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At that time, Orion made a move as if he read my heart.
“Orion.”
Somehow, his eyes that were looking at me were filled with expectation.
His face waiting for me like a puppy somehow made my feelings strange.
Since it was Orion who requested to let the prince stay with us, the prince’s safety became his responsibility.
When I thought about his position as the young duke, the burden he bore must be high.
However, the thing I could give him was only a few words.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
When Orion smiled brightly, even the knights next to him who stayed together every day blushed.
The tickling mood made me turn my head to avoid looking at him.
In the distance, a familiar mansion entered my eyes.
Interestingly, the moment I saw the building, I felt at ease as if I had come back to where I belonged.
I was slowly getting used to that wide and big mansion.
* * *
The prince, who must have been tired from shaking in the cold, could not get out of bed for days.
It seemed like I was healthier than I had thought.
When the next day came, my condition recovered quickly.
Despite this, Orion and the workers of the mansion didn’t leave my side.
“Erm, I feel like I’m already better.”
“Even if you look so outside, the wound in the heart doesn’t easily heal like that, my Lady.”
“But I never have a wound in my heart . . .”
“I heard soft-hearted people usually pretended to be nonchalant after experiencing bad things as if that never happened.”
“No, I’m really fine . . .”
At the words said by the Head Maid with gray hair, that day, Orion called for an expert that was knowledgeable in psychotherapy.
And after sharing a long conversation with that expert, Orion showed interest in my every movement.
More diligently than before.
It would be hard to leave secretly.
The more I received the over caring treatment, the more uncomfortable I felt.
Rany came to me, who had been trapped in a shackle named safety for several days.
She, who confidently entered the mansion through the main gate even when she was not invited, jumped to the main topic as soon as she saw me.
“That bastard is fine.”
“. . .”
“He is fine, so you don’t need to worry about him. How dirty is his character that he already broke two beds.”
Even though that was a brusque tone, I could understand it.
That she came as fast as she could to deliver the news so that I wouldn’t worry.
Her hand that was holding the cup trembled slightly.
“I should be there.”
“Then I would be upset.”
There were fewer known casualties than expected.
That’s probably because the lives of those who were not nobles were not treated as deaths.
Still, three young ladies were dead, and there were two young masters that didn’t participate in the hunt because they were still young, that also died.
There were also some ladies and knights who were safe from death but were seriously injured.
“I’m glad you weren’t there.”
I was sincere.
My heart that had been calm all this time throbbed as if it had returned back to that time.
Looking at my expression, Rany quietly changed the topic.
“There were many strange things on that hunting competition day.”
“What?”
“Zen suddenly came in and complained that he couldn’t reach you.”
I nodded, recalling my pendant that couldn’t reach him.
I thought I couldn’t reach him because Zen’s mana was in a shock condition.
Rany told me that he couldn’t reach me first, then after that was the mana shock.
“It seems like the reason was the same with a lot of claims regarding the items sold by the magic tower that day. The artifacts didn’t work properly.”
“What did the magic tower say?”
“They said something like there was a stream that influenced the mana stream that day.”
“. . .”
It meant that the magic tower also couldn’t find the exact cause.
I felt certain that it was not simply a problem with the mana stream.
That thing alone couldn’t explain the magical monsters that appeared in the hunting ground.
Rany glanced at me, who was deep in thought, and asked.
“I heard the prince saw it.”
“. . . Yeah.”
Orion didn’t ask me anything about what happened when I was alone with the prince.
That psychotherapy expert seemed to be advising something like ‘rather than forcing to know about the things she hides, you better wait until she tells you.’
I didn’t trust that expert, but his presence certainly helped.
Although it was in the wrong direction.
Even if the people in this mansion just let that pass, I couldn’t know what would happen when the prince returned to the palace.
If the palace sent out investigators before that, then both of us had to testify about the situation when we were missing.
As I touched my throbbing head, Rany glanced at the tea and calmly said.
“Now that the situation has become like this, there are two options.”
“What?”
“Bribing him or silencing him.”
“. . .”
“For your reference, I am bad with dangerous bets. This time, I agree with Bertin.”
Remembering Bertin’s cold eyes that day, I put down the teacup.
“Because for him, you and Zen are his priority. The same goes for me.”
Rany smiled brightly.
“It’s fine. Let’s eliminate him quickly.”
Eliminate what?
What did you want to eliminate quickly?
I saw Rany slowly draw a line with her finger in her neck.
I certainly heard that she had been learning etiquette for five years, but why did she still like that?
It was such a mystery.