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Chapter 47 : Ambush

For a brief moment, Aracila thought the arrows were aimed at the golden leopard.

But even after the leopard disappeared, the arrows didn’t stop. Then, Damian’s words, spoken as he deflected them with his sword, snapped her back to reality.

“It’s an ambush! My lady, come this way!”

Dazed, Aracila followed Damian and took cover behind the rock where the leopard had been sitting.

An ambush, in the middle of the royal hunting festival, in a secluded forest?

More than that, this was the first time in her life that she had been attacked like this.

She had lived a life filled with competition and resentment from others, but she had never had an enemy who would go so far as to send assassins after her.

“What kind of ambush is this all of a sudden?”

On the other hand, Damian, who had more than enough enemies to justify such an attack, remained unfazed.

“It’s likely targeting me. I’ve been ambushed like this many times since childhood.”

“What? Are you serious? That’s insane!”

Aracila’s jaw dropped. How could he talk so calmly about having frequently faced assassination attempts?

Indeed, the arrows were being fired more heavily toward Damian than toward her.

Damian glanced at Aracila. Crouched behind the large rock, she looked even smaller and more fragile than usual.

If the assassins closed the distance and engaged in direct combat, she would be easily overwhelmed.

It was best to keep her hidden and out of the fight.

After all, he had always dealt with these kinds of threats alone, no matter how many opponents there were. He had no need for Aracila’s assistance.

“Stay here, my lady.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to take care of them. Stay hidden somewhere safe until it’s over.”

Before he could even finish speaking, the rock they were hiding behind split in half with a loud crack.

A surge of magic had cut through it from within the forest.

Which meant—there was a mage among the assassins.

“Wait.”

Aracila, quickly noticing the ominous energy left in the rock’s blackened scar, instinctively grabbed Damian’s arm and shook her head.

“There’s a mage among them. Something feels off. We should fight together.”

“No need. It’s not like I haven’t dealt with assassins who use magic before.”

Damian, scanning the enemy movements, led her behind a nearby large tree and said,

“You’re vulnerable to close-range attacks, aren’t you? It’s obvious just by looking at you.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m just as skilled in defensive magic as I am in offensive spells.”

As if to prove her point, when a bolt of lightning magic shot through the trees toward them, Aracila swiftly cast a barrier to block it, then flashed a proud smile.

Yet, even after witnessing her skill, Damian still didn’t seem convinced.

“Then just stay hidden and protect yourself from here.”

With that, Damian turned to go forward alone. Aracila immediately grabbed his clothes.

“How about this? I’ll handle long-range attacks, and you take care of close combat.”

Any other time, she wouldn’t have cared whether Damian fought alone or not. She knew perfectly well that he was a Swordmaster.

But as a mage, she could sense something deeply unsettling in the enemy’s magic. She couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

“No need. I can handle it myself.”

Damian pried her hand off as if she were an annoying street vendor pestering him.

“Ugh, this stubborn idiot!”

Without missing a beat, Aracila grabbed his wrist with her other hand.

“Just do it! For all we know, they might be after me too, so why do you keep telling me to stay put?”

Damian hesitated.

There was a high chance that this ambush had been orchestrated by the Vandemir Ducal House.

Most of the assassins he had encountered since childhood had been sent by them.

In fact, he had suspected that they might try something during the hunting festival—but since it was a royal event, he had assumed they wouldn’t dare act.

Now that his assumption had been proven completely wrong, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Aracila was also a target.

After all, the Vandemir family had already attempted to harm her once before.

But if that were the case—

“That just makes it even more important for me to handle this alone.”

Regardless of the circumstances, Aracila had become entangled in the internal conflict of the Vandemir family because of him.

Letting her be exposed to danger once again was unacceptable.

Even if the assassins were after her as well, their main target was clearly him. As long as she stayed hidden, she should remain relatively safe.

“The chances of that are low. So please, don’t get involved—”

“Oh, come on! Whether they’re after me or you, can’t we just fight together? Why are you refusing help when our lives are at stake?”

Beyond everything else, Aracila was someone who had a strong sense of justice and humanity.

Assassins had come to kill someone—how could she just ignore that?

Besides, these enemies weren’t weaklings. She could tell they were highly skilled.

“If it were some random stranger being attacked, I’d still step in. But we’re married. We’re in the same boat.”

“…”

“It’s only natural that I help you. And I promise I won’t use this to hold anything over your head later—so just work with me!”

Her transparent, lake-like eyes stared straight at him.

They were clear, but so deep that he couldn’t tell if stepping into them would be safe or dangerous.

After a long moment of hesitation, Damian finally nodded.

Arrows continued to rain down relentlessly, and magical attacks struck their sheltering tree with such force that it was about to topple over.

“Fight as carefully as possible. If things get dangerous, retreat immediately.”

“You too—if it gets bad, hide behind me.”

Damian let out a quiet laugh, though it was unclear whether it was amusement or disbelief.

Who would have thought he’d hear such words from this delicate-looking woman?

And yet, strangely enough, he felt reassured.

Suppressing his expression, he finally spoke in a low voice.

“Then, let’s go.”

“Alright!”

The Noble Ladies’ Tents

The tents in the hunting festival were color-coded: red for the royal family, white for the noble families, and yellow for communal use.

Noble ladies who were not participating in the hunt gathered in the yellow tents to chat. Since the family tents were often used by the older women of the household, the younger ones naturally congregated outside.

Among them were a few noblemen who hadn’t joined the hunt—most due to injuries or chronic illnesses preventing them from participating.

In other words, all able-bodied men had gone into the forest to hunt.

In this setting, Oscar, who was aimlessly lingering around the yellow tents instead of hunting, looked like nothing more than a carefree loafer.

Still, given that he was fairly good-looking and, more importantly, a member of the prestigious Vandemir ducal family, many young ladies found him intriguing.

It was while Oscar was leisurely chatting at the table of the lady he found most appealing that an unwelcome question arose.

“But, my lord, why aren’t you out hunting?”

“…Hmm?”

In the midst of his efforts to charm her, the young lady suddenly asked something displeasing.

She failed to notice the slight stiffening of his expression and continued,

“All the other gentlemen are out doing their best to catch game and crown their chosen lady as the hunting festival’s queen. I was just wondering if there was a reason you chose to stay by my side instead?”

Her true intention was to gauge whether Oscar already had a romantic interest.

Since he spent most of his time in the duchy, little was known about his relationships.

And given that his younger brother, Damian Vandemir, had suddenly married after a secret romance, she thought it wise to check if Oscar might have done the same.

“What the hell…? Is she testing me right now?”

But Oscar, who was narrow-minded and self-centered, immediately took offense at the implication.

He disliked the idea that someone he hadn’t even properly pursued yet was already acting possessive.

Losing interest in her instantly, he began scanning the area for a new target.

As he mentally ranked the noble ladies present—rather than focusing on the hunt—his eyes landed on a relatively quiet table.

Among those engaged in a casual tea conversation, he spotted a rather pretty young lady.

Oscar stood up.

“My lord? Where are you going…?”

Flustered, the young lady tried to stop him.

But Oscar was not the kind of man to be kind to someone he had approached merely for a fleeting amusement.

Coldly brushing her hand away, he strode toward the quiet table like a predator descending on its prey.

“May I join you?”

“Huh? Oh…!”

The ladies, who all had gentle and demure expressions, looked bewildered at his sudden approach.

Without waiting for permission, Oscar took an empty seat, flashing a smirk.

The young lady he had set his sights on was seated beside him.

“What is your name?”

“Ah… I am Amelia Bennet.”

“Aha, so the name of the flower that bewitched me into following it is Amelia Bennet. A pleasure to meet you.”

Oscar took Amelia’s hand and kissed the back of it without warning.

She flinched, her shoulders tensing at the uninvited contact.

A timid and reserved reaction. A family name he had never heard of.

Everything about her made it easy for Oscar’s old habits—the ones he had honed as a notorious playboy back in the duchy—to resurface.

“Lady Bennet, isn’t it boring to just sit here with your friends?”

“Huh? Oh, no, I’m fine…”

“Come now, why don’t we find a quieter place where we can talk, just the two of us?”

Ignoring her discomfort, Oscar grabbed her wrist and pulled her up insistently.

“You won’t regret coming with me. I’m incredibly popular with the ladies, you know.”

“A-ah, wait…”

Since he was the Vandemir heir, none of the other ladies dared to step in too forcefully.

But then—

“Stop, my lord.”

A soft yet clear voice interrupted him.

Amelia’s face lit up as she turned toward the newcomer.

“Lady Hugo!”

“Lady Bennet is clearly uncomfortable.”

With a gentle and effortless motion, Iris removed Amelia’s hand from Oscar’s grasp.

Oscar turned to look at the intruder, his expression shifting into mild irritation.

He already had reasons to dislike the Hugo Marquisate.

“Who does she think she is, telling me what to do?”

He was about to scowl, but then—

His expression subtly changed.

The young woman before him had her light brown hair neatly braided and wore a modest ivory dress adorned with floral decorations.

“What the…?”

“She’s… quite my type.”

Until now, Oscar had never paid much attention to Iris, mesmerized as he had been by Aracila’s striking beauty.

At the wedding, he had only caught a fleeting glimpse of her.

But now that he was seeing her up close, she was surprisingly beautiful.

Delicate features, a slender figure, and a demure, obedient-looking demeanor—Oscar found himself drawn in.

“She doesn’t have that overbearing presence like my brother’s wife. If I were to marry… she’d be a much better choice.”

Truthfully, while Aracila was undeniably a great beauty, she hadn’t been quite to Oscar’s taste.

He didn’t like women who were too stunning, to the point of being intimidating.

He preferred delicate-looking women with gentle personalities.

And in that sense, compared to his younger brother’s wife, Iris—with her fragile, graceful aura—was the perfect embodiment of his ideal woman.

“Why did I never consider the other Lady Hugo before?”

Oscar, whose mind worked at lightning speed when it came to women, smirked.

“I could seduce this Lady Hugo instead, couldn’t I?”

His plan to charm Aracila had already failed—time to move on to the next target.

And the lady standing before him seemed far easier to win over than his brother’s wife.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ✧: *. ꕥ .* :✧ﾟ. ───

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