Chapter 39
“No, I can go alone…”
“That’s out of the question. Do you really think you can hold the reins properly with just one arm?”
“……”
Since his words weren’t wrong, Lea didn’t insist. With his help, she mounted her horse.
Derek got onto the horse he had ridden earlier and took firm hold of the reins to Lea’s horse.
Keeping his eyes on the road ahead, he led her out of the hunting grounds. The hunting tournament had long since ended, so the forest was utterly quiet, and the sun was rapidly setting, making it darker by the minute.
But Derek didn’t panic. Now that his headache was gone, confidence he didn’t even know he had seemed to surge forth.
She, who had brought him such fortune, was someone truly precious. He didn’t fully trust her yet, but she had healed someone who had been in pain—he owed her that much at least.
The two barely made it out of the hunting grounds before nightfall. Waiting for them were knights from the Imperial Palace.
“Lady Haisley! We’ve been waiting for you!”
Among them was Zion. He immediately noticed something was off with Lea’s complexion and hurried toward her.
“Lady Haisley, have you overexerted yourself?”
Lea let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Zion. The thought that she could finally rest brought her a fleeting smile.
“My lady?”
But the moment she let down her guard, her vision went black. The last thing she saw was Zion’s widening eyes—then she fainted.
Derek was faster than even the startled Zion. He caught Lea as she slumped sideways and brought her safely to the ground.
“My lady!”
“Lady Haisley!”
The surrounding knights rushed forward. Though Derek caught her, he was a mental-type Esper and lacked the physical strength to fully support her.
As a result, the area that had been bandaged reopened. The scent of her blood wafted to the knights’ sharp senses.
Zion, uncharacteristically unable to keep his expression in check, charged forward.
“Bring the court physician!”
At his command, one of the knights quickly moved, and the incident drew the attention of the nobles and of Calix and Ilion, who had been celebrating the winner of the tournament.
They recognized the collapsed Lea and the man beside her, Derek, and began whispering among themselves.
“What’s going on? Isn’t that Lady Haisley?”
“What in the world… Isn’t that man the illegitimate son of House Felitier?”
“Could it be that she fainted?”
“Ah, I feel like I might faint too…”
Noblewomen and young ladies, alarmed by Lea’s condition, grew even more flustered.
“Oh, should we summon His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress again?”
“Indeed. What are we supposed to do about this?”
“Why on earth did this happen…?”
The winner of the hunting tournament was Calix.
Though the number of game he and Ilion had caught was overwhelming, the decisive catch—something even the Empress couldn’t contest—was the silver-furred fox.
When Calix revealed the silver fox, the noblewomen and young ladies let out screams that bordered on shrieks, startling him.
Even Bianca looked at it with greedy eyes, which made him speak evasively.
He said he wanted to personally gift it to someone who had truly supported him.
Normally, he would have chosen one of the women who had cheered for him, but perhaps due to what had happened at the previous banquet, no one had handed him a handkerchief this time.
Since no one had been chosen, disappointment spread among the crowd. Bianca, unable to hide her regret, tried flirting with the Emperor, but even he couldn’t interfere with the winner’s right to choose.
Seeing the Empress act that way, Calix barely suppressed the sneer threatening to slip between his lips.
You should know your place if you’re going to covet something.
This wasn’t the kind of prize that could be handed off to just anyone.
It was as good as a gift from Luna to him, and there was no way he would let it be stolen from right under his nose.
But if he absolutely had to give it to someone…
“There is someone suitable.”
Though he received everyone’s praise for his overwhelming victory, his thoughts drifted to Luna, who had vanished mid-tournament.
Just where had she gone?
Should he be worried, or should he praise her for disappearing without a sound, outmaneuvering even two Espers…?
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