“Would you accept this, Princess Cesica...?”
Daphne bowed her head and held out the neatly folded handkerchief with both hands.
Delicate pale wildflowers had been carefully embroidered onto the white fabric.
The person she offered it to was—
neither Richard nor Cailus, but the villainess, Princess Cesica.
“......?”
Richard stared blankly at the scene.
Princess Cesica raised an eyebrow, her expression equally strange.
The surrounding area fell silent in an instant.
Several young noblewomen nearby held their breath and exchanged glances.
“What... is happening?”
“Lady Beatus is giving her handkerchief to the Princess?”
Daphne cautiously bowed her head once more.
“I pray that you return safely.”
“...Ha.”
Princess Cesica let out a disbelieving laugh. Then
she snatched the handkerchief from Daphne’s hands.
“Have you lost your mind?”
Mockery and bewilderment flickered across her face.
“Thank you for accepting it...!”
Daphne smiled as brightly as spring sunshine.
“......”
“......”
Still awkwardly holding the purple handkerchief,
Richard let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
...To the villainess? Really?
It was a development he had never imagined.
As he stared blankly into space—
a heavy presence spread from the platform.
“Silence.”
It was the Emperor’s voice.
Emperor Laios appeared in a crimson cloak.
With faded black hair and red eyes,
he froze the air with a single look over the crowd.
Soldiers swiftly brought the nobles into formation and restored order.
The Imperial Guard and the corps of mages stood beside the Emperor.
“Today marks the Empire’s traditional hunting festival.”
His voice was amplified through a magical device and resounded across the grounds.
“This is no mere amusement, but an occasion to test your courage, judgment, and resourcefulness.”
Everyone’s expression turned solemn.
“Points will be awarded according to the number and type of magical beasts each pair hunts. But more important than anything else is returning alive.”
The Emperor paused,
then slowly raised one hand.
“This year’s Imperial hunting competition will be conducted in pairs. The teams have already been assigned, and no changes will be permitted.”
Then he immediately added one final statement.
“The pair that takes first place will receive a special reward from the Imperial family: one thousand gold coins and one Imperial wish-granting right.”
“......!”
Sharp breaths were drawn all around them.
An Imperial wish-granting right.
It was no different from holding the power to create a law.
At those words, Richard twisted his lips and suppressed a sigh.
As if that’s anything special....
In any case, his partner was....
“Young Lord Friedrich. Who is your partner?”
The question was quietly posed from horseback.
It was Princess Cesica.
Richard faltered for a moment, then raised his head in resignation.
“...I have been paired with His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Her eyebrow twitched slightly.
After a brief silence, Princess Cesica twisted her lips.
“You recently spent a night together as well. Do try to return alive. At His Highness’s side.”
With that, she turned her horse and rode away.
Left alone,
Richard silently sighed.
It isn’t as though I wanted to participate in this competition....
But what could he do? With Cailus as his partner, it was far too late to change anything.
He climbed wearily onto his horse.
As he rode toward the forest,
a man in a black uniform who had gone on ahead was already waiting for him.
Crimson eyes. A black horse.
Cailus, the Crown Prince.
“...Your Highness.”
Richard spoke without emotion upon seeing him.
Yes, I knew. I knew I’d been paired with this man.
His face impassive, Richard remained mounted and kept his distance.
“We have no choice, so we may as well go together.”
He deliberately made the words sound sarcastic, but Cailus did not react.
He merely tightened his grip on the reins and rode into the forest without a word.
The frosty air of the woods cut between them.
Only the sound of hooves echoed through the silence.
At the edge of the frost-covered forest,
beneath the shadows of trees the sunlight had yet to reach, the hoofbeats of their horses overlapped.
Richard slowly rode past Cailus with his lips pressed firmly together.
Yet before he knew it, his gaze had drifted toward the man beside him.
Cailus’s profile as he sat astride his horse.
Eyes that revealed no emotion and a jawline as straight as if carved by a blade.
His expression was as impassive as ever, but Richard knew.
It was not that no emotions existed beneath that expression.
Cailus simply did not consider them worth revealing.
...Here we go again. This infuriating silence.
“Do you have a strategy in mind, Your Highness?”
Richard deliberately started a conversation, hoping to break the uncomfortable silence even slightly.
“As long as you don’t betray me. Like last time.”
“......”
Richard’s lips pressed tightly together.
He went straight for the wound.
He forced down a bitter laugh.
The wind brushing his eyes felt especially biting.
“I didn’t realize you were the sort to dwell on the past.”
He fired the words back lightly.
“How surprising. I thought you were far more indifferent.”
“That much is true.”
Cailus spoke quietly.
“Isn’t that why you’re still alive?”
A brief answer.
His voice was as cold as the cutting wind.
He meant that if he had been even slightly more emotional, he would have killed Richard.
“......”
Richard quietly lowered his gaze.
The wind rushing past them,
the droplets falling from frost-rimed branches,
and the silence that felt ready to erupt at any moment all mingled together.
At the end of that silence, Richard finally spoke again.
“...Since we’re stuck together, let’s at least stay out of each other’s way. I’m sure that would suit Your Highness as well.”
“As long as you cause no trouble, I see no reason not to.”
Cailus answered without emotion.
Richard tipped his head back and sighed.
His way of speaking is repulsive to the bitter end.
He tugged lightly on the reins.
His horse caught its breath and began walking again.
Just then—
Rustle!
A sudden disturbance came from a cluster of bushes to their right at the forest entrance.
“......!”
Before Richard could even raise his head—
Whoosh!
Something sharp burst out in front of them.
Both horses reared in alarm.
Their hooves kicked at the air, churning the ground beneath them.
“Damn it...!”
Richard instinctively seized the reins, but his horse had already lost its balance.
At that instant—
Cailus’s horse swiftly moved sideways and pressed close beside Richard’s.
“Pull.”
“What...?”
“The reins! To the left!”
After a moment’s hesitation, Richard followed his command and pulled hard on the reins.
The horse staggered as it turned, narrowly avoiding a tree trunk.
Crash!
A black shadow violently trampled the spot they had just passed.
An enormous body covered in jagged horns.
A monstrous creature that resembled a cross between a deer and a bear.
A Servinok.
Richard breathed heavily.
“...A Servinok right from the start? You have to be fucking kidding me.”
“Shut your mouth and focus.”
Cailus had already dismounted and drawn his sword.
His crimson eyes gleamed quietly as he stared at the magical beast.
Richard watched him for a moment, then pressed his lips together again.
Why does it feel so unpleasant when he just helped me...?
He slowly dismounted and set his feet on the ground.
The handkerchief tucked inside his clothes fluttered in the wind.
Purple silk. The one the villainess had forced upon him.
He drew his sword.
If I don’t want to die, I have to °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° fight.
The Crown Prince stood beside him, the monster before him.
Richard swung his sword in a sharp arc.
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