Side Story 1 ; Part 2

Tasha turned her head while still crouching. Under the unusually bright starlight, she noticed the shining jet-black hair and violet eyes that seemed to hold the dawn twilight. Also, there are the long eyelashes moving up and down along the eyelids and the sturdy nose.

Though she didn’t want to admit it,

Tasha had the kind of appearance Isabelle quite liked.

She could be sure that if she had been born into the noble class, Isabelle would have liked her from the start.

“How can I trust what you’re saying?”

“….”

“You’ve heard the Empress’s stories, haven’t you? It’s best not to talk about such things here.”

Both of them knew about the naive Empress, who confided in her friends about the Emperor’s reprimands. And how the attitude towards the Empress changed in society afterwards.

But Tasha just smiled bitterly.

“…It doesn’t matter. We’re not going to see each other again anyway.”

Her face under the moonlight was particularly pale.

Was it resignation or acceptance reflected on that face?

Isabelle searched for something to say for a while and then opened her mouth.

“…At the hunting ground.”

“….”

“Why didn’t you catch anything?”

At the casual question, Tasha widened her eyes and looked at Isabelle. Seeing the perplexed expression, Isabelle felt a strange satisfaction.

“How embarrassing must it have been for the Marquis? He boasted so much about his wife being a natural archer.”

Before the hunting competition, Ludwig Evan had boasted endlessly about his wife’s hunting skills.

That she was able to subdue a pack of fifteen wolves with just five arrows, or that even archers can’t match his wife’s skills.

Although there were some people who laughed at the words mixed with all kinds of exaggeration and boastfulness, there were also quite a few who were curious about the skills of Patrona, who was famous as a great archer.

However, on the day of the hunting competition, Tasha never once pulled the bowstring.

Despite Ludwig Evan’s forced smile and encouragement, she just remained silent.

“Your husband deliberately brightened the mood to save you. At least you should have pretended to be interested….”

“I’m not going to be summoned as an archer anyway, so I don’t understand why everyone’s so curious about my skills.”

Tasha cut her off. Discomfort was evident on her face, now washed with moonlight.

“It’s just for entertainment, isn’t it? Even he knows that.”

“… … Sorry, but I think you need to try harder too. Of course, there will be more discipline and frustration than if you lived in the forest, but… there are benefits too, you know? “

Saying so, Isabelle glanced over Tasha’s attire.

The sky-blue dress, bared shoulders adorned with expensive lace and pearls, and a thin necklace made of amethyst around her neck.

Things she could never have in the woods.

“If you had blended in well among the nobles, your husband wouldn’t have behaved like that.”

The reason Ludwig Evan bluffed about Tasha was ultimately because she was unable to properly blend into aristocratic society.

Failing to behave like a noble from birth, it seemed better to highlight her advantages as a huntress from Patrona.

Isabelle didn’t think she was saying something wrong.

Tasha, who had a carefree expression as if she were about to leave, bit her lip and distorted her face, but had no intention of repeating her words.

“If you’ve decided to live here, then you should be faithful to the life here. Keep acting like that, and even the Marquis…….That’s why you’re saying you’re going back.”

Tasha, who was listening, opened her mouth in annoyance. Isabelle paused. Tasha touched her forehead and frowned.

“…I’m trying to accept things I can’t understand.”

“… … .”

“I kept my mouth shut in case I inadvertently damaged his pride. It’s not like we’re lacking food right now or need provisions for winter or travel. But to hunt and kill only animals that pose no harm to people and revel in it is terrible and disgusting.”

It was a story she never expected to hear from someone who ate the flesh and blood of animals.

Isabelle was speechless for a moment, but it wasn’t like she had anything to say.

“Animals caught as game are used as ingredients for a feast. And from what I heard..I heard that Patrona also hunts for coming-of-age ceremonies.”

“The order has changed. It’s not hunting for coming-of-age ceremonies, but being recognized as an adult after the first hunt.”

“Still, that doesn’t change the fact that they’re being killed. Do you not feel sorry for the animals killed by your arrows?”

“How admirable. Ordering others to kill and sitting elegantly at the table to critique the food.”

Tasha snorted and said it sarcastically. Isabelle pursed her lips as she looked at the side of her young face, her displeasure showing.

It wasn’t like she couldn’t understand Tasha’s words at all.

Regardless of status or gender, nobles received basic education, and she could understand to some extent what Tasha found unpleasant.

But to readily affirm her words would only bruise her own pride for no reason.

Isabelle, who had been muttering her lips for a while, opened her mouth with a still sullen expression on her face.

“It would have been better if you had mentioned it then.”

“….”

“Cannibals are said to find the Empire disgusting, you know? They kill their own people even though they are not trying to eat them. There is also something like war…”

As Isabelle trailed off, Tasha stared at her in silence.

After a while of this, Tasha suddenly exclaimed as if she had just realized something.

“What was that all about suddenly?”

“….”

“Are you sorry for me? ”

Her gentle voice pricked her conscience. She truly was an uncouth person. Normally, when someone says such things, you pretend not to notice to spare them the embarrassment.

“Pretending not to notice when you’re confronted is also a matter of etiquette, My Lady.”

“Isn’t properly apologizing when you’ve done something wrong a matter of etiquette?”

Would she really go so far as to demand an apology?

Isabelle looked at Tasha with a face that seemed to say, ‘Do all sorts of people exist? ‘ But Tasha just stared back at Isabelle.

After enduring her gaze for a while, Isabelle finally blurted out, “…Sorry for speaking out of turn.”

“Alright.”

Although the person apologizing was being overly domineering, Tasha didn’t seem to mind.

Whether it was because of her naturally lenient temperament or because she simply didn’t consider trivial matters important, Isabelle couldn’t tell.

“…Are you really going back?”

After hesitating for a while, Isabelle asked Tasha, who had been staring at her. Tasha smiled faintly when she turned to her.

“Why? Are you going to miss me?”

“Who…”

“I’m not really sure.”

Why does she feel relieved by an ambiguous answer?

Does she feel a sense of kinship with the marchioness, who is from a nomadic tribe? Or is she afraid that the person who received the mocking gaze that should have been directed at her will leave?

“It reminds me of some useless things. I boasted that I would live happily, but going back like this would hurt my pride too much.”

“….”

“I didn’t want to hear people sneer at me either.”

Isabelle couldn’t respond. Her words weren’t different from her own thoughts.

“…More childish than I thought.”

“Why do you make such straightforward remarks while apologizing in a roundabout way?”

Tasha asked with a wry smile.

So she knew how to laugh like this.

Looking at her with softly curved eyes, Isabelle suddenly blurted out,

“…What about Patrona? If your husband meets another woman.”

In hindsight, it was truly an inappropriate impulse.

She knew revealing weaknesses was dangerous.

She hadn’t even properly mixed her words.

Still, the reason she says this is because she wants to somehow vent her innermost feelings that she hasn’t been able to share with anyone.

Or… did she want to offer some comfort, saying that she wasn’t the only person unhappy?

“Is the Marquis seeing another woman? ”

Tasha asked with a furrowed brow.

“I thought I was a bit sensitive, but there was a reason.”

“….”

“They say that because he is the Empress’s aide, whether he gets caught or not.”

Before she found the letter, Isabelle could have denied Isaac’s infidelity as much as she wanted.

Even though she was treated coldly by the emperor, Beatrice was the daughter of the duke of Travell and the Empress, and Isaac was appointed as her aide by the Emperor.

Knowing that if she helped the Empress during her difficult times and gained her trust, it would eventually bring great benefits to the family.

So if she hadn’t found the letter, Isabelle would have thought that Isaac was just faithful to his role as an aide.

“… … That’s surprising. An Empress’s aide, huh?”

“Poor woman. If it wasn’t my husband, I wouldn’t mind.”

“….”

“Don’t you know?”

To Isabelle’s question, Tasha nodded silently.

Considering she couldn’t mix with the nobility, it was quite possible she hadn’t heard the rumors circulating.

“I just… knew he was a close aide. You seemed to treat the Empress without any reservations either.”

“I did it on purpose. It hurts my pride to think of the people who will criticize me if it becomes known… … I purposely pretend to be happy without any problems. Ultimately, it’s good for the two of us.”

Tasha remained silent. Somehow, Isabelle felt like she knew what Tasha wanted to say, so she chuckled softly.

“You’re probably thinking I’m stupid, aren’t you?”

At the mischievous question, Tasha seemed somewhat embarrassed. She awkwardly shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, you’re still better than me. At least you’re not a second wife, right? And the age gap isn’t over ten years like mine.”

“Ah, yes, now that you mention it.”

Isabelle turned her head in disbelief at Tasha’s calm response. But there was no mischief in Tasha’s face.

“Actually, we don’t have a clear concept of marriage like you do. It doesn’t matter if the seed comes from outside anyway, so if there is a man in the group who is not suitable, we will stop his seed.”

“You mean castrate?”