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“Lucy, how about a summer vacation to Coral? The valley there is pretty.”

She asked, taking Lucy’s hand.

“That sounds nice. But will it be okay for me to go?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it?”

The Emperor and the other royal family members said they would travel to the Gerban peninsula after the event. Of course, that had nothing to do with Belinda. Neither she nor they wanted her to hang around like an uninvited guest.

The Empress and Princess Adelai, in particular, would obviously not be pleased.

It would be a thousand times better to travel with Lucy than sit around in some unflattering place trying to be polite.

Belinda concluded to herself, nodding.

Meanwhile, the sound of the approaching hounds got louder. The first group seemed to be back, their white and black horses popping out of the forest.

It was Prince Lart in the lead, with a red cape around his shoulders, looking excited. He hurriedly got off his horse and walked up to Belinda.

Well, not precisely to Belinda. He was interested in her maid, Esteemed Daughter of Count Herb, Lucy.

“A gift for Lady Herb.”

He said in an uncharacteristically serious voice. He easily lost his composure among themselves but evidently was able to uphold his manners as a prince.

With a gesture, he carefully laid down the fox with glossy red fur.

The nobles started a silent conversation with their looks. The Prince was giving a gift to a count’s daughter, not to mention one that was pushed out to serve a neglected princess?

Whatever his character, Lart was the Crown Prince of the empire, meaning he’d be the next Emperor.

A duke who usually coveted his position took a breath, and the Empress and Princess Adelai’s expressions hardened.

Lucy, perplexed, stood up. Even after expressing her gratitude, she could barely bring herself to straighten back up.

Lart might not have been good at understanding social cues, but he wasn’t completely tactless. Knowing that Lucy’s thanks marked his exit, he frowned and got back onto his horse.

“I will catch a better game in the future.”

He headed back to the hunting grounds but was stopped by Adelai grabbing his horse’s reins.

“Lart, did you forget about me? How disappointing.”

She said, approaching before he knew it. There was a firm reproach in her grumbling voice.

Lart took a look around, got off his horse, and walked with Adelai.

The two’s conversation continued in a whisper after a few steps.

“Lart, what was that?”

“What was what?”

“You gave the animal you caught to Belinda’s maid.”

Adelai said in a knife-sharp tone, though still smiling. Lart comfortably sat down on a rug and laughed.

“Her name is Lucy Herb, not Belinda’s maid.”

“You don’t need to tell me that vulgar name.”

“Vulgar? She could be the next Empress.”

“What?!”

This time, her voice got a little louder.

Adelai aggressively fanned her face, though the heat rising to her head was evident.

Fiddling with his dirty sleeve, Lart also laid bare his thoughts.

“I’m going to tell the Emperor that I have her in mind.”

“You what?”

Adelai’s expression stiffened.

“Didn’t you know about how I feel? I thought you’d notice for sure since we’re twins.”

How was I supposed to know, idiot!

Princess Adelai stopped herself from screaming out her thoughts, clenching her fan.

Really, this had nothing to do with who Lart liked. He would remain a shielded prince until she became Empress.

Yes. If he was going to be the crown prince, maybe he’d be better off marrying into a mixed-blood family than a high-ranking noble one. But more importantly….

That lowly thing was Belinda’s attendant. The royal family becoming involved with her in such a strange manner would be unpleasant.

Adelai swallowed her mounting irritation and laughed.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Then I wouldn’t have been this surprised.”

The Empress, who’d been listening in, also probed in with a low voice.

“Prince. You can have as much fun as you’d like, but you have to be careful in public.”

Lart stretched out and laughed.

“Fun? You must not know how often I rush off to the guest palace to win her heart, Mother!”

“….”

Adelai again internally screamed at Lart’s relaxed words.

Not know about it?! There are many more important things to do than keeping track of you!

Even if she had two bodies, searching for Barahan’s descendant would’ve been too much. But she couldn’t say that.

Adelai internally let out a disapproving sigh.

Let’s calm down and think through this step by step. All that isn’t really right.

Lucy Herb was from a mixed-blood family. There was no way that such poison would benefit the prince. Positioning love before power was simple nonsense. It was self-explanatory that she’d be the one to benefit from it.

Even if the Emperor chooses me as his successor, there might be objections, right?

It didn’t take much thought to see whose position would be stronger – Lart, married into a crumbling count’s family, versus herself, with a powerful man. She’d even have a strong backing against the Shinsu while looking for Barahan’s descendant in the future.

Soon, Adelai sat down beside Lart, now with a more relaxed face.

“Anyways, you know His Majesty won’t be satisfied with this, right? No matter how… No matter how free-spirited you are, there are things you can’t do that easily.”

She said in her usual whisper.

Adelai inwardly laughed at her twin and lowered her eyebrows, pretending to be worried. By “free-spirited”, she really just meant “an idiot who didn’t think before acting”.

“But even so, I’ll always be on your side, Lart.”

“She buried her thoughts that slithered around like snakes at the bottom of her heart.”

Stupid boy. See, you’re not cut out to be Emperor.

Lart just smiled, cheerful as usual.

“I’ll take care of it, Adelai. Thanks for worrying about me.”

Adelai nodded with a smile, unaware that she wasn’t talking to the foolish and weak Lart she used to know.

The sun gradually traveled over the sky, and the sound of horses began to approach from the forest. Everyone seemed to be returning from the hunt.

The Emperor was in the lead, his grinning face still looking like a young man’s. He was the first to ride up to the Empress, blond hair waving in the wind.

“Empress.”

He smiled without saying much.

With a simple gesture, he called over his attendant and a large black deer, with horns like a beautiful tree, was placed down.

Many nobles began to clap.

“Empress, it looks like I still have my skills.”

“It’s amazing, Your Majesty. A deer this big.”

“I’m planning to stuff it and send it to Duke Lucen. What do you think?”

“That would be an infinite honor, Your Majesty.”

Duke Lucen was the Empress’s relative. She bowed, rejoicing at the affection that the Emperor was publicly showing her.

While they conversed, the last group started to arrive, just before sunset. The lively-faced children of nobles entered the hunting grounds with their game, including martens, small roe deer, and birds.

Some devoted their prey to their lovers, some older ones to their fiancée, and most without a lover or fiancée devoted it to Princess Adelai.

They look like they’re having a good time.

Belinda watched the scene as if she was a spectator at the theater. She’d always been excluded, so the alienation was natural and familiar.

She sighed, stretching out in boredom.

A murmur began to be heard from the edges of the hunting grounds. As Belinda looked up over the crowd, she saw a large black bear on a cart.

“Princess, someone must have caught a bear!”

Belinda also perked up. Catching a predator was extremely rare in hunting contests.

But…

Why are they coming this way?

She was surprised to notice that it was coming towards her.

It was a new situation. It was the first time someone had devoted their prey to her, and she didn’t even know what expression to have.

The great hunter finally appeared. It was Phillip Rodson. He smiled at Belinda, not a single hair out of place.

“A gift for the Empire’s beautiful star, the Princess.”

He got down onto one knee.

It was dead quiet. Even the Emperor didn’t open his mouth, and the nobles just looked at each other with curious eyes. It was already surprising that Duke Phillip had such great ability, but he also devoted his prey to Belinda, not the Empress or Adelai.

Phillip Rodson’s attitude seemed to have one meaning – courtesy and likability. What happened?

The Emperor broke the silent confusion with a loud laugh.

“Today’s winner is Duke Rodson. I thought I had it in the bag with my deer!”

His voice was filled with happiness.

He approached Phillip, who didn’t raise his head, with a cheerful smile. Instead of telling him to look up, he talked to himself humorously.

“Well, I guess Belinda isn’t only pretty in my eyes.”

The Duke was more eager about her hair.

The hunting competition seemed to have ended. Without question, the winner would be Phillip Rodson, who caught a black bear.

Furthermore, it was evident that Belinda would be viewed quite differently now.

Everyone knew that Duke Rodson’s family was a great one that would succeed the royals, and the fact that their heir offered his prey to Belinda was significant.

Right as the Emperor was going to pick up the trophy, there was a commotion in the background.

“Ack!”

“Ahhhh!”

Sporadic screams were heard as the people in the back lost their balance. Those who looked back were soon screaming as well.

A giant black leopard was slowly walking through the crowd.

The people’s eyes glazed over with fear. Knights pulled out their swords, and the nobles their bows.

However, they were forced to lower their weapons upon seeing the spirit stone embedded in the leopard’s forehead.

It wasn’t just any animal.

It was a Shinsu.