Chapter 8

“Hey. Which way is the hunting area with the smaller animals?” I stopped a passing guard, and after getting directions, I was finally able to accomplish the goal I’d set that morning. There was a fork in the road past the entrance to the hunting grounds, and I took the path on the right that would apparently bring me to my destination. What should I catch for him? I wondered, my steps light as I thought of Eckles’s unnaturally gray eyes. However, upon arrival, I found something completely different from what I’d expected. “What the…?” I stared blankly at the trees and lush shrubbery that stretched in all directions around me. What I’d been expecting was a fenced area filled with a few small creatures to allow beginners to try out hunting. “I thought kids were supposed to be able to hunt here. This is just a forest.” It was no more or less—just a normal forest. I couldn’t see a single creature, small or otherwise, no matter how hard I looked. It seemed the organizers had taken the lazy approach and simply designated two locations where game would be set loose—one for larger prey and the other for smaller. Children were seldom brought along, and most noblewomen did not bother to hunt. “Hah! Nothing ever goes to plan in this game!” I muttered, trudging along the wooded path. One minor consolation was that the path was very easy to make out—I wasn’t likely to get lost. However, even if I followed the path deeper into the forest, I wasn’t sure I would even be able to spot any of the agile animals hidden among the trees, let alone catch one. Well, I already came all this way, so I’ll just go for a walk. I gave up on the idea of hunting altogether as I strolled along, but it wasn’t long before I realized I’d been hasty in giving up so soon. Whoa! A rabbit! Snow-white rabbits were bounding about not far from the path, and there were not just one, but four. It seemed the organizers had released a considerable number of creatures in the forest. They’re so cute… This was my first time seeing an animal that wasn’t a cat or a dog or one of Winter’s cursed bunnies, since I’d never been to the zoo, unlike most people my age. Therefore, even though I’d been successful in finding a creature to hunt, I didn’t think to raise my weapon until it was too late. No! Don’t leave! The rabbits had noticed me lingering, occupied with staring at them as I was, and quickly dashed away. I continued to wander down the path with a pout. The same situation repeated itself before long, as I spotted squirrels, raccoons, chickens, wildcats, and even small deer. I began seeing game wherever I looked, which assured me that I was indeed in the right place after all. Sadly, all I managed to do was watch them. They would all vanish as I stared, fascinated, or as I reached for the crossbow on my back. Dammit… It’s really obvious I’m totally new to this. I was glad I was alone—I would have been humiliated if I’d dared to accompany the duke in the official hunting tournament. Despair washed over me. Close to giving up entirely, I trudged on, crossbow in hand. I found myself walking deeper and deeper into the forest. At last, I found a creature more perfect than anything I’d seen so far. No way. It was a fox with ashen fur the color of Eckles’s eyes. That one has Eckles’s name written all over it! I was immediately certain it was the prize I wanted to bring home to Eckles. The fox was drinking from a small stream at the bottom of the slope I found myself standing at the top of. It had a rare coloring and, unlike the other creatures I’d seen that day, was alone. It’s this or nothing, I thought as I carefully crept along the path. A tree growing on the slope was positioned perfectly to block my line of sight, meaning I had to get a bit closer. I tried to make as little noise as possible as I sneaked closer, hiding behind the trunk of the tree. I slowly turned the crank on my weapon. The fox’s ears twitched, but it continued to lap at the water. Apparently, it hadn’t noticed me yet. The crossbow clunked, indicating it was loaded. I raised it slowly and aimed, and just as the crosshairs were aligned perfectly over the fox’s body, the creature’s head shot up. It sprang away just as I pulled the trigger. The pellet made a thrumming sound as it rocketed forth but—surprise, surprise—missed. The fox dashed away, recognizing danger. No! I can’t let it escape! This must be what it felt like when a hunter was about to catch their prey, only for it to slip away at the last second. I began to pursue the fox, frustrated and upset that I’d missed it by such a narrow margin. I should be able to catch up to it! I was wrong, of course. The fox was incredibly fast—so fast that I wondered how such a small body could contain so much stamina and speed. I wanted to run after it, but my weak physique was soon worn out after only a short distance. I huffed and gasped for breath, disappointed that I’d let my quarry get away. The fox was the least of my problems now, however. By thoughtlessly chasing after it, I’d wandered deep into the forest. “Where in the world am I?” The path I’d been following was now nowhere to be seen. “Ugh… Let’s look for a marker first.” The forest was located in the locale of the palace, after all, and I knew that visual guides had been placed throughout the hunting grounds just in case anyone got lost. My attempt at hunting a complete failure, I trudged along, searching. I was relieved when I quickly found the golden-colored cloth tied around a tree trunk that served as a marker. “What a relief…” I just needed to follow the trail of cloth until I met up with someone else or found my way out of the forest itself. However, I’d made an unfortunate error—I’d forgotten what the color of each marker represented. Before long, a low growl rumbled through the trees, followed by a beastly roar. I had encountered another creature—though it would be more accurate to say that this time, I was the one being hunted. “Oh god! What in the world?!” I gaped at the massive bear that had leaped out of the brush opposite me, suddenly remembering that the golden markers indicated the big-game zones where predators like lions and tigers had been released. A notification popped up in front of me. <SYSTEM> Surprise event unlocked! An angry brown bear has appeared! Would you like to hunt the [Gigantic Bear] and lay the foundation for becoming the [Queen of the Tournament]? (Time limit: 30 seconds) (Rewards: Gigantic Bear’s Hide and Gallbladder, Reputation +50, [???]’s Affection +5%) [YES / NO] I trembled, speechless. This game is totally insane! Why is hunting a bear even a thing in a dating sim? The beast, which was twice my height, recognized that it had found a human and snorted gustily, wary. It was so big that it more resembled a monster than a simple animal. This is absurd… Trying to keep my composure, I eyed the space between the animal and me. There was enough distance that I could take a shot at it with my crossbow. I knew, of course, that the distance didn’t necessarily matter much given how fast and dangerous bears were. The game had seemingly decided to be generous for once. The bear was already bleeding, an arrow lodged in its shoulder and another in its leg. Apparently, it had stumbled across me—easily the weakest among those roaming the forest—while running away from the other hunters. The bear snarled viciously, extremely threatening despite being wounded. Its eyes gleamed with hostility, and it seemed prepared to lunge. I could see that it was limping, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel relieved. Dammit… I despaired. Why do I have to hunt a freaking bear? This is a dating sim, for crying out loud! Wanting desperately to break out into tears, I pressed [YES]. I had no other choice. <SYSTEM> Use your equipped weapon to shoot the [Red Circles]! ~START!~ Time remaining: 30 seconds The bear roared and charged as soon as the new message appeared in the window. “Holy crap!” I had no time to read anything before I was forced to hastily take aim. There were red circles about the size of a soccer ball positioned on the bear’s head, body, and one of its legs. I watched as the countdown in my vision dropped to twenty-nine. The timer was familiar, given that it was a staple feature in minigames, of which Normal Mode had plenty. But in Normal Mode, they were just puzzles or “spot the difference”! As if it wasn’t already bad enough that I had to live in the body of the despised villain. Why, in addition, were all the Hard Mode quests so tough? Thankfully, the wound in its leg seemed pretty serious. The bear wasn’t able to move that quickly. Remembering my practice sessions, I aimed at one of the blinking red dots, deeply thankful that the targets were so big. I started with the one on its body, which seemed the easiest to hit. With a heavy clunk, the pellet shot forth. The bear bellowed before stopping in its tracks and writhing in pain. The pellet had hit the target and delivered a painful electric shock. I hit it! I thought, greatly relieved. Huffing, I tried to get my panicked breathing under control. I was so nervous that the back of my neck was drenched in sweat. It’s over now, right? I watched with bated breath, waiting for the bear to collapse. However, I received no notification saying I’d succeeded in the quest. And the huge countdown marker floating above was still ticking down. Time remaining: 21 seconds I turned my attention to the struggling bear as it panted loudly, appearing dazed. Its head shot up, it roared thunderously, and our eyes met. Far from collapsing, the massive animal bared its teeth at me. The red circle on its body disappeared, and the remaining two continued to blink at me. “Wait a second…” Cold sweat trickled down my forehead. Do I have to hit all three? As I stood there, confused, the bear charged. It roared again, moving much faster than before, and I suddenly understood why. The magic pellets had erased its memory, making it temporarily forget the pain in its leg. “Oh no…” Frightened, I backed away, squeezing the trigger wildly in a panic. The crossbow clicked, firing rapidly. Multiple pellets hit the beast’s torso, one after the other. It roared each time it was struck, the same process repeating itself over and over. The shock caused the bear to squirm, then huff loudly as it tried to reorient itself, before noticing me standing nearby and charging once more. The ground shook under its immense weight. What the?! What am I supposed to do now? Only fourteen seconds were remaining. I trembled but kept my gaze steady on the bear as it prepared to lunge at me again. I took aim. This is getting pretty dangerous. Overwhelming terror was beginning to creep over me. I was so shaken that I wasn’t even able to hold the crossbow steady. I wasn’t an experienced archer, and I couldn’t hit a target with any kind of accuracy if I wasn’t able to keep completely still. I stood my ground even though it meant the bear would reach me more quickly. With a heavy clunk, the pellet shot forth. I somehow managed to hit the target on the bear’s head. It roared, furious. This time I seemed to have dealt it a more crippling blow, as it collapsed to the ground with an enormous thump. “Ugh!” I took a few steps back, breathing hard. Time remaining: 9 seconds Not ten seconds remained on the timer, and I only needed to hit the red circle on its leg. I hefted the crossbow up, but the bear was already struggling to its feet. Considering how it had managed to get up again and again despite how many times it had been shot, it was clear the beast was terrifyingly strong. Time remaining: 5 seconds Five seconds now. I had to finish this. Steeling my nerves, I aimed as quickly as I could—I just needed to take the final shot, but as expected, the last target was by far the most difficult to hit. It was made all the more challenging by the way the bear was staggering around, unable to control its own massive body. The leg I needed to hit kept moving around. I fired twice more, both pellets missing the animal’s thick leg by a hair and burying themselves in the ground instead. Time remaining: 3 seconds The countdown was nearly over. Wait, what happens if I run out of time? I wondered, a chill running down my spine. If the game system required that I hit all the red targets to successfully kill the bear… That means the bear might survive if I fail the quest. Unlike the quest window, the bear represented a very tangible threat. No matter how many times it had been shot with the crossbow, the giant beast refused to die. Time remaining: 1 second The countdown finally ended. The crossbow clicked, only to miss again, as I was unable to focus beyond the maelstrom of worries clouding my thoughts. <SYSTEM> [Hunt the Gigantic Bear] Event quest failed! Try again? (Time limit: 10 seconds) (Rewards: Gigantic Bear’s Hide and Gallbladder, Reputation +50, [???]’s Affection +5%) [YES / NO] I’d failed. And to complete the quest this time, I’d have to succeed in a drastically shorter time frame. I quickly pressed [YES] before I could question myself. The bear opened its jaws wide and bellowed, readying itself to charge once more. I had no time left to think. My progress wasn’t lost, since the only target that remained was the one on the bear’s leg. I felt no relief, though. If I miss, I’m dead. I was sure of it. I hadn’t been able to put much distance between me and the bear, busy with attempting to aim the crossbow. Trying to delay the bear a moment longer, I pulled the trigger again. My weapon made a hollow clicking sound. “Huh?” Nothing happened. I… I’m out of pellets. The ammo slot was empty. I gaped at the crossbow in horror. There was more ammunition in my pocket, but I had no time to find it and reload. The gigantic beast was right in front of me now. It lifted one of its feet, tipped with sharp, pointed claws. Its foot was bigger than my face. I knew I needed to roll out of the way, but my body was refusing to listen. I could hear its heavy foot falling, rushing through the air toward me. A horse whinnied nearby. “Get down,” a low male voice called. Hearing another person so unexpectedly shocked me from my frozen terror. I ducked, and the bear’s foot missed the top of my head by mere centimeters. My hair was swept up in the gust it generated. Then I heard the chilling sound of a blade slicing through the air. The bear grunted loudly. By the time I’d gathered myself, everything was over. The massive bear slumped into the dirt, letting out a final wounded cry. The impact of its huge body hitting the ground seemed to shake the entire forest. Blood pooled around it, and I still stood so close that crimson red wet the tips of my shoes. I tore my eyes from my feet and looked around, noticing the huge sword buried in the bear’s neck. “What in the world are you doing here?” Golden hair glittered in the sunlight streaming through the leaves. “I know people like to compare you to a mad dog, but this is beyond crazy. Were you trying to kill this enormous bear on your own?” The man effortlessly leaped down from where he’d been seated on his horse. His eyes were a similar red to his beautiful steed’s coat, I noticed as he approached me—it was the crown prince. Time remaining: 2 seconds Time remaining: 1 second The countdown came to an end behind the tall prince. <SYSTEM> Because you ran out of time, [Callisto] has appeared and defeated the [Gigantic Bear]. <SYSTEM> [Hunt the Gigantic Bear] Event quest failed! Dammit, the game was counting down until he appeared? Panting, I glared up at the white window floating behind the crown prince. “What are you gawking at? You look like an idiot,” the crown prince said, coming to a stop alarmingly close to where I stood. He smirked. “Don’t tell me you fell in love with me all over again.” I immediately came to my senses and frowned at him. “Of course not…” “You wound me. After all, my dearest lady, I saved your life,” he said, not sounding particularly hurt. Strange as it seemed, his familiar sarcastic banter calmed my racing heart. Haah… I thought that bear would really kill me. I recalled that feeling when I realized my crossbow was out of ammo and the way the bear’s great paw had loomed over me, poised to crush my head, and my legs trembled as I was overcome by a wave of nausea. I took slow, deep breaths, trying to win control over my own fear and stop it from overwhelming me. It occurred to me that it wasn’t likely that a failed special quest would end in my death. This was true of both Normal and Hard Modes. I hadn’t died when I’d failed the “[Check Out the Festival] with [Reynold] or [Derrick]” quest, after all. Since the hunting tournament was one of the major plot points in the game, it was only natural that I would encounter one of the male protagonists in a dramatic emergency—like failing to kill the bear, for example. But why him, of all people? I pretended to bow if only to mask the scowl on my face. Then I forced myself to offer my gratitude. “Thank you…for saving me, Your Highness. I don’t know what I’d have done without your help.” “How courageous of you to wander around alone among the most predatory of the hunt’s animals,” Callisto said, clapping slowly instead of accepting my reluctant appreciation. “Honestly, I’m very curious to know what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours.” When I failed to answer him, he continued, “Regardless of how crazy you are, no woman is capable of taking down a bear that size on her own.” The way he spoke as if lecturing a small child rankled me. Do you really think I wanted to fight a bear?! It was a dumb quest! Frustrated, I wanted to shout at him, but the [Affection: 12%] hovering above his head stopped me, as always. “I know that,” I said glumly. The crown prince held his hand to his chest in an overly exaggerated gesture meant to convey his deep shock. “You do?” “Yes.” “Oh, so you were perfectly in control of the situation. Don’t tell me I just stole your kill?” “I wasn’t trying to hunt the bear,” I retorted. “I was—” I stopped and made a concerted effort to reel my temper back in. I muttered unhappily, “Haah… The bear appeared out of nowhere. Honestly, I was surprised, too. I was pursuing a fox and lost my way…” The fox had gotten away. Now, not only had I failed to shoot down the crazy bear, but I’d also run into the one person I least wanted to meet during the hunting tournament…again. My mood was decidedly in the dumps. This is all that cheeky Eckles’s fault. Trying to earn some damned affection from him was what had landed me in this mess. I swallowed back tears, lamenting my terrible luck. “In any case, thank you very much for saving me. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I bid the prince a hurried goodbye. Just because there was a little more leeway with his affection, making my imminent death less of an immediate concern, it wasn’t enough reason to tempt fate by hanging around him. I was prevented from turning away by his hand shooting out to take hold of my arm. “Wait. Take this with you.” “Huh?” I turned around, puzzled, and watched as the crown prince strode over to the bear’s carcass. He took hold of the sword still lodged in the bear’s neck and bore down on the blade with his whole body. The sound of its spinal cord cracking apart was terrible, and before long the bear’s head had been separated from its body. Son of a… I gaped at the absurd scene that had unfolded right before my eyes. The crown prince flicked the remaining blood from the tip of his blade and sheathed it easily before picking up the severed head with one hand and approaching me with it dangling from his fist. The blood had yet to coagulate and therefore left a line of crimson splattered along the ground. “Here. Take it.” The prince gestured for me to receive the monstrous bear’s head. Panicked, I merely stared at the head. The creature’s death at the crown prince’s hands had been so sudden that the bear’s eyes were wide open, and I felt as though it were still glaring at me. Is this…a request for a duel or something, and the game just hasn’t explained it? If it wasn’t some strange culturally significant act, why else would he cut off its head and present it to me? Racking my memory, I couldn’t recall seeing a scene like this during my playthrough. Glancing above his golden head, I finally replied, voice trembling, “I’m sorry, but I don’t have a sword with me right now—” In other words, I had no way of dueling him since I had no weapon. The crown prince’s reply was unexpected. “That’s why I severed its head for you.” “Huh?” “The body is too heavy for you to drag back by yourself, so just show the head to the palace attendants and have them recover the carcass.” I realized then that his offer of the head wasn’t a challenge. Since I’d said I wanted to leave, he was apparently sending me on an errand so he could continue to hunt. You jerk. How could he make a tiny woman lug a bear’s head on his behalf ? I had no confidence that I could carry the huge, dripping thing out of the forest. “Must I…take it?” I asked cautiously, hoping not to make him angry. “What are you talking about?” He frowned. “You need to take it so you can show them that you were the one who killed it.” “Huh?” My eyes went wide. To prove I killed it? It took me an embarrassingly long moment to understand that he meant for me to claim the bear as my kill. “I…” I found this development so unexpected that without meaning to I responded somewhat unenthusiastically. “That’s not necessary, really.” People were already gossiping about me everywhere I went. I didn’t want to show up with a gigantic bear head and be called the “crazy chimpanzee who shot a bear.” And even if I could get past all that, the problem remained. “Why would I tell them it’s mine? You’re the one who killed it, Your Highness.” “You had all but finished the bear off by yourself. I only delivered the killing blow. Therefore, you should be the one to take credit.” It’s so strange hearing him talk like a normal person… I found myself looking at the prince through new eyes, but regardless, I continued to refuse politely. “That’s all right. Thank you for the gesture, but it’s truly not necessary. And I certainly don’t consider it my catch anyway.” “Then think of it as repayment for the gift you gave me earlier,” he insisted. I was confused, trying to recall what I’d supposedly given him that he felt the need to repay me for. —“In return for your gift, I’ll make sure to personally snare a beast worthy of the daughter of the duke.” Then I remembered his parting words after he’d taken the amulet. I did my best to hide my involuntary scowl. “No need for that, either.” “A bear is worth much more than a fox. Stop acting like a stubborn mule and just take it.” “I’m not a mule… Whoa, please be careful!” The crown prince, irritated by my repeated refusals, glowered at me. Shaking the head wildly by the hold he had on its ear, he took a step closer, sending blood splattering everywhere. I grimaced and backed away quickly. “Your Highness, the blood will get on my clothes!” “A hunter should be proud to wear proof of their work.” “I don’t need to feel proud of—” “Don’t tell me you’re scared of blood? How unexpected,” he said. I had no chance to deny it since he was already grinning and shaking the bloody head about. “Eeek!” I screamed, retreating from him. Though I’d moved swiftly, I wasn’t quick enough to avoid a few crimson drops landing on the white shirt under my jacket. The smell of it immediately reached my nose. I’d always had a weak stomach, and it wasn’t just the blood that was getting to me—the head of the dead bear he was waving around sent shivers down my spine. I looked up at him, terrified. “What do you think you’re doing?” “Go on, take it.” “Darn it! I said stop!” He was shaking the head around again, the absolute lunatic, forcing me to flee down the path. I hid behind a tree after putting some distance between us. I could hear his laughter follow me, though. Turning, I found him smiling at me gleefully. The affection gauge flickered above his head. [Affection: 15%] Ha…! Shocked that his affection had somehow risen by a whole 3 percent, I stared blankly between him and the gauge. His red eyes were full of mirth as they peered at me in unison with the bear’s bulging dead gaze. Callisto resembled a demon fresh out of hell. “Do you…find this amusing?” “Yes. I never expected the Mad Dog of House Eckhart to run away from me. I’m having quite a good time.” “Must you play around with a dead animal like that?” “You have no room to talk—you were the one attempting to kill it in the first place.” You bastard. My fists quivered as I clenched them tightly, and as I glared at him, I felt a cold droplet of water fall on my forehead. “Huh?” I heard the rumble of thunder, and our surroundings suddenly grew dim. The sky had darkened menacingly while I’d been quibbling with the crown prince, and rain clouds now covered the sun. “A downpour,” the crown prince muttered. It wasn’t long before his ominous forecast came true. I could feel individual drops of rain against my skin, and soon enough, the droplets were coming faster and faster. “Your Highness, once again, thank you for saving me. If you’ll excuse me,” I said to the crown prince in a great rush. I had to get out of this forest before the rain really started coming down—I didn’t want to stay in the hunting grounds a second longer than I had to. It was as I was turning to leave that he strode toward me, still carrying the head. “Where are you going?” “Out of the forest.” “But it’s going to start pouring soon.” “That’s why I need to leave quickly,” I replied, gritting my teeth. He tilted his head, the corner of his mouth twisting up in a grin. “You seem to have forgotten that you’ve found yourself deep inside a forest full of big-game predators.” I tried to ignore him and just go on my way. If the developers have anything resembling a conscience, they won’t have added more than one crazy hunting quest. That was what I was counting on anyway. Something suddenly occurred to me, though. [Rewards: Gigantic Bear Hide and Gallbladder, Reputation +50, [???]’s Affection +5%] Wait, “[???]’s Affection”? I lurched to a stop. I’d met the crown prince, but the quest reward hadn’t mentioned anything about him at all. That was why I’d had no idea he would appear. Which means…more of these surprise quests might be waiting for me throughout the forest. And if the love interests aren’t specified in the rewards, I could very well run into another one of them. Son of a… The thought of having to meet multiple male protagonists felt less appealing to me than having to complete quick-time events that forced me to kill a bear. I shuddered just thinking about it. I slung the crossbow off my shoulder and, after quickly pulling out the extra pellets from my pockets, began reloading it. The pellets rolled and clicked into place one by one. “What are you doing?” the crown prince asked, coming to stand beside me. I suppressed the urge to tell him to get lost. “I’m loading the crossbow, as you can see.” “Why?” “Who knows? As you said, I might run into something real dangerous on my way back.” “Ha!” His laugh was incredulous. “You can’t take down any of the larger creatures around here with such an inadequate weapon. Did your experience just now teach you nothing?” “I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself,” I said, my tone aloof—I had no intention of allowing him to accompany me. I would simply complete all the quests if I had to. The beasts roaming about would no doubt want to get out of the rain as well, so I hoped I wouldn’t have to use the crossbow anyway. “You seem overly confident after your little stroke of luck with the monsters yesterday.” The crown prince—who had no idea what I was thinking—seemed to find me overly rash. “That crossbow will only work against humans and smaller creatures. And it certainly isn’t lethal.” Then, with a grin, he said, “Looks like I’ll get to watch you be eaten alive by a bear yet. If I want to be blessed with such a sight, I’ll have to tag along.” His cruel words, delivered with such a devilish smile, made me frown. Then I realized with surprise that he somehow knew how my crossbow worked. “…How did you know?” “Know what?” “That my crossbow isn’t meant for killing.” “The mana just isn’t strong enough. That’s probably the only reason it was allowed into the palace at all.” I found myself staring at him. Then, as if on cue, the sky began to really pour. I sighed, looking up despairingly. Why am I so damned unlucky today? Any hope I had of escaping the forest before it started to rain was gone since it was already coming down so heavily. The urge to cry hit me again as I stared at the dark clouds above. I hated being caught out in the rain. Unsure of what to do, I stood there, letting the rain soak through my clothes. Something heavy fluttered over my head. “Come with me.” I felt a warm hand around my wrist. The crown prince had closed the distance between us and taken my arm. “Uh…,” I muttered, unsure. He led me to his horse, which was cleverly taking cover under some dense overhead foliage. He hung the bear’s head from the saddle before pulling himself gracefully into it. Then he held his hand out for me to take. “Get on.” Rain dripped from the strands of his damp golden hair. Since he’d taken off his red cloak and draped it over me, he was now drenched. “If you walk, you’ll catch your death from the cold before any predator can get you. That cloak is enchanted to be waterproof and insulated. Wear it and come with me.” I stared blankly at his large hand, then down at the red cloak he had thrown over me. I felt strange. I hadn’t expected to ride out of the forest with the crown prince. “Are you sure…it’s okay if I wear it? What about Your Highness?” “Is the little mouse worrying about the cat? Walk back with your damned crossbow if you hate the idea of it so much,” he said rudely, turning his head away. You’ll never ask twice, huh? I thought sarcastically. Nevertheless, I hurried to sling the crossbow over my shoulder and tightened the cloak around me. Though I’d already known he was much taller than me, his cloak felt big enough to be a bedsheet. If I rode the horse without wrapping it tightly around my body, the trailing folds of it might get caught. “Thank you…,” I muttered quietly, after tying the cloak under my chin. I looked up and found that he was still holding out his hand for me to take. I was slowly reaching for his large palm when I heard it—the whoosh of something slicing through the air, coming from somewhere in the surrounding forest. Whatever it was plunged into the crown prince’s chest. Surprised by the sudden attack, the horse whinnied, stomping its feet nervously. The prince’s hand jerked out of my reach. “Your…Highness?” The crown prince fell as if in slow motion from the horse’s back, and I could only watch with wide eyes. “Y-Your Highness!” When he hit the ground, I rushed to his side. I wasn’t sure what had just happened, but his face was deathly pale, and his eyes were closed—the prince was about to die. My heart sank, and a terror washed over me far greater than what I’d felt when facing the bear. “Your Highness! Your Highness! Open your eyes!” I shook him desperately, but he was unresponsive. A large arrow was buried in the left side of his chest. I’m scared. I’m scared. This is just a game, isn’t it? So why is this happening? I was beginning to cry—it was my first time witnessing something so brutally violent. “Your Highness! P-please wake up!” “You’re so loud…” Thankfully, he seemed to be alive. His eyelids twitched open, revealing his distinct crimson eyes. “Don’t be dramatic. I’m not dead yet.” “Y-Your Highness!” I cried, truly relieved. Belatedly, I realized the game wouldn’t just kill one of the male protagonists. Seeing Callisto being shot, however, had shocked me so deeply that I’d been unable to think. Even though I had no intention of choosing him, I didn’t want to watch anyone die. The crown prince smiled faintly when he saw the tears on my cheeks. “It seems your gift came in handy.” He pulled the arrow from his chest easily and handed it to me. “Wait, this is…” The arrow had struck a small gold medallion—it was the golden amulet he’d taken from me. The amulet itself was too thin to have blocked the sharp arrowhead by itself. However, the defensive magic it was imbued with had apparently been extremely effective—the soft golden light it had once glowed with was gone, replaced with charred black. I gazed at it, feeling slightly strange. “You…didn’t throw it away?” I had assumed he would just chuck it, of course, since he’d surely only taken it in the first place just to be mean. When he saw my surprised expression, the crown prince’s eyebrows shot up. “Throw it away? I could never throw away a romantic token given by someone who once shared deep feelings with me.” “Please don’t say that. I hate how it sounds—” I was interrupted by the sound of something whistling through the air. Another arrow cut through the rain and buried itself in the tree trunk behind us, right above our heads. “Eeek!” I screamed without meaning to, shocked. The crown prince shot to his feet. “The empress consort’s having another one of her psychotic urges, I suppose. Up you get—we need to get out of here.” “Huh?” He grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me behind him roughly. Even though I’d gotten to my feet as requested, I was struggling to understand why he was insisting on taking me along. “Why am I coming?” “Do you intend to stay here and be skewered by one of those arrows, then?” “If the empress consort sent the assassins, they’re after you, aren’t they? That means if you leave, I’ll be— Eeek!” Just as I was telling him to leave without me, the crown prince interrupted by sweeping me into his arms, cloak and all. I couldn’t believe that someone who’d just been shot, and consequently fallen from his horse, was still so strong. He perched me on the back of his saddle as easily as if I were a piece of luggage. My harried arrival in the saddle caused the bear’s head to tumble to the forest floor, but neither of us paid it any mind. “Wh-what are you doing?” I demanded to know, confused. “Do you even hear yourself? Sure, the people sent to murder the crown prince would definitely let the sole witness survive,” Callisto pointed out sarcastically, gracefully mounting behind me. “Hyah!” With me encased in his arms, he tugged on the reins firmly. The chestnut horse whinnied and broke into a gallop. I felt the air displaced by two daggers as they flew at us from either side. The crown prince ducked and avoided them effortlessly, clicking his tongue in annoyance, and the daggers buried themselves in the trunks of nearby trees. He held me closer as if to protect me. Perhaps because of how dangerous the situation at hand was proving to be, however, I couldn’t find it in myself to feel all that touched by his actions. Dammit… Now I’m caught up in an assassination attempt, of all things? The absurd ups and downs dictated by the game’s plot made me want to cry. I should have walked away without a backward glance as soon as the rain clouds began to form. It was difficult to gather my bearings, between the galloping of the horse and the pouring rain pelting me in the face. I could faintly make out a group hot on our tail, arrows and daggers flying at us from their direction. The crown prince’s sword made a loud metallic sound as he unsheathed it and cut the projectiles down in midair. “Dammit,” the prince cursed quietly. It was no easy feat to escape while also defending against the barrage coming from behind. As he blocked another arrow, the metal tip clanging noisily off his blade, Callisto muttered in a low voice, “Don’t move. You don’t want to get hurt.” I could feel his body against mine, muscles rigid with tension, and I was equally anxious. One of the main protagonists wasn’t likely to die, of course, but he could still be severely injured. And this isn’t even a quest. Without a reset feature available to me, this was not a game as far as I was concerned—this was reality. Fear began creeping its way into my heart. The furious chase continued through the forest, rain pouring down around us. Our mysterious pursuers slowly closed the distance between us until I could finally begin to make out more details about them. They were all dressed in identical black clothing and masks, and it was obvious to anyone who laid eyes on them that they were assassins. I suddenly recalled the shocking scene at the second prince’s birthday celebration, when the crown prince had dragged in and beheaded an assassin. Does he…go through this sort of thing often? Nothing like this occurred in Normal Mode, that’s for sure. Suddenly, my vision flashed with brilliant light. <SYSTEM> ~Main Quest: Become the Queen of the Tournament!~ [Second Objective: Protect the Crown Prince from Assassins] Would you like to proceed? (Targets: 20 assassins) (Rewards: Token of the Assassins, Callisto’s Affection +10%, Reputation +50) [YES / NO] The white window floated behind the crown prince’s head. “Ha… Ha-ha…,” I laughed hollowly to myself, utterly flabbergasted. My face twisted into an angry scowl. I don’t want to be the stupid queen! Not only that… There are twenty of them. I wanted to spam the [NO] button immediately but knew I couldn’t. The reward was an additional 10 percent in affection. Ten percent was a huge amount in Hard Mode, since unlike in Normal Mode, you couldn’t always gain affection just through conversation. <SYSTEM> As this is a Main Quest, the event will be auto-accepted in 5 seconds. <SYSTEM> 5 <SYSTEM> 4 Choosing to swallow the bitter pill of necessity, I spun the crossbow around in front of me and prepared to shoot. “I told you not to move,” the crown prince warned stiffly, seemingly bothered by my squirming. “Your Highness…,” I called, despondent. “I think I can help.” “What?” “My crossbow.” I lifted the cloak slightly so he could see the crossbow I was now holding at the ready. “I’ll shoot them down, so please cover me.” “What are you talking—?” Callisto began, but I didn’t have any time left to listen. The five seconds were up. <SYSTEM> This quest has automatically been accepted. Eliminated: 0/20 The white letters vanished, replaced by numbers, and my body—which had been peacefully cradled in the prince’s arms—suddenly climbed up into a crouch. Resting my elbow on his broad shoulder, I turned the crank quickly, triggering the mechanical movement that loaded the crossbow. I heard the pulley drag the string into place with a clicking sound and promptly aimed, squinting through the sight with one eye. The heavy rain that obstructed my vision and the shaking of the horse were no match for me—or rather, no match for the system. One of our pursuers saw me over the prince’s shoulder and aimed with his bow, but I’d already pulled the trigger. The bowstring made a satisfying sound as it released. “Ugh!” The assassin vanished, falling from his saddle. Got him! The pellet had hit its intended target with total accuracy. The man who’d fallen was sprawled on the ground, shaking too hard to get up. I had no time to revel in my small victory, however. The string latched on to the trigger with a click and then released with a twang, over and over. My body was in constant motion, shooting down more and more of them. Eliminated: 7/20 Every time I pulled the trigger, another of the assassins behind us went down. I’d already dispatched seven of them—those I’d hit were now collapsed on the ground. They seemed dazed, as if they hadn’t expected anyone to counterattack. I didn’t have time to contemplate, though, as I could hear the whoosh of air as a fresh wave of arrows was launched at us. I could hear them burying themselves solidly into the surrounding trees, only barely missing us. My body wasn’t mine to control at the moment, however, so I didn’t pause in my attack with the crossbow. My weapon fired with a twang, again and again. Eliminated: 10/20 An arrow missed my temple by a hair as I took down three more of our attackers. Give it a rest, will you?! At this point, I was beginning to wonder if the quest was designed for me to kill the assassins, or if the actual goal was for them to kill me. My instincts were suddenly screaming at me, an icy chill going down my spine, and the system forced my body to lunge out of the way. An arrow sailed past me. Our assailants had been attempting to surround us, so the shot meant for me instead struck a man lying in wait for us in the trees. He fell to the ground with a scream. At that moment, the prince suddenly tugged me down and into his arms, wrapping me in a tight embrace. “Daughter of the duke!” I felt a gust of air, and then the prince grunted quietly. There was a dagger embedded in his left shoulder. “Your Highness!” I shouted. One of the assassins had gained on us and thrown their dagger at the crown prince’s left side, which was undefended by the sword clutched in his right hand. I fired, shooting the new attacker down before balancing upright in the saddle again and taking aim. “A-are you all right, Your Highness?” Even as I continued to fell our pursuers without pause, I felt myself beginning to feel faint. I wanted to tend to his wound, but the game refused to surrender its merciless hold on my body. “What if I say I’m not?” the crown prince asked irritably, voice strained, no doubt in a lot of pain. But then he softened his tone. “Don’t worry about it. I’m wearing lightweight armor, and the wound isn’t deep.” He swatted away another dagger, and it clattered, disappearing into the tree line. I was hugely relieved to hear this and felt some of the resentment I held toward him for getting me involved in this damned mess dissipate. If he hadn’t pulled me out of the way earlier, the dagger might have ended up in my head instead. “Thank you…,” I mumbled, feeling shy. I was thankful once more that the game no longer limited what I could and could not say. The prince said in an ornery tone, “So how about it? Isn’t all this more than enough reason to fall right back in love with me?” “I seldom change my mind about such things,” I replied promptly. “What a pity,” he said, clicking his tongue. There he goes again with this bullcrap—I guess he really is okay. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest. The forest path was filled with the sound of fire being exchanged. I shot without rest as the crown prince covered me. The assassins were quick, which was a stark contrast to the huge, lumbering monsters I’d fought before. Thanks to the system’s hold on me, each shot I took was flawless. I’d loaded twenty pellets, and each one I fired dispatched another assassin. There were only four remaining now. Eliminated: 16/20 Bang! I took another shot. “How many of them are left?” the crown prince asked suddenly. Having felled one more, I gasped, trying to drag air into my heaving lungs. “I think maybe three more… Why do you ask?” “We’ve reached a dead end.” The horse, which had been galloping as fast as it was able, neighed and skidded to a stop. I took stock of my surroundings and realized we had reached a cliff, and the path we found ourselves on was too narrow to turn the horse around. “They won’t be able to shoot at us in such close quarters. We’re better off dismounting and taking a stand,” Callisto muttered as he lifted me off the horse, then leaped down himself once I was safely on the ground. Since there was currently no one in sight, I temporarily had the freedom to move around. I knew there were still three assassins remaining, however, so I kept my crossbow at the ready and eyed our surroundings. “It’s going to get dangerous, so stay behind me,” the crown prince ordered, stepping in front of me. It was an unexpectedly male protagonist thing for him to say, but the objective of the quest had been “[Protect the Crown Prince from the Assassins].” Therefore, I stepped around the prince and planted myself firmly beside him. “It’s all right. I’ve got myself covered. Just focus on defending yourself.” He stared at me as if I’d said something completely ridiculous. “How reliable of you. Weren’t you the one who tried to leave earlier since the assassins were only after me?” Feeling slightly guilty, I ignored him and gazed into the trees. It was silent, and I couldn’t hear anything other than the soft pitter-patter of the rain, which was slowly dissipating. Sweeping aside the damp hair plastered to my face, I glared at the white numbers floating in midair. Eliminated: 17/20 I wanted to take out the remaining three and get this stupid quest over with. There was a sudden whoosh, and several daggers flew at the prince from the brush located near the cliff edge. The crown prince had no trouble blocking them with his sword. However, the attack had no doubt only been meant to distract him—two of the assailants suddenly jumped into view as soon as he’d turned to block. Brandishing knives, they charged at the crown prince, who’d just deflected their attack. “Your Highness!” I shouted, surprised. The system seized control of my body, and I was moving before I’d even thought about it. One of the assassins crumpled to the ground, shaking violently. With a metallic clang, the crown prince blocked an attack from the remaining assassin. I took aim, determined to take him down, but in the chaos, I’d forgotten there was one final opponent lying in wait. The last assailant burst from the brush with their sword drawn the moment I’d shot their ally, no doubt waiting until I was occupied. “Die, bitch!” It was me they were after, not the crown prince. Not even the game was prepared for this eventuality, and my body turned a moment too slow to aim properly. It was already too late. “Dammit! Get down!” the crown prince shouted. My crossbow clicked as I pulled the trigger, and the pellet cut through the air as the assassin’s sword came down on my head. The man would succumb to the pellet’s magic, but he was already too close—his sword would reach me, too. I knew from prior experience it didn’t really matter to the system if I lived or died. All it cared about was completing the mission and using my body to do so. I wasn’t able to move and avoid the sharp blade slicing down, so I clamped my eyes shut in anticipation of the blow. At the last moment, someone large and muscular embraced me, and I was pulled roughly out of the way. There was a wet slicing sound, and after the chilling noise, I heard someone groan. When I opened my eyes, I saw blond hair soaked from the rain. Callisto had rushed to me, abandoning the assassin he’d been fighting to protect me. There was a sword buried in his back, as the man I’d shot dropped limply to the ground. “You’ll go no farther!” The remaining assassin ran at us, determined to finish us off. Time seemed to move in slow motion. The crown prince had hurtled into me in his haste to shield me, and now I couldn’t support his weight. We were slowly tipping toward the edge. “I’m sorry,” Callisto whispered in my ear, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist. “I think we’re going to fall.” The hairs on my arms stood on end, and dizziness swept over me as the ground fell away. Even as we fell, my hand moved without conscious thought and aimed over the crown prince’s shoulder. I took the shot. “Aaargh!” Eliminated: 20/20 I’d eliminated the final attacker. <SYSTEM> ~Main Quest: Become the Queen of the Hunt!~ [Second Objective: Protect the Crown Prince from Assassins] Quest cleared! <SYSTEM> You have acquired [Token of the Assassins], [Affection: +10%] for [Callisto], and [Reputation +50] as your reward. (TOTAL POINTS: 130) Son of a… The white letters filled the sky above me as the crown prince and I hurtled ever faster toward the distant ground below. I screamed. I could hear the gentle crackle of a fire burning as I groaned and struggled to open my eyes. The first thing I was able to make out through my blurred vision was a dancing campfire, then an unfamiliar rock wall looming over me. “Where am I…?” I sat up slowly, and the cloth draped over my body slid away. I gasped as I realized I could feel the cool air on my shoulders. Looking down, I saw that they were bare. Upon further inspection, I found I was wearing nothing but my underwear underneath the cloth that covered me, which was unmistakably the crown prince’s red cloak. “Wh-what in the world…?” “Oh, you’re awake,” came a heavy baritone voice from across the fire. My gaze shot up immediately, and I felt my jaw drop. My eyes roamed from a bare muscled chest covered in scars down to a set of sculpted abs. Indeed, I noticed that the crown prince was completely naked above the waist as he strode toward me. I shrieked. “Wh-what the hell are you doing?” I screamed, belatedly covering my eyes. “What do you mean?” “Why are you walking around naked?” I demanded. He dumped the firewood he’d been carrying on the forest floor next to the fire. He then flopped down in front of it, replying easily, “Should I be walking around in damp clothes, then? I’m sorry, but that doesn’t sound very appealing.” He glanced at me with a grin. “And you’re pretty scantily clad yourself.” “Y-you pervert!” “That’s rich. I can see you peeking through your fingers. You don’t have to cover your eyes like that, you know.” “Ahem!” I cleared my throat loudly and slowly lowered my hands. He smirked at me, and I felt indignation bubbling in my chest. I was just making sure you didn’t try anything depraved while I had my eyes covered! I hadn’t wanted to peek at his body at all. Far from it. Believe me, I thought, though there was no one to convince but myself. I pulled the cloak tight around me and stared at him warily. “D-did you take off my clothes?” “Well, yes,” he said with a shrug. “Now we’ve seen everything there is to see about each other.” “Could you please quit saying such gross things?” I said with a shudder. The crown prince looked at me incredulously. “That’s hardly any way to treat someone who went to such great lengths to save you.” “Regardless, why would you touch a lady’s body without her permission?” “Should I have left you to die from a cold, then?” he asked. “Yes.” “What?” “If that’s what it takes to uphold your duty as a gentleman. Or you could’ve woken me up.” “Ha. Really?” he asked, laughing incredulously at my firm response. “It’s not like there was much to see anyway.” “Wh-what did you just say?” I stammered, shocked that he’d said something so horrible. “I said there wasn’t much to look at.” “Th-that’s not true!” “So you’re something special, then? It was too dark for me to get a good look. Should we check again together?” “You…” I bit back the urge to curse at him with great effort. I need to show restraint… This is the crown prince I marked as a no-hope candidate for a reason. He has an affection of only two percent… As I struggled to remain calm, my eyes suddenly widened in realization. [Affection: 25%] The crown prince’s affection had changed, reminding me of the quest notification I’d forgotten about. <SYSTEM> You have acquired [Token of the Assassins], [Affection: +10%] for [Callisto], and [Reputation +50] as your reward. (TOTAL POINTS: 130) His affection was now a decent number away from causing my immediate death. I’d actually completed the damned quest successfully. I gazed blankly at the affection meter above Callisto’s head, belatedly thinking to ask what was going on. “We… What happened? We fell off the cliff.” “There was a waterfall below us. We fell into the water, which is how we survived,” Callisto replied indifferently as he poked at the fire with a tree branch. “You fainted, so I carried you out and then luckily discovered this cave nearby.” I finally took stock of my surroundings. The fire was crackling away not too far from the cave entrance. The rain seemed to have stopped, but the sun had set outside, making it pitch-black. The sound of gurgling water was the only thing that confirmed what he had said about the waterfall. I turned to inspect the interior of the cave. It appeared to be pretty deep—the cave walls stretched farther than my eyes could make out, disappearing into the darkness. Wait… What if some kind of beast has made its home in here? Or maybe a snake? Realistic worries about the situation I’d found myself in bounced around in my head. I fumbled for the crossbow next to me but remembered that I’d used the last of my ammo on the assassins. “Nothing is living in this cave,” Callisto assured gruffly, noticing the anxious look on my face. “I searched the area while you were asleep, and it was empty—eerily so.” “Do you know where we are?” I started with the most important question. Though it was now pitch-black outside, we’d have to make our way out of the forest as quickly as possible once the sun rose. As he was someone who lived in the palace, I was relying on him to know our location, but my hopes were dashed with a shake of his head. “The hunting tournament has always been held in the northern forest, but I never knew the forest had a cave like this.” I sighed. Everyone must be going crazy right about now. I stared at him with mixed emotions, imagining the chaos that must have descended outside the forest thanks to the crown prince’s disappearance at the same time as my own. Then I noticed the wound on his shoulder, made visible by the shifting firelight—there was a gash surrounded by dried blood where the dagger had struck. I remembered that the final assassin had also stabbed him in the back right before we fell. “Your wounds… Are you all right?” I asked. Though it was on his account that I’d nearly been assassinated, I was still concerned about the injuries he’d received while protecting me. “You’re finally asking? I thought you’d forgotten. Gosh, I’m so moved,” he mocked, his sarcastic response causing me to feel embarrassed. I hadn’t actually been too worried, since I knew that as a male protagonist he was unlikely to die. “Are they serious? Let me see.” “That won’t be necessary,” he said coldly as I made to get up and check on him. “My armor prevented the attacks from cutting too deeply. There was just a little blood, that’s all.” I was relieved. That he’d bled at all, however, brought a frown to my face. “We should return quickly so you can have your wounds tended to…” “You seem very worried.” “Of course I am,” I confirmed immediately, though it wasn’t him I was worried about. “Please don’t die in front of me.” I was the one I was worried about. If you must die, go and do it somewhere else, not while I’m watching…, I thought, before glancing up. He was giving me an odd look. Realizing my words could have easily been misunderstood, I blushed. Wait, that sounded like I was telling him not to die under any circumstances. Flustered, I quickly changed the subject. “And…I know it’s a bit late, but thank you for saving me.” I had to give credit where credit was due—regardless of whether it was because of the damned quest or not, Callisto had been injured because of me. He’d also brought me to safety after we fell even though he could have easily abandoned me. Maybe running into him from now on won’t put me straight into the danger zone? I could still clearly envision in my mind’s eye the way he’d held his sword to my throat and bade me deliver my final words. As I gazed at him wonderingly, his red eyes locked with mine. He still wore an expression I couldn’t decipher, and feeling a little awkward, I made to look away, but then his affection meter shimmered and changed. [Affection: 27%] It had gone up again. He smirked at me. “If you’re truly grateful, might I suggest falling back in love with me?” Hearing the stubborn man once again bring that up made me scowl. “You’re still on about that?” “If this isn’t a good enough reason, then what is?” “Nothing—once a no, always a no,” I replied. Feeling quite frustrated, I asked, “Why are you so obsessed with my reasoning anyway?” He was so occupied with it that he’d gone so far as to send me a threatening letter. At this, the crown prince looked even more astonished than I felt. “I’m the one who’s dying from curiosity, ever since you arrived out of the blue to confess your feelings for me that day.” “W-well…” I couldn’t tell him I’d been trying to die so I could check if the game I was trapped in had a reset button. Sorely regretting the foolish words I’d only blurted out to save myself in an emergency, I said, “I must have been out of my mind then. I’m sorry, Your Highness.” “Ha!” the crown prince laughed coldly. “I waited several weeks for you to recover from metal poisoning so I could hear why you’d fallen for me directly from your lips, only for you to claim you’d changed your mind about me and hated me. Wouldn’t you be upset in my shoes?” I wanted to shout at him that he’d been the one who’d given me metal poisoning in the first place, but I also no longer wanted to remember anything about that terrible day. I chose to correct his overstating of my feelings instead. “I…never said I hated you.” “Does that mean you still like me?” “No!” I said with a shudder. “How come you haven’t fixated on what caused me to have second thoughts in the first place?” I could spend all day listing those reasons! The crown prince gave me a terrifying smile full of teeth. “That’s the perfect topic for us to discuss alone in the palace’s underground torture chamber, where I’ll have you held for contempt against a member of the Imperial family, wouldn’t you agree?” You scary bastard… I was struck dumb by his words, and a cool silence fell over the cave. I stared into the dancing flames, trying to figure out where things had gone wrong. “Why don’t you love me anymore?” the crown prince asked abruptly. “Huh?” “What made you change your mind about me so abruptly, I mean?” he asked. “…You literally just said it was a crime.” “I’ll let you off the hook this once. So talk.” I studied him, puzzled, then frowned. Does he really not know? If that was the case, he was actually scum. “You tried to kill me,” I said bluntly, since he’d said I could speak without repercussions. That had been the reason I’d crossed out his name on my list of potential love interests. What woman would be crazy enough to have romantic interest in a lunatic who tried to kill her? However, based on his expression, this response hadn’t cleared things up for him at all. “When did I do that?” “When did you…?” I couldn’t believe the absurdity of the situation. After gaping for a moment, I finally shouted, “At the second prince’s birthday celebration! You tried to cut off my head in the maze garden! Do you have any idea how…?” I’d been bedridden for days, plagued with nightmares. Even the duke and Derrick had let me be since I’d looked so sickly, my neck wrapped tightly with bandages. “I…” The crown prince had a rare moment of embarrassment. “I wasn’t really going to kill you.” Bullshit. Unable to say it out loud, I stared at him and let my eyes tell him exactly what I thought of that. When I’d played the game in the real world, I’d died so often in that darn maze garden while attempting the crown prince storyline that I hadn’t been able to make any progress. “I was in a terrible mood that day. I wasn’t thinking straight—I’d have drawn my sword on anyone who approached me.” Unaware of what I was thinking, the crown prince tried to excuse his actions. “But you caught my interest when you claimed to have feelings for me, and I let you live, didn’t I?” “I’m so grateful for your generosity that my hands are shaking and I have tears in my eyes, Your Highness.” “Are you being sarcastic?” “Of course not,” I replied brusquely, turning away. But despite clearly signaling I no longer wished to talk, the crown prince wasn’t done. “Then tell me why you fell in love with me in the first place.” I sighed. “I told you, didn’t I?” I muttered tiredly. “You’re handsome, brave, and good with a sword…” “Don’t feed me those lies. Do you think I’m blind?” the crown prince demanded to know, eyes flashing. “I can see the expression on your face whenever you look at me. Do you really think I’d believe any of that?” “What expression are you talking about?” “It’s like you just ate a mouthful of manure.” It was so accurate to how I actually felt that I didn’t know what to say. The prince’s expression softened when he saw that I had no words. “Be honest. Did someone threaten to kill you unless you confessed to me?” he cajoled. I wish that were the case…, I thought. The truth was, I had no idea why I’d said something so random. No matter how many times he asked, I didn’t have a reason for him. I stared blankly at the crown prince, who looked increasingly as if he would shoot me, and finally just said the first thing that came to mind in a resigned tone. “…I was captivated by the color of your hair.” Callisto’s eyes widened slightly. “What…did you say?” “When…I saw you at the celebration for your return,” I said, not mentioning our actual first meeting to avoid raising suspicion. After all, the first time I’d really seen him had been at the second prince’s birthday celebration. I could easily picture in my mind’s eye how he’d looked that day—his statuesque figure striding down the red carpet proudly, crimson cloak fluttering behind him. “Your hair glistened in the light of the chandeliers…like gold shimmering in the air.” I’d thought he was the perfect handsome prince until I’d noticed the assassin he was dragging behind him. I’d only seen him in illustrations before then, and upon laying eyes on him for the first time in person, I’d found him worlds more imposing and noble. I drew on my memory of how I’d felt at that moment. “Your eyes were reminiscent of two precious rubies… So to me, you looked rich.” “Rich?” the crown prince repeated. “That’s why you fell for me?” “You have to appreciate a person who looks wealthy, you know,” I said vaguely instead of giving him a straightforward answer, since I hadn’t really fallen for him. “I’ve always liked precious stones and the like. Gold, too, of course.” The crown prince exhaled incredulously as though my reasoning wasn’t quite what he’d expected, despite waiting so long to hear it. “You’re…,” the crown prince said, giving me an unreadable look. “You’re a strange woman. Very strange.” As he said this, the letters above his head twinkled. [Affection: 29%] Why was his affection rising if he thought me so strange? Pot calling the kettle black. Feeling weirdly offended, I confirmed glumly, “Are we done? I answered your question, so please stop pestering me about it.” The prince gazed at me for a long moment, then laughed. He gestured with his chin. “We’ll leave the forest as soon as the sun rises. We should sleep.” It seemed he’d been convinced by my lies this time. “Good night, Your Highness,” I said. I turned over and lay down as soon as he delivered the dismissal I’d been waiting for. I heard him clicking his tongue in disapproval but ignored him. I’m finally free! It felt as if a weight was off my shoulders now that I was free from his obsessive questioning. I closed my eyes. Belatedly, I realized he would have to sleep without a blanket, in only his pants, since I was using his cloak—but I paid it no mind. That’s none of my business. Even though I’d just woken up, I still felt dead tired. Today was completely ridiculous. So many things had happened since I’d awoken in the early morning. If every day was like this going forward, I’d likely die a premature death from exhaustion before I earned enough affection. No! I can’t think like that! I willed myself to ignore such grim thoughts and fall asleep. Sleep eluded me for a long time, however. Clamping my eyes shut, I imagined sheep grazing in a grassy field and began counting them. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve… I grew more and more drowsy as I counted. Eleven…ten…nine… The sheep I’d conjured up were disappearing, sick cracking, crunching noises echoing in my mind. Something huge was devouring them, starting with the one farthest from me. The sheep were quickly vanishing, and once the gigantic creature had finished gobbling them up, it stalked toward me. Blood was dripping from its mouth. It lifted a huge leg, looming over my head. With a great rush of air, the paw was coming down on me. The creature howled awfully, its jaws wide open, ready to swallow me whole—it was the bear’s enormous head. It opened its maw and roared— —“Grooaaar!” I gasped, my eyes flying open. They darted around, desperately searching, but there was no bear. The fire was still crackling, and I was still in the dark cave. What a relief. I sat up weakly, my breath coming in faint gasps. Then my gaze locked with that of the man poking at the fire. “Y-you’re awake, Your Highness?” The crown prince was sitting exactly as I’d last seen him. He shot me a look of surprise before replying in a deadpan tone, “How amusing it would be if we fell asleep together and got eaten where we lay.” He had a talent for making everything he said sound caustic. I was taken aback by his unexpected reliability. He suddenly asked, “Trouble sleeping?” “What? Oh… I guess so.” Not willing to admit that a nightmare had woken me, I answered vaguely. Since he was seated in exactly the same position and the world was still dark outside, it seemed I had fallen asleep only briefly. Though I was fully awake now, my head still felt fuzzy. It’s cold… I felt a sudden chill. It seemed as if falling into a river after getting drenched in the rain was too much for my frail body to handle. Tugging the cloak tight around my shoulders, I crouched in front of the fire to try to get warm. The crown prince raised an eyebrow at me but didn’t comment. The chill that had settled into my body refused to retreat even though I was sitting right next to the flames. What’s wrong with me? Far from feeling better, my body began to tremble even more. I couldn’t control it. Belatedly, I realized it wasn’t the cold making me shiver. Maybe I should take a sedative or something when I get back… I was always slow to process my emotions and often only discovered how affected I’d been much later—like the day before, when after defeating the monsters, my hands had started shaking uncontrollably in front of Winter. The trauma caused by recent events was finally making itself known. Honestly speaking, everything about today had been awful. There had been the terrifying bear, the crown prince had been shot, and assassins had chased us… “Are you…cold?” the crown prince asked. It seemed he had noticed my shaking almost immediately, though I’d thought the cloak would hide it. “Huh? No,” I said. No good would come of confiding in him about what I was going through. The prince looked unconvinced, adding a few more pieces of firewood to the pile. The fire crackled and flared hotter, but the shaking refused to stop. “Tsk. You really are a piece of work.” The crown prince abruptly rose to his feet, and his muscular upper body, which had been hidden in shadow, was suddenly very visible. I shrieked. “Wh-what do you think you’re doing?” I demanded to know, covering my eyes. Of course, I peeked through my splayed fingers to make sure he wasn’t up to any funny business. The crown prince circled around the fire in several easy strides. “Stop being ridiculous and move aside.” I was extremely confused by the prince’s actions. “Wh-what are you doing?” “I said move aside,” he ordered, glaring at me. Seeing that I was making no move to comply, he flopped to the ground and nudged me aside with his body. “Excuse me?” I said, shooting to my feet. I made to escape to the other side of the fire, to where he’d been sitting. That didn’t happen, however, since he pulled me back by the cloak I still wore draped over me. I yelped at the tug, falling over. I squeezed my eyes shut as I braced for impact. It wasn’t the cold stone that greeted me, though… Huh? I found myself, instead, cradled in the crown prince’s arms. I could feel the heat emanating from him, our bodies pressed together, only the cloak between us. Oh no. Wh…what the hell is this? I gaped, body stiff as a log. “L-look here. What do you think you’re doing? L-let me go!” I said, unfreezing and struggling to escape his embrace. But his arms were tightly wound around my waist and back. “How rude. Is that any way to speak to the empire’s crown prince?” he said, expression completely unchanging. “Just stay still. It’s not as if I’m doing this because I like you.” “S-so let me go, then! This is sexual harassment—” “I don’t know what ideas have gotten into that head of yours, but cast them aside.” The crown prince’s hard expression told me he was displeased that I would dare accuse him of molesting me. “When isolated during war, sharing warmth among comrades and maintaining one’s body temperature is of the utmost importance. One or two hours will make all the difference if you underestimate the cold.” I paused. It seemed he actually had a logical explanation for coming into my personal space and holding me so suddenly. Gazing at his face, I realized he looked pretty uncomfortable—almost as if he really didn’t want to be doing this. I suppose it would be absurd if he were to try anything weird when he was threatening to kill me not that long ago… If I were Normal Mode’s heroine, maybe things would be different, but there was zero chance that anything sexy or romantic would happen between us. Wait a second. Why do you look so annoyed when I’m the one who was forced into this humiliating situation? Even though I reluctantly understood his reasoning, I still found his expression strangely insulting. I grumbled, “This isn’t war.” “Then continue being stubborn and fall victim to hypothermia in an hour, for all I care.” I willed myself to stay silent, lest I curse him out. If I opened my mouth now, I’d probably say something that would obliterate the 29 percent affection I’d worked so hard to earn. A silence fell over the cave after our little spat, and I sat awkwardly in his arms, glaring at the dark wall across the fire. “Why are you still shaking like a dog?” he asked with a puzzled frown. The arms around my waist tightened. I’d tensed every muscle in my body to try to stop my trembling, but it seemed he’d still been able to feel it even through the cloak. Shaking like a dog? I scowled at his offensive choice of words but lacked the energy to get angry at him. Instead, I said weakly, “It’s not only because I’m cold.” “What is it, then?” Callisto immediately demanded. “It’s just…” “Just what?” I wanted to be vague about it, but he was too persistent. Clasping my cold hands together under the cloak, even as they continued to shake, I tried my best to sound unconcerned. “When I close my eyes…I can’t stop thinking about it.” “Thinking about what?” He frowned as he thought, then made a triumphant sound as if something had occurred to him. “Falling off the cliff ? Though that can’t be it, can it? You fainted before we actually fell. Or are you thinking about being mauled by that bear because of your own recklessness?” I was too tired to muster much of a response. “Hah… Yes. I was reckless, and it nearly got me killed by that bear. It keeps replaying in my mind, which is why I’m shaking like a dog,” I said, my voice much too dry for someone who was still quaking in fear. Upon hearing my sarcastic acknowledgment, the crown prince sighed but said nothing more. I’d expected him to have something sardonic of his own to say for sure—his silence was unexpected. There was a brief peaceful moment in the cave, made cozy by the soft light of the fire. I realized I’d come to feel a little better as I talked with the prince—the bone-deep chill and shaking seemed to have abated some. Fatigue bore down on me instead as I laid my head against his thick bicep. He’s holding me without asking for my permission, so I’ll use him as a pillow. As I blinked drowsily, Callisto spoke in a voice so soft it was almost a sigh. “You know, when I was little…” Too tired to even turn my head, I looked up at him sleepily. The prince gazed down at me with an odd expression before continuing. “I think I was nine, or maybe ten. I encountered a bear in this very forest, one that was about the same size as the bear you encountered today.” “Really?” “Yes.” I wondered why he was suddenly bringing this up, but I listened quietly regardless. “The second prince’s birthday once coincided with the hunting tournament. That was the day I saw my brother for the first time.” His expression was wistful, and it made him seem a little more human. The moment didn’t last long, however. Callisto’s face twisted into a vicious scowl. “The empress consort was so convinced that I, a young child, would hurt her newborn baby that she kept him away from me, and I didn’t see so much as a hair on his head until several years had passed.” “…” “All the nobles had gathered for the hunt, but that wasn’t the real reason they’d come. There was a long line of gift givers waiting to see the second prince for the entirety of the tournament.” “…” “I was the only one who showed up empty-handed,” he muttered, his expression strangely bereft. He almost looked a little put out. “I wanted to give my one and only little brother an amazing gift. Despite my father’s warnings, I sneaked into the hunting grounds with a bow. Like you, I wanted to kill a small animal, something like a rabbit, and gift it to my brother.” Callisto’s strangely melancholy mood disappeared. When he looked at me again, he was smiling mischievously. To think a rascal like him was once so innocent and sad… A weird feeling settled in my stomach thinking about it. It was as if I was seeing a whole new side to him. I’d been so busy playing the game, only to die over and over, that I had very little information about the male protagonists in Hard Mode. If I wanted to better my chances of surviving, I had to use every bit of information at my disposal. That was why I listened closely as the crown prince described his younger years. “I found an animal I wanted to kill, but it was so quick on its feet that I had no hope of actually hitting it. I chased it, and before I knew it, I was deep in the forest,” he went on. “That’s when I encountered the bear.” I was a little surprised. His story closely resembled my experience earlier that very day. Perhaps sensing he had an attentive audience, the crown prince continued speaking without delay. “Unlike you, I wasn’t able to take a single shot at it when it charged at me. I was scared out of my mind. I only just managed to roll away, narrowly avoiding being crushed by its paw,” Callisto said, his tone derisive as if mocking his past self. “But you were much younger than I am now, weren’t you?” I replied, blinking slowly. My coming-of-age ceremony was on the horizon, and yet even I was still trembling from the shock of my bear encounter. If he had been only nine or ten, he had to have been terrified to face such a huge beast. Somehow I’d found myself trying to console him, but Callisto shook his head firmly. “Age is no excuse when you’re the heir to the throne. An emperor must always be flawless.” “Still…” “I didn’t manage to avoid the bear’s attack entirely. I was stupid enough to let it graze my arm with its claws. If I’d moved any slower, my arm would have been torn off altogether. I was lucky.” I shuddered while I watched him lift his left arm as if he could feel the sensations from that time. The crown prince grinned, finding my repulsion funny. “I ran like crazy, trying to get away from the monster…when an arrow flew at me coming from up ahead.” “Was it the guards?” “That’s what I thought, too, at first.” He frowned. “When I ran to them, however, I found assassins dressed in black lying in wait, aiming their bows at me.” “A-assassins?” “There were a lot of them, too, considering I was just one ten-year-old child.” My jaw dropped at how calmly he was recounting such an awful story. It was one thing to send a group of assassins to kill a grown man, but was it normal to do the same for a child? I recalled the twenty assassins we’d encountered earlier that day. So it’s a common occurrence for him… No wonder he had been so calm when he realized they were trying to kill him on the hunting grounds. The tyrant’s childhood, the details of which had been omitted from the game, was more tragic than I’d imagined it to be. “Who sent them?” “Well, the investigation ended with no conclusive answers, and it was never determined who hired the assassins, but…” He rubbed his chin with one hand, red eyes glinting. “I don’t need an investigation to know that it was the empress consort or one of her relatives. The second prince was only a dull, underachieving idiot at the time, who hadn’t even learned to read properly.” I couldn’t sense any affection in his voice as he unflinchingly referred to his only brother as a “dull, underachieving idiot.” Suddenly I was worried. “But is it okay for you to…tell me all of this?” “What does it matter? It’s not as if you’re likely to suddenly side with the second prince now. And even if you did, I doubt you’d be of any use to him.” I was slightly offended, but he wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t help the way my fists clenched, though. If his life has been like this since he was a child, no wonder he grew into such a nasty character… All at once possessing a deeper understanding of why he was the jerk he was, I sent him a look to encourage him to keep talking. “And so?” “Well, I was running toward the assassins sent to kill me, trying to get away from the bear. One of them shot me in the chest, and I fell down a slope.” “Th-the chest?” “That’s right. Thankfully, I was wearing a keepsake from my mother, and it saved my life.” I looked at Callisto’s upper chest, but all I could see was bare skin stretched over firm muscle. “I don’t have it anymore. It was damaged that day, so I stored it away for safekeeping.” The crown prince grinned and teased suddenly, “Decided to drop the blushing maiden act?” I cleared my throat awkwardly, feeling my cheeks redden. I quickly turned away. “S-so? What happened after that? What about the bear?” I asked, trying to change the subject. He smirked but let me have my way. “Funnily enough, because I fell, the bear went after the assassins instead.” His lips twisted into a grin at the memory. “It was a bloodbath. That bear was damned intelligent. It had no trouble defeating fifteen armed men all on its own.” The memory of how the bear roared came to me. I could picture a young Callisto watching the assassins being torn apart by the rampaging, monstrous beast, hardly daring to breathe. “So…who won?” His reply was immediate and cold. “There were no survivors on either side.” “Either…side?” “The assassins had the advantage of numbers, but they were not armed with close-range weapons, no doubt hoping to reduce the risk of being detected. On the other hand, though the bear made quick work of them all, the poison on the arrow tips eventually spread through its body.” In the end, the only person to survive the extremely violent scene had been the young crown prince. “What do you think I did after that as the lone survivor?” Callisto asked. I opened my mouth to reply but realized I had no idea. What could he have done? If it were me, I’d have fled from the forest the moment the bear attacked the assassins. “I cut off the bear’s head.” The young crown prince, however, had done something I would never have even dreamed of. “And that head led to me confidently claiming victory in the hunting tournament. After the award ceremony, I threw the head on the pile of gifts meant for my brother. It was quite the spectacle to behold, the way its still-warm blood dripped and ran.” Hearing the conclusion to his story, I was stunned into silence. What kind of things had he already been through that made him capable of cutting off a bear’s head at such a young age? It was as though the peaceful flow of our conversation had been rudely disrupted by a powerful storm. The crown prince read my silence for what it was and laughed, the sound jeering rather than joyous. “Still, your courage is certainly something, isn’t it? I only took advantage of the situation presented to me, but you actually fought a bear,” he said, back to his usual self. I watched the nasty smile spread across his face and suddenly wondered if it wasn’t me he was mocking, but himself from his childhood. “You’re much better with the crossbow than I thought you would be,” Callisto continued. “Not even experienced hunters react as calmly as you did when faced with a bear. If you’d tried to run, the bear would have easily caught you and torn your limbs off. You should put aside useless anxieties and take pride in your instincts and reflexes.” It was unexpected that he would seek to comfort me. I stared at him with wide eyes and found my heart at ease as I listened to the gruff, careless delivery of his words—perhaps it was because we’d experienced something so similar. I found it ironic that it was the crown prince, of all people, who was trying to reassure me. “Thank you for the compliment,” I said awkwardly after a long moment. “It seems to me that you were incredibly brave yourself, and at such a young age.” I didn’t have much else to say in response to the story he’d told. Though I pitied him for his rough childhood, that feeling was fleeting. I’d changed my mind as soon as I heard him recount how he’d cut the bear’s head off and used it to win the tournament. This asshole had the makings of a scumbag even at that age. However, even though I’d praised him, the crown prince’s face twisted into a scowl as if he were displeased. “That’s it?” “What? What do you mean?” I asked, puzzled. His frown deepened. “That’s all you have to say about my story?” “Yes. That’s it.” “Do you have no capacity for emotion?” “…Sorry?” I said, taken aback by the sudden personal attack. His ruby eyes glared at me. “How could you be so coldhearted?” “I…I don’t understand,” I said, my eyes wide in astonishment. What?! That’s rich, coming from you. I gaped, at a loss for words, as he added crossly, “When I tell this story to the soldiers shivering around the campfire, they’re always reduced to tears. Do you feel no pity for my younger self ?” I laughed incredulously. No, I don’t pity you. Not even a little. What was there to pity about him anyway? I was the most pitiful character in this damned game. At least he didn’t have to grovel before people he hated while worried that their affection might drop. His red-eyed gaze told me he was waiting for some kind of answer, so I chose to reply as vaguely as possible. “Well…in any case, you’re alive and well now. The truly tragic stories are the ones that end with death.” He certainly had no idea how hard I was working to avoid exactly that sad ending. “Ha!” he muttered, clicking his tongue. “I guess the rumors were right about you being a heartless villain.” “Well, look who’s talking…” I didn’t have it in me to take condemnation from him, even if I’d put up with endless insults from the other male protagonists. I was about to explode with rage when I noticed that his red eyes were gleaming at me tauntingly. I took a deep breath and reminded myself to have patience. Son of a… Closing my mouth tightly, I glared daggers at him, cursing him to hell and back in my mind. The severe expression on his face suddenly relaxed, and a laugh escaped his mouth. “You know, when I’m with you, there’s truly never a dull moment,” he said, just before… [Affection: 34%] His affection had risen, the surge accompanied by a faint smile on his lips. My eyes widened slowly. Five percent. That was quite a generous increase. I stared blankly at the number hovering above his golden hair. I’d reached the base 30 percent affection that was awarded in Normal Mode, and it was now safe to say that the crown prince was unlikely to be the cause of my death any time soon. It felt unreal. Perhaps it was because I was relieved, but a strange feeling washed over me as I gazed at his smiling face. “The trembling is gone now, I see,” he suddenly remarked, releasing his viselike grip on my waist. He let go of me carefully, unlike the abrupt way he’d scooped me up earlier. He rose to his feet and retreated to the other side of the fire, saying, “Now you should get some proper sleep.” The warmth that had surrounded me quickly faded away, but as he’d said, my shaking had completely stopped. “Father,” Derrick said, entering the tent. “There you are.” Duke Eckhart, who’d been tapping his finger against the desk nervously, brightened upon seeing his eldest son. Derrick was shaking his head, however, making the duke’s hopeful expression fall into a frown. “So no news yet?” the duke asked. “Reynold’s taken the hunting dogs into the forest again. We’ll hear from him soon.” “Who was the last person to see her?” “We found a knight who claims she asked the way to the hunting area for the smaller animals.” “And? She went in that direction?” Derrick nodded quietly. The sound of the duke’s fist slamming down on the desk in frustration was loud in the ensuing silence. “The sun’s all but set. What the hell is a girl who’s not even come of age yet going to do alone in the forest at night?” Though Penelope had mentioned that she wanted to go see the hunting grounds, the duke had not expected her to actually go through with it—Penelope was a fickle girl. And even if she had done so, the area designated for smaller game was not too far from the clearing where the tent that served as headquarters for the hunting tournament was set up. The guards stationed there should have been able to locate her quickly in the event of an emergency. However, if she had wandered into the part of the forest where the dangerous predators had been set loose, they would have a problem on their hands. The duke massaged his aching temples. “And the crown prince?” Derrick’s eye twitched ever so slightly, but the duke was too busy rubbing his head to notice the hard set to his son’s mouth. “The palace…has also sent out a search party.” As it happened, Penelope wasn’t the only person missing. Though the horn had sounded quite some time ago to signal the end of the hunt, the crown prince hadn’t returned, either. “I’ve requested they inform us if he is found, so all we can do now is wait.” “Don’t tell me that hellion has dragged Penelope off again, threatening to kill her—” “Father,” Derrick said, cutting the duke off. “The walls have ears.” He had also considered the possibility, of course. However, they were surrounded by nobles of all sorts of affiliations, and there was no knowing if spies were listening to them. “Reynold was the first to search for her and says he saw something strange,” Derrick continued quietly. “There was a dead brown bear in the gold-marked region, where the worst of predators were set loose. It had no head.” “A dead bear?” The duke’s voice was also low as he processed this serious news. “Yes. Interestingly enough, the severed head was found some distance from the body.” “Hmm.” “The fur on the body was also burned in several places in roughly the size and shape of a small round pellet ammunition.” “Wh-what?!” The marks had to be made by Penelope’s enchanted ammo. The duke’s mouth fell open as he realized what Derrick was saying. “Could the bear have harmed—?” “I was assured that, without question, no evidence of that was found,” Derrick said firmly. The duke relaxed, relieved. “And? What did they do with the bear’s carcass?” “Marquis Ellen’s servants arrived first and were tending to the carcass, so we were forced to leave it to them after being allowed to examine it briefly.” “House Ellen?” the duke asked, his thick eyebrows climbing upward upon his unexpectedly hearing that name. “Do you mean to say that Marquis Ellen killed the bear?” “That is impossible. The beasts prepared to suit His Highness’s violent tastes were likely modified to be accordingly vicious.” “I suppose it’s absurd to think an old man who can’t even shoot a bow properly would be capable of killing a bear…,” the duke mused. “And if he had, he’d have brought back the head.” Marquis Ellen had returned with only two deer and no bear’s head. “Haah… I can’t figure out what’s going on,” the duke grumbled, heaving a deep sigh. “Why did Penelope have to wander into that dangerous area? I shouldn’t have given that wretched crossbow back to her…” “Father,” Derrick said when the duke’s muttered rant had trailed off. “What kind of spell did you have that crossbow imbued with? What magic could have made that girl rash enough to shoot a bear?” “Ahem.” The duke cleared his throat and turned away, clearly uncomfortable with this new topic of conversation. Derrick’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, don’t tell me you disguised a lethal weapon as harmless using magic?” “Lethal? Don’t be absurd. It’s nothing like that,” the duke said, his head whipping around at the accusation. He added gruffly, “It just makes anyone hit by it pass out momentarily. No doubt it passed inspections because it’s suitable for hunting.” “Is that really all there is to it?” He’s too perceptive for his own good. The duke groaned, faced with his first son’s tenacity. “I…also had a spell added that will erase the most recent memories of anyone hit.” Derrick’s emotionless face suddenly contorted into a scowl, and a weighted silence filled the tent. Then Derrick asked, “Why did you give her a weapon like that?” The duke glanced at his son and said calmly, “I told her that if there was someone she really needed to shoot, she should make sure there were no witnesses. The magic would ensure that whoever she shot wouldn’t remember upon waking.” “You gave her a dangerous weapon, knowing her temperament?” Derrick said, his voice deep with carefully repressed anger. “What if she throws another fit like last year and starts shooting people? If people suddenly showed up with no memories after being shot, how were you planning on dealing with the fallout?” “Tsk, don’t put the cart before the horse,” the duke protested weakly. “It was a last-resort measure. She said she had reflected on her foolish behavior, so I’m sure she was careful.” “Is it not enough that Count Kellen took ownership of one of our mines? Do you plan to dole out the rest of our fortune to any noble she attacks?” “Derrick Eckhart,” the duke warned, voice sharp. Count Kellen had made a huge fuss over Penelope’s attack on his daughter, and the duke had been forced to hand over an entire diamond mine to placate him—it had been an immense loss for House Eckhart. However, as Penelope was a noble lady officially registered on their family tree, he could not let her go to prison over such a childish mistake. Finally, the duke said, “That’s enough. I had my reasons for giving her that weapon. She’s endured a lot lately, given recent events in our household.” “Father!” Derrick raised his voice—something he rarely did. He ground his teeth together, the muscles in his jaw clenched. “What a ridiculous reason to give her a magically modified crossbow!” “She was quite upset regarding the matter with Mrs. Dona and the incident at the training field.” Derrick looked ready to continue shouting, but the duke cut him off. “Her slave choked that knight because he insulted Penelope while everyone stood watching. Did you know that?” “I…” Derrick abruptly fell silent. He’d learned about the details of the confrontation after the fact. That was why he’d gone to the training field upon hearing from the butler that Penelope was there practicing with her crossbow—to give her the news that the irreverent bastard who’d insulted her had been dismissed. He’d been overcome with rage upon finding her holding her crossbow essentially wrapped in the arms of her slave; thus, he’d been unable to say any of what he’d intended to. “After suffering such humiliation, she told me she’d rather stay confined in her room than take part in the hunting tournament,” the duke continued. “What was I to do, scold her? So I gave her the crossbow to try and make her feel better. She can’t stay cooped up in the mansion for the rest of her life, can she?” Derrick was quiet for a moment. “I fired Mark and the other knights involved in that incident immediately,” he said, voice extremely cold. “If she’d told you or me, or even the butler, the matter could have been handled easily. But the one who never fails to make things worse than they have to be is none other than…” That Penelope. “Derrick,” the duke called, not allowing his son to continue that train of thought. “Don’t be so quick to hate her. In a way, it’s my fault she has grown to be such an unruly girl. I was the one who insisted on bringing her home with me to satisfy my own greed, and I didn’t do my due diligence in taking proper care of her. She seems to have seen the error of her ways and matured some, so take good care of her from now on. She is your one and only little sister, after all.” Derrick clenched his fist angrily. “The only sister I have is Ivonne,” he said through a tense jaw and gritted teeth. The duke stared at him for a long moment, then looked away with a sigh. “…It’s time to let Ivonne go.” “Father.” Derrick’s head whipped around to glare incredulously at the older man. How could he say such a thing—he was Ivonne’s father. “We lost Ivonne in an accident we had no control over,” said the duke, continuing. “We’ve not once given up on looking for her since then, but we haven’t heard anything or found any leads. It’s time we came to terms with the fact that she is no longer of this world.” “Father!” “It’s already been six years since Penelope came to the mansion.” There was pain in the duke’s eyes as he watched his son’s contorted expression. “It’s true that I didn’t ask either of you for your opinion or think things through before adopting her. I also chose not to comment on what was happening in the household. But how much longer do you intend to harass and despise Penelope to relieve your guilty conscience regarding Ivonne?” Derrick’s blue eyes were wide like saucers. The idea of bullying his adopted sister had never even occurred to him, and if he were to retaliate against her in some way, he would have chosen to just ignore her. If anyone had behaved in that manner, it was Reynold. There was no way Derrick was childish enough to pick on a girl for taking his sister’s place. “I…,” Derrick replied, his tone subdued. “I’ve never despised Penelope or harassed her, Father.” The only reason he’d grown to dislike her was because of her wicked behavior and reproachable comportment. Which meant he had little reason to dislike her now that she seemed to be acting like a civilized human being. That was why he hadn’t been as hard on her as before. Suddenly, memories of Penelope’s dry voice came unbidden. —“No need, Young Lord.” —“Emily didn’t ask you to carry that for her, did she, Young Lord?” —“Whatever punishment you see fit, I’ll accept it without a word of complaint, Young Lord.” The girl who’d always called him “Brother” or “Derrick” had begun to call him “Young Lord” at some point. Though she behaved the same as before in front of others, she made this distinction very clear when they were alone. He’d shuddered with revulsion whenever the girl had affectionately referred to him as “Brother”… —“I’ll do my best to stay out of your sight and avoid causing you concern from now on.” But now she grew cold and stiff whenever she saw him and kept her distance. The realization shocked him. “In fact, I believe I’m the one despised by—” He was reluctantly about to admit it when someone threw the tent flap aside violently. “Father!” Reynold rushed inside. “Reynold,” the duke said in acknowledgment. “We have a witness claiming they saw Penelope.” Reynold spoke quickly, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps. “What? Who is it?!” “Baron Tulitte.” “Baron Tulitte? He’s…” “The fiancé of Count Kellen’s daughter, Miss Gloria Kellen,” Derrick filled in immediately as the duke trailed off, unable to remember. The baron was such an insignificant player that the duke hadn’t recognized his name immediately. He was a distant relative of Marquis Ellen, a connection which he had used to worm a title out of the empress. However, early in the year, a sudden engagement between the house of the baron and the house of the count had been announced, to the surprise of many in high society. Rumors swirled that the Ellen and Kellen houses, possessing only female heirs, had made use of a distant relative to force an alliance. Since both houses were united in supporting the second prince, it was a plausible hypothesis. “So? Where did this Baron Tulitte see Penelope?” the duke demanded urgently. Reynold wore an odd expression and after a brief moment of hesitation said, “In the forest. He’s gone bonkers after being shot by her.” “Wh-what?” “He’s been drooling like a fool since he was found, babbling about a hunting goddess with dark-pink hair.” The duke gaped, unable to say anything. But that wasn’t all. “Not only that, but he’s not the only noble to wake up in the forest acting like a madman—more keep showing up, one after another.” The very situation Derrick had feared was coming to pass.