<CHAPTER 44>

Is That a Normal Look?

“Hey!”

Evelyn slapped her fiancé’s firm forearm with a sharp smack.

Even so, Aksion showed no sign of pain and instead glared at her with clear annoyance.

Aksion stared straight at her with his vivid red eyes, then faintly curled his lips.

Holding a handkerchief in one hand, he muttered under his breath.

“I should win the hunting festival.”

At that moment, the sound of rustling bushes drifted in with the wind.

“Huh? What did you just say?”

Not having heard him properly, Evelyn tilted her head.

Aksion, who had been gazing at her as if lost in thought, slowly shook his head.

“Nothing.”

Evelyn simply brushed off her fiancé’s bland response.

At the entrance of the dense forest, a refreshing scent carried by a gentle breeze lingered lightly.

The nobles and knights participating in the hunting festival heightened their morale with great enthusiasm.

The nobles who came to cheer them on were waiting in a separately prepared tea room.

The lively atmosphere was no different there.

“Who do you think will win this year’s hunting festival?”

“Wouldn’t it be Count Tusi, last year’s winner?”

Perhaps because special privileges were granted to the winner, the voices of speculation only grew louder.

Commoners would gain the honor of joining a noble knight order, while nobles would be granted an audience with the Emperor.

‘None of those sound like welcome rewards!’

Although it appeared as if the imperial family was generously bestowing favor, in reality, it was merely a means to deal with troublesome matters.

Around this time of year, beasts awakened from hibernation would descend upon human settlements in search of food and cause havoc.

The imperial family simply presented an appealing reward to deal with the problem.

Just as Evelyn raised her teacup to hide her faint smirk—

Chloe, who had dropped a sugar cube into her cup, stirred it with a teaspoon and spoke.

“Dennis has been training every day, saying he’ll win this hunting festival.”

It was said that Chloe’s older brother had been thoroughly scolded by Duke Windebolt after losing to Aksion at the magical engineering academic presentation.

To make up for it, he had been training day and night with great determination, Chloe added with a low sigh, looking somewhat displeased.

“You know how terrible Dennis is at hunting, right?”

“Still, won’t he at least catch one?”

When Evelyn tilted her head slightly, her friend responded coldly.

“Well, it would be a relief if he doesn’t get eaten instead.”

“He might end up being chased out in his underwear this time.”

Seeing Chloe give such a harsh evaluation with a serious face, Evelyn let out an awkward smile.

‘What should I do…!’

After all, the winner of this hunting festival was practically already decided.

As written in the original story, the winner for the next five years would be Kalid Likeran.

True to his title as the Empire’s greatest sword master, he ruthlessly hunted down beasts.

“So, are you here to cheer for your brother Dennis?”

When Evelyn asked casually, Chloe made a face of disgust.

“Why would I cheer for him? I should be cheering for our Josh.”

Casually mentioning her lover’s nickname, Chloe rested her chin on one hand and asked.

“Weren’t you going to cheer for your fiancé too?”

“Well, it’s not like there’s much to cheer for.”

Evelyn shrugged her shoulders.

From what she knew, Aksion had little interest in hunting.

And considering that the timeline of the original story had slightly advanced…

Kalid, the future winner, would present a single rose to Dahlia.

It was practically certain that the original heroine would become the Goddess of Spring this year.

So in this episode, Evelyn only needed to fill a spot at the hunting festival.

At her lukewarm reaction, Chloe looked at her in surprise.

“Evelyn, don’t tell me you…”

She glanced around before lowering her voice.

“Do you have someone else you’re interested in besides your fiancé?”

“No, where would I even find someone like that!”

Evelyn shot her an incredulous look, and Chloe gestured outside.

“But that man has been looking only at you for a while now.”

“Who’s looking at me… huh?”

Following her friend’s gaze, Evelyn’s green eyes widened briefly before narrowing again.

Golden hair shimmering under the sunlight swayed naturally in the breeze.

When their eyes met, the man with gentle blue eyes slightly bowed his head, looking a bit flustered.

‘Duke Likeran?’

Tilting her head, Evelyn gave him a light nod in greeting.

It seemed the knight order he led had not yet been called and was waiting to depart.

‘He couldn’t have been looking at me… maybe he was looking for Dahlia?’

Evelyn looked around for the woman with silver-white hair.

However, as if she had stepped away for a moment, Dahlia was nowhere to be seen.

‘That’s strange. I’m sure I saw her earlier!’

Chloe stared intently at Evelyn, then whispered secretly.

“Be honest, Evelyn.”

“About what?”

“What’s your relationship with Duke Likeran?”

It seemed Chloe had completely misunderstood and thought Evelyn had a green light with him.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s definitely not like that.”

“Not like that? Is that a normal look?”

She couldn’t exactly say that he always had that kind of gaze because he was the male lead.

Evelyn recalled her conversation with Kalid at the Imperial Library.

“Then it would be best to start as friends.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Is even being friends uncomfortable for you?”

“Please take care of me from now on.”

Well, it should be fine to say they were friends.

Rolling her green eyes, she answered honestly.

“We’re friends.”

“What?”

“It just turned out that way.”

Perhaps shocked that she had become friends with the Commander of the Holy Knights, Chloe couldn’t close her mouth.

‘Well, it still surprises me too.’

Evelyn still found it ironic why Kalid wanted to be her friend.

Still, there was nothing bad about being friends with the protagonist.

While she was lost in thought, Chloe muttered with an intrigued expression.

“Your fiancé should be nervous.”

Looking at her friend whose eyes sparkled strangely, Evelyn blinked rapidly.

“Why would he be nervous?”

Chloe made an ambiguous expression and slowly shook her head.

“Never mind. It’s better if you don’t know.”

What did she mean by that?

Bwoooong—

At that moment, the loud sound of a horn echoed, signaling the official start of the hunting festival.

“Evelyn, you’re really not going?”

“Yeah. I’ll stay here.”

For the ladies who did not participate, the imperial family prepared a small event every year.

‘This year, it’s a treasure hunt.’

It was said that whoever found the ribbon engraved with the imperial crest would receive a special reward.

According to rumors spreading quietly, that reward was a luncheon with the Crown Prince.

Women eyeing the vacant position of Crown Princess rushed eagerly to seize the opportunity.

Recalling the face of the Crown Prince, who was as vicious as the Emperor, Evelyn slightly frowned.

As the treasure hunt went on for quite some time—

Chloe, perhaps feeling stiff from sitting too long in the tea room, got up with a slight groan.

‘Ugh, I already feel a bit sick.’

Strangely, no one had yet found the ribbon.

Even so, by the time she had reached the latter half of the ancient book—

“I’ll be fine, so go ahead.”

“Hmm. It would’ve been nice if you came with me.”

Opening the mythology book she had brought, Evelyn focused on reading.

As expected, she could not find even the slightest clue related to sorcery.

Evelyn waved lightly to see her friend off.

Since the hunting festival would only end by evening, she planned to spend some time alone until then.

Evelyn’s green eyes suddenly widened.

‘The Goddess of the Moon…?’