Chapter 49
The sound of the wind brushing against thin branches and the distant cawing of a crow suddenly felt ominous.
A chilling instinct told Odelia that something dangerous was about to happen.
Her heart began to pound faster, and the grip of her fingers around the gun tightened sharply. Even the shadows around her seemed to move of their own accord, making her hesitate to take another step.
Then, a faint tremor began to ripple through the ground beneath her feet.
Odelia instinctively held her breath.
From beyond the dense forest came a deep, heavy breathing—steady, like a giant bellows forcing air through the woods. Each exhale seemed to crush the very air around her.
The dreadful presence drew closer. Heavy footsteps pressed into the soil, and between the beast’s ragged breaths, the stench of blood filled the air.
Just as Odelia swallowed hard, a violent rustling burst from the undergrowth—
—and a massive bear lunged at her with a thunderous roar.
“Damn it…!”
She raised her gun and pulled the trigger without hesitation, but the bullet only grazed the bear’s shoulder.
Whoosh! The air shuddered as a massive paw swept past her face. Odelia threw herself sideways, rolling to the ground.
With a thud!, the earth suddenly gave way beneath her, and she plummeted downward—
—into a deep pit cleverly concealed beneath fallen leaves.
Before she could even register the pain shooting up her twisted ankle, she realized she was trapped at the bottom. The bear swiped again, and Odelia barely managed to raise her rifle to block the attack, the impact reverberating through her arms.
Her breath came ragged and fast. Then—
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the bear staggered. As it toppled toward the pit, a boot struck out from above, shoving the beast’s body away.
A silhouetted figure appeared at the rim of the pit, backlit by the sun.
“Ellen?” Odelia called out.
The man didn’t answer—he simply extended his hand. When she took it and climbed out, she realized he wasn’t Ellen at all.
He wore a wide-brimmed hat and a cloth covering the lower half of his face, hiding his features completely. Assuming he must be a hunter from another team, Odelia let out a shaky breath and smiled awkwardly.
“I didn’t expect a bear here. They don’t usually live in these parts… Please, tell the other teams to be careful.”
As she tried to stand, pain shot up her leg, and she fell back with a stifled cry.
“Ah—”
Lifting her skirt slightly, she saw that her ankle was torn and already swelling.
Just as she sighed in frustration, the man knelt wordlessly before her and gently took her injured ankle into his hands, examining it with quiet focus.
The unexpected touch made Odelia flinch instinctively.
“It’s fine. I can do it myself.”
But the man gave no reply. He only looked up at her, silent, his expression unreadable beneath the hat and cloth—but there was a certain unyielding aura about him, as if he were saying, Stay still.
For some reason, she felt no urge to resist. She simply sat there, letting him work.
The man tore a strip from his coat and wrapped it firmly around her ankle. His movements were decisive, but his hands—surprisingly gentle.
Odelia could only stare at him, speechless. There was something strange about it. She was sure she’d never seen him before, and yet… why did he not feel like a stranger?
“Could I have your name?” she finally asked.
The man froze for a brief moment as he tied off the bandage.
“I’d like to thank you properly later.”
But instead of answering, he helped her up and guided her to sit on a nearby tree stump. The gesture clearly meant, Don’t move yet.
Just as Odelia was about to speak again—drawn by that strange sense of familiarity—Ellen’s frantic voice echoed through the forest.
“Odelia! Odelia!”
She turned toward the sound—then looked back.
The man was gone.
He had vanished without a trace.
Startled, she scanned the trees, searching every shadow—but there was nothing. It was as if he’d never existed at all. Feeling dazed, she looked back toward the pit she had fallen into.
Ellen and Gideon arrived just then, stopping short at the sight of the bear’s corpse sprawled nearby.
“Odelia! Are you all right?” Ellen gasped.
He was covered in dirt as well, looking like he’d barely escaped trouble himself.
“I thought you were gone,” Odelia said.
“Someone dug a pit right on the path—I fell in. Who in their right mind would do that? What about you? And what’s with that bear?”
“You killed that thing yourself?”
Both Ellen and Gideon stared at her in shock. But all Odelia could say was—
“No. Someone helped me.”
“Who?”
“…I don’t know. A man with a hat and a cloth over his face.”
Ellen frowned, clearly worried. He asked over and over if she was hurt anywhere else, if she’d been bitten. Odelia assured him it was only a twisted ankle.
Still, he looked flustered, insisting on carrying her or at least helping her walk. Gideon, meanwhile, examined the bear’s body and returned with a grim expression.
“This kind of bear doesn’t live in this area,” he said.
Even deep in the forest, no one would hold a hunting competition where bears roamed freely. Ellen and Gideon had both participated in this event for years and had never encountered one.
Odelia found it puzzling as well—and there was something else that bothered her.
The bear had attacked her directly, without hesitation. Even for a wild beast, such blind rage was unnatural. She frowned slightly and murmured,
“The way it was enraged… it felt unnatural.”
Indeed, the dead bear belonged to a typically docile species. Ellen and Gideon exchanged tense looks at her words.
“Let’s just head back,” Gideon finally said.
They helped Odelia to her feet, each supporting one arm. As they walked, she paused and looked back at the carcass.
“Still, we should take it with us,” she said.
A brief silence fell over the hunting camp. The nobles in the audience, and even the other teams still out in the field, all stared in stunned disbelief at the scene before them.
At the end of their gaze stood Odelia, Ellen, and Gideon—
—with a wagon loaded with deer, rabbits… and a bear.
There was no question who had won the tournament.
Normally, the sight of a woman among the competitors would have sparked jeers or protests—but not today. No one dared say a word. The bear alone silenced them all.
Later, at the tavern near the hunting grounds, the victory feast was already in full swing.
Ellen, flushed and beaming with pride, was clearly the happiest man there. After several rounds of ale, his cheeks glowed red as he laughed and raised his cup again and again.
“Thanks to Lady Odelia, we won the tournament! You should’ve seen their faces—those smug bastards were speechless!”
Laughter rippled through the room, and Ellen continued boasting about Odelia’s bravery, clearly delighted.
Watching him, Odelia thought to herself—
So this is the man everyone calls a seductive playboy? He’s just a cheerful, naive young lord.
She couldn’t help but smile faintly.
Just then, her eyes met Gideon’s across the table. She raised her mug politely and nodded in greeting.
Gideon rolled his cup between his fingers, then murmured quietly,
“Ellen’s had quite a bit to drink.”
“I rather like seeing this side of him,” Odelia replied.
He studied her for a long moment before saying, almost casually,
“Do you intend to marry Ellen?”
