MHLM 29

Chapter : 29

“Oh? Duke Everett isn’t coming?”

Thanks to the crown prince quickly stepping forward, Owen and Hessen’s sharp eyes were directed away from me.

As Theodore was standing next to me, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and hugged me closely.

The fact that he was trying to protect me now made me feel conflicted.

With the past and the present intersecting, the dissonance made my mind go blank.

Before I knew it, Owen and Hessen were talking to the crown prince.

It was mainly Owen who was talking to him, while Hessen looked at me from time to time and glared at me.

As though I didn’t know who he was, I averted my gaze.

But at that same moment, one person’s unusual presence in this event heightened my already taut nerves.

“……?”

When I felt someone else’s gaze on me, I turned my eyes.

And unexpectedly, the person who I felt peculiarly about was someone I’m meeting for the first time. He’s standing a little behind Owen.

‘Who’s that?’

Somehow, I had a bad feeling.

I frowned slightly, then the man raised his head and stared straight into my eyes.

At that moment, I unconsciously froze up. His eyes were empty—as if there was truly nothing within him.

Like a dead man.

“Madam, that’s the new mage working under Young Duke Owen.”

Charlotte whispered behind me.

I nodded wordlessly and stared at that person.

Because his face was covered by a hood, all I could see was part of his face and his thin wrists at the end of his long sleeves. His skin was exceedingly pale.

No matter how much I looked at him… He didn’t look like a normal mage.

‘He’s the mage who started working under Owen around the same time Theodore suffered that head injury…’

The military records I read through a while back… There was nothing unusual about anything.

However, there was one part that bothered me.

That day, there were many monsters pouring out of the rifts. Apart from their numbers, those monsters had also been very vicious.

‘I knew it, there’s something suspicious about that mage. I have a bad feeling about this.’

It was just a hunch, but I couldn’t help but keep paying attention to this matter. I couldn’t ignore my intuition.

“Hello, Lily.”

My train of thought suddenly broke apart as the languid voice entered my ears. After finishing his chat with the crown prince, Owen came to greet me.

He was glancing down at me while standing with a haughty posture, his demeanor boasting of a ruler’s superiority, just as usual.

I always felt helpless in front of Owen, but at the same time, I was overcome by a murderous intent towards him.

Owen smirked crookedly and bowed lightly with his head.

“And, Duke Valentino. How have you been?”

It was as if all the air around me had become frozen. This must be quite the spectacle for the others to watch.

Then came Theodore’s cold voice.

“I have been well, thanks to you.”

“Right. You must have liked my gift.”

…Gift? What gift? This was the first time I’m hearing about this. I grimaced and glanced at Theodore, but he looked at me with a complicated gaze and whispered.

“I’ll tell you later. After the hunting party.”

His memories were faulty—well, only regarding me—but what on earth happened between him and Owen?

I glanced at Theodore and tried to speak, but a high-pitched voice pierced my eardrums.

“Big Sis! Ah, I mean, Your Highness.”

This loud-mouthed woman was none other than Rozenne Delacroix. She had a pleasant greeting with her older sister, the crown princess, then she turned her head and started waving wildly at someone else.

When I looked to see who it was, it was someone I recognized at first sight.

Zenedier Delacroix.

“Brother! Zen! Hurry, come over here!”

Rozenne’s older brother, while the crown prince’s younger brother. He was the successor of House Delacroix.

Queen Ellemiel arrived as well, and soon after she presented to everyone the coral bracelet, which would be the prize of today’s winner.

Looking closely, I saw that the bracelet was not only adorned by corals, but also diamonds and pearls. It was truly an iridescent piece, but it was an accessory that could be worn by anyone regardless of their gender.

“Now then, let the hunt begin!”

The crown prince clapped his hands together once as he proclaimed.

Until the very end, Hessen didn’t come to greet Theodore at all. And he just glared at me as though he was about to devour me whole.

Ignoring Hessen, I looked around instead. I saw that Marquis Chester was here, but his brother, Lennon Chester, was nowhere to be found. Perhaps he’s absent from today’s event.

In any case, as I mounted my horse, I thought about how it’s nice that I wouldn’t have to see his disgusting face.

Those who were participating in the hunt were supposed to take the lead, and then the spectators would follow behind. In other words, we would be divided into two groups.

It would be difficult for the participants to concentrate on the hunt if the spectators would be wandering around the perimeter, so it’s imperative to be separated like so. This way, the participants wouldn’t be distracted.

There should be nothing to worry about, especially since the Ashridge forest was not a habitat to any dangerous animals.

That is, unless a rift suddenly appears…

“Lily.”

Ignoring the crown prince, Theodore turned to me as he called my name. It seemed as if he was interpreting my concerns in his way.

Sure enough, he clasped my hand and spoke.

“Since there are knights escorting you, there won’t be any trouble, but still be careful. Don’t take off the brooch I just gave you.”

“Alright.”

The people glancing this way, watching me and Theodore, gradually seemed to be getting used to the sight.

Theodore gently let go of my hand and left my side. Still though, he kept looking back as though he couldn’t bear to take his eyes off me.

Uninterested in him, I turned away and headed towards the place where Queen Ellemiel, the crown princess and Rozenne were.

I knew that I’d be the safest with these three people. After all, they had the most escort knights.

…But unlike how it was before, I could now see one more person with them.

It was none other than Adeline.

“……”

After thinking about it for a moment, I changed my mind and I was about to turn my horse away. But at that moment, Adeline stopped me in my tracks as she called me in a bright voice.

“Duchess Valentino!”

Since she was waving her hand so innocently to beckon me her way, if I were to ignore her and go elsewhere, the only one who’d be seen in a bad light was me.

I turned my horse this side and that so it eventually let out a sigh, but I soon pasted a smile on my lips.

When I arrived at Adeline’s side, she smiled and spoke to me warmly as though we were close.

“Lily, who do you think is going to win today? I’m betting on Theo.”

In the past, whenever Adeline spoke to me like this with such a bright expression, I couldn’t help but feel upset. But now, it didn’t matter.

Rather, seeing Adeline consistently act like this made me pity her.

I answered her with a gracious smile.

“I’m also rooting for ‘my husband’ to win, of course.”

“……”

Adeline’s smile seemed to falter for a second, but it grew wide again. I don’t know anything else about her, but she was surely perfect whenever it came to schooling her facial expressions.

She was about to answer back, but the voice of one tactless person intervened.

“Of course Duchess Valentino is going to support her husband. What kind of obvious question is that, Miss Adeline?”

What she said brought our surroundings to a freezing temperature. However, Rozenne, the very person who spoke up, turned towards the crown princess and continued their chat as though she didn’t care at all.

While taking advantage of the usefulness of a tactless person who couldn’t read the mood, I steered my horse to a slow trot.

As I joined the flanks of a group of noblewomen and ladies, with knights escorting us on both sides, we soon arrived at the entrance of the Ashridge Forest.

The forest was filled with luscious green foliage and silence hanging in the air.

From time to time, we could hear only the rustling of leaves as a breeze would pass by, the sound of bugs hiding in the grass, and the chirping of small birds.

Naturally, there were many insects coming out in a forest like this when it’s summertime. I put on my thin, silk gloves that reached my wrists, then lowered the mesh attached to my hat down to my neck.

I hate bugs. No, actually, I hate summer itself. And compared to the outdoor events that were held during winter, I disliked having to go out in the heat. And most of all, I truly hate that so many insects would come out.

“You seem to be thoroughly armed, Duchess Valentino.”

With a smile, Queen Ellemiel spoke to me as she steered her horse so that we were riding side by side. I smiled back with a hint of embarrassment.

I had to act accordingly in front of her as she was the queen. If I could look like a crumpled wildflower amidst a bouquet, that would be even better.

I considered Ellemiel to be a frightening person. She was harmless, vulnerable and endlessly generous with the people she had to protect. However, she was cunning, greedy and endlessly cruel to the ones she considered to be a threat.

The type of person that Ellemiel disliked the most was someone typically like Adeline. I’m quite sure that Queen Ellemiel was already well aware of what exactly Adeline looked like beneath her mask.

“Here, try taking a whiff first, spray it on yourself and see if it’ll be effective. The bugs that try to come to you will decrease significantly.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

I politely accepted the small crystal bottle that the queen handed over to me.

When I took off the cap and sniffed it, there was a hint of a piquant scent amidst a cool fragrance. It seemed to be a mix of eucalyptus, peppermint and cinnamon.

I knew that a scent like this would drive away the bugs, so I sprayed it moderately on my body.

Grateful by this, I smiled at Queen Ellemiel and returned the bottle to her.

“By the way, your complexion seems to be declining by the day, Duchess. Are you doing alright?”

…I have no idea why there’s so many people interested in my health these days.

My horse was trotting at an unhurried pace, which was just the same pace as the queen’s horse.

The people at the lead of the hunt were now nowhere to be seen. That’s how far the distance between us had gotten.

I could hear nothing unusual around us. However, as we went deeper into the forest, I could feel my skin prickling, worsening the bad feeling I’ve had since earlier.

‘….It’s weird. What on earth is making me feel this way?’