“Miss, please wake up! The master is urgently looking for you… Oh!”

“Selina, what in the world happened!”

Before Hela could help the sprawled Selina up, the door burst open violently. Duke Karnos’s face was red with anger, like a bomb about to explode. He pulled his disheveled daughter up from the bed and shouted loud enough to bring down the ceiling.

“You didn’t attend the Imprinting Ceremony! If your mouth isn’t sealed shut, try explaining yourself!”

“I don’t know either. I fell asleep briefly in the waiting room, and when I came to my senses, I was in the guest bedroom of the temple’s east wing!”

Selina’s face was swollen with tear stains after crying all night with her face buried in the pillow.

“Then who went to the Third Prince’s bedroom in your place!”

“How should I know! I’m already furious enough, sob, stop yelling at me, hic…”

His patience reached its limit at his daughter’s pathetic display of just crying without trying to solve the problem. Selina’s wrist bore no mark of imprinting, and the woman who spent the night in her place was somewhere in this palace. They needed to quickly find even the smallest evidence to resolve this, but his foolish daughter was just wailing like a child, crying “I don’t remember, I fell asleep, forget everything else, just let me have another Imprinting Ceremony.”

It was truly an absurd situation, but he was convinced that the Third Prince was behind this fraud. Duke Karnos had to swallow bitter water during his private audience with the prince.

‘Miss Karnos was absent, and the ceremony had already begun, so what could be done? Where was your daughter and what was she doing all that time? Ah, she said she couldn’t remember, didn’t she? Since she’s rarely in her right mind anyway, we can’t dismiss it as an excuse. It seems the young lady genuinely doesn’t remember.’

Due to having such a sinful daughter, he couldn’t even properly refute.

‘She was in the guest wing’s bedroom, you say. She might have found some entertainment there.’

Under this merciless criticism, Duke Karnos, who was being attacked indiscriminately, had to lower his tail, fearing more of his daughter’s secrets would be exposed.

‘Though my daughter may be immature, she’s not so irresponsible as to abandon such an important event where her dignity is at stake, Your Highness. You know, don’t you? How much she loved and respected Your Highness. There must be some mistake. May I ask which family’s lady was Your Highness’s imprinting bride that night?’

‘Well, it doesn’t matter to me who it was.’

That little bastard…. Karnos almost burst out with curses at the response that was like spat-out tobacco leaves. His beard trembled at the attitude that treated his daughter as equivalent to a porne (pr*stitute) who could be played with anytime. Sure enough.

‘There are plenty of women who could replace Miss Karnos, and it just happened that someone else caught my eye. I haven’t held Miss Karnos responsible for her sudden disappearance, so I believe I’ve shown sufficient leniency.’

In the end, it meant he had rolled around with another woman, so take the hint and get lost. However, he couldn’t back down like this.

‘This is the most important ceremony in the royal family. If the King learns of this, Your Highness will also be caught up in troublesome matters.’

‘You’re hardly in a position to say such things, Duke, when your daughter has been openly parading around as if she were the Crown Princess.’

‘For me, it’s just a matter of losing face, but Your Highness will bear the stigma of having committed an impropriety during a sacred ceremony. You cannot deny that in terms of severity, Your Highness stands to lose more. Therefore, I beg you, please keep this matter confidential.’

Achilleon let out a dry laugh at this blatant declaration of somehow getting through this situation and making his daughter the princess again, giving a casual nod as if saying ‘go ahead and try if you dare.’ That arrogant attitude added fuel to Karnos’s anger.

Insufferable bastard. Should have pulled out his fangs before he grew up. Only after swallowing curses about ten times did the negotiation-that-wasn’t-really-a-negotiation end. Though it was concluded that Selina would be publicly declared as that night’s imprinting bride, the uneasiness remained.

Karnos couldn’t stand how pathetic his daughter was. They had nearly exposed everything from her drug habits to her multiple lovers, yet here she was just wailing “Third Prince, Third Prince” like a funeral dirge – to have such a stupid child…. As he held his head and sighed, her loud crying immediately grated on his nerves.

“Someone gave me tea! In the waiting room…. Someone in black priest robes gave me tea to help me relax! Father, we could investigate that person!”

“The trainee priests at the Cradle all wear black robes – are you in your right mind, asking to investigate all those people? We’ll make enemies of the temple that way!”

But the real important thing wasn’t who handed over the drugged tea. The answer was obvious. Must have been Achilleon’s person. That snake…. What mattered was Achilleon’s real bride, the one who took half of the golden leaf from the Imprinting Ceremony.

“I think I know who spent the night with Lord Achilleon.”

Karnos whipped his head around at his daughter’s voice, mixed with unwelcome sniffling. His bloodshot eyes flashed.

“Who would that be?”

* * *

“What is all this?”

It was a week later when Advisor Rainan came with neatly folded clothes. Hari was staying in the annex of the White Jade Palace. She had heard roughly what had happened during that time. The proud Duke Karnos had thoroughly suppressed rumors about the switched imprinting bride. And apparently Selina was going around pretending to be the real one. Hari checked under the bracelet on her wrist. Whatever trick they had used, it was fortunate that the mark had disappeared.

“These are clothes for you to wear at the hunting festival, Lady Hari.”

Rainan explained while laying out the clothes neatly. In his hands were an activity-friendly top, a short peplos reaching the thighs, a hunting headband, and sturdy leather sandals.

Just then, there was a knock, and the door swung open. Rainan bowed respectfully toward Achilleon, who had just entered. Hari, who had been examining the sandals, also met his eyes. Achilleon wore a white chiton with a himation embroidered with black thread. The earring on his ear sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the window. Through the side slit of the fabric, his long, firm calves like those of a stallion were visible.

Knowing that the outfit was a royal ceremonial dress, Hari first rose to greet him. Achilleon dismissed the advisor and said while removing his chlamys.

“You must have heard from Rainan, but you need to participate in this hunting festival too. We need to capture the sacred beasts alive.”

“Wouldn’t Your Highness be more suited for that than me?”

“If it could be solved with tools, I would have done it already.”

“I’ve never captured a sacred beast alive and don’t know how.”

“What happened to that boldness of doing whatever you’re told?”

Achilleon suddenly furrowed his brow while crossing his arms.

“How’s your body?”

“Pardon?”

“After that night, how’s your body feeling?”

Belatedly recalling the night of the Imprinting Ceremony, Hari gave an awkward smile.

“…Ah, thanks to the physician Your Highness sent, the wounds healed quickly.”

The inner wounds he left when he thrust in. This wasn’t a topic for broad daylight conversation. Though she tried to act composed, she couldn’t hide her embarrassment. Achilleon observed Hari, who was pretending to examine the hunting clothes intently, with narrow eyes before giving a low command.

“Try the clothes on first.”

Hari quickly gathered the clothes and headed to the bathroom.

After always wearing cumbersome long skirts, the short peplos that exposed half her thighs felt refreshing. Her hair, which had been tied up roughly with rags, was now adorned with a linen band dyed with three colors. The sturdy cowhide shoes seemed durable enough to withstand several days of mountain climbing without wearing out.

“The rules of the hunting festival are simple.”

Achilleon spoke while staring intently at Hari as she emerged from the bathroom. On the large table was a map with red flags inserted. Next to it were scattered several drawings depicting the appearance of sacred beasts.

“The winner is the one who captures the most sacred beasts alive, and my goal is victory. No exceptions, no variables.”

Hari’s gaze stopped on the drawing of a blue translucent animal. It was the bird that had mysteriously appeared and healed her ankle injury when she was imprisoned. She felt something chillingly cold touch the back of her hand while she was tracing the drawings with her fingertips.

“I’ll assign you an instructor, so learn at least the basics of horseback riding and handling simple weapons.”

What Achilleon placed in her hand was a silver dagger.

“You’ll likely have many enemies now. A bow is difficult to handle in surprise attacks. Start by learning how to handle a dagger.”

The moment she felt the cool sensation clinging to her palm, her pulse began to quicken slightly before starting to pound throughout her entire body. Hari unconsciously gripped the well-sharpened knife’s handle. Achilleon’s dark green eyes were reflected in the gleaming silver blade.

Giving a weapon to a prisoner. Doesn’t he consider that I might stab him? Or do I look so inadequate that he doesn’t need even minimal caution?