When I heard the end of the story, I was dumbfounded.
‘What kind of accident could cut the dead bear’s neck off on the spot?’
The well-went story suddenly met a strong storm and seemed to have turned away. The crown prince laughed at me, perhaps because I was silent and thought I was shocked.
“But isn’t the princess so brave? Unlike me, an opportunist, you were dealing with a bear there yourself.”
Before I knew it, he had returned to his usual form. Looking at the prince’s face full of gruesome smiles…..
Perhaps he wasn’t mocking me, but mocking himself in those days.
“Your crossbow skills are more than I thought.”
“…..”
“Even some of the most skilled hunters would not behave as calmly as you would if they suddenly encountered a bear. If he ran away with his back, he would soon have caught up with the bear and torn his limbs.”
“So put aside your useless thoughts, and be proud of your intuition and your ability to cope.”
It was an unexpected consolation. I stared at Callisto with my eyes wide open.
Is it because of a similar situation? Despite his blunt and heartless words, I calmed down. At the same time, it was ironic that the person who said such a thing was the Crown Prince, not anyone else.
“……thanks for the compliment.”
After quite a long time, I managed to open my mouth and answer awkwardly.
“You were very courageous at a young age, too.”
And I returned the compliment in my own way.
There was nothing else to say about the story told by the Crown Prince. I felt sorry for his childhood, but it was only for a moment. The thought of the dead bear’s head was reversed when he said he had won the game.
‘This guy’s already fed up since then.’
At that moment, the prince’s face was frowned upon as to what he didn’t like even though I complimented him.
“Is that it?”
“What? What?”
I asked back in bewilderment. The crown prince’s brow bone deepened.
“Your appreciation of my story.”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“Didn’t Princess have any feelings?”
“……yes?”
I was dumbfounded by the sudden disdain. Then the crown prince glared at me with red eyes and spat out.
“How can you be so mean?”
“What…?”
I opened my eyes as if I had heard something unfamiliar.
‘Huh! Is he in a position to say that to me?’
While I was just poking my lips in amazement, he retorted that I was even more offended.
“When I told this story to the shivering soldiers on the battlefield, they cried and wept.”
“…..”
“Doesn’t the princess feels pity to me as a child?”
I just laughed in vain when the man said what he was dissatisfied with.
‘Not pitiful, not pitiful at all!’
Which part should I pity?
I was the most pitiful and pathetic in this fucking game. At least the Crown Prince won’t be servile, fearing that he will lose the favor of a man who hates him.
Toward the red pupil staring at me as if waiting for an answer, I said it all moderately round.
“……you’re well alive now, anyway. A sad story is originally completed by death.”
How I’m struggling to avoid that sad ending, this guy’s. You won’t even know if you wake up.
“Huh.”
At my answer he clicked his tongue and murmured.
“As it turns out, she’s a villain with no blood or tears.”
“Who’s going to say…!”
Even the rest of the other males couldn’t stand this son of bitch.. The anger, which was about to burst, was lost right in the enemy’s interesting glow of anger. I took a deep breath and engraved my patience.
‘Damn Bastard.’
He was gazing at me with his mouth shut and rehashing his bosom with his eyes.
“Ha…”
He suddenly let go of his fierce look and blew his wind.
“When I’m with a princess, I really can’t get bored.”
And…
[Favorability 34%]
His good feeling rose with a faint smile on his face. I slowly opened my eyes wide. Five percent. It was a pretty big jump.
I stared blankly over his golden head. The basic favor given in normal mode also exceeded 30 percent. Now the Prince’s favorability has reached a level that can be said to be quite distant from death.
But it didn’t feel real. Maybe it’s because I’m relieved. Seeing the face of a man smiling at me just made me feel weird.
“The tremor has stopped.”
At that time, the chain that was squeezing the back of his back was loosened. Unlike when he hugged me first, Callisto let me go with a very careful touch.
“Now, really go to bed.’
He rose from his seat and returned to the other side of the campfire without hesitation. The warmth surrounding me quickly faded away.
As he said, it was after the tremors that had taken over the body had really subsided.
* * *
“Father.”
“Have you come back?”
The Duke of Eckart, who was nervously tapping the table, was delighted to see his eldest son, who had just entered the cabana. But Derick shook his head and frowned.
“… …still not?”
“Leonard took the hounds back into the woods. We’ll hear from him soon.”
“The last man see her.”
“I found an article who answered the question of the way to the small animal hunting ground.”
“So, did she go that way?”
Derick nodded quietly this time. Boom-! The Duke struck the table with his fist as if he were frustrated.
“It’s all over now, but a girl who hasn’t reached her age is going to be alone in the forest.”
She said she’d look around the hunting ground, but I didn’t really think so. Penelope was originally fickle.
Even so, the small animal hunting area was not too far from the open space where the hunting competition was organized. No matter what happens, the guards who were stationed there can find it soon enough.
The problem was into the deep woods the predators had been released. The Duke asked, pressing down on the sore temples.
“The crown prince’s side.”
At that moment, Derick’s forehead wriggled faintly. The Duke never saw his son’s mouth, firming his head hard.
“……the Imperial Palace has just dispatched a search party.”
At a time like this, not the only princess disappeared. Even though it was long after the wake-up call to announce that it was time to gather, the crown prince also did not return.
“I’ve asked them to let me know if they find her, so all we have to do is wait.”
“No way, that son of a bitch cut Penelope off again and dragged her somewhere……”
“Father.”
Derick stopped the duke.
“There’s a lot ear.”
Nor did he not think so. However, this was not the only area of Eckart, but the center of the hunting festival, where all kinds of aristocrats gathered. It was unclear who had planted their ears.
“Leonard, who was on the first search, saw something strange.”
Derick recited in a lower voice.
“There was a dead body of a brown bear that had been decapitated in a gold-marked area where the beast was released.”
“…the body of the bear?”
On serious matters the duke killed his voice.
“Yes, but strangely enough, he said, the severed head was lying far away from his body.”
“Well.”
“And his body was covered with tanned hair. In a round bead shape.”
“What, what!”
A round bead shape. No doubt it was a bolt from the crossbow given to Penelope. The Duke, who noticed what Derick was saying, opened his mouth wide.
“Maybe the bear attacked a human being…”
“I assure you there was no sign of that.”
Derick flatly denied it. The Duke was relieved of his anxiety. It was fortunate.
“So. How did you deal with the bear’s body?”
“Ellen’s servants arrived first and were collecting them, so I had no choice but to back down after checking the body.”
“Elene Hooper?”
The Duke’s dark eyebrows wriggled over the unexpected name.
“Then…… did Marquis Ellen catch the bear?”
“There’s no way. I’m sure it’s a ferocious improvement on the stench of the Crown Prince.”
“Well, an old man who can’t even shoot a bow can’t catch a bear…..”
“On top of that, I would have brought the cut hair back.”
But Marquis Ellen only had two roe deer, and there was no head of a giant beast anywhere.
“Ha… I have no idea what’s going on.”
The Duke murmured, sighing deeply, as if the barrel was in pain.
“Penelope, why did she go all the way to the area where the beast was released? I shouldn’t have given her that crossbow back.”
“Father.”
Derick, who was listening to his murmur silently, asked abruptly.
“The crossbow you gave Penelope, what magic did you engrave?”
“…..”
“What kind of magic did you engrave that made her shoot bears?”
“…Ehm.”
The Duke turned his head in vain to see if the changed subject was uncomfortable. Derick’s eyes faded as he looked at his father.
“No way, is it killing weapon, did you cheat on the mana?”
“It’s not for killing! It’s not like that.”
The Duke swung his head and added bluntly.
“… …it’s only a moment’s fainting when you get hit. It’s suitable for hunting, so it’d passed the security check.”
“Is that really all?”
Derick was a sharp guy. The Duke fell to the sight of his first son, who did not easily fall for it.
“… …there, I’ve put on an extra magic trick to lose the memory before being hit.”
“……”
Derick’s expressionless face was distorted. For a while there was silence in the tent. Derick only spoke a long time later.
“……why did you give her that?”
The Duke answered calmly, glancing sideways at his son.
“If anyone wants to shoot someone, I’ll told her take him and give him a sneak shot.”
“You know her personality, why did you give her such a dangerous thing in her hand?”
As if to stifle anger, Derick’s voice sank even further.
“And then, like last year, she will go around wildly and try to shoot people…”
“……”
“If a person who is hit by a crossbow and loses memory comes out thrilled, what are you going to do?”
“Seeupp, don’t get ahead.”
said The Duke kicking his tongue, as an excuse.
“I’m just preparing for the end of the bargain. I’ve been through enough. I know. She’ll be careful.”
“Even Countess Kellin is not enough, this time do you intend to hand over all the remaining mines to the nobles?”
Derick Eckart.”
The Duke decisively cut off Derick. It was a great loss for Eckart to hand over a whole diamond mine to Count Kellin, who was struggling with Penelope’s violence to the end.
But a princess who was officially registered as the family member. How can we be so ignorant and just let a child be imprisoned for what she did?
“… …stop. If I should give it, then I’ll give it. Aren’t you dying because of the miscellaneous things that have happened in the house these days?”
