwin, being the lowest-ranking knight, was given that duty.

Why Edwin of all people?

Since she didn’t like that Edwin was the knight monitoring her, Diana’s rebellious spirit only grew stronger. Who would like someone who reported her every move to her father?

So Diana increasingly skipped her tutor’s lessons and went on outings to the plaza.

“Miss, if His Grace finds out, you’ll be in trouble. So let’s go back.”

She always took Marie with her, but she showed a restless appearance every time. Diana couldn’t understand her attitude.

There were many people coming and going in the plaza, so what could be the problem?

But Edwin also disapproved of Diana’s attitude. He always showed a firm stance.

“Please get permission from His Grace before going out.”

Why do you keep telling me to get permission when he won’t give it?

Duke Winchester didn’t easily allow Diana’s outings. The reason was the same as others’ arguments. Because it was dangerous.

Ugh, so frustrating!

She tried to sweet-talk Edwin into letting her act freely, but he never once let her act as she wished. He only moved according to Duke Winchester’s orders.

Edwin had trouble getting up in the morning. Sometimes she thought his eyes looked fierce, and this was especially true when she encountered him early in the morning.

So to avoid him and go outside the estate, she had to choose dawn. Because of this, Edwin had to wake up early at dawn and would look at Diana with a disapproving expression.

“Sir Edwin, you’re a knight but you sleep in a lot. How about getting the sleep you lack?”

“It’s so noisy I could die. I’ll pass on the nagging, my lady.”

Seeing him yawning and grumbling, Diana’s lips pouted.

“Is it okay for you to be rude to me?”

“If you’re dissatisfied, tell His Grace. I’d also like to be freed from guarding you, my lady.”

“Hmph.”

When her dawn escape also failed, Diana secretly tried to climb over the wall. But Edwin somehow knew about it and followed her everywhere, even waiting below the wall.

“Miss, let’s go back.”

“Sir Edwin, how about you rest a bit too? Training is hard, isn’t it?”

“Not at all. Rather, I’d like to go back quickly and receive training. So please cooperate.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Please forgive my rudeness.”

Edwin forcibly lifted Diana’s body and carried her on his shoulder, dragging her back to the ducal house.

“Put me down! If you act like this, you won’t be popular with women!”

Even though she struggled, Edwin didn’t seem to have any intention of putting her down. Even when she mercilessly hit his back with her fists, it was useless.

“I don’t care if I’m not popular.”

“I’ll never forgive your attitude for the rest of my life.”

“Then don’t forgive me.”

Even when she glared at him furiously while seething, Edwin answered with an indifferent face without changing his expression. It felt like talking to a wall rather than a person.

“What a stubborn man. Put me down right now!”

“I cannot do that.”

“I told you this will make you really unpopular!”

“I don’t care.”

“Why? Do you have so many women lining up that you can afford to be relaxed?”

“There’s no way women would line up for someone like me. Rather than that, worry about yourself first, my lady. His Grace is worried, so how about we go back now?”

“Can’t I roam around freely? Sir Edwin is by my side. I heard you have the best skills in the knight order.”

“A situation might arise where I cannot protect you.”

“Hmph. That’s a lie.”

Since his attitude of monitoring her every move felt suffocating, her rebellious spirit toward Edwin also grew day by day.

But it wasn’t long before she realized he was right.

“Oh, Father? What brings you here, Father?”

While Edwin’s gaze turned in that direction, fooled by Diana’s acting skills, Diana ran with all her might. Since she knew she would be caught by him soon, she needed to tie up his hands and feet.

That’s when it happened. What came into her view was a large barrel. If she rolled that in the narrow alley, she could tie up his feet.

After rolling the barrel and confirming that Edwin wasn’t chasing after her, Diana let out a sigh of relief.

‘He can’t chase after me anymore?’

However, her joy at shaking off Edwin was only brief.

Once Edwin’s figure was no longer visible, strange thoughts occurred to her. She had played a prank intending to tease him briefly, but she immediately felt that something had gone wrong.

She hadn’t realized while running away, but she had run with her own feet to a deserted place. She thought “oh no” but it was already too late. Thugs had blocked Diana’s path as she ran toward the alley.

“A lucky charm is rolling right into our hands.”

“Looking at her dress, she seems to be a noble. She’d be good to take hostage and extort money from.”

She remembered briefly seeing these swaggering men at a cafe earlier. Since their impression was so bad, they had remained in her memory.

They seemed to have noticed Diana shaking off her knight and running away, and were looking for an opportunity to kidnap her. Those men must have also been the ones who tied up Edwin’s feet.

“No, I don’t want to!”

No matter how much Diana struggled, it was useless. It was impossible for a young girl to escape from well-built men.

They covered Diana’s mouth so she couldn’t scream anymore, then tied her hands and feet and carried her on their shoulders. Treated like baggage, Diana had to be dragged away by them.

The men entered a house that was shabby like ruins, and there was a cart pulled by two oxen. They moved Diana to the cart and rolled her up in cloth along with straw.

Since Diana’s build was small, when her body was curled up, she was perfectly hidden among the straw. If she struggled saying she didn’t want this, she felt she might miss even the chance to escape, so she waited quietly while looking for an opportunity to flee. Then she belatedly remembered the self-defense accessory Edwin had given her.

‘It’s for self-defense, so please keep it on your person.’

It looked like a hairpin on the outside, but it was a self-defense tool that became a sharp object when the snap button was unfastened.

She didn’t want to carry something Edwin had given her, but she was forced to keep it on her body because he said he would turn a blind eye to her acting freely for one hour if she accepted it.

Diana lifted her head to observe what the men were doing. They were chatting frantically with bottles of alcohol in one hand.