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Chapter 52
Knights of the Imperial Palace on horseback drove a doe.
(e/n: they’re basically forcing it in a specific direction by surrounding and scaring it)
The doe was confused by the sound of horses’ hooves and flying arrows from all directions, and fled without even consciously understanding the situation. It didn’t even know that the escape route was a path prepared by the hunters
Christian, who was waiting at the end of the escape route, heard the rustling and quickly pulled the bowstring.
Soon after, a frightened doe ran through the grass.
At that moment, the arrow that cut through the wind pierced the doe’s neck.
It stumbled and fell to the ground.
The nobles who watched the scene applauded and praised Christian.
“As expected, he is the greatest archer!”
“Indeed, I wonder how bravely he navigated through the battlefield.”
“That arrow has killed countless enemy soldiers. Haha!”
Richard was the only one who knew what Christian looked like on the battlefield, but the nobles chatted as if they had seen him.
In fact, Christian couldn’t shoot a single arrow properly on the battlefield.
Instead of killing the enemy, he struggled constantly and was saved by Richard several times.
Other than that, he was only doing nonsense, such as making an unreasonable strategy and being pushed to a disadvantage, or driving a wedge between the Imperial army and the Rubellin knights.
The nobles also know that Christian returned from the battlefield after less than a month, but the truth didn’t matter to them.
The only important thing was pleasing the Crown Prince. This hunting festival was planned purely for that purpose.
The doe was an animal prepared and released by the Imperial Family. Stags were excluded because their antlers were dangerous.
The bows of the nobles were also just decorations. All of them were just like maids to honor and praise the hunting skills of the Emperor and Crown Prince.
The hunting festival was a game that was calculated and created to please the Emperor and the Crown Prince without any errors, from beginning to end.
Richard, who had no intention of participating in such a game, stood in the back row far away and was only worried about Elisha.
‘Before, the expressions of the Crown Prince and Princess Mikaela were unusual.’
Meanwhile, Christian, who was intoxicated with the sense of achievement from hunting, kept his head up.
Then, he found Richard, who was lost in thought, not paying any attention to him and raised one corner of his mouth.
“Does our great war hero have no intention of dealing with some stupid animals?”
The nobles kept their mouths shut at Christian’s clearly sarcastic intentions.
Christian’s cold gaze was directed at Richard, the war hero.
Despite Christian’s obviously sarcastic remarks, Richard responded with a polite, indifferent voice.
“Maybe because I’ve been wallowing on the battlefield for a long time, I’m not interested in killing weak animals. Doesn’t Your Highness feel the same?”
It was a sarcastic remark for Christian, who had returned to his own country as if he had participated in the war, but in reality, he had escaped after less than a month with an injury as an excuse.
Christian grinned while baring his teeth as Richard looked at him with indifferent eyes.
‘That cheeky bastard…’
Even though the Crown Prince himself showed a sign of displeasure at his attitude, rather than bending down, Richard showed no change of gesture without even raising an eyebrow.
The jovial atmosphere subsided as if everyone had been doused with cold water due to the tension between the two.
One side was the Crown Prince who would succeed to the Imperial Throne in the future, and the other side was the Duke of Rubellin, who was feared even by the Imperial Family and had the power to keep them in check.
The nobles froze, not knowing how to settle the altercation between the two. It was Richard who finally broke the cold silence.
“I’m not feeling well, so I’ll go back first.”
Richard greeted, turned around, and left the hunting ground. The moment Christian was about to say something to Richard, the nobles intervened and hurriedly settled the mood.
“Y-your Highness. There is another doe over there.”
“Oh, it looks a lot bigger than the one you just caught. Why don’t you catch it and surprise His Majesty with both?”
Christian stared at Richard and reluctantly walked away to pursue the doe with the nobles.
Another sound of horse hoofs followed behind Richard as he moved away from them.
Richard felt a presence but ignored it. Then, the owner of that presence appeared from the side.
“You’ve grown up since the last time I saw you.”
Marquis Raymore Felice.
He was most likely the one who ordered the leak of the devil’s soul stone from the canyon on Rubellin.
Richard ignored him and moved ahead, didn’t even glance at him. He simply treated the Marquis as blank space.
But Raymore continued talking as if he didn’t care.
“Oh, it looks like your aversion stuck tight.”
“…”
“But I hope you don’t think too much of it. Everything I do is for you.”
Richard, who ignored his words all along, stopped. Then, a cold gaze fell on Raymore.
“You put my people I’m danger. Saying it was all for me…”
“It may be hard to believe now but—”
“If you talk like that one more time, I’ll tear your mouth apart.”
At the same time as Richard’s words, black energy leaked from his back.
Raymore stopped talking after that obvious threat to his life.
However, Richard’s expression looking at him was as indifferent as usual. As if the words he just said were insignificant to him as saying ‘I’m going to kill a bug.’
So it was even more terrifying.
Then Richard added in an indifferent voice.
“Of course, it may be hard to believe, but I’m saying this for you.”
As if ridiculing Raymore’s words, Richard, who said what he wanted, slowly turned and walked away.
The noblemen following the Emperor and the Crown Prince split into two groups and entered the hunting grounds.
Meanwhile, the Empress and Crown Princess Rose, who were left behind, laid out a tea party under the shade of a tree.
Around the two, noblewomen and the young ladies sat around.
Elisha sat at a reasonable distance from the Empress and Rose, and Olivia sat next to her.
The court ladies of the Imperial Palace filled everyone’s cups with floral-scented tea.
Elisha was nervous as she looked at the teacup in front of me.
‘Can I drink this tea…?’
Before coming to the hunting festival, her doctor told her about tea that pregnant women should not drink.
Fortunately, the tea served was drinkable, but the question was whether or not her stomach would accept it.
Although she had taken morning sickness medicine in advance, there were many cases where the medicine had no effect.
There was no need to hide the fact that she was pregnant, but it was too early to talk about it publicly because she was not yet in a stable period.
“I’m glad that everyone took time out of their busy schedules to attend. This is a tea specially prepared for you, so please drink it comfortably.”
When the Empress gracefully lifted the teacup and spoke, the ladies followed and lifted the cup. Elisha also carefully lifted her cup and smelled it first.
“Maybe it’s because of the scent of flowers, but fortunately, it doesn’t feel disgusting.’
Elisha was relieved and drank tea little by little.
After a while, the ladies who quenched their throats praised the tea prepared by the Empress.
“Oh, it smells so good. What is this tea, Your Majesty?”
“I know, right. The floating petals are so pretty.”
“I feel at peace after drinking it.”
“It’s a tea made by drying Tetra flowers that grow only on the eastern coastal cliffs.”
The ladies rambled, saying they should get this tea and drink it at home as well. Then the Empress said with an exaggerated look of regret.
“Well, unfortunately, it’s a tea made of very precious flowers, so it’s going to be hard to get.”
“Ah… That’s too bad.”
The ladies looked disappointed, and Elisha snorted inwardly.
‘I can drink something you can’t dare to dream of… Do you want to show off with something like that?’
The Empress, who was drinking tea with a satisfied expression after the ladies’ reaction, stopped as she glanced at Olivia.
“Anyhow, it’s been a long time, Marchioness Beltin. It’s really unfortunate that you rarely come to these events.”
The Empress’s expression while saying that, was closer to an expression that said she only spoke to her for the sake of appearances rather than an expression that said she was happy to see her sister-in-law whom she had met after a long time.
“I was so busy raising my daughter that I couldn’t even come to gatherings. I’m glad that Your Majesty’s complexion has improved.”
“We’re not strangers. Why didn’t you stop by the Imperial Palace as soon as you came up? It’s a little disappointing to find out you went to the temple instead.”
Since ancient times, the Imperial Family and the temple have maintained a strained relationship.
Since then, fifty years ago, when the Marquis of Marriott was discovered conspiring treason, the relationship became openly hostile.
The Empress’s words meant to point out Olivia’s behavior, which stated that she was closer to the temple than to the Imperial Family.
“I just met someone who needed my help first, so don’t be too upset.”
Olivia replied with a smile as if she had not noticed the fangs hidden in the Empress’s words.
Although even the experienced Princess, who had been active in society for a long time, may not have noticed the hidden meaning.
At Olivia’s pure answer as if she knew nothing, the empress only frowned as if she had lost her determination, and couldn’t hold back anymore.
Elisha realized something new in their conversation.
‘Yes, there was a temple.’
The reason Elisha participated in the hunting festival was to show that Rubellin was healthy and powerful in society and to gather more allies.
Even if the Imperial Family secretly wanted to get rid of the temple, the influence of the temple could not be completely ignored because the temple had such a huge influence among the people of the Empire.
In addition, there were quite a few nobles who believed in God, praying while avoiding the eyes of the Imperial Family. No matter how strong the Emperor was, God in heaven could not be prevented.
In that sense, if the influence of the temple and the Empire’s hero, Rubellin, were combined, it was enough to threaten the Imperial Family.
‘I’ll have to find a temple soon.’
Elisha thought and put down the teacup.
At that time, the wind shook the teacup and water ran down Elisha’s dress.
Anne saw it and came to her.
“Madam, are you okay?”
“The tea is cold. I’m fine.”
Anne started wiping Elisha’s dress drenched in the tea with her handkerchief.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Anne. To be precise, towards the dress Anne was wearing.
The dress Anne was wearing was a one-piece with a neat design that was recently popular in society, and it seemed to be quite expensive for a maid’s dress. It stood out clearly from the maids of other families who wore maid’s uniforms.
In addition, on the left of the dress’s bodice, there was a silver brooch decorated with the Rubellin emblem. The same was for the other maid waiting behind Elisha.
At that, Rose, who was watching Elisha with distaste filled eyes, opened her mouth.
“I can’t believe you bought such clothes just for a maid… As expected, the Duke seems to be as wealthy as I heard.”
At Rose’s sarcastic remark, Elisha blinked for a moment and smiled softly.
It was a long-awaited reaction.
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