Side Story 05
Bang—
The gunshot split the air. The bullet flew swiftly, striking the wooden fox target with perfect accuracy before dropping to the ground.
The doors swung wide open, and exclamations of admiration burst from the crowd.
“Wow.”
“A direct hit.”
Without anyone’s help, Cererette hit the wooden fox in a single shot, signaling the start of the Winter Hunting Competition.
With a proud expression, she glanced at Yuan. Yuan smiled and nodded as if to say she had done well.
“I hope everyone returns safely.”
Cererette looked over the gathered participants. Applause poured out at her words.
In her past life, she had been a neglected duchess. But not anymore. Now Cererette was a duchess loved by all.
And so, the hunting competition began.
Cererette tightly held Yuan’s hand as she saw him off.
“Please be careful.”
“Yes.”
Yuan lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
Cererette smiled softly at his gesture.
“I’ll return safely as well, Your Grace.”
Regan, standing beside Yuan, cleared his throat awkwardly.
At his comment, Cererette chuckled and spoke in a gentle voice.
“Of course, Your Highness. You must return safely too.”
“Whose order is that?”
Regan held out his hand as if asking for hers. Just as Cererette reached to take it, Yuan quickly grabbed Regan’s hand first.
“Then we’ll be off.”
Still holding Regan’s hand, Yuan walked into the forest. Regan immediately yanked his hand away with a displeased expression.
“It’s a gentleman’s duty to offer reverence and praise to a beautiful lady.”
“You don’t need such manners with my wife.”
“You jerk.”
At Yuan’s blunt reply, Regan narrowed his eyes. Then he let out a short laugh. The two were so amicable that onlookers couldn’t help but smile.
“No matter how I think about it, stealing the duchess away was the right move.”
After all, without that process, would they have this happiness now? Regan said proudly, but the moment he met Yuan’s fierce expression, he immediately backed down.
“The right move?”
Yuan’s eyes turned sharp.
Startled, Regan waved his hands quickly.
“Not right, of course… I just mean it looks nice.”
“Your Highness, please don’t go too deep into the forest. There could be an unfortunate accident—someone might mistake you for a bear and shoot.”
“Are you threatening me right now?”
Regan’s eyes widened. Even so, could someone really threaten a Grand Duke like this?
“I’m merely advising caution. Please don’t misunderstand.”
“I wasn’t planning to go deep anyway. I’ll sketch nearby and head back. Still, I had no idea this forest was so beautiful.”
Regan murmured as he looked around.
The snow-covered winter forest shimmered as though draped in silver. The soft winter sun filtering through the dense trees was breathtaking. Regan’s fingers twitched with the urge to paint.
“I told you countless times you would like it, but it was Your Highness who refused to come.”
“Then you should have been more persistent, Duke.”
Regan flipped through the sketchbook tucked under his arm.
Yuan smirked and surveyed the forest Regan called beautiful. It truly was beautiful—filled with memories of Cererette.
“I’ll paint here for a while and then return. That background is too beautiful. If I don’t capture it, I’ll regret it forever.”
With a blissful expression, Regan roughly framed the composition with his hands.
Yuan followed his gesture. To him, it was simply a dense forest with light pooling between the trees and making the snow sparkle.
It seemed ordinary to Yuan, but something about it clearly stirred the artist within Regan. Artists, indeed. Shaking his head lightly, Yuan began walking ahead.
“Catch a fox, Yuan!”
Regan waved at him.
Yuan glanced back and curled his lips upward.
“I was planning on catching a silver fox.”
“Good luck.”
Regan nodded with a smile.
He couldn’t help admiring Yuan’s confident expression. The silver fox was a rare animal—not something one could catch simply by wanting to.
Yet Yuan spoke lightly, as though it were nothing. Regan felt certain he would actually succeed.
“After all, he’s the Duke of Frextuster. Anything’s possible.”
Regan muttered as he watched Yuan’s retreating figure.
After Yuan left, Regan quickly sketched the scenery that had captivated him.
Enchanted by the forest, he ventured a bit deeper. As he was lost in sketching various sights, something swiftly darted across his vision.
At first, he thought it was a snowball rolling under the light. But it didn’t take long to realize it was a silver fox.
“A silver fox?”
Regan quickly ran in the direction it had disappeared.
The fox had gone toward a snow-covered hill. At the top sat the silver fox gracefully, like a scene from a painting.
As a painter, he couldn’t miss it. Before it could flee, Regan carefully opened his sketchbook and began drawing.
But the fox didn’t wait long. Soon it slipped off the hill and vanished into the trees.
Though regretful, Regan didn’t chase it. It felt right to let the silver fox go.
Instead, he sat on a rock and continued sketching the image etched in his mind—so that though it had vanished from his sight, it would remain forever in memory.
Wandering alone through the forest in search of the silver fox, Yuan suddenly stopped.
At last, it appeared before him.
The silver fox ran playfully between the trees, and Yuan followed swiftly. When it entered his range, he took aim.
If he fired, the bullet would pierce straight through its body.
Yet, for some reason, he couldn’t pull the trigger.
The fox’s clear eyes, gazing somewhere beyond, reminded him of Henry. Looking closer, he realized it wasn’t fully grown yet.
Was it because he had become a father? Shooting such a young creature didn’t sit well with him.
Yuan had once been cold and unyielding. But after gaining two precious people in his life, he had softened considerably.
Those who had breathed warmth into his heart were Cererette and Henry—and that wasn’t a bad thing.
Once, he hadn’t known what love was. Now, he understood it better than anyone. He knew how it enriched his life.
The silver fox, which had been staring off somewhere, suddenly scampered away. It ran toward another fox—likely its mother.
The mother fox stood with her long tail raised stiffly, staring directly at Yuan.
In the end, Yuan lowered his gun.
Only then did the mother lead her cub away into the trees.
Yuan let out a quiet chuckle. He had wanted to catch the silver fox as a gift for Cererette. He could have done it easily, yet at the crucial moment, his heart had softened.
Feeling slightly hollow, he slowly approached where the cub had stood.
There, he found an unexpected gift.
A wildflower called Rebohelers—known as “The Angel’s Blessing”—was blooming beautifully.
It was a mysterious flower that bloomed in white, purple, and pink from a single stem. A winter blossom whose shape resembled angel wings, thus earning its nickname.
Extremely rare, most people died without ever seeing one. Legend said that whoever beheld it would be followed by an angel’s blessing for life.
“This will make a better gift.”
Yuan knelt before it, picked up a stone, and carefully dug around its roots. Once he secured the seedling, he smiled brighter than the flower itself.
It was undoubtedly rarer than a silver fox. The thought of presenting it to Cererette filled him with satisfaction.
Inside a tent, sipping tea with noblewomen and young ladies, Cererette turned toward the entrance at the sound of commotion.
“It sounds like His Grace the Duke has returned?”
One of the noblewomen looked at her curiously.
Cererette rose in confusion. Yuan couldn’t possibly be back already. Had he been hurt?
The thought made her anxious. Unable to hide her worry, she hurried outside.
Fortunately, Yuan was perfectly fine. In fact, he looked very pleased.
“Yuan.”
She approached him.
He had been asking a servant where she was, but turned immediately at the sound of her voice. When their eyes met, he stepped forward and gently held out the precious Rebohelers.
“This flower…?”
“Yes. The Angel’s Blessing.”
Yuan smiled at Cererette’s wide-eyed expression. Her reaction made him happy.
“How did you find this? Where? Wow… it’s truly beautiful. ‘Beautiful’ feels too simple—it’s magnificent.”
She poured out her impressions rapidly. To see this flower in person—it felt as though a real angel’s blessing had descended upon her.
“I want Henry to see it too.”
She wanted to share the blessing with their son.
Yuan nodded as if he had expected that.
“I’ll plant it at the ducal estate.”
Cererette leaned closer and inhaled the flower’s scent. It was sweet at first, then refreshingly cool.
“Yuan, it smells like you.”
She looked up at him in wonder.
Yuan inhaled the scent as well. The sweet fragrance tickled his nose. Though she said it smelled like him, he thought differently.
“It smells more like you.”
“Really? Do we share the same scent?”
Murmuring, Cererette inhaled again. The fragrance was so lovely she wanted to keep breathing it in.
Yuan watched her with a gentle smile. The idea that they shared the same scent sounded wonderfully happy.
Perhaps he had received an angel’s blessing the moment he first saw Cererette. To him, she was an angel herself.
Deep, boundless love filled Yuan’s eyes as he looked at her.
