Chapter 27
“Lord Rogerick Montieux! It’s an honor to meet you. And the beautiful lady as well.”
“It’s good to see both of you.”
Viscount Lenard and Count Vermonte greeted them one after another.
Viscount Lenard was a man who looked to be in his thirties with a long mustache and hair slicked back with oil. Count Vermonte looked about ten years older, with a scrawny build and fierce eyes behind his glasses that made him look sensitive.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my lady! You are truly beautiful!”
Viscount Lenard, who had shaken hands with Rogerick with a hearty laugh, turned his gaze to Cecilia. His eyes gleamed. It was so obvious what was going through that man’s head that Cecilia inwardly clicked her tongue.
“I am also pleased to meet you, Count Vermonte, Viscount Lenard.”
Those filthy eyes were desperate to hold Cecilia’s hand and plant a sloppy, formal kiss on it.
But there was no need to permit such a thing.
Cecilia naturally averted her gaze. Toward the tool that could solve this situation most easily and quickly.
“Now that we’ve exchanged greetings, will the Grand Duke be guiding us to the shooting range? I can’t imagine this is all there is.”
David’s blue eyes, which met hers, flashed for a moment.
As if he knew exactly what she meant by calling out to him. As if he was happy to be used.
The man, his excitement and joy laid bare, strode forward and snatched her hand.
“Of course. Shall we go this way?”
***
Had he turned the entire wide plain of Erdel into a shooting range? It was not a place one could possibly walk all the way through.
With the help of a carriage, Cecilia got to see everything from various shaped targets to resting spots. The targets weren’t the concentric circle scoreboards she often saw in her previous life, but were all shaped like animals or people. Some were even made to move along a rail at a constant speed.
And most of the targets had their vital spots riddled with bullet holes. It was David’s work.
This couldn’t be explained away by him simply being a gun businessman. His skills were so good that you would believe he was a soldier or an assassin.
‘…He said he was royalty.’
She could see the side profile of the man standing with a long rifle aimed across the vast field. It was David.
He was dressed in a dark shirt and a leather vest. His muscular, ripped arms were fully exposed from his half-rolled-up sleeves. The stock of the rifle was fixed firmly on his large shoulder as if it were embedded there.
Bang!
Smoke rose from the barrel of his gun.
“Bullseye!”
At the servant’s shout, Cecilia looked at the wooden dummy used as a target instead.
The center of the wooden dummy’s chest to its left side, standing about 50 meters away, was ragged. That was where the bullet had just hit.
Her own heart felt like it was throbbing for no reason. Cecilia tried not to rub her chest and looked back at David.
“How was that?”
Was he asking her to say he was cool?
“You want to try shooting, don’t you?”
David smiled as if proposing a secret prank.
‘Why does he keep telling me to try shooting a gun?’
Now, a little annoyance flared up.
Juyeon, in her previous life, had been a genius at shooting. No one could match her, whether in sniping or close-range combat.
But the delicate Cecilia didn’t look like she belonged with weapons. So she couldn’t understand why he kept making such a suggestion.
‘Should I just blindly fire it anywhere?’
If she pretended to be wobbly from the weight and aimed the muzzle at that sculpted face, he would never want to recommend a gun to her again.
She was about to extend her hand for the gun with a sinister thought when Rogerick, who had been following along silently, suddenly stepped forward.
“I would like to try.”
“Oh, you, my lord?”
David sized up Rogerick with a scrutinizing gaze.
“Well… fine. This way then.”
Cecilia swallowed her disappointment and followed them as they moved.
They stood near the shooting line. The target was a little closer than where David had been shooting. Instead, the target was a rabbit, only half the size of the human-shaped one.
“Give me a gun.”
The Grand Duke’s subordinate, who was on standby, handed him a gun. The man opened the magazine, put in a few bullets, and stood on the line first.
“I’ll show you how to use it, so watch carefully.”
Click, he pulled the bolt to load the gun and aimed the muzzle at the target.
Bang!
The bullet was lodged in the very center of the rabbit’s chest. David grinned and looked at Cecilia as if to show off.
“This is how you do it. Do you understand?”
It seemed less like a question and more like a demand. He didn’t seem like he would explain it again even if she didn’t understand.
Fortunately, Rogerick nodded and took the gun.
“I will try.”
“You’ve shot a bow, haven’t you? It’s similar, but different. It takes much less force to shoot, but the recoil is tremendous.”
“Lord Rogerick, be careful. The first time I shot one, I thought I was going to be blown away!”
“Thank you for the advice, Viscount Lenard.”
He was a man who resembled Ryang. Perhaps he, too, had a knack for guns.
Cecilia found herself overlapping the man in front of her with her memories of the past.
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