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Chapter 15
✧ Friendly Hunting ✧
The forest, which had been swept through by a bloody activity, had a calmer atmosphere than usual.
Matthias stopped his horse in the middle of a wide road that ran between the woods after dispatching his group first.
Tangled bangs draped down his forehead when he removed his hat. The hunt today was a lot of fun. Matthias was able to hit every target he set out for and each moment was as thrilling as ever. But one bird that had desperately attempted to fly away made him unsatisfied.
Matthias slowly pulled the reins and spun the horse in the direction of the cottage. When the hunt was over, the little girl who lived by the hunting grounds would come out into the forest crying and bury all the dead birds. It was her ridiculous habit that he still remembered very clearly.
So, what about that woman now, who’s no longer a child?
The curious Matthias pointed his rifle at a tiny bird sitting on the branch’s rim, and…
Bang!
With his aimed shot hitting the target, the little bird fell to the ground.
Matthias left behind the prey he had killed and slowly motioned his horse to advance.
Once.
And then once again.
He was pointing and shooting.
The birds fell one by one covered in blood, adorning the long path Matthias walked through into the deep evening forest.
*.·:·.✧.·:·.*
‘I hate him!’
Leyla dug a hole and said those words over and over as she buried the dead bird.
‘I hate his heinous pastime. I really hate it.’
Leyla swallowed her sadness while wiping her sweaty forehead. She felt she was almost there until she spotted another bloody bird lying down only a few meters away.
Leyla picked up her shovel again and stepped closer to that poor bird. She didn’t want to blame the act of killing an animal. Uncle Bill hunted for food as well and she also bred livestock.  But she didn’t understand why the duke killed just for entertainment and then abandoned his hunt behind.
When is this summer going to end?
As she buried another bird-a beautiful ruby-crowned kinglet with a pretty feather’s pattern-Leyla sighed deeply, hoping that her favorite season would soon come to an end.
Leyla had already entered deep into the evening forest when she suddenly sensed something strange.
Duke Herhardt loved hunting. And every time, Leyla buried the birds he had killed. But she had no memory of making the tomb of birds in a row the way she did now, as if she was setting down a path made up of bird carcasses.
Should I go back now?
Leyla’s face winced as she sensed something ominous. The sheltering sky above her head was painted in a crimson color. She turned her eyes away from the setting sun and gazed down behind a clump of shrubs.
And, she saw him.
Duke Herhardt was sitting on the trump of the chopped oak. He was silently watching her.
Leyla’s mind turned blank, and she almost stumbled.
With a laid-back attitude, he greeted her.
“Hello, Leyla.”
Matthias’s voice sounded luscious.
As velvety as the birds’ feathers he had shot and killed.
*.·:·.✧.·:·.*
“By the way, Matthias is quite late. I think those who went with him are already back. “
Elysee von Herhardt squinted her eyes while putting her card on the table. She was getting bored with the card game she was playing. She wanted to start dinner early, but her son, Matthias, hadn’t returned from the hunting grounds yet.
“He had said he’d go for a walk in the forest before.”
Claudine, who didn’t have the look of someone who had just lost a game, answered her with a friendly smile.
The ladies, very much aware that she’d lost the card game on purpose, looked at Claudine with admiring smiles, seeing the next Duchess of Arvis was a well-educated lady with classy manners. Claudine also knew very well that she was well-liked and highly praised among those aristocratic ladies.
“Matthias surely has a thing for that forest.”
Elysee lightly rang the bell the maids rushed over and started setting the table.
The idle ladies clustered around the reception table to chat and enjoy simple snacks. They talked about various stories, of course, with all its formalities that entailed.
“Oh, Claudine. Why don’t you invite your friends over and throw a party?”
“Me? In the Arvis manor?”
Claudine’s eyes widened as she heard Elysee’s suggestion.
“You will get bored if you deal with us every day. Don’t you need to change your pattern a little?”
“No. I’m not bored. Really.”
“Why are you so startled? I was just kidding, Claudine.”
It was tough to fathom that Elysee was the mother of an engaged son because her relaxed, smiling face was so youthful yet beautiful. Matthias, her only son, was endowed with her loveliness.
The people of the empire admired Duchess Elysee von Herhardt for her timeless beauty. Yet, she was still unable to capture her husband’s affection.
Claudine believed that women obsessed with love were ridiculous as she learned of Elysee’s tragic love life.
Matthias’s father, like every other man in his position, had a mistress. However, he didn’t make life difficult for his successor by taking in an illegitimate child.
Even though they didn’t love each other, the Duke and Duchess of Arvis respected each other and carried out their responsibilities faithfully. They acted their part in the household perfectly. They remained calm and untainted by selfish greed or desire.
So Claudine aspired to live a similar life like them with Matthias.
“Don’t worry, Claudine; you’re never under any pressure. Consider it as a rehearsal. If the mansion is filled with young people, we’ll have much more fun.”
Elysee’s smile had brightened vastly. “Don’t you think the same as well, ladies?”
But, all in the room were aware that her question was not intended for soliciting their feedback.
“The duchess is very generous and thoughtful.”
Countess Brandt complimented the soon-to-be-mother-in-law of her daughter. Other ladies soon joined in, making praising noises with some exaggeration sprinkled on top.
Claudine sheepishly smiled as she bowed her head softly. She was thinking about the names of people she had liked to invite until now when her eyes drew her attention to the window.
The moment she saw the forest beyond the dusk garden, she instantly thought of that girl: Leyla Lewellin. The poor orphan girl who lived in that forest.
She was well-mannered and knew where she belonged even though she was a little arrogant at times.
“Do you mind if I invite Leyla?”
The brow of every lady in the room was raised upon hearing Claudine’s cheerful question.
“Do you mean the gardener’s orphan girl?”
“Yes. That girl, Leyla Lewellin.”
“Claudine, wait.”
“I’m sure that poor girl had never been to a formal party before.” Claudine seemed unaffected by Countess Brandt’s embarrassment-filled glare. “I want Leyla to have an experience she will never forget.”
She said those intimidating words without losing her ladylike courtesy and dignity.
“Come to think of it, what’ve you said makes sense.”
Duchess Norma Catarina von Herhardt, who had been watching Claudine the whole time, smiled contentedly.
“Then, do as you please, Claudine.”
*.·:·.✧.·:·.*
Looking back to the path of buried birds Leyla shifted her eyes. There was only one answer she could come to as she turned her head and watched the duke.
-A psycho.
There were no other words to describe him.
The sweat was spilling from her muddy gloves. Her heart began to pound with anger and fear.
‘Let’s get out of here.’
Leyla was about to run to the cottage the moment she heard his voice.
“Leyla.”
Matthias’ face remained impassive as he pronounced her name slowly.
“Leyla Lewellin.”
After he called her name like a song’s lyrics, Leyla straightened her back by using the shovel in her hand as a cane. She squeezed her lips closed and tight, flexing both of her legs’ muscles.
She realized, it was useless to run. The duke could quickly catch her if he set his mind to it.
The sound of woodland leaves swaying in the wind surfaced, but there was nothing but silence for them. Leyla raised her twitching eyes and glared at him.
“Keep going.”
Matthias was the first person who breached the silence.
“You should get on with your job.”
On the side of the bushes that he pointed to with his eyes, a bird that seemed to be the game of his last chase, lay dead.
Leyla trudged up to the bird and saw red thread tied to the bird’s bleeding ankle.  It was the same thread she had tied to the baby birds who had hatched near the Schulter River last year.
Without saying a word, Leyla buried the bird in a pit she dug herself. Because of that beautiful bird’s slayer, she had become used to doing all of this.
“That thread. Did you tie it?”
Matthias asked as he sat there watching.
“Yes.”
“Why.”
“The birds that leave their nests to migrate … I wanted to know when they will come back.” Answered Leyla while patting the soil. “This is not the kind of reunion I was hoping for.”
She watched Matthias’s apathetic face and experienced lightheadedness.
“So, do you want to blame me?” Matthias crossed his leg. A mocking smile bloom on his lips.
Leyla’s patience had officially expired.
“I can’t help myself not to say no.”
“What exactly is the problem?” Matthias scowled. “I only hunted my birds, in my territory, on my hunting grounds.”
“But the birds don’t know.”
Leyla dared to retort, repeating –for uncle Bill– words in her head.
“For the birds, it’s just a forest. A place where they were born and raised. It’s also a home to which they’d want to return after their migration.”
“Is it necessary for me to understand them?”
“Not really, but…..” Leyla removed her bloodstained gardening gloves and took a deep breath. “You don’t have to be so ruthless in hunting them.”
She’d have to summon a heck of a lot of courage to utter those sentences. A very delayed feeling of regret washed over her after that, but the duke showed no signs of displeasure or anger.  Leyla felt even more suffocated because of his odd stillness.
“Leyla Lewellin, the bird-loving girl.”
Matthias spoke up after a long moment of silence.
“What in the world do you think hunting is?”
“Pardon?”
“Do you want me to go for a friendly hunt?”
His scorn surely clawed at her heart. Leyla could only endure his insult by clutching her skirt.
“…… I’m sorry for my mistake. I’ve said something rude. Please forgive my impoliteness.”
“What makes you so fond of birds?”
“I don’t think it will be a compelling story for you.” Leyla lowered her head, signaling that she didn’t want to see him any longer.
Matthias was deafeningly silent.
“Now that I’ve finished my work, I’m leaving.”
Leyla bowed profoundly and turned her body while Matthias still stayed muffled.
Bang!
Right as she was about to take a step forward, a rabid shot unexpectedly rang out, reverberating throughout the wilderness sky.
Leyla quickly circled back with a horrid face.
Click…
Matthias eyed her with a rifle in his hand after fired his gun towards the tree branch.
A bloodied bird then fell on the ground between them.
“What will you do, Leyla?”
He then sat back on the tree trunk as if nothing had happened.
“I don’t think your job is over yet.”