Though the Duke seemed a bit taken aback, judging by his expression. But she had spoken respectfully, and there was nothing wrong with the content. The Duke had said he liked honest people, so she had simply spoken honestly—Olivia deliberately pushed down the rising concern that tried to lift its head.

— But did you really think of him as a dog in heat?

“Ah, about that……”

Olivia trailed off, avoiding a direct answer. In truth, she had spoken that way because she was upset at being treated like a stupid, hypocritical person, but she didn’t actually think of him as a dog in heat. What kind of dog would be that big, and with that big of a… thing? As the scene from that day naturally came to mind, Olivia started fanning herself, feeling suddenly hot.

“I was surprised and a bit scared because the duke wasn’t in his normal state, and also because I went in despite him telling me to leave.”

Even without Olivia criticizing him, the duke had appeared to be suffering enough from his uncontrollable body. What must it feel like to have a heat cycle that could come at any time without warning? Like having a time bomb attached to your body, perhaps?

If he had been truly animal-like, with his reason completely disappearing to follow only his instincts, it might have been easier on his mind. But the duke seemed to have a minimum line he wanted to maintain even during his heat, which made it more psychologically torturous.

“If I hadn’t been there as an unexpected variable, wouldn’t he have just locked himself in his room and waited for the heat cycle to pass, as he always did?”

He didn’t seem like someone who would grab someone first to satisfy his desires, even if it meant injuring himself and groaning in pain. Olivia fiddled with the key the duke had given her in her pocket.

Though there had been physical contact, at the last moment, he had regained his senses and forcibly pushed her out of the room. And hadn’t he even given her the key to his room in case he lost control and came out? As Olivia recalled each excuse for the duke, she suddenly stopped walking and gently touched her lips.

“Why?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Ah, that was my first kiss, so maybe that’s a bit regrettable?

She recalled the image of the duke naturally pressing his lips against hers. The sensation of his lips, which had sucked on hers until they were swollen, while his sharp fingertips caressed her face without leaving a single scratch, and each moment of his transformation from his strange appearance back to a complete human was vividly drawn as if right before her eyes. The feeling of their lips meeting—violent but not bitter. Feeling a burning sensation in her throat, Olivia lightly licked her lips and started walking again.

I’m not sure which appearance is his real one, but…

“The duke should really be grateful for that face.”

The honest impression from deep in her heart—that it wasn’t as terribly horrible as one might worry—was something she silently vowed not to tell him until he apologized, as Olivia blushed without realizing it.

Since she was already out for a walk, Olivia decided to explore the forest near the mansion with rabbits and squirrels as her guides. She had been worried because she had used up all the herbs she had brought, but she found she could gather all the necessary ingredients nearby without having to search far.

Since she had come out lightly and hadn’t yet received permission from the duke to collect plants, Olivia was just walking along the path, chatting pleasantly and checking which areas had what herbs, when she stopped as the mansion appeared farther away than expected. The day would soon grow dark, and she didn’t want to be misunderstood as trying to escape, so should she head back now?

“We should head back now.”

The rabbits and squirrels who had been excitedly running ahead turned back with disappointed expressions and scurried back to her side at Olivia’s words. The forest was a place where one could easily get lost or find darkness falling suddenly if not careful, so she reminded herself to always be cautious as she lowered herself to the ground to put the squirrel on her shoulder and pick up the rabbit.

“Next time, let’s explore the other side, shall we?”

As she was smiling and whispering secretly, suddenly there was a commotion of footsteps, and the trees behind her began to shake violently from a distance. Olivia tilted her head with a question mark floating above it as she watched the approaching movement.

“Graaaargh.”

With a sharp scream, a large bear burst out from between the trees. How much had it been rampaging through the forest? Its fine black fur was covered with leaves and branches. Olivia hugged the rabbit tightly and slowly backed away from the sudden appearance of this enormous character.

Though the bear wouldn’t attack since the forest’s owner was a pacifist, it seemed quite agitated and would need to be calmed down. Unfortunately, she didn’t have anything with her at the moment. Olivia first set down the rabbit and squirrel she had been holding behind her back and showed her empty, harmless palms to calm the bear.

“Excuse me, Mr. Bear? I don’t know what’s wrong, but perhaps we could talk for a moment……”

Before Olivia’s kind sentence could finish, the bear, which had been baring its teeth and drooling in excitement, suddenly rolled its eyes backward. Then a massive shadow fell over Olivia’s body as if about to pounce on her.

“Aaaah?”

She hurriedly backed away and twisted her ankle, tumbling to the ground, but she narrowly avoided the disaster of being crushed by the heavy body. Startled by the stinging pain in her ankle, Olivia cautiously approached the fallen bear and gently shook its body.

“Excuse me, Mr. Bear?”

Why is it suddenly acting like this? As Olivia felt the black fur, her expression immediately hardened at the sticky red liquid that coated her hand. Blood? Following the traces of dried blood, she examined various parts of the body and found short arrows deeply embedded in the bear’s sides and legs. They were hunting arrows typically used by professional hunters. I should at least gather some herbs I saw earlier. I’m already in debt once, so if he asks me to repay twice, I will, Olivia thought as she tried to stand despite the pain in her ankle.

Just then, a cold gun barrel pressed against her back with a click.

“Get your hands off my prey.”

Olivia obediently raised her hands and stood up as the hunter instructed. Every time she stumbled due to her ankle, the hunter threateningly poked her back with the gun barrel. She couldn’t understand how a hunter with a gun had entered this forest. Looking around quickly, she saw that the squirrel and rabbit she had released earlier had already hidden themselves.

“Who are you and what are you doing here? Do you live in this forest?”

“I came to the forest to gather herbs and got lost while passing through some thorny bushes.”

Olivia watched the hunter carefully. For now, she played the role of an innocent villager who had lost her way, moving away from the bear as instructed. Her statement was somewhat true except for her relationship with the duke, so she didn’t feel guilty about it. The hunter lowered his gun after roughly scanning Olivia for any weapons that might threaten him. Then he approached the fallen bear with a satisfied smile.

“Um, wait a moment!”

“What now?”

“The bear might suddenly wake up, shouldn’t we wait a bit longer?”

“What would someone who just picks plants know about hunting? Don’t give me your worthless advice.”

“I’m sorry. I was just worried…… Do you come to this forest often to hunt bears? It’s my first time seeing a hunter, and it’s impressive.”

To buy even a little time before the hunter could finish off the bear, Olivia deliberately flattered him, throwing out topics he would enjoy boasting about. As expected, the hunter seemed pleased by the young woman’s compliments and stopped approaching the bear. He stood with one leg casually propped up and lit a cigarette he had been carrying. His attempt to look cool by blowing smoke seemed more likely to induce coughing than appear stylish. Olivia frowned behind the smoke.

“This is my first time in this area too. I heard there’s going to be an interesting event soon, so I came for some advance scouting, and it turns out this is quite a good hunting ground.”

“Oh, really?”

“These days, hunters are crawling all over every forest, and the competition is fierce. But this place seems to be a location people don’t know about yet, and there are plenty of animals. If I can clean it out before other guys discover it, the income will be quite juicy. Hahaha.”

Imperial law prohibits indiscriminate hunting, but there was no hesitation in his confident voice. Either he thought Olivia wouldn’t know this, or he had no intention of hiding it in the first place. The hunter went on at length about how capable and strong a man he had been throughout his life.