I Transmigrated as an Extra in a Trashy Dark Romance Game - Chapter 44

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※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

“I was regretful we couldn’t meet again after that, but the timing is quite good. If you are agreeable, my lady, would you spare me some time at the banquet after the Hunt concludes?”

“Yes, I’d like that.”

Seeing the Duke making plans to meet at the Hunt’s banquet with a somewhat wistful expression, Edith thought he looked rather puppy-like and sent an affirmative answer with a smile.

“That’s the expression you make when you smile… Thank you, my lady. Then, until later.”

The Duke’s eyes widened slightly, and he looked at Edith with a surprised expression before returning to his usual composure. He offered his thanks and departed.

She wondered if she had ever smiled in front of the Duke before, but then again, she realized she hadn’t smiled much at all since coming to this world.

With the horn signaling the start of the Hunt, the riders began entering the forest to pursue their game. Watching them, Edith quietly rose from her seat and headed in the opposite direction.

Thinking it fortunate her features were indistinct and she didn’t stand out, she moved away. Unaware that her presence had somehow become more defined, and that people were beginning to notice her a little more.

Even now, the other young ladies turned their gaze toward Edith as she stood up.

Edith headed in the direction opposite the forest’s entrance. Conscious of the red crystal earring on her right ear, she began to weave the magical formula Kaidros had taught her.

Soon, her form grew increasingly transparent, and with Levitation activated, she headed toward the forest.

‘Luckily, the magic seems to be working properly. So this is what it feels like to fly.’

The forest viewed from above was dense and hard to see, except in parts. In Edith’s field of vision, only the sight of many nobles on horseback hunting near the entrance flickered in and out of view.

‘If it’s the Crown Prince, he must have gone deep inside.’

Flying further in, she still couldn’t see much due to the trees, but the ferocious cries of beasts being hunted reached her ears intermittently.

With a premonition that the one pursuing that beast must be the Crown Prince, she descended to land nearby.

‘I am a bit worried about the beasts, but with Invisibility magic, nothing too bad should happen, right?’

* * *

Kaidros, who had been reading a book, suddenly looked up as if remembering something.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t mention there might be a barrier that blocks magic. Not that you’d go to such a place…”

He’d thought it wouldn’t matter for the Hunt, as barriers that suppress mana were usually only at the palace entrance and the inner areas where the imperial family resided. But just in case…

“Well, I told her to break the earring in an emergency, so it should be fine.”

For a moment, he felt a flicker of concern for Edith, but he dismissed it. It wasn’t as if suppressing magic barriers was something easy enough to install across the vast imperial hunting grounds.

* * *

The moment her feet touched the ground, both the Invisibility and Levitation spells shattered instantly. The heavy sensation of gravity made her lose her balance and fall.

Contrary to Kaidros’s expectation, a barrier had been erected across the entire forest—if not the sky—likely to eliminate the threat of potential assassins.

Stranded in the middle of the deep forest as if her magic had been forcibly disarmed, Edith felt terror tightening its grip on her body with the beastly roars echoing from all directions.

‘If I stay still, something worse will happen… I have to move!’

Fiddling with the earring on her earlobe like a talisman, Edith somehow forced her stiff legs to move.

Fortunately, she walked a fair distance without encountering any beasts, but she couldn’t find any trace of the Crown Prince or Serenity, nor did she run into anyone else.

Exhausted, her long dress kept snagging on branches, feeling cumbersome. Her feet ached from walking so long in her shoes. Letting out a sigh, Edith decided to rest just for a moment. She looked around and slumped down against a tree.

“Haa, where on earth are they… My feet are killing me.”

Rubbing her calves to loosen them up, she suddenly tensed again at the sound of an animal’s rough breathing coming from somewhere close.

And the moment she realized the sound was coming from right behind the tree she was leaning against, her body leapt forward on its own.

Crack.

The sound of a tree trunk shattering into pieces by something blunt cutting through the air came from right behind her.

“Huh, huk.”

Turning around, Edith saw a massive black bear standing before her eyes, bleeding from arrows lodged in several places, drooling heavily in a state of extreme agitation.

Meeting its yellow eyes, her body froze this time as if her feet were rooted to the ground. She could only stare back with a terrified expression, overwhelmed by fear.

Not even able to think of breaking the earring, as the black bear lunged at her, she squeezed her eyes shut.