Next to the spacious open space at the beginning of the forest, which organizes the hunt competition, there was another small forest. It seemed that the women waiting for the participants of the competition had been landscaped so that they could have a ballroom while watching the green recording.
The long table decorated with flowers in the center was mostly full, as the countess said.
“Everybody!”
The organizer clapped her hands and concentrated.
“Everyone look here. Who I brought with me!”
“Oh, my God.”
“It looks like you’ve arrived.”
Each of the women who followed Countess Dorothea into the hall gave a word of appreciation. Many people talk with their mouths covered with soft fans, so it was not clear if it was a positive reaction.
‘You don’t have to be picky about it.’
I didn’t know who it was anyway even when I looked at her face.
The tea party was attended by a wide range of people, from young to old ladies. What was a little curious was that unlike me, most of them had a maid behind them.
Besides, there was no woman like me in a hunting suit. It was a fact that I already noticed earlier, but my mouth was bitter because I felt like I was being shot dead after confirming that I was wearing a standout costume alone.
‘Should I have brought Emily? She didn’t tell me to go with her, so I left her.’
I had some regrets. I was worried that I might be called a “bold and rude princess” because I didn’t recognize her for no reason. So I decided to refrain from speaking as much as possible.
“Thank you for inviting me.”
I lowered my head moderately so that I wouldn’t look too low. The eyes filled me with unknown intentions. It was similar to when Countess Dorothea had a strange look on her face after receiving my greetings earlier.
“Come, sit this way, princess.”
Fortunately, Countess Dorothea hurriedly sat me down to see that she wasn’t trying to do something childish like invited me and left me unattended. It was next to the table where the party’s organizer sat, drawing the most attention. Considering Penelope’s reputation, it was a bit of a surprise.
“Please pour the tea to the princess.”
Countess Dorothea instructed the maid who was standing behind her. The steaming yellow tea poured into the teacup in front of me.
“This is a precious tea leaf my husband brought back from his trip to Setina. Try it.”
At the suggestion of the gentle Countess Dorothea, I slowly picked up the teacup. I was so uninterested in this society that I was scolded by the Duke for didn’t hanging out with other aristocrats. But it’s a bit awkward to be sitting in a seat like this…
‘Oh, I’m a little nervous.’
Carefully smelling the aroma, I took the teacup to my mouth, pretended to take a sip, and put it down again.
“It smells great, countess.”
In fact, it wasn’t so good. Perhaps because it was foreign, the tea was smelled by the smell of a mildly offensive smell.
But I knew I shouldn’t say it straight at a place like this.
“Really? I’m glad you said so! Everyone does, doesn’t?”
Countess Dorothea smiled loudly and asked for everyone’s sympathy.
“You know what?”
“There’s good news.”
This time again, some women gently covered their mouths with fans. It seemed that my first greeting had been completed quite successfully, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It was then.
“Princess! I heard you did a great job on the eve.”
One of the lady, who was sitting across from me, pulled her chair close and asked.
I wonder if she’s about fifteen or sixteen. The big eyes of the girl, who still looked very young, twinkled with curiosity.
“Oh, well, that’s a tremendous performance…..”
I smiled awkwardly and waved my hands.
‘Modesty is nobility.’
And she was proud alone. In that attitude, a Lady, who was unknown, shouted lovingly, blushing her cheeks.
“Since yesterday, the palace has been rocked by your story!”
“Aha, is that so?”
That lady added suddenly with a sullen look.
“Yes, I’m not feeling well, so I went back to Cavana earlier and didn’t see it…..”
“No, Lady Aris. You missed that rare scene?”
Before I could even answer, I heard a startled question.
I glanced over there. However, she quickly turned off my attention because her face was indistinguishable because she was one of those who covered his mouth with a fan.
‘…Lady Aris, right.’
Instead, I recounted the name of lady, who first expressed her favor. I do some memorized so that there would be no difficulties later on, and it was to build friendship with peers, as the Duke said.
Meanwhile, the women sitting down began to chat about me.
“Princess Eckart was so good at shooting arrows, it was spectacular to see that beast creatures dying!”
“Really? Oh, I miss you so much…”.”
“That’s right. Lady Aris will regret leaving the banquet hall early yesterday.”
“But Lady, how could you improve your bow so quickly?”
Most of the time it was old ladies who opened their mouths. Before I knew it, the swings quietly treated me, who was higher than them. I noticed it right away, but I didn’t bother to show it. It was a propensity everywhere.
‘You’ve had a terrible reputation, but you’re a gentleman.’
There was no need to spoil the flow of the atmosphere with a bad air. So I mumbled with a moderate smile.
“If you practice hard with a good teacher, your crossbow skills will improve quickly.”
“Oh, my God… …guess who else did you practice to shoot this time?”
Then the woman sitting diagonally mumbled, covering her mouth with her hand fan. The voice full of a bit mocking vibe.
“……Yes?”
I looked at the woman carefully, wondering if I heard it right. The blue hair was an impressive for young lady of my age. Her eyes curled beautifully, as if to say hello when they met mine.
‘What is it?’
It was such a gentle face that I didn’t think what I just heard was a sarcastic remark toward me.
“Ah ha ha, did Lady Kellin see the princess’s performance yesterday?”
Then, the organizer naturally led the frozen conversation for a while. Suddenly I felt a sense of deja vu.
‘Lady Kellin? I’ve heard that name before.…’
Meanwhile, a woman named Lady Kellin responded with a broad smile.
“Of course, Countess.”
“How were you, Lady? Tell me more about it!”
Lady Aris again jeered wildly, shaking her body in the room. Obviously it’s my story, but somehow, I felt like I wasn’t the subject.
But no one thought so, everyone focused their attention on the lips of Lady Kellin, who was peeling away.
“In fact, I was relieved the princess shot the crossbow.”
“What kind of relief?”
“Oh, come to think of it, Lady Kellin has praised the princess for her archery skills since last year, right?”
The ladies responded to Lady Kellin’s words one after another.
‘You praised me for my skills? I don’t think so…..’
The moment I tilted my head at the absurd remarks of the lady. A fact flashed past my head.
‘Oh, my God.’
It was only then that I realized who that blue hair was. I didn’t do it myself, and I thought I would never run into it, so I completely forgot.
‘Last year, she’s the one…’
The girl who became the queen of the hunting competition because of Penelope was so furious to kill her with crossbow.
‘I’m ruined.’
An eerie chill passed by with a backstalk. Somehow I had a bad foreboding that this might not be a good place for Penelope, no, for me.
“It reminds me of the princess from last year’s hunting contest.”
When she was facing such an internal storm, Kellin or Kelo, whatever her name is continued calmly.
“You pointed a crossbow at me, saying you’d show me a trick of catching a mosquito flying near me with an arrow.”
“Oh, my God!”
At her words, everyone looked sideways at me and gave me an exclamation.
“Was the rumor really true?”
Countess Dorothea asked back, making a fuss.
“I don’t know what the rumor is, but the princess never aimed at me for a reason that is inconsiderate and undignified. Don’t get her wrong. She was kind enough to catch mosquitoes.”
I couldn’t help but hate the way his blue hair answered with a smile.
‘Hey. Just swear to me openly.’
She was very good at gossiping in front of my face. She’s so proud of myself, and last year’s Penelope was so angry that she would shoot and kill her without covering water.
“My heart was heavy with bad words about you because of last year’s incident, and that’s a relief.”
But gossip didn’t end there. The blue head looked at me and drove in a wedge.
“Yesterday, you were hitting beast as big as house, not a small mosquito, so you don’t have to worry mistake people as one ?”
“………”
“What I want to say is The princess is not blind.”
In direct translation, ‘It doesn’t make sense that you can’t hit that big beast unless you’re blind.’ It meant that.
Why can’t the anxious premonition be missed even once? It seemed to me now that Duke knew the purpose of sending a maid directly from the early morning to get involved with me in this meeting.
‘Somehow. I thought the smiles were strange…..’
The women who succeeded in setting a trap with the head of the egg began to shoot their poison dart excitedly at today’s game.
