Chapter 66
Mateo approached Eliana, circling around her and showering her with every possible compliment. He was relentless in his courtship, like a bird in mating season.
“The Grand Duchess is going to catch a bigger prey than the Grand Duke.”
Eliana, who had been learning how to handle a falcon from Delina, raised her head sharply.
“Your Majesty.”
Mateo tilted his head at Eliana’s voice. Even though it was early morning, her voice was hoarse. It sounded as if she had been shouting all night, clutching her throat and clearing it with a dry cough after just a single word.
“Oh my, seems you’ve caught a cold.”
Seeing the scarf tightly wrapped around her neck, Mateo nodded to himself and concluded that on his own.
“My apologies, Your Majesty.”
Eliana stepped back from him, avoiding the emperor’s gaze. Her husky voice was the result of the grueling exhaustion from the previous night.
“The Grand Duchess need not apologize to me. Only yesterday you said you were content with the Grand Duke by your side, yet overnight your mind seems to have changed. I suppose it’s because of yesterday’s matter with the Empress.”
Emperor Mateo acted as if he knew everything, but in reality, it was only his own assumption.
“It’s not that.”
Eliana tried to step forward, but the emperor raised his hand to silence her.
“A beautiful lady is naturally followed by a knight. And I am a knight, so why shouldn’t I offer my heart to a beautiful woman?”
“What do you mean by that?”
Eliana bit her lip at his blatant gaze. There was no woman who could reject the emperor outright. And with such a declaration, saying “no” face-to-face was impossible.
“Tell me, Grand Duchess. Do you wish to have the Winter Branch?”
“…Your Majesty.”
“A natural desire for a woman, nothing more to ask.”
Mateo shrugged arrogantly, full of self-importance.
“The hunt isn’t over yet.”
Eliana’s calm words made Mateo inhale sharply.
Eliana Krayber did not trust his hunting skills.
It did not matter that servants drove the prey or that the emperor’s knights cornered it. Mateo believed that everything was due to his own power, and therefore, he considered it his skill.
“I see.”
Mateo turned and approached his horse. His shoulders were tense.
“Are you alright?”
Delina asked cautiously. Eliana shrugged and smiled awkwardly.
“Let Gredi catch the biggest prey.”
“Then quickly give him the handkerchief before we start.”
“Huh? A handkerchief?”
“What? You didn’t even prepare a handkerchief?”
Eliana looked around at Delina’s words. Hanging from the terrifyingly large guns were colorful handkerchiefs.
Since yesterday was the first day of the hunt, lovers had exchanged handkerchiefs along with tokens of affection.
But Gredi had not. Arriving late for the hunt, his gun had nothing tied to it.
Ignoring Delina, who fidgeted anxiously, Eliana approached him empty-handed.
“Gredi.”
Gredi, who had been about to lift his legs onto the saddle, turned at Eliana’s call. She hastily untied the scarf around her neck.
“Ugh.”
Delina, trailing behind, gasped. The red mark left on Eliana’s white neck was vivid.
“I’ll wait for your safe return.”
Gredi looked at the scarf she held out for a moment, then tied it to his gun.
“Come back safely.”
Mounting his horse, Gredi held the reins in one hand and his gun in the other, heading toward the hunting grounds.
Eliana quietly followed his back with her eyes and looked up at the sky. The damp wind brushed against her cheeks.
Bang!
Not far off, a gun discharged. The real hunt had begun.
“Shall we get started too?”
At Rozella’s words, noblewomen moved busily in various directions.
“Grand Duchess, won’t you come with me? Since it’s your first hunt, I’ll teach you a trick or two.”
Eliana, preparing to hunt with Delina, frowned.
“I’m fine, so go see the Empress.”
Delina stepped back, and Eliana nodded, approaching Rozella.
Rozella, with thick gloves, placed a falcon on her arm and led the way. Eliana hurried to follow.
“There’s a place in Orante Forest where no one goes. Untouched by humans, so plenty of prey.”
The servants trailed at a distance.
Eliana glanced at the following servants and drew closer to Rozella. Tall grass rose above their knees.
Eliana couldn’t understand why Rozella pushed through this untamed path, but she couldn’t say they should turn back.
For some reason, Rozella had left even the maids behind.
“Isn’t this a place only the Empress should know?”
Rozella turned. A large falcon, eyes obscured by its hood, balanced on her arm, claws out.
“Krayber, the Grand Duke, told me about this place, but apparently no special mention was made to the Grand Duchess.”
Eliana’s face stiffened for a moment, then returned to normal. But Rozella, who had been watching her intently, did not miss the brief change.
“I’m too busy for such conversation.”
Eliana turned her head against the blowing wind, strands of hair revealing her white neck.
Red marks were visible all over her nape.
Rozella’s eyes hardened, realizing immediately what Eliana meant by being “busy.”
The hoarse voice she had mistaken for a cold was the result of her exhausting ordeal, and Rozella’s lips pressed together in anger.
It was as if Eliana were flaunting taking what was Rozella’s.
‘Dare she boast of taking what’s mine in front of me?’
Empress Rozella gritted her teeth. She had ordered a marriage, not a love affair.
Rozella’s glare at Eliana twisted her lips.
“About ten years ago, someone died here.”
“Someone died?”
Ten years ago, Eliana had spent her time moving between decrepit inns on the outskirts of the capital, learning from an elderly courtesan. Carrying the drunk woman to bed was a task for seven-year-old Eliana.
“Yes.”
Rozella continued walking. Past the dense birch forest, a vast lake appeared. The branches that had blocked the sky vanished, leaving it black with clouds, threatening heavy rain.
On a clear day, it would have been breathtaking, but not now.
“A perfect place to die.”
“Excuse me?”
Eliana turned toward Rozella, not hearing her well. The falcon, now free of its hood, lunged at her.
Its terrifying claws aimed at her face, forcing her to flail and step back, instinctively clutching whatever was nearby.
“What? Can’t you let go?”
She hadn’t realized she had grabbed Rozella.
Both of them fell into the lake.
Splash!
Despite the noise, the lake quickly calmed.
One of the servants trailing behind Rozella looked around but dared not move without orders, fearing the falcon’s wrath. He bowed his head again, waiting for the empress to return.
“Pant, pant.”
Eliana barely swam to shore, gasping. Above, the falcon circled wildly, having lost its master.
Plop.
“Rain?”
As feared, it began to pour.
Eliana crawled up with all her strength. Tall weeds scratched her delicate palms, but she gritted her teeth. Her body, abused until dawn by Gredi, screamed in pain.
“Pant, pant.”
Blood mingled with her breath.
Fii!
The falcon, having found its master, landed beside Eliana. Seeing the massive bird approaching, she bit and tore her collar.
“If you get lost or lose your group in the forest, release the falcon. It’s smart and will guide people to where the Grand Duchess is.”
Recalling Rozella’s falcon that had attacked her, Eliana tied her torn collar to the bird’s leg.
“Go fetch the others.”
The falcon backed, then spread its wings and took off. Eliana scanned her surroundings.
Rozella was nowhere to be seen. Rain poured from the sky, the lake was immense, and not a trace of Rozella could be found.
“Haa.”
Eliana exhaled deeply.
She couldn’t tell if the attack by the empress’s falcon was an accident or a deliberate act.
Standing up, she looked around the lake, flinching as the heavy rain hit her face.
“Your Majesty!”
Eliana called out to Rozella with all her strength.
