Chapter 49
A few days later, the day of the hunting festival arrived.
Before leaving the mansion, I looked at my reflection in the mirror.
My long hair, tied back in a single ponytail, shimmered elegantly, and the snug riding outfit and hunting vest made me look like a graceful and agile warrior.
‘Come to think of it, they say I have a blessed constitution.’
I hadn’t worked out even once, ate whatever I wanted, and still maintained a toned body.
Now that I thought about it, Duke Elemoer had also been skilled with the sword.
Well, considering he seized succession rights in the notoriously vicious Elemoer family, it was only natural he’d be physically exceptional, too.
Maybe that’s why my skills as a former archery athlete shine even more in this world.
I struck a pose, flexing muscles that refused to bulge, while looking in the mirror. At that, Heros gave a small smile and said,
“It’s time to leave now, Miss.”
I nodded and stepped outside the mansion, where the luxurious Elemoer carriage awaited me.
“Piyo, take care!”
I waved at Piyo, who was perched on Anes’s shoulder.
It looked at me with eyes full of longing, as if it wanted to follow, but there was no helping it. It might be mistaken for prey if it came along.
“Piyooo—”
With Heros escorting me, I climbed into the carriage, which soon departed.
“Everyone seems so excited.”
Colorful balloon-like structures hung all around, and children were already running about, playing.
I murmured this while observing the cheerful streets buzzing with pre-festival excitement, and Heros replied,
“Well, the hunting festival is one of the top three largest festivals in the Empire.”
“It’s just a party for royalty and nobles anyway.”
The commoners didn’t actually participate.
“That’s… probably because of the lottery.”
“Lottery?”
“Yes. People buy tickets betting on who will win the hunting tournament. If the person they chose actually wins, they get a huge payout.”
“Ah…”
It sounded like horse racing back in my world.
“From the imperial family’s perspective, it’s a profitable business—earning money through taxes. Where can you buy those tickets?”
“They should be available at the official lottery booths in the downtown area.”
I let out a small laugh and replied,
“You know… I already know who’s going to win this year’s hunting festival.”
“…Who is it?”
I leaned in close to Heros’s ear and whispered the name of the person I had in mind.
Heros’s brown eyes trembled.
A short while later, after buying a lottery ticket, I arrived at the hunting festival grounds.
It was the forest behind Elim Hill, adjacent to the Imperial Palace, where wild animals lived.
The entire path was decorated splendidly, and many royals and nobles were gathered, proudly showing off their prized horses.
The noble ladies and daughters, dressed in gowns, covered their mouths with feathered fans as they chatted.
Among the participants in hunting attire, the gender ratio was about eight men to two women.
“Goodness, Lady Elemoer. Are you participating in the hunting festival yourself?”
“Wow… something feels different about her today.”
I overheard the murmurs around me.
“Did she even know how to shoot a bow?”
“Now that you mention it, there were rumors that the Duke of Elemoer was a sharpshooter…”
“But to participate in the hunting festival as an unmarried woman…”
“In any case, she’s not ordinary. Lady Elemoer.”
I could sense that while people weren’t entirely pleased with me, they were watching carefully—perhaps because I had claimed to be the Emperor’s right hand and was building a new faction, marginalizing parts of the original imperial circle.
Among the ladies gathered in small groups were two or three of my cousin Lucia’s friends.
Since Lucia had been arrested as an accomplice to Fadelmon, they were doing their best to avoid my gaze.
And the most attention-grabbing figure here was, of course, the Emperor.
He alone had come draped in a gold cloak into this drab forest—naturally, he stood out.
The Emperor wasn’t actually participating in the hunting festival.
He had neither the skills nor the spirit for swordsmanship or hunting.
“Greetings to Your Majesty.”
Still, I had to show formal respect.
The Emperor looked at me with satisfaction.
“Indeed, for the young lady to participate personally—it pleases me greatly.”
“As the heir of a loyal family, I will dedicate the glory of victory to Your Majesty.”
He nodded with a “Good, good,” in response.
Not that he really expected me to score in this hunting event. After all, I’d never participated before.
Everyone else, too, had expressions that seemed to say, What can a villainess possibly do in the wild?
Mixed stares of suspicion and faint awe.
“Ahem.”
As I turned away from the Emperor’s tent, my eyes suddenly met a familiar, unpleasant man.
Philios Regalo.
Though dismissed from his government post and with his household nearly ruined, he had still managed to pull himself together in some fancy outfit.
He walked up to me, paused, and said,
“Lady Katrin Elemoer.”
His hesitant lips were thoroughly repulsive.
“I, Philios Regalo… have now decided to let you go. And I sincerely apologize for all the wrongs I’ve committed until now.”
With a somewhat gaunt face, he bowed his head before me.
Letting me go? Well, that was the first good thing he’s said.
“Looking back now, the things I did, blinded by obsession… they were truly horrible. I regret them so much I wish I could cut off my own hand.”
People began glancing over at us curiously.
With tears welling in his eyes, he continued,
“But please, I beg of you just one thing. Let me protect you—just once—from the monstrous beasts of the hunting festival.”
What an absolute joke.
As far as I knew, Philios Regalo was all bark and no bite.
He liked to parade around in the name of art because he couldn’t measure up to the other noble heirs in swordsmanship or dueling.
“After today, I swear I will never speak to you again.”
On the surface, it would look like a man tearfully repenting for past wrongs and making a desperate plea to protect his former lover.
“…Indeed…”
I crossed my arms and looked Philios up and down.
“There is something truly horrible standing in front of me.”
He looked puzzled for a moment but soon understood the insult in my gaze, and his face flushed red.
“Be careful not to get hit by an arrow.”
I stroked the bow slung behind my back. His eyes twitched.
“I might accidentally shoot you, mistaking you for a beast.”
No matter how he pretended to repent now, it wouldn’t work on me.
He had tried to poison me, and forgiving that would be pure hypocrisy.
‘More than anything, I can see right through your schemes.’
People around us stifled their laughter behind their hands.
“She’s definitely the Lady Elemoer, alright.”
As the murmurs faded, a sudden silence settled over the crowd.
I could see the Emperor, seated at the head, grin slyly.
“…He’s arrived. Etias.”
All eyes turned to the man who had just dismounted his horse.
Unlike the others adorned in golden cloaks, he wore a plain black riding outfit. His hair was as black as night, and his eyes were a piercing blue.
With tall stature, broad shoulders, and a strong chest—he had the commanding build of any first-rate knight.
He was Etias, the true heir to the Oswell throne.
Our last encounter had ended rather vaguely.
– “You’re the one squeezing my heart.”
Even so, I focused my mind on today’s goals.
In addition to establishing contact with the Duke of the western territory to gift Etias with overwhelming reinforcements—there was something else.
If the original story holds true, Etias would face serious trouble today.
‘I need to prevent that.’
“Greetings to Your Majesty.”
Etias gave the Emperor a slight bow, then turned and looked straight at me.
Was it just my imagination? Every time I looked into those melancholy blue eyes, my heart ached.
‘Etias just looks so pitiful…’
How must it feel to bow to the man who had taken everything from him?
My hyperactive empathy—which didn’t even flinch at Philios’s drama—was now firing at full power for Etias.
“…”
But why was he staring at me like that?
Even when I lowered my gaze slightly, I could still feel his intense stare for a long time.
