Chapter 77
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------
Chapter 77
"Why did The Emperor suddenly change his mind about attending this hunting festival?"
He'd never participated even once before.
Thanks to that, I'd arrived here today in the luxurious and glittering position of The Emperor's partner.
"Sigh..."
"Still, you prepared an embroidered handkerchief so faithfully, didn't you?"
Emma pointed to the box in my hand.
This was the reason partners existed at the hunting festival.
Not to hunt together, but to offer blessings to those who would hunt.
The festival participants' partners would give handkerchiefs, and the key was how ornate and exquisite the embroidery was.
I certainly had real skill in embroidery...!
Or so I didn't.
"The handkerchief my mother finished for me."
"B-but Madam only helped just a little bit, didn't she? It's practically the same as if you made it yourself. Wow, it looks like a dragon could soar into the heavens any moment!"
Emma praised it earnestly, but I knew well enough that it was an embarrassing handkerchief to show anyone.
But that was what I wanted.
'I've never made one for Dale, yet I'm giving this gift to a stranger man.'
Whether real or fake, Dale remains in the role of my husband, yet I'm giving this to The Emperor first.
Doesn't this feel like foreshadowing?
Foreshadowing that I won't return to Dale and will end up marrying The Emperor instead.
"...No!"
Thwack!
The moment I jumped up, stars sparkled before my eyes.
"Ow, ow...!"
"Ah, are you alright?"
It seemed I'd headbutted someone. Pressing my crown and lifting my head, I saw an unfamiliar knight with wide eyes staring at me.
Huh? He resembled Dale.
He wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime handsome man like Dale, but there was an uncanny resemblance.
His eyes were sharp, but his pupils were puppy-like like Dale's, so without thinking I stared intently at the knight's face.
"Young Lady, are you alright?"
"Who are you...?"
How did he know who I am?
The Duke's carriage was right behind me, so asking the same question seemed unnecessary.
A shy-smiling beautiful youth—no, an embarrassed handsome young man—bowed politely.
"I'm receiving instruction under Samuel Lockhart, the Vice Duke. I am Donald of the Mason Earldom."
"Ah, my brother's..."
He smiled brightly, clearly pleased to see me.
The fair-haired, green-eyed knight—no, the knight with the beautiful smile—assaulted my senses relentlessly with his charm.
"It is an honor to meet you."
Curiosity sparkled in his eyes as he gazed intently at my face.
In another time, I might have found his appearance quite to my taste and regarded him with interest, but now something felt off.
I found myself continuously searching for traces of Dale in this man's features.
Even the way his mouth curved when he smiled seemed to resemble Dale's.
Dale carried a more mature presence while this knight named Donald seemed boyish, yet there was unmistakably something of Dale about him.
I grasped his sleeve lightly and rose onto my toes, staring intently at him. Dale really did have this kind of feeling....
"Do you have an older brother?"
"...Pardon?"
His eyes widened further, and I suddenly came to my senses. I released him and lightly tapped my own cheek.
"No, never mind. I just remembered someone and got confused. I'm sorry."
I forced a smile and extended my hand.
"It's nice to meet you."
The knight kissed the back of my hand and moved naturally to my side, smiling.
He studied me for a moment, then scratched his head and spoke.
"It seems the rumors that the Duke cherishes you greatly are true."
"There were rumors like that? Why?"
Likely because I never held a debutante ball and remained secluded at home, even running away—they must have fabricated an excuse to hide the truth.
"Because you're so beautiful, he must have been afraid to present you to the world."
"Ah...."
Suddenly, it felt as though cold water had been poured over me. Donald resembled Dale, but he was not Dale.
Dale would never say something like that.
"If you don't mind, might I escort you to the Hunting Grounds?"
"I don't think that's quite right."
"Huh?"
Before I could respond, a voice cut through, blocking his path.
I turned to see who it was, and my expression shattered completely.
"Magic Tower Master."
Cassion Schultz had appeared here.
"Right. Donald, Baron. Wasn't the Captain calling for you over there? Shouldn't you go? Young knight?"
"Captain Lockhart is currently unable to attend due to needing to recover his shoulder...."
"Then I must be seeing things?"
Cassion's smiling face turned cold and rigid. His eyebrows tilted sharply.
"That's not quite the case."
"What are you doing? Go on."
"...Yes, understood!"
The bewildered knight tilted his head uncertainly, then handed me over to Cassion and left.
"I didn't think you were like that."
Cassion, standing beside the knight instead, looked down at me with a sidelong glance.
His expression was as if he were observing someone dishonest and wicked. A faint hint of contempt? What was with that look in his eyes?
"A woman with a husband, no less. No matter how she abandoned her husband and came to the Capital, how can she so readily switch to another young, handsome man without a shred of hesitation?"
"When did I ever do that?"
"I saw it clearly with these 20/20 vision eyes of mine. That behavior just now was disappointing."
"That's not it. I only looked because he resembled Dale."
But Cassion's expression showed he hardly believed me.
"Dale is all there is for me,"
"Oh my. That's a hard thing to believe. Your husband must be waiting for you alone all this time. Whether it rains, whether the wind blows, whether thunder strikes."
"...."
"That's the moment I feel sorry for him."
Cassion, who had been trailing after me, criticized me in a measured tone, and it grated on my nerves.
"Ugh, seriously. Why did the Marquis come here anyway? Using magic for hunting is forbidden, isn't it?"
"Someone has to set up the barrier."
"Ah, I see.... Then please hurry along."
"But I happened to witness my friend's wife's infidelity, so I'm quite troubled."
"Don't you dare tell Dale!"
In that moment, Cassion stopped in his tracks and stared directly at me. For some reason, that smirk creeping up one corner of his mouth was infuriating.
"So you are conscious of it? That's good news. Dale might even be delighted to hear it."
"I said don't tell him—what are you talking about? Why would he be delighted? He'd hate it."
"Because you're conscious of him as your husband, are you not?"
"...Of course. He's my husband."
I began to understand why Dale disliked Cassion's appearances.
Cassion was an odd person.
And Dale and I kept our private lives strictly separate. He had no obligation to tell me anything, nor did I have any obligation to tell him anything.
Dale wouldn't care what I thought about anyone's appearance.
'If Cassion thinks that way, Dale must be quite the actor.'
Dale was a wonderful partner.
And he was originally a kind and good-hearted person.
Even if he heard the news, the Dale I knew would pretend to be angry for the sake of our act, but in reality.
"I'm glad to hear you've developed feelings for someone."
She would be the one to congratulate me on this fresh start.
She would undoubtedly cheer me on.
'But that bothers me.'
Just imagining that scenario made me deeply uncomfortable. What is this? Why do I feel so uneasy about it? Me?
"We've arrived, my lady."
The vast Arena where nobility gathered had several tents scattered throughout.
The female partners of the Hunting Festival participants waited here in the Tent Camp.
In the center of the Arena stood an altar as tall as three adult men lined up in a row, where five mages would be positioned.
During the Hunting Festival, a powerful barrier blocking magical beasts activates to prevent accident hazards.
The method is manual.
You simply sacrifice mages to power it.
'Since The Emperor is personally participating in the Hunting Festival this time, they must have reinforced security.'
The Magic Tower Master himself is making an appearance, after all.
"The weather doesn't seem very good today—will it be alright?"
"It's ambiguous whether my lady is concerned about me or The Emperor."
"Neither of you."
Cassion chuckled and looked up at the sky. The dense Forest didn't let much light through, so we needed good weather, but the sky was overcast and dark as if rain were coming.
Some magic, like teleportation magic, is affected by climate. Barrier magic was one of them.
In places like this where magical beasts lived nearby and negative energy saturated the air, barriers were even more vulnerable.
"Will you be able to maintain the barrier properly?"
"I'm fine thanks to the antidote my lady provided me."
Cassion grinned at me.
"And I have an amplification device."
Cassion rolled up his sleeve and showed me a bracelet. The bracelet made of white crystal seemed to be the amplification device he mentioned.
Just casting a wide-range barrier drains stamina like crazy.
If Cassion weren't the Magic Tower Master, the barrier wouldn't last even two hours.
"The Emperor has arrived."
As he appeared, the scattered nobles gathered in one place.
Did he wear a mask today too?
'His vision must be terrible.'
The Emperor personally participates in the Hunting Festival.
I didn't know the reason, but I suspected it was to boost the morale of the knights, especially now that Enya's Brother and two Knights Order commanders were injured.
As long as the barrier holds, the Hunting Grounds are safe—a suitable place to make an impression.
I studied The Emperor intently.
True to his role as the male protagonist of this world, The Emperor had an impressive physique.
I'll admit his body was well-built.
But it wasn't better than Dale's.
'I don't understand why Dale isn't the male protagonist.'
In that moment, our eyes met.
Or at least, that's how it felt.
'Oh no. I thought he'd caught me cursing The Emperor.'
My feet tingled and my heart raced. But something seemed off about The Emperor's behavior.
"Your Majesty...!"
"Oh my."
"...?"
The Emperor fixed his coordinates and strode directly toward me with purpose.
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------