~Chapter 111~
Riden lightly got off the horse and handed the reins to a knight.
The 7th zone they arrived at was a thinner forest than she had expected.
They had passed through Zone 3, where giant trees that looked hundreds of years old soared into the sky. Since Zone 7 was deeper inside, she thought it would be even denser, but it wasn’t.
Golden sunlight poured through the scattered leaves, and the sky—she thought would be hard to see because of thick trees—was clear above her.
“Now you can get off a horse by yourself, huh?”
Ethan, who had ordered the knights to set up the base camp, was suddenly standing right next to her.
Riden straightened her back proudly and raised her hand.
“Since I learned riding from Your Excellency, I’ve been on horseback quite a bit. By now, I should be used to it.”
“Really? Seems you’ve made a lot of progress without me noticing.”
The horse she had received as a gift from the duchess was very gentle and obedient. Stroking its white neck softly, Riden said:
“Still, mounting is difficult for me. I don’t know why, but whenever I try, I always feel like the horse will run away.”
“Has that ever actually happened? The horse moving when you tried to get on?”
“No, not really… just feels that way?”
Ethan thought over her words, then gave her a look like he had figured it out.
“I think it’s because… you’re always someone who’s ready to run away.”
His sharp words stabbed straight at her. Riden shut her mouth tight and only stared at him.
If there had been even the smallest gap, she would have squeezed in an excuse. But it was too true—she couldn’t even argue back.
Finally, she muttered in small protest.
“Please, at least give me some kind of warning light before you suddenly switch from a light topic to something serious.”
She hated this kind of subject.
But Ethan, once he had started, seemed determined to press on.
“And I think the reason you do that is because you’re anxious.”
His voice was filled with certainty. Riden could only blink at him in surprise before asking:
“Why am I anxious?”
“I don’t know.”
His answer came so fast it overlapped with her words. Riden’s shoulders drooped with a figures… expression.
Ethan studied her face. On the way here, she had been so bright—excited about the festival, full of wonder, asking him all kinds of questions at his side.
Now, all of a sudden, her face had gone dark.
He didn’t know the reason, but he didn’t want to say something like maybe it’s because of your parents.
So he put on a deliberately cheerful smile.
“But the reason doesn’t matter. What’s important is that from now on, you won’t feel anxious anymore.”
He rested his arm over her slumped shoulder, just like when he had asked for her handkerchief.
“Even if you climb on me, I won’t run away.”
“……”
“Even if you drive me somewhere strange, I’ll follow you without a word.”
So there’s no reason to be anxious.
“Seriously… I told you to warn me first…”
That was all Riden could manage to whisper as her fingers fidgeted nervously.
I want to joke back with, ‘Are you saying you’re my horse?’
But when the other person got serious, her instinct was always to crawl into a hole.
No… this wasn’t just embarrassment.
It wasn’t just cheesy—it was… shame. That’s right. She felt ashamed.
Her ex-husband had appeared, and she had reacted like a child, showing her emotions so openly.
Ethan had noticed right away and was even comforting her.
When will I ever grow up…? How embarrassing.
Riden forced herself to lift her gaze to meet his.
In his black eyes, waiting for her answer, she could see nothing but sincerity.
Blushing red, she nodded quickly.
“Those are good words. I understand.”
Ethan chuckled—like he had expected just that.
After laughing for a while, he reached out his hand.
Taking hers lightly, he pulled her forward.
“Let’s go. Don’t you want to win the hunting festival? We need to plan.”
Their base camp was set under the wide shade of an enormous tree.
As Ethan led her there, Riden glanced at him, then lowered her eyes.
Her heart was still pounding loudly, her cheeks still burning. The shame from her childish behavior hadn’t left her yet.
“Haa…”
Mari stood beside the supply wagon, sighing heavily.
If you were just going to treat me like a useless sack of rice, then why did you even invite me?
When Riden asked her to join the hunting group, she thought she might gain something. But in truth, Riden paid her no attention at all.
On the way here, not a single word had been spoken to her. And once they arrived, Riden only laughed and chatted happily with the duke.
Ugh, annoying. Fine, I should just understand.
After all, Riden was about to marry a duke. Of course, she would be excited.
Yes, I get it. But if that’s how it was going to be, then why bring me here? This is so frustrating…
Mari felt tears of frustration prick her eyes.
Before she had even debuted, rumors had spread that she had married some knight. Because of that, every young nobleman who had courted her disappeared one by one.
That was why she had hesitated so much about coming to the festival.
Here, ladies gave handkerchiefs to their lovers, fiancés, or men they admired. But Mari worried she would be the only one completely ignored.
Still, when she heard that several young men she had dated would attend, she couldn’t stay away. She had to come and give them her handkerchiefs.
If she didn’t marry this season, her chances would really be over.
Who spread that rumor? That bastard… Could it be that man actually came to the capital?
Mari bit at her fingernails nervously, remembering the knight she had once met briefly.
It felt like her insides were melting with anxiety.
After dying in a plane crash, she had possessed the body of a baron’s daughter in this strange world. Everything was unfamiliar and frightening.
When she opened her eyes after death, she found herself in the McCurry Count’s estate—and the first person she met was none other than Riden McCurry.
Riden had insulted her, cursed her constantly.
Frightened, Mari ran to the baron’s family, but that wasn’t safe either.
The baron threatened her: if she didn’t follow Riden to the capital and marry a wealthy man, he would send her off as the second wife of some old man.
By the time she returned to the count’s estate, Riden had already left for the capital.
So Mari had no choice but to head there alone. On the way, she met a knight by chance and traveled with him. To her, he had seemed like a real “knight in shining armor” who would save her from this strange world.
How was I supposed to know knights here don’t make money and just serve nobles?
That was why things had become a problem. The rumor that she was romantically involved with a lowly knight might actually be true.
That’s why I have to stay friends with Riden McCurry.
If that knight suddenly appeared and pointed her out, she planned to deny everything.
Do you have proof? No, you don’t. There’s no forensics here. If I say it’s not true, that’s it.
But if she denied the rumor, she needed a friend to stand by her side.
From what she had seen so far, this was a world where only the voices of the powerful held weight.
So no matter how much Riden bossed her around, Mari wanted to remain her friend—especially since Riden would one day be a duchess.
Disgusting…
Mari swore under her breath as she watched Riden and Ethan exchange loving glances.
The knights were busy preparing for the hunt and didn’t even look her way.
She hated this unbearable situation. She wanted to talk to someone, anyone—but Riden and Ethan’s conversation showed no signs of ending.
She couldn’t just barge in without any sense.
Then, her eyes landed on a man.
It was none other than the second son of the Florence viscount family—the house she was staying with.
He was helping the knights set up the base camp, staring fixedly at something with an unreadable expression.
Mari followed his gaze.
It was Riden and Ethan.
In that moment, Mari felt a strange sense of kinship with Damian.
He works with the duke’s knights and visits the duke’s house often, doesn’t he?
On the surface, he looked calm and polite. But his behavior showed a desperate desire to attach himself to people in power.
That must have been why he watched the duke so closely.
Just like Mari clung to Riden, wanting to feed off her future as duchess—Damian too was trying to feed off the duke.
Since they were both looking at the same place, Mari felt an odd sense of closeness.
As everyone else moved busily, Mari was the only one with nothing to do, the only one no one cared about. She wanted to escape this feeling as quickly as possible.
If it was Damian, he would treat her kindly if she spoke to him.
Even if his true thoughts were impossible to guess, on the surface he always wore a polite mask.
Besides, we’re fellow sufferers.
Mari gathered her courage and approached him.
