❀❀❀

Blair made her way toward the tent where the ladies had gathered.

More precisely, she headed toward where Ilena, Count Roman’s wife, was seated.

Kalintz had told her to stop concerning herself with things, but she had absolutely no intention of sitting meekly and waiting for the hunting competition to end.

She had no plans to go to the Armos Islands, and no plans to break the contract, so there was no reason to stay out of it.

Better to gather information than sit here doing nothing.

Blair picked up a glass of champagne as naturally as someone coming to cool off and quench her thirst, and drifted toward Countess Roman.

The countess was speaking with those around her in a voice full of complaint.

“……And it makes sense that he won’t participate because of that?”

She was venting her irritation about her husband’s absence from the hunt.

“He was perfectly fine just two days ago. Why is he suddenly not feeling well, honestly.”

“I know. The Count has such a talent for hunting too. What a shame, my lady.”

The flattering remark seemed to please Countess Roman, and she launched into even more elaborate complaints.

Blair smiled faintly at how easy she was to read and drew closer.

“I was looking forward to watching the Count’s skill myself. What a pity.”

“……Oh my. Aren’t you the Princess Consort of Eiron?”

Countess Roman seemed wary that a foreign princess consort had overheard her complaints.

“The Count’s skill at hunting is said to be the finest in Valia. I hear he brings back an enormous boar every year.”

Blair pressed her hands together and spoke in a tone of admiring wonder. Countess Roman’s wariness melted away like snow on a warm day.

“Goodness, my lady. You’re too kind. My husband isn’t quite that remarkable…… I think the rumors may be a little exaggerated.”

Her mouth was already stretched nearly to her ears as she said it.

“Exaggerated, my lady. Being modest on top of everything else will only make people envious.”

Complimenting the woman herself sent her mood soaring to the point of nearly floating away. Blair took the opportunity and settled naturally into the seat beside her.

“Even so, it really is a shame. If the competition hadn’t been pushed back, we might have seen your husband at his best.”

Blair slipped in the bait.

“Oh, I know. What on earth is going on. This has never happened before.”

“Really? So why was it postponed?”

“I’m not sure. There seems to be a reason, but…… my husband doesn’t really talk politics with me.”

Politics. So it seemed true that the hunting competition had been delayed after Duke Brienne’s private meeting with Grand Duke Clovitz.

“Oh, come to think of it, I heard they were releasing something interesting in the hunting grounds. Maybe that’s why it was pushed back?”

“Something interesting?”

At Blair’s question, Countess Roman shrugged.

“Well, it’s probably just a slightly larger boar or something. No one would want casualties at a birthday celebration.”

Blair very much wanted to tell her that one of the people hoping for exactly that was her husband, but she held her tongue and nodded with a smile.

After playing along with Countess Roman a little longer, Blair naturally excused herself and returned to the original tent.

Pushing back the date entirely…… did they release some kind of dangerous beast.

But a beast dangerous enough for that would be difficult to control. For something aimed at targeting Kalintz specifically, it seemed overly chaotic.

Turning these thoughts over, she returned to the tent to find an unexpected person waiting for her.

“Ariela?”

She looked as though she had just come in from outside the palace, dressed in comfortable clothes with a hooded cape draped over her shoulders.

“Your Highness, I have something urgent to tell you.”

“Pardon? Me?”

They had exchanged glances a few times, but had never actually spoken, so Blair was caught slightly off guard.

“It’s important. It concerns His Highness Kalintz.”

Her serious expression and tone made Blair’s heart lurch.

“This morning, one of the gamekeepers came to find me—”

“Wait, Ariela.”

Blair cut her off quickly. She had spotted Lady Miller approaching from across the way, carrying a tray of cool water and desserts.

“……Let’s move somewhere else.”

Blair sent Tilda a silent look to convey the situation roughly, then walked with Ariela to a corner of the tent.

“Is there a spy inside?”

“It’s only a suspicion for now. But what’s happened?”

Ariela continued with a grave face.

“An odd report came in this morning. One of the boars prepared in advance for today’s hunting competition has gone missing.”

“Gone missing?”

“The gamekeeper went to feed it and found the cage already broken open.”

The story was already turning ominous.

“It couldn’t have been a person…… but for a boar to have broken it, that cage was forged from steel alloyed with dargon.”

“Then who broke it?”

“The gamekeeper found it so strange that they searched the area, and apparently found this rolling around nearby.”

Ariela reached into a pouch on her belt and produced a small vial. A few drops of thick purple liquid remained inside.

“What is that?”

“An alchemical substance. An extremely dangerous one.”

Ariela’s expression darkened rapidly, and Blair’s face went rigid in turn.

“It’s a substance that completely warps and transforms the structure of organic matter. In short, it mutates a living creature into something else entirely. If a boar consumed this, it would no longer be a mere wild animal……”

Ariela added in a low, heavy voice,

“It would be a horrifying monster.”

❀❀❀

“It’s too quiet.”

Ernst muttered, looking around the still forest.

At his words, Kalintz pulled the reins and brought his horse to a stop, scanning the surroundings for a moment.

Whether it was the clouds pressing low overhead or the trees dense enough to be unsettling, something foul seemed to be creeping silently through the forest.

“Stay sharp. There’s no telling what Brienne released in these woods.”

At Kalintz’s words, the six or seven elite knights answered in unison.

Just then, a rough rustling came from the branches of a nearby hazel tree. The moment it registered, something massive burst through the tangled undergrowth.

“Look out! A boar!”

Ernst drew his bowstring in an instant. The arrow cut through the air and struck the ground at the boar’s feet, and the beast let out a shriek and charged faster.

The seasoned knights drew swords and spears quickly, but the boar was already barreling toward Kalintz at full speed.

“Your Highness! Get clear!”

The beast bared its sharp tusks and lunged without mercy. Kalintz rolled sideways in one swift motion and drew a small dagger from his hip, sending it flying.

Squeeeeeal!

Struck in the flank, the boar let out a threatening cry and changed direction. But this time Kalintz was faster.

The clean ring of a sword being drawn rang out, followed immediately by a short, heavy cry.

Cut down in a single blow to a vital point, the boar collapsed to the ground with a small puff of dirt.

“Good heavens. Where did that come from all of a—Your Highness?”

Ernst looked at Kalintz, still gripping his sword and staring hard into the forest.

“Is there something else?”

Ernst’s hand moved to the sword at his hip as he raised his guard, and he reacted immediately to the figure that emerged from the shifting undergrowth.

“Who—!”

But Ernst had to slide his half-drawn sword back into its scabbard.

“I thought I spotted something particularly dark.”

“I’d ask you to refrain from discriminatory remarks, Your Highness Kalintz.”

The one who stepped out of the undergrowth was none other than Rashid Remarque.

“Calling what I see as I see it discriminatory. You must have a bit of a complex about it, young duke of the Armos Islands.”

The sharpness had gone up another notch, and Ernst, caught in the middle, let out an awkward cough.

“……A clean kill.”

Rashid looked at the prey he had been tracking, now lying completely still, and murmured quietly.

“You would know well enough that a shallow wound only makes them more dangerous, as we just saw. Did you lose it while trying to catch it?”

“Something like that. I was trying to take it alive.”

“Alive?”

Kalintz frowned. What was the point of capturing alive at a hunting competition. Especially a ferocious boar.

“Do you have unusual tastes.”

But the answer that came back was unexpected.

“The wound on that boar’s hind leg was not made by me.”

Rashid continued with a faint frown.

“When I first found it, the beast was already in a panic, thrashing wildly. Like something had attacked it. I wanted to catch it and take a closer look, but……”

That was when it happened.

Grrrrrr—

A very low, deeply unpleasant sound came from somewhere deeper in the forest.

It was far too strange and wrong to be the sound of any ordinary beast.