From a distance, Richard glared at the villainess. Then, suddenly,
he remembered the handkerchief tucked inside his clothes.
Come to think of it, this handkerchief....
The one the villainess had forced into his hand.
Did she coat it with poison or something?
Richard frowned.
Now that he thought about it, his [N O V E L I G H T] condition had steadily deteriorated during the hunt.
She must have given it to him with the intention of killing him from the very beginning.
Tch.
It was fortunate that he had taken an antidote after returning. Otherwise, he would still have been in poor condition.
Richard clicked his tongue inwardly and secretly discarded the handkerchief while no one was looking.
“Richard!”
A clear voice rang out above him.
He raised his head.
A woman in a bright, pale-yellow dress was running toward him.
Daphne Beatus.
“What happened to you...?!”
Panting, she seized Richard’s arm.
“Blood...? What in the world happened? And why are you covered in dirt...? What happened to your hand...?!”
She looked at Richard with concern.
Unable to answer, Richard lowered his eyes.
Looking flustered, Daphne took his hand and glanced around.
“We need to call an Imperial physician...! Young Lord Friedrich is badly hurt!”
Eyes turned toward them from every direction.
“I’m fine.”
Richard spoke with difficulty.
“I have already received treatment. And... wounds like these... are relatively minor.”
“You call this minor?”
Daphne’s voice trembled.
Her eyes looked ready to spill tears at any moment.
“Still... thank goodness. Thank goodness you made it back.”
Her small hand carefully enfolded Richard’s.
At that moment, the warmth of her skin touched him through the thin bandages.
It did not hurt badly, yet for some strange reason, it tingled.
“...I seem to have worried you.”
Richard murmured softly.
At the sound of his voice, Daphne gave a small nod.
“Does it hurt?”
She gripped his shoulder tightly again.
That was when it happened.
A suffocating gaze descended upon his back.
Richard felt it.
He knew the source of the chill seeping through his body.
Slowly turning his head,
he saw a man standing on the opposite side of the square, his black cloak billowing around him.
Cailus le Regnantia.
The blood spattered across his black uniform had not even dried yet.
He stood at a distance, silently watching them.
Crimson eyes.
A slightly narrowed gaze.
His face was expressionless, yet his stare was far too sharp.
Without a word, he looked at Daphne’s hand resting on Richard’s shoulder.
At those small fingers wrapped around Richard’s bandaged hand.
His eyes trembled faintly.
It lasted only a moment, but Richard saw it clearly.
That gaze was unmistakably telling him
to get away from her at once.
“.......”
Richard’s lips twisted as he met that stare.
“...Ah, ugh.......”
He immediately clenched his teeth and drew in a sharp breath.
His face contorted, and his brows furrowed on their own.
“Richard?! Are you hurt somewhere else?”
Daphne asked urgently.
As though he had been waiting for the question, Richard answered very slowly and hesitantly.
“...The truth is, I suffered a small cut... on my thigh.”
“Oh no!”
“It was fine earlier... but suddenly... ngh... it hurts so much.......”
He lowered his eyes, allowing the faintest blush to color his cheeks.
Then came the finishing blow.
“...But I think... it might stop hurting if you hold my hand... just once more, Lady Beatus.......”
“.......”
Cailus was watching every moment of it from afar.
“If you could hold it just a little longer... tightly, like this.......”
Very gently, very carefully, Richard curled his hand around the back of Daphne’s.
“...Then I think I’ll feel better.”
He pulled the corners of his mouth down slightly, his eyes welling up adorably.
The crimson eyes trembled with an indescribable expression.
As though Cailus could not bear to watch another second.
With his head bowed, Richard shifted only his eyes and caught the reaction perfectly.
He looks properly furious.
He laughed inwardly.
Now that is a face worth seeing.
Outwardly, however, he finished by lightly resting his forehead against the back of Daphne’s hand.
“...I truly am... so fortunate to have you, Lady Beatus.”
He was still putting on his performance when—
“—Everyone, assemble.”
The Emperor’s voice rang out.
Every gaze turned toward the platform.
Emperor Laios appeared once more, draped in a crimson cloak.
“I congratulate you on the safe conclusion of the Empire’s traditional hunting festival.”
His magically amplified voice resounded throughout the square.
“The pair who hunted the greatest number of magical beasts with the most efficient strategy in this year’s competition is—”
A brief silence followed.
Expectation and tension appeared simultaneously on the nobles’ faces.
The Emperor raised his head and slowly swept his gaze over them.
“His Highness the Crown Prince, Cailus le Regnantia, and Richard Friedrich of House Friedrich. Those two.”
“......!”
“This pair hunted by far the greatest number of magical beasts in this competition. Moreover—”
The Emperor lowered his gaze and continued.
“They also eliminated every attacker who ambushed them during the hunt. There were several dozen of them.”
Having received an account of the situation from Cailus and Richard after their return, the Emperor looked at them both.
“......!”
The nobles’ faces stiffened in unison.
Some widened their eyes at the word “attackers,”
while others, apparently unaware that anything had happened, began murmuring among themselves.
The Emperor surveyed them with an unwavering gaze.
“They subdued an incident outside the official competition more swiftly and efficiently than anyone else could have. Such an accomplishment cannot be regarded lightly.”
A brief silence.
Then his voice rang out again.
“As promised, the first-place pair will each receive one thousand gold coins and one Imperial wish-granting right.”
Gasps and exclamations arose among the nobles at once.
Some clicked their tongues, while others applauded.
A subtle tension was particularly palpable among several young ladies standing near the platform.
Amid those gazes—
Richard raised his shoulders in a faint shrug.
Every trace of the man who had been clutching Daphne’s hand and exaggerating his pain moments ago had vanished.
First place.......
His eyes turned calculating in an instant.
“.......”
Cailus watched him sidelong without expression.
Not long after the Emperor’s speech ended,
Richard and Cailus were discreetly summoned.
Imperial Guard knights in black uniforms approached with expressionless faces and wordlessly escorted them to the garden on the western side of the Imperial Palace.
Emperor Laios stood in the center of the garden.
The setting sun cast a long shadow behind him,
and two golden chairs had been placed before him for the pair.
“Sit.”
Laios’s voice was low and weighty.
“As promised, I will grant your wishes.”
Silence followed.
Richard took a moment to steady his breathing.
An Imperial wish-granting right.
Once the Emperor gave his word, he never took it back.
...How should I use this opportunity?
Dozens of scenarios flashed through Richard’s mind.
But the presence passing beside him as Cailus took the adjacent seat
disrupted his thoughts.
Cailus.
His lips were firmly closed as he stared at the Emperor before him.
His posture was unwavering, his breathing even.
His hands rested on his knees, and his eyes were as still as cold water.
Richard felt a sense of foreboding.
The moment the Emperor spoke again, that premonition proved entirely correct.
“Cailus, you may speak first.”
The instant those brief words ended,
Cailus spoke without the slightest hesitation.
“—Break our engagement.”
The very air froze.
Richard’s breath plummeted into his chest.
His eyes widened, his shoulders stiffened, and a weight settled over his heart.
“.......”
Without a word, the Emperor looked at Richard.
“You may state your wish as well, Young Lord Friedrich.”
Richard did not smile.
His face rigid,
he raised his head.
Then he spoke clearly.
“—Anything but breaking the engagement.”
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