The hunting contest hosted by the royal family was held in the middle of March. It took place in a royal forest in the vicinity of Albion.
Since it doubled as a military exercise, all participants would have to ride horses and line up in an open space in front of the palace before heading out.
Arcrayne was worried about Estelle, who’d ended up attending and was sitting in a coach.
At the hunting contest, the men would go first and set up a base camp with pavilions outside the forest. Then they would enter the forest to hunt. The women wouldn’t be going with them and would instead stand by inside the pavilions. The men and women would be away from each other for a long time, so Arcrayne had actually wanted Estelle to be absent for this event. Unfortunately, it had been a bad idea to claim she’d sprained her leg and try to use that as an excuse.
Estelle had feigned illnesses both at the memorial service and when Arcrayne had been badly hurt. People would’ve likely thought she had a weak constitution if she’d done it again in such a short period of time, so he’d gone for faking an injury instead, but this had led to the queen putting pressure on them.
“It is unacceptable for a future princess to be absent on the grounds of a sprain. If she cannot ride a horse, she can go in a coach.”
Arcrayne had found himself unable to refuse.
He didn’t know why he felt so uneasy. Was it because something had been feeling different about Estelle as of late? Mounted on Azure, Arcrayne glanced at Estelle’s profile as she sat in the coach. He couldn’t clearly put it into words. However, he felt something like a wall between them compared to before. Had she been appalled by his disgrace when he’d tried to catch Robert and her affection had dwindled as a result?
It gave the prince much to think about, but at the end of the day, the strength of Estelle’s feelings for him didn’t matter. She and her power belonged to him already. Their engagement had been announced, and he was already providing some support to the earldom of Flozeth. They’d come far enough that subtle changes in how one of them felt couldn’t undo anything.
Coming to that conclusion and heaving a light sigh, Arcrayne knocked on the coach window. It opened and Estelle showed her face.
“We’re heading out soon. Be careful, and make sure you’re never alone,” he said, checking Estelle’s chest area.
There, over the dress for outdoor activities that she wore today, was the late Miriallia’s brooch which he had given to her. The cameo had been removed from this “good-luck charm” and replaced with a nacre—which was pretty but didn’t have much monetary value, so it wouldn’t be a problem if the brooch fulfilled its duty and broke.
It had been lucky to discover the brooch’s function just before the hunting contest.
“You are such a worrywart, Your Highness. I shall be with her, so nothing shall happen.”
The one speaking was Sierra, who was in the coach with Estelle. Maybel was inside too. Among Estelle’s usual attendants, Leah was the only one absent, as she lacked any means of self-defense.
“Will His Majesty not scold you if you spend too much time here?” asked Estelle.
Just as she said, it was about time for Arcrayne to return to the formation before things got problematic.
Sighing softly, Arcrayne looked over the Royal Guards of the Libra Palace escorting the coach, then turned Azure and headed to his designated spot.