Liam returned in a daze, seemingly in great shock.

Acelia clicked her tongue disapprovingly when a maid came running, her face pale with fear.

“Y-Your Highness the Princess……”

“What?”

“A message from His Majesty the Emperor!”

Why is the Emperor suddenly involved?

Acelia felt ominous and was about to tell the maid to wait a moment.

But the maid spoke faster.

“His Majesty commands you to participate in the hunting competition!”

What? Hunting competition?

* * *

“Oh my, Madam! You’re attending the hunting competition this year. Is it because of your husband?”

“Hello, Madam. Yes. He’s determined to catch an ermine this time.”

“To gift it to you, I presume? How romantic.”

“Could anyone compare to your son? I heard he caught three deers last year and presented them to you?”

“Oh, it was just luck.”

A gathering where everyone painted gold on each other’s faces with hahaha-hohoho laughter. On the day of the hunting competition, Acelia found herself in the forest owned by the imperial family.

Though only men participated in the competition, it served as a social venue since it was hosted by the imperial family.

Ladies and noble daughters pitched their family tents and chatted intimately.

But Acelia tried to calm her boiling insides.

‘I don’t have time for this……!’

Only two months remained until The Last Leaf’s deadline.

Joachim, who had said he would investigate the statue, had disappeared without a trace, and time flowed mercilessly.

Surprisingly, Gale, who seemed like he would enjoy such events, declined to attend, saying he had no interest in hunting. Normally, Acelia would have run around in the garden or played cards with her maids in her room, but she got dragged out because of that damned imperial command.

The Emperor didn’t even acknowledge her presence. She was literally abandoned.

The situation felt so shitty that Acelia kept running her mouth like a hip-hop artist.

“He calls me when he needs me but treats me like a sack of barley when he doesn’t? Am I supposed to stay like this until the competition ends? My stamina’s already poor, and he can’t see it draining just from sitting here? He could at least bring me a bed. Let me lie down. Why doesn’t the poison activate at times like this? If I collapsed now, I could leave early and make the Emperor eat sh*t too. Win-win. Kill two birds with one stone. Dig a ditch and catch a crayfish……”

“Acelia!”

“What?”

Someone strode toward Acelia, who had been left alone with a barrier around her. It was Liam, holding an enormous bouquet.

With a flushed face, he knelt on one knee and presented a bouquet almost as big as Acelia’s torso.

‘What is this person thinking?’

Liam’s behavior made her suspicious.

“Oh my, Liam. What’s this event? What about the competition?”

“You love flowers. I prepared this after a long time. Do you like it?”

The cunning Liam realized she wouldn’t show her true nature in front of people and used this to his advantage.

For the record, Acelia didn’t particularly like flowers. They were nice for occasional mood-setting, but they bloomed only briefly and became a hassle to dispose of.

Dried flowers weren’t pretty unless made by professionals. Moreover, she hated them more because they came from Liam.

But with so many eyes watching, she couldn’t coldly reject him. With a smile plastered on her face, she spoke in a small voice.

“Thank you, Liam. Giving such a large flower bouquet in the forest, I might get stung by bees.”

“Huh, what?!”

She signaled her nanny, who took the bouquet almost snatching it and carried it behind the tent.

Acelia deliberately feigned affection and stroked Liam’s head while he knelt. She brought her lips close to his ear and whispered.

“Stop this nonsense and go hunt. My mood is already shitty, do you want to make it worse?”

Liam’s face turned so red it seemed like it might explode, and he hurriedly left.

Geez. Making people misunderstand. Acelia clicked her tongue.

The next moment, she felt a piercing gaze from somewhere.

When she turned her head, Ensia and her group were staring at her.

The coldness in Ensia’s pink eyes was palpable when they met Acelia’s.

‘What are you going to do by glaring?’

She stared back with that meaning, and Ensia turned her head away.

Acelia, who had been full of fighting spirit, felt deflated.

‘Ensia has been strangely quiet lately.’

Since the tea party, Ensia hadn’t visited Acelia or sent any letters.

Normally, she would have come long ago to say irritating things, but she didn’t.

‘Did she have a falling out with Liam? Oh, that’s troublesome.’

Between Liam’s strange behavior and this, Acelia’s intuition rang alarm bells.

This situation wasn’t good for her, whose only thought was breaking the engagement.

Just then, a horn sounded. It signaled the Emperor’s successful hunt.

‘How long do I have to wait here?’

While the actual hunters might not mind, the waiting area was truly boring and tedious.

Chatting only lasted so long. The day was hot, the forest had many insects, and activities were limited, so even the ladies and noble daughters didn’t look particularly happy.

Acelia wasn’t wrong to wish for a bed.

If she could just sleep soundly until the end of the hunting competition, at least the time wouldn’t feel wasted.

Someone watched her from afar.

High Priest Andrea clicked his tongue and spoke to Joachim, who concealed his identity.

“Joachim, if the princess made you uncomfortable, you didn’t have to come.”

“That’s not it.”

The temple had sent support in case of any incidents.

Though Joachim wasn’t on the list, he came secretly.

Andrea looked at him with curious eyes.

“Tell me honestly. Did something happen between you and the princess?”

“I told you. I merely observed her because she seemed to have side effects from God’s touch.”

“And for that reason, you spent the night at the princess’s Palace? Come on, don’t tease an old man.”

“……”

“Good for you. I thought you weren’t human because you only worked, but you’re enjoying your youth too. So your type is someone you want to protect? Hmm?”

High Priest Andrea poked Joachim’s waist mischievously, but Joachim remained silent.

Unlike what others thought, his actions had no ulterior motives.

He couldn’t leave her behind, excited by the possibility that she might be the answer he sought.

He wasn’t in his right mind then. But people who didn’t know this misunderstood.

“I didn’t know you had such a bold personality. Even now, you’re secretly watching the princess.”

“That’s for a different reason.”

“Stop denying it.”

Joachim turned his gaze and silently stared at the waiting area where people gathered.

A major disturbance would soon occur.

The waiting area had minimal troops due to its geographical safety.

It was the perfect time for conspiracies to bloom.

Shortly after……

Groooowl!

“What’s happening?”

“B-b-bear! A gray great bear appeared!”

“Kyaaa!”

“Everyone run!”

The gray great bear was the strongest predator in this forest.

People scattered in panic upon seeing the massive beast, which drooled and raised its front paws in anger.

The troops guarding the ladies and noble daughters faced the gray great bear but were overwhelmed.

“Aaargh!”

Acelia nearly fainted when she saw a soldier get hit by a thick front paw and slammed into the ground.

B-bears tear people apart! Acelia frantically searched for a way to survive.

Currently, two imperial knights protected her, but she didn’t know how long they would stay by her side. She needed to find her own way to survive.

‘Should I mix with the crowd and escape?’

Her physical strength was too poor for that, and if she got pushed and fell, it would be even worse.

‘Then climb up a tree?’

The advice to climb trees when chased by bears was misinformation. Bears climb trees well! She would just become a delicious meal.

‘Aaaah, what should I do!’

That’s when the roulette, which had been quiet all this time, finally appeared.

Ding!

[〈Spin, Spin, Crazy Roulette!〉! A skill drawing chance prepared for you in this life-or-death crisis!]

‘Good to see you, you bastard!’

Acelia felt like crying. She desperately prayed for a teleportation skill or something that would help her escape.

With trembling hands, she spun the roulette.

Piriri……

The round plate spun rapidly before her eyes, and a meaningless sound effect she had heard somewhere played.

Thump…… thump……

‘Hurry up!’

Acelia’s heart was about to burst.

The gray great bear had already come close.

The tense imperial knights shouted that she needed to flee, but Acelia couldn’t go anywhere because of the roulette.

This must have looked like her legs were frozen with fear, because one knight tried to carry her on his back.

‘Still not done?!’

Click. Barabam!

The awaited sound came, and Acelia’s expression brightened. But then.

[You have acquired 〈A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step!〉]

‘What did you say, you son of a b*tch?’

Acelia’s expression distorted mercilessly.