Cail looked at Yupheon with an incredulous face.
“She was right next to him.”
“I know.”
“Your archery skills are terrible! If she were to be hit by mistake…!”
“What are you saying? There’s no way Jella would be hit by an arrow.”
“……”
Cail’s mouth closed at Yupheon’s words as he shrugged his shoulders.
That’s true. The Jella they knew would snap an arrow in half before it even reached her.
Yupheon hummed a tune as he pulled out another arrow from his quiver.
“You came at a good time.”
“…?”
“I’ve never properly learned how to shoot a bow.”
Yupheon grinned as he aimed the bow at Cail.
“I needed some practice.”
Ping!
As Yupheon’s arrow flew, Cail dodged.
The arrow that lost its target stuck into a wooden pillar on the opposite side.
“…As I always feel, you’re really not in your right mind.”
Cail frowned as he looked at the arrow stuck in the wooden pillar, then paused. The area around where the arrow was stuck had turned black.
“Don’t tell me you poisoned it…”
But when he turned back, Yupheon had already disappeared far away in the meantime.
“Hah…”
Cail sighed as he watched Yupheon once again chasing after Jella and Niel.
***
As Niel snapped his fingers, the hidden knights immediately revealed themselves.
They quickly set up an outdoor iron table and chairs, which they had brought from somewhere, completed the lunch preparations in an instant, and disappeared.
It was when I was standing there blankly in front of it.
“Please sit, Lady Jella.”
Niel said, pulling out the chair in front of her.
“How dare I share a table with Your Majesty?”
“What does it matter? There’s only Lady Jella and myself here.”
“What about those people just now?”
“……”
Niel stared at something over my shoulder.
Rustle rustle.
Then, the presence that was felt nearby until just now instantly moved further away.
“…?”
“They’ve all gone to have their meal.”
You just chased them away, didn’t you…?
As I looked at him with a wry expression, he smiled at me.
“Won’t you have a meal with me, Lady Jella?”
“That’s a bit uncomfortable…”
It was when I was about to refuse outright.
“As Lady Jella well knows, the position of Emperor is always a lonely one.”
“Gasp! Wh-what do you mean I know well?”
I asked in surprise at his statement, which seemed as if he had noticed that I was ‘Jella Shunaibel’.
“I didn’t know that? You must be very lonely then. Haha.”
“Yes, it’s truly lonely and desolate. To the point where there’s not even one person to share a meal with.”
“If you’re that lonely and desolate, I’ll specially have a meal with you for the sake of my client.”
I promptly sat down on the chair he had pulled out.
At this, Niel was about to sit across from me with a satisfied smile when.
Rustle!
With a very agile and nimble sound effect, Yupheon suddenly appeared and quickly took that seat.
“Pretty one!”
He smiled brightly at me.
“Huh?”
“What are you doing, Yupheon Arne.”
Niel’s expression hardened. However, Yupheon didn’t even look at him, the owner of the seat, and said to me with a beaming smile.
“I’m hungry. Can I eat with you?”
“…Shouldn’t you ask for permission from that person over there, not me?”
Every time I met him, I had this thought, but I felt it again anew.
Yupheon Arne is, crazy.
‘…It’s certain. He’s really not normal. He’s not just crazy, he seems to have lost his mind.’
I could feel Niel pressing his temples next to me.
Somehow understanding his feelings, I gave him a pitying look.
“What should we do, Your Majesty? Should I give up my seat…”
“No, Lady Jella. I’m fine, please eat comfortably.”
Niel said in a slightly pale voice.
“I’ll have another seat prepared.”
As he gestured towards the air, I could feel the knights moving with rustle sounds.
“Yes, then I’ll enjoy the meal.”
Although I felt a bit sorry that Niel’s seat wasn’t prepared yet, there was no need to eat with an uncomfortable heart when he had told me to eat comfortably.
It was a feast I hadn’t enjoyed in a long time.
‘Since I’m eating anyway, I should enjoy it well, thinking of it as a welfare benefit.’
It was when I was about to engage in the meal combatively with a fork and knife in hand.
Yupheon, who had stolen someone else’s seat but wasn’t eating and was just smiling with his chin propped up, pointed at my face and said.
“Pretty one, there’s sauce here.”
“Here?”
“No, here…”
It was when he was about to reach out towards my face.
Thump.
A thick hand suddenly appeared and grabbed his wrist.
“Do not touch any further.”
It was Cail, who hadn’t been seen since morning.
“Oh? Cail!”
After shouting his name loudly out of joy, I added timidly, wondering if I had acted too familiar.
“…Lord Aleret.”
Niel and Yupheon simultaneously glanced at Cail.
“You seem really happy to see him, pretty one.”
“It’s as if you were waiting for that fellow.”
The two of them said one line each, slightly curling their lips.
They were clearly smiling as they spoke, but it gave me an eerie feeling, so I unconsciously made an excuse.
“No. I just hadn’t seen him since morning, so I thought he might be sick…”
At my words, Cail smiled, his eyes curving.
“Were you worried?”
“Huh? No, it’s not worry.”
“I’m sorry to have caused you concern. But don’t worry. The only one who can hurt me is you.”
“…!”
Flinch!
‘What does this mean? The only one who can hurt him is me?’
I quickly racked my brain at those words whose meaning I couldn’t understand. And I reached one conclusion.
‘Is he implicitly telling Niel that I’m the culprit who’s been hurting the heroes?’
My hand holding the fork trembled at the sudden feeling of betrayal.
‘Cail, even you.’
As I glared at him, biting my lower lip hard, he raised a question mark above his head.
“Jella…?”
He asked in a flustered voice at my sulky expression.
“Did I perhaps make a mistake…”
Seeing his attitude of not knowing what to do, it seems he thought I wouldn’t find out.
“No. I’m the one who made a mistake.”
“Jella, why are you using formal speech with me again?”
He asked in a whimpering voice as I replied coldly. But it didn’t work on me, who had already been backstabbed by Yupheon this morning.
“I don’t know.”
I turned my head away abruptly and focused on eating voraciously.
***
After finishing the meal, I moved with Niel again.
Yupheon and Cail kept following a few steps behind.
‘It’s really bothering me.’
I deliberately ignored them, pretending not to see them.
Niel beside me couldn’t possibly not see them either, but he was pretending not to notice.
I glanced at him and casually asked what I had been thinking about.
“By the way, is it okay that we haven’t done any actual hunting?”
“Are you worried?”
“…?”
“Unlike Lord Cail Aleret, I’m pleased by your concern. Do I seem petty and bad for feeling this way, Lady Jella?”
“Why would I worry about Your Majesty?”
I tilted my head and asked back.
What nonsense is he talking about? I’ve been told not to worry about celebrities and nobles.
‘He’s not just a noble, he’s the Emperor. If I’m going to worry, I should worry about my own pitiful commoner situation.’
The reason I brought it up wasn’t out of worry, but to do business.
“It’s not that, I thought I could do the hunting for you instead.”
“What?”
“One tiger for 5,000 gold. How about it?”
“……”
For a moment, he looked at me with a speechless expression.
Was it too expensive?
I thought this was quite a reasonable price…
“Hmm. Okay. I’ll specially discount it to 4,999 gold per tiger.”
“……”
“Alright, I get it. 4,990 gold! But please leave a review.”
Niel stared at me blankly for a while, then burst into laughter.
“Haha. Hahaha.”
Huh? Was there something strange about what I said?
“Lady Jella.”
He called me, barely suppressing his laughter.
“Then 4,900 gold…?”
“No, 4,990 gold. Let’s do that. And if I win the hunting festival, I’ll give you an additional 100,000 gold. How about it?”
“Oh, I’ll escort you to victory, dear customer.”
The moment our deal was struck.
The cries of beasts echoed loudly through the northern forest of the Yetrisha Imperial Palace.
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midori
thanks! let the battlefield of love begin! oh, what? it’s already over! boooo! cail, you baka! jella is…jella, haha… i can appreciate yupheon’s straightforwardness, i do admire it.