Chapter 9.1 – Hunting Festival (Part 6)

As the horses were suddenly left without their masters, Eden and Rune dismounted and approached Cherta.

“Drawing your sword, that’s a bit excessive.”

Cherta, who was watching the fox still on guard but trembling all over, overwhelmed by the fierce aura, turned his head towards Eden speaking beside him and gave a hollow laugh.

“Is that a staff you’re holding in your right hand?”

“Ahem.”

You’re one to talk, having drawn your sword too… how absurd.

Embarrassed by Cherta’s jibe, Eden put his sword back while clearing his throat a couple of times and made an excuse.

“It’s just to catch the fox.”

“Same here.”

“Why won’t you admit that Your Highness has no chance since I spotted it first?”

“Because I promised Ria I’d catch a fox for her.”

As the two started bickering again, Rune heaved a deep sigh. 

Was this how people felt watching me squabble with Eden? 

After having this pointless thought, he turned his gaze to the fox.

“How do you plan to present the fox once you catch it?”

“Obviously, I’ll have a shawl made from its fur. Ria gets cold easily.”

“Now that’s something we agree on.”

Eden and Cherta, unexpectedly sharing the same opinion, nodded at each other and then stared intently at the fox. Their gaze was so fierce that the fox curled up even more, wrapping its body with its tail. Despite its small body trembling pitifully, they showed no reaction.

Rather, they gripped their swords tighter, looking at the fox like prey. Cherta spoke in a low, gritting voice.

“Let’s catch it quickly and go back. I saw some worthless bugs eyeing Ria with lecherous gazes earlier. There’s plenty to hunt.”

“I’ll pluck out the eyes that were scanning her neckline.”

“Now we can have a hunt that truly fits the purpose of this hunting festival.”

Whine… The fox trembled even more at their suddenly fiercer aura. However, just as Cherta raised his sword without a shred of sympathy, Rune, who suddenly thought of something, stopped him.

“Wait a moment, Your Highness!”

At the slightly urgent cry, Cherta froze in place. He just turned his gaze and raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘speak’.

“Do you know what Ria likes the most?”

“Of course, she likes me the most.”

“……”

“Duke Astina, put down your sword. Hey now. That’s treason.”

The serious expression faltered, and a vein popped on his forehead hidden by his bangs. 

If only he weren’t the Crown Prince. 

Rune’s hand gripping the sword tightened with frustration.

“Hah……”

Rune barely suppressed his irritation with a couple of deep breaths and loosened his grip. Anyway, that wasn’t important right now. His head turned towards the fox.

“She likes sweet desserts and flowers, but above all, she loves small and cute things the most. Even if it’s an animal.”

The other two, turning their heads in the same direction, clearly understood the meaning exactly 3 seconds later.

“The fox… seems to fall into the small and cute category.”

“It looks even more so curled up like that.”

Red eyes and golden eyes, sharpened like those of gem appraisers, scanned the fox from head to toe as if examining it piece by piece. From its drooping ears to its curled-up tail, the more they looked, the more it met all of Ria’s favorite conditions.

Then we can’t kill it, can we? 

Feeling suddenly perplexed, Eden rubbed his neat eyebrows with his finger. Unaware of his thoughts, Rune beside him raised the corners of his mouth high, babbling while recalling happy memories.

Rune said that when they were together in Ria’s world before, she showed him the dogs and cats her friends were raising, chattering for a long time with sparkling eyes asking if they weren’t cute, and that he ate her up right there because she looked so adorable… 

This bastard.

Irritated by the words that grated on his nerves, Eden raised his sword and swung it towards Rune. Ignoring the chaos breaking out beside him, Cherta, who had been pondering for a while, clicked his middle finger and thumb together after a moment.

“It would be better to catch the fox alive.”

“Are you thinking of letting Ria raise it?”

Eden, who had finally stopped moving, asked while putting his sword back on his waist, and Cherta’s head moved once left and right.

“No. I’m thinking of releasing it in my palace. That way, Ria will come to see me every day to see the fox. No, it would be better if she stayed at the palace together. Now that our relationship has been revealed to the nobles, there’s no reason not to.”

Already imagining taking care of the fox together in his palace, this time Cherta’s mouth corners lifted high. Conversely, Rune’s expression became deeply furrowed, but surprisingly, Eden nodded in agreement.

“Well, do as you please.”

“Hmm? Backing down so easily, that’s unusual.”

“I’d rather not have even a bit of Ria’s attention diverted to the fox. I’ll keep Ria in my arms, so Your Highness can just focus on managing the fox.”

That’s more like it. 

Cherta’s raised eyebrow returned to its original position. But thinking about it carefully…

“Come to think of it, she’s already giving more attention to Marchioness Rosevita and Lady Peune, and if we add a fox to that… it shouldn’t intrude.”

It made sense. Having more things for her to care about was not at all welcome in many ways.

“Absolutely not. Over my dead body.”

“Then what should we do with that fox?”

“Ria doesn’t seem to know much about the hunting festival rules yet, so we can just explain well the part about catching a living creature, can’t we?”

“How about this? We saved the fox after that brat inflicted a fatal wound on it, but alas, we were a moment too late and the fox passed away. So, feeling too sorry for the fox, we brought it to bury it. If we explain it that way, it should work.”

“That’s a good idea. As expected, you Dukes are talented.”

The three who had been frowning at each other until just now put their heads together and discussed seriously. Eden came up with ideas, Rune crafted the content as if reciting a play, and they didn’t spare praise. They used those brilliant minds not for deciding important matters of the empire, but for this.

Finally, when the perfect scenario was completed, they gripped their swords again to catch the fox. At that moment, the fox started showing strange reactions.

At first, they thought it was scared again, but looking closely, unlike before when it was trembling and looking at them, now it was turning its head this way and that, restless. As if it was afraid of something.

“Why is it acting like that?”

The three, who noticed that the fox wasn’t afraid of them, felt puzzled for a moment, when in the blink of an eye, the fox leaped up and fled in one bound towards a thickly wooded area. They had helplessly lost their prey right in front of them when they almost had it.

“Huh?”

An incredulous laugh escaped involuntarily.

“They say silver foxes are particularly clever, did it act to create a chance to escape?”

“Do they teach such things in the imperial family?”

“Are you seriously asking that……”

At that moment. Along with the thought that they should have killed it first and worried about the rest later, a huge boom was heard among them as they were conversing with a sense of frustration, and the ground shook. Instantly, the expressions of the three men hardened.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

Following that, a sharp scream was heard as if being torn apart. Simultaneously, the heads of the three turned towards the direction of the sound, and at the end of their gaze, they saw a red flag with the imperial emblem hanging high.

“……Ria!”

That place was the forest clearing where the nobles who weren’t participating in the hunt were staying.