Chapter 66: The Hunting Competition

Bang!

A gunshot rang out, signalling the start of the hunting competition. Hillmartino, who had been trying to catch my attention by constantly referring to Vivianne in the way she had been doing up until that point, became quiet when the gunshots went off. People began to scatter one by one and not long after she and I were the only ones left at the waiting point.

‘She’s laid-back.’

It seemed that Wilhelm’s evaluation of her abilities wasn’t just lip-service. If it was a competition with a serious issue at stake, I would have asked to go quickly, but it was none of my business to commemorate the 10 days before the birth of the emperor during this competition, which did not even have a prize. Did she read my thoughts? Hilmartino said, pulling the reins.

“It would be better to do your best, no matter how ugly your skills are. The winners of past hunting competitions took some pretty grandiose things.”

When I asked with my eyes what the grandiose thing was, Hillmartino burst out laughing.

“How foolish. You don’t see anything with your eyes anymore… What is the grand gift from His Majesty? At least, it will be the lifelong wish that the winner hoped for. Giddy up!”

Hillmartino jumped forward like a bullet fired. After staring blankly at her for a moment, I hurriedly followed her, fearing that I might miss her. Gunshots were already going off everywhere. After entering the forest, Hillmartino looked quite relaxed. Someone was already cheering and clapping but she didn’t seem to hear that noise. She looked completely different from when she told me to do my best.

“What did you come to the Imperial Palace for?”

At first, I wondered if what she was saying to me was right. Because it was such a nonsensical question. Soon I realized that there was no one else around except for her and me. I answered a beat too late.

“A comfortable life.”

“Comfortable?”

“A life where I don’t have to wander around the world, without getting hungry.”

Hilmartino scoffed.

“Our Agrane. I don’t know if you are funny or stupid. You’re the only one in the world who describes the Imperial Palace as comfortable.”

“You don’t know. Your Excellency will change your mind if you only work as a maid for three years.”

“You mean you’ve done it?”

Hilmartino, who stopped talking, looked back at me. The expression on her face, which I thought she had shown unintentionally, was very different from the one I actually faced. The subtle smile that she wore like a habit disappeared at once without a trace and she narrowed her eyes.

“I do not know.”

Sreung. A dull sound resounded in my ears. The feeling of cold iron touching my chin. And even the green eyes that I saw under the night sky that night.

“Don’t try to curl up your tail again and answer. Who are you?”

The sharp edge of the blade penetrated my skin. The sound of Valeria swallowing her breath came from nearby.

“Why the fuck is that crazy bastard so anxious that he can’t have you?”

Bloody eyes without a single smile pierced my cheeks.

“Are you as beautiful as Vivi? Your face is quite usable, but not to that extent. Then are you good at thinking? It doesn’t even look like that when you fall for the tricks of a crazy bastard. Or does the Imperial vault have such enormous wealth that it looks like a pocket? But then you’re not being treated like that here.”

The longer she talked, the deeper the blade of the sword dug into my skin. At this rate, I thought I would have a hole in my intact neck, so I struck the sword with my hand. Hillmartino, who opened her eyes wide, leaned back and burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha!”

Then, after she laughed, her face turned serious as she swung her sword in front of my nose. I heard something being cut off. It was a cutout of an earring that fell sharply on my horseback riding clothes.

“I was going to cut your ear. I’m glad my thread of rationality caught me.”

Hilmartino’s face was calm. It reminded me again of how crazy she was.

‘As expected, I got it wrong.’

As long as Wilhelm was hanging around me, she was not going to suddenly kill me in such a place. However, that crazy bitch could do deranged things that were loud and crazy to match her mental state, so it seemed right for me keep my distance and stay away.

“Didn’t you know everything about me?”

“No way? I’ve never heard or seen anything like you.”

“When I first met you, you reacted as if you knew my name.”

“I was tired of hearing the name. With all the things Vivi said about you in her letter to me. Afterwards, I got so annoyed that I wanted to tear it up.”

Was it? I thought Hilmartino knew about the character ‘Agrane Karold’. Like the old gray-haired aristocrats who supported the Emperor.

“Aha. Is there a great secret hidden in your name? Can we share the secret?”

“It’s nothing. All I have is the name of an extinct family.”

There was a faint noise of the leaves being trampled on. A small animal showed signs of wandering nearby. But Hilmartino’s eyes were on me alone. She was as still as if she didn’t breathe. Soon, the blade of the sword, which had a much duller luster than the decorative sword, disappeared into the scabbard.

“All the members of the Karold family were caught.”

It was not a surprising story. It was just a passing word. However, suddenly my heart began to pound, and I felt my head pounding. All members of the Karold family were caught. Was it because it was the first time I had heard my family’s story from someone?

“When I first saw you, you were a toddler who had only opened her eyes a year ago.”

This feeling… yes, it was pretty shocking to be honest. It was by far the first time I felt this way, at least after I lost my memory. Was that why? I couldn’t define what this emotion was. Hilmartino shook her head and scoffed.

“You know how to make that face. What do you think? Do you feel like respecting me now?”

“…Nobody has ever told me about the Karolds.”

Even though I didn’t want it, a voice that seemed to be stuck in my throat came out. Hillmartino replied indifferently.

“Who can put their neck on the line and tell you an old story? Karold was accused of treason. Therefore, at least in the Imperial Palace, it is a felony to put that name in your mouth.”

Treason. It was the first information I got in a month after I entered the Imperial Palace. The reason for the Karold family’s death was treason. It was an unimaginable backstory.

“But you survived. Both your parents and the employees of the mansion died, but you survived. And casually breathing in the same castle as His Majesty. Huh. If it were me, I would have cut out the eyeballs the moment I saw them!”

Although the mentioning of the name itself was a felony, Hilmartino casually put Karold’s name in her mouth. Hillmartino, who got a gun from the servant, came down from the saddle. She asked me, opening her eyes thinly.

“So, just tell me. What is it that you did that made Wilhelm do such a troublesome thing?”

How curious are you that you don’t want to give up? The answer to her questions…….

‘…..Simply?’

I’ve always thought it was simply because I was his dog. According to my memories, Wilhelm was a true madman with a desire to possess and destroy from an early age. And I thought I was the means to solve those desires. The reason why Wilhelm still wanted to hold me after the reunion was, well—

“I think.”

Hillmartino’s gaze, which was looking around for a while, was fixed on me. I followed her and got a gun from Valeria and stepped on the ground. And I went on without hesitation.

“His Highness Wilhelm seems to love me very passionately.”

“Ha?”

Hilmartino looked dumbfounded.

“As you say, I have nothing. My face is useful, but not comparable to great beauties. I know nothing, have nothing more, I come from a wretched, fallen family. Is there any other reason for His Highness to want me like that other than love?”

I had been talking bullshit without any thought, but wasn’t this pretty logical? Hillmartino ripped open my face one by one with a cold gaze that pierced my skin. It seemed that she didn’t really like something, but I didn’t feel any more negative atmosphere.

“You… Yes, you say terrible words without hesitation. It wasn’t nonsense to say that we were gathering together.”

It wasn’t something a person who said to cut out my eyeballs would say. Our conversation ended with that. Hilmartino walked into the forest without saying much, and I, who had no knowledge of the competition, silently followed her.

Hilmartino’s hunting skills were great. I didn’t know much about hunting, so I was amazed. She was a woman whose positive qualities I couldn’t see, but when she pointed her gun at her prey, her eyes were focused on it. At that moment, I didn’t feel that characteristic gaze of hers that looked down on others, the coercive atmosphere, or the ferocity of a crazy woman.

About two hours had passed since she left the birch forest, and the sun was floating in the middle of the sky. Right after the morning hunt, aristocrats who went deep in the forest began to appear one by one.

“How was it? Were the results good, Marquis?”

There was also Wilhelm in the crowd. It was the first time I saw him wearing a horseback riding suit, not a uniform. The inextricable elegance flowed from all over his body. Wilhelm looked into my eyes and smiled softly as he spoke to Hillmartino. I greeted lightly and stopped the horse behind Hilmartino. Hillmartino, who took off her gloves roughly, shook her head with a disgusted look.

“Ah, it’s the worst. My partner doesn’t seem to have a talent for this kind of play. She ran around as if she had become a dog herself!”

Well, that was not wrong. I closed my mouth quietly because I didn’t want to interrupt.