Chapter 19
“It’s…”
Her voice trembled. A tear trickled down the edge of Marie’s chin as she lowered her head, closing her eyes tightly.
‘Who’s going to believe me when I look like this… Hmm- I don’t think she’s in any condition to talk right now, so I’d better reassure her.’
Even if we were going to the Labyrinth Forest, it wasn’t a very threatening place, since no one else knew it as well as I did.
I tugged at the corners of my mouth in embarrassment, then lowered my hand as if I had no choice.
“Thanks for letting me know, I was hoping to be alone, but maybe I’ll take a look around.”
She smiled smoothly.
The light went out of Marie’s eyes as she turned to me with her thanks.
She’d told me that hunting festivals are social events, and she was right.
The crowd was a mix of people like me, dressed in hunting attire, and nobles who’d come all decked out for the occasion.
I looked out over the crowd and felt like a speck of dust floating in space. Oh, no. It’s not dust, it’s…
I could feel countless eyes on me, but when I looked for them, no one was looking at me, and no one approached me, as if I were barricaded around me.
I’d rather be alone, but I’m not comfortable being the center of attention like this.
“Princess, His Majesty will be here soon.”
Oscar whispered, chuckling at the sight of me.
I glanced at him suspiciously, then locked eyes with him and smiled.
“You don’t seem as uncomfortable in the company of His Majesty as I thought you would, and I’m sure it’s better than getting bitten while running from one of those hyenas.”
“I like being alone.”
“Well, you can’t be alone here, and there’s His Majesty.”
Oscar didn’t seem to hear my hastily expressed rejection.
I swallowed a sigh and turned my head in the direction he pointed. Like the parting of the Red Sea, the crowd parted to reveal a strikingly handsome man surrounded by a powerful aura.
People’s reactions were divided, some ecstatic at Thierry’s handsome appearance, others fearful of his halo.
A cursory glance revealed that most were in the latter camp. The nobility felt threatened by this absolute tyrant, who was stifling their power year after year.
And now, suddenly, here I am.
‘Look at those eyes… It’s almost tingling all over my body, and I’m glad I didn’t try to talk to them.’
As the only stranger in the room, it’s no wonder they weren’t happy to see me. But the good news is that no one is openly malicious towards me, just wary.
‘After all, the Emperor himself brought you here, so he’s probably just keeping an eye on you.’
I followed Thierry with my gaze, finding it rather curious that I hadn’t run into any nobles.
He stopped in front of one of the many tents that had been set up, the one that was obviously the Emperor’s seat.
He sat down in a large red chair trimmed in gold and scanned the room with an arrogant smirk. His eyes, which looked unusually bloodshot today, seemed to linger on me for some reason.
“Greetings, His Imperial Majesty, the Sun of the Empire.”
The nobles fell silent at his stiff curtsy, their mouths closed so that not a breath escaped.
“The hunting lord you’ve always wanted. Enjoy.”
Thierry’s monotonous greeting broke the stiff atmosphere. As Bakken stepped back, announcing that the hunt would begin in half an hour, Thierry noticed a few nobles approaching him.
Most notably, a middle-aged man with silver hair brought along a silver-haired beauty who looked at least a couple years older than him. The middle-aged man was talking intently about something, probably introducing his daughter, but Thierry was looking rather bored and not even paying attention to her.
Then I heard Oscar’s voice.
“Princess, I’m going to go check on the horses.”
“Oh, yes, Marie, you can go and rest now.”
“Ah… I’ll see to it that you leave, Princess, and then I’ll come in.”
Marie shrank further back, avoiding my gaze with a flirty look.
“Okay, do that.”
I glanced at the back of Oscar’s head as he walked away, clicking my tongue at Marie’s stubbornness. Then I turned my attention back to Thierry. Apparently, he’d be sitting in that chair the entire time until the hunt started. Relieved, I headed back to the corner where I’d been standing.
Then, seeing Thierry with a woman reminded me of something I’d forgotten.
‘But who’s this novel, who’s the heroine, whose name is…, Aria, what’s her name? I remember she’s reddish-blonde, but I don’t know much else.’
Around me, I see a few people dressed like me in hunting attire for the hunting festival, but most of the young people are dressed up for socializing at the tables set up.
My eyes scanned the room for a reddish-blonde, strikingly pretty girl.
“Lady Riart, this way!”
“Oh, thank you for the seat.”
Oh, I remembered the name!
Ariadne Riart. It was her.
Blonde hair the color of a sunset, eyes like bright pink roses, and that innocent face. She looked like a heroine, and she was glorious.
I roughly ducked out of their sight.
“So, Lady Riartis also making her social debut this year?”
“Yes. Time seems to be flying by, and I’m already nervous that my debutante ball is just around the corner.”
“Ho-ho, you’re so adorable.”
“That’s why Marquis Riart is so fond of you, after all, it’s rumored that the Marquis is so fond of his sister.”
Ah, yes, the Marquise’s brother, who had inherited the title after the death of his parents, had turned out to be a great little fool.
‘But if it’s the brother of the youngest member of the Riart family…, yes, the sunshine boy I met in the library! You said your name was Ethan Riart, so he’s the marquis, is he the one…?’
I shook my head and tore my gaze away from Ariadne. There was no point in staying here any longer, no point in having a fruitful conversation, and now that I’d confirmed who the lady was, I was ready to leave.
“What are you looking at?”
“Huh!”
I spun around to find Thierry standing behind me like a monk, and I thought my heart was going to drop to the floor.
“How long have you been here?”
“Since the Princess was sullenly peeping over there.”
Ugh, sullenly…
He had his back to the sun, so the pure white light shattered behind his back. I averted my gaze, shielding my eyes with my hands.
“Haha, that’s not possible, I was just passing through, so I’ll be…”
“Go away.”
Just as I was about to turn around and disappear into the crowd, his arm appeared in front of me and braced against the wall.
‘This is a little, uh, awkward.’
I hesitated and looked up at him.
“What? I’m getting ready to hunt…”
I backed away from the corner, but the distance between us only increased. His hand lazily skimmed the surface of the wall, and then he folded his arm and rested his elbow against it, as if to say he couldn’t go any further.
I was trapped between him and the wall. I pressed my back against the wall as hard as I could and lowered my eyes.
“There’s nothing to prepare for the hunt. I just need to go get the horse.”
“… Yes, that’s true.”
“I’d rather ask, what do you want to hunt for?”
“Oh, that’s… I’m going to try my best to do it somehow.”
“So with what. I see you don’t have a knife, and you don’t have a bow because I won’t let you have one.”
When we lived in the cottage, we were always short of food. Maud would share food with us, but we couldn’t always rely on her, so later we would set traps in the forest. I remembered that and was planning to set a trap for this year’s hunting festival, just enough to catch a small squirrel.
“Oh, no, I’m out of luck. Even with Oscar following you, you’re still thinking of going into the hunting grounds naked.”
Even without looking at his face, there was a nuance of pathetic in his voice.
I pouted my lips surreptitiously and craned my neck to look unnecessarily peeved.
“Take it.”
“Oh, this is…”
“Do you know how to draw a sword?”
In his hand, which wasn’t against the wall, was a dagger. I hesitantly took the dagger, then snapped my head up at his continued disregard.
“I’m not that ignorant!”
My eyes locked with his, who was staring down at me. His shadowed eyes looked black and red.
A fleeting glint of recognition flashed across his narrowed eyes.
“Princess.”
“Yes.”
“You’re more sassy than I thought, huh?”
… Ah? What have I done.
My face went white all at once. I instinctively tried to figure out how else to get through this.
Pooh-pooh- thankfully, a bugle sounded to save my life.
“Phew- looks like the hunt is on, I’m going to go, I’ll do my best!”
I smiled desperately and bowed my head slightly. Then I bent my knees to lower my height and carefully passed under Thierry’s arm.
“Princess.”
He called out to me, just as I had successfully escaped and unbent my knees.
‘Hu… Stop calling me that. You’re going to set off my neuroses with that Princess sound.’
I whirled around, fuming. His face was his usual stern self, but strangely his eyes didn’t seem harsh.
He stared at me for a few seconds.
“If you don’t think you can do it, you can just walk out.”
… Huh?
I blurted out the words and stared in disbelief as he quickly walked away. It felt weird to feel like he was worried about me again, even though he shouldn’t be.
***
The horse Thierry had arranged for me was white and big enough for me to ride alone. I mumbled something about being good to him.
“Princess, are you sure you can ride alone?”
“Yes.”
Oscar nodded decisively and moved toward the saddle.
“Princess, wait!”
Marie, who had been watching me from a distance, came running panting.
