The Real Reason We Are In An Arranged Marriage

Yelodia’s face turned deathly pale. A servant hurriedly continued speaking.

“The emperor’s attendants and court physicians have headed to the hunting ground. My lady, you must prepare to leave this place as well.”

“What about the baron? Is His Majesty safe?”

“We’ve sent someone to check on them too. They were instructed to confirm their survival first, so please wait a little longer for details.”

Unable to withstand the sudden shock, Yelodia collapsed onto the spot.

“My lady.”

“Are you all right?”

Yelodia couldn’t answer. The thought of two people dear to her being gravely injured at the same time made her vision go black.

“Yedi!”

Hester, who had been resting in the nearby tent, rushed to her in a panic after hearing the devastating news.

“My sister, oh no, are you okay? Why is your face so pale?”

“Oh, brother… the baron… His Majesty…”

“Nothing is certain yet. Let’s stay calm and wait a bit longer.”

Transparent tears welled up in Yelodia’s eyes. Her heart was pounding, and it felt like all the blood in her body had drained away.

But she couldn’t stay collapsed like this forever.

Closing her eyes tightly, she stood up, prompting a startled Hester to ask, “Yedi, where are you going?”

“I want to wait at the forest’s entrance.”

“Then I’ll come with you.”

Hester quickly followed Yelodia.

The clearing at the forest’s entrance was already crowded with noblewomen, young ladies, and servants.

When Yelodia appeared, the noblewomen’s sympathetic gazes fell upon her.

“This way, please. You’ll see best from here.”

A young lady whose name Yelodia didn’t know offered her a spot.

“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

“Thank you.”

Pressing down her pounding heart, Yelodia stared toward the forest.

How much time had passed? A trembling vibration began to shake the ground, followed by the sound of galloping horses from within the forest.

“His Majesty must be returning!”

Hester’s face lit up with excitement. Yelodia clasped her hands together tightly, staring intently at the forest.

Moments later, a massive black horse burst out of the woods. It was the emperor’s steed.

“It’s His Majesty!”

As Hester said, the emperor was seated on the saddle. Overcome with emotion, Yelodia blinked back tears.

Soon, the emperor’s knights, attendants, nobles, and their escorts emerged one by one from the forest.

“It seems you’ve come to greet us,” the emperor remarked as he dismounted from his horse. The other men followed suit, descending from their horses.

Yelodia quickly scanned the group for Edward.

“Baron…!”

She couldn’t finish her sentence before breaking into tears. Edward’s body was drenched in blood as he dismounted his horse.

“Edward!”

Her cry of anguish caught Edward’s attention, making him flinch. Among the noblewomen, Yelodia suddenly shot forward, darting toward him like a startled deer from the forest.

“Yelodia! What are you doing here—!”

Before he could finish speaking, Yelodia threw herself into his arms with a dull thud. Fabian, watching nearby, grimaced, biting his lip to hold back a comment.

“Baron, you can’t leave us!”

Edward, bewildered, looked down at Yelodia before awkwardly patting her back.

“Yelodia, I’m fine. Were you worried about me?”

“They said you fought a gray bear with your bare hands… and all this blood… sniff…!”

Forgetting where she was, Yelodia cried her heart out in Edward’s arms.

Edward sighed softly, a faint smile tugging at his lips, and tried to console her.

“I’m unharmed. Look up and see for yourself.”

“But the blood… sniff… there’s so much of it!”

“Does that look like the baron’s blood to you?”

A sudden voice startled Yelodia. The emperor’s tone was laced with exasperation as he observed the two of them.

“Suspecting injury of a man who’s perfectly fine and rode his horse all the way back… When did my dear niece become so shortsighted?”

He let out a heavy sigh, glancing at the pair in disbelief.

“Yedi, the baron is embarrassed. How long are you going to cling to him like that?”

“Your Majesty…? Is the baron truly all right?”

Peeking up, Yelodia looked in the direction of the voice. Just then, she heard a faint chuckle above her.

“Do you think your fiancé would die before your engagement? The ceremony is in just a few days.”

The emperor chuckled, his laughter soon erupting into a booming roar that echoed through the forest.

“Enough, stop laughing,” Edward interjected, trying to calm him down.

“How can I not laugh? My daring niece is clinging to you like this, covered in blood. By the way, Edward, are you okay? It seems your fiancée doesn’t care about public decorum.”

“Wasn’t it Your Majesty who arranged our match?”

“Ha, it seems I owe you a great debt, Edward.”

As the emperor’s laughter grew louder, Yelodia’s lips pouted further. Her tone turned sharp.

“Your Majesty.”

“That’s enough. Let’s go now. With so many onlookers, word will spread across the kingdom before nightfall that you’re utterly smitten with the baron.”

Startled, Yelodia glanced around. The emperor was right. Countless noblewomen, young ladies, servants, nobles, and knights were openly staring at the two of them.

Yelodia’s face turned as red as an apple. It felt as if even her neck was burning.

Edward, with a kind smile, draped his cloak over her head.

“Oh my.”

“Goodness.”

Gasps escaped the lips of the noble ladies.

“Are you truly unharmed?”

It was Hester. Having been nervously watching from where Yelodia stood, he approached hesitantly as soon as he grasped the situation.

It seemed like he was the only one who could come to Yelodia’s rescue here.

“B-Baron, I heard you faced a gray bear with your bare hands. Are you really uninjured?”

“I’m fine. Of course, His Majesty wasn’t hurt either.”

“Is it true that I was almost bested by a gray bear? The rumor has already reached here?”

The emperor turned to Hester, a curious look on his face.

Hester sighed and glanced at Yelodia, who had found some relief under the cloak. He could vividly imagine his younger sister feeling more at ease there.

“It seems both of you were under the care of Zeus and Lonel since neither of you sustained any injuries.”

“In my case, I was cared for by Baron Adrian, who was nearby.”

At the emperor’s words, Hester looked at Edward with fearful eyes, as if to ask if he truly had taken down the bear single-handedly.

Edward wore a slightly troubled expression.

“Well, that’s…”

Before Edward could explain, Hester’s attention was drawn to the massive object being carried by a knight. Mesmerized, he stared at the enormous and grotesque figure, large enough to conceal the knight’s entire torso.

Strangely, the mass was covered in thick fur, with a grotesquely protruding part in the middle. Were those…teeth?

‘What is that?’

Drip. Drip.

What was falling to the floor was undoubtedly blood.

The moment Hester raised his head, pale as a ghost, it happened.

“Gah!”

Hester let out an exaggerated scream. He had locked eyes with the severed head of the gray bear.

***

“Brother.”

“…”

“Brother, you need to wake up now.”

Hester frowned groggily and startled himself awake, lifting his head. He was in the dim interior of a carriage.

Seeing his worried younger sister leaning over him, Hester furrowed his brows before hurriedly asking, “Did I faint in front of His Majesty?”

“No, you didn’t faint in front of His Majesty. You made it back to the tent just fine.”

Regrettably, Hester had no memory of that moment.

Yelodia calmly explained what had happened.

“All the cleanup was left to the knights and servants. The moment you got into the carriage, you lay down on the seat and closed your eyes. And now you’ve just woken up.”

“I see…”

“I was debating whether to call for His Majesty’s physician. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“It’s not that bad.”

Hester let out a quiet sigh and sat up. His heart was pounding faster than usual, but not to the point of needing a doctor.

“What about His Majesty and the baron? So, who won the hunting tournament?”

Even in such a situation, he was curious about the tournament’s winner.

Yelodia thought it was a question very typical of Hester and pouted her lips slightly.

“His Majesty went with the baron to the baron’s estate. My betrothed had the honor of winning the tournament.”

Hester was startled.

“Really? Then did the baron truly take down that ferocious gray bear?”

“He didn’t just take it down; he decapitated it in one strike.”

“…Which is scarier?”