‘Then why did he eat so well back then?’

The food she’d brought to give to Arsian’s dead younger brother, Sier—when the child left without taking it, she’d ended up feeding all of it to Arsian.

He’d eaten with such appetite then, so why... ah.

‘Our house chef isn’t half-bad.’

But Laila’s cooking skills are no less. Even the chef-ghost Ferrol would give a thumbs-up in approval, you know?

‘Weird man.’

Turns out he’s quietly picky.

Camilla handed him water as Arsian looked ready to spit out the cookie in his mouth, and she no longer offered him any of Laila’s desserts.

"Hmm."

Watching Arsian like that, Laila let a subtle smile slip.

"Oh! Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

After a moment, Laila brought up another topic.

"The hunting tournament."

"The hunting tournament?"

"Yes! The Imperial Household is holding a hunting tournament!"

****

‘I’d completely forgotten.’

That man.

‘The Crown Prince brat.’

As useless to Camilla’s life as Ravi! That obnoxious bastard who smiled blandly while scraping people’s insides raw!

"Ugh..."

So I have to face him, in the end?

The host of this Imperial hunting tournament was Edsen de Fable, Crown Prince of this empire. The tournament was being held for his birthday.

They’d said many honored guests from other countries would attend... The problem was that the Crown Prince had sent Camilla an invitation.

And whether he wrote it himself or not, an invitation stamped with the Crown Prince’s seal had arrived addressed to her.

"What is he thinking?"

Everyone knew Crown Prince Edsen disliked Camilla Sorpel.

He made a show of it so blatantly—how could anyone not know.

Not once had he ever sent Camilla a separate invitation like this.

Invitations went to the Duke of Sorpel, to Ludville, to Ravi every time, yet Camilla’s name was often left out cleanly.

"Annoying..."

If it were anyone else, she’d just ignore it.

With Ravi, she’d at least try smacking the back of his head. But you couldn’t pull that on the Crown Prince.

‘That’s a good way to get your head lopped right off.’

With that filthy temper, he’d charge her with insulting the royal family and kill her on the spot.

She’d thought she’d gotten some distance from the recent death-ending, and now a landmine like this pops up...!

‘Camilla, Camilla.’

Why are your human relationships such a mess? How is it that you’ve got enemies on every side!

Knock, knock.

"Miss, I brought some iced tea to cool you—"

Right then, the page Dorman opened the door and came in. And then flinched, meeting Camilla’s steady glare aimed at him.

"This is your fault."

"...Pardon?"

"This is all your fault!"

The anger rose afresh. It felt like the reason Camilla’s relationships were trash was that bastard’s fault, and her insides simmered.

‘No—that’s right!’

Not “like,” it actually was that bastard’s fault.

People hated Camilla because that jerk had put the wrong soul in her body!

"Ah, shall I bring you something else instead of iced tea?"

"Dorman."

"Yes, ma’am!"

He must have sensed the atmosphere wasn’t normal; his answer snapped to attention.

"You’re coming to this hunting tournament too."

"...What?"

"You’ll attend the hunting tournament with me."

"M-me too?"

"I need to bring a shield."

"By a shield, you mean..."

"What if I lose my temper because of the Crown Prince brat and snap?"

"...Sorry?"

"If I snap and kick up a fuss about killing him, and he tries to kill me instead, you’ll be the shield and die first. In that time, I’ll come to my senses and run. Okay?"

"H-ha ha... What kind of joke..."

"..."

"...It is a joke, right?"

Ignoring Dorman as his face edged toward tears, Camilla downed the iced tea in silence.

Chapter. Hunting Tournament

"It’s been a while since we all went out together."

A luxury carriage bearing the Sorpel crest.

It guaranteed a splendid exterior and comfortable seats, but unfortunately, what it didn’t provide was a relaxed atmosphere.

‘Ugh, seriously...’

At least, not for Camilla.

She managed a smile and a nod at the Duke of Sorpel, Ludville, and Ravi, who were all looking at her.

"What’s with how you look?"

"What about how I look?"

She had traded a few lines with the Duke when, all of a sudden, Ravi—sitting across—picked a fight.

Displeasure filled his eyes as they skimmed her outfit.

‘What’s with him since a while ago?’

Ever since boarding the carriage, Ravi had been snapping like that. Unlike the Fox, he kept trying to show his true colors even with the Duke of Sorpel present.

‘Is it because I held Brother Ludville’s hand?’

If so, it was the pettiest reason.

The Duke of Sorpel and Ravi had been seated in the carriage first, and Ludville had been waiting outside to help her board.

She could have climbed in by herself just fine, but she couldn’t ignore the hand he offered, so she took the help, that was all.

‘If he didn’t like that, he should have been the one waiting outside.’

Ravi had actually gotten mad because she took the seat beside the Duke of Sorpel without a moment’s hesitation instead of beside him, but Camilla didn’t guess any of that; she only pouted.

"Are you actually going to hunt?"

"Then what else do you do at a hunting tournament if not hunt?"

She knew exactly what he meant, but feigned ignorance.

Even at something called a hunting tournament, noblewomen didn’t actually go out to hunt.

While the men hunted, the women gathered in cliques for “tea time” under the banner of socializing.

Except...

‘“Tea time,” my foot.’

It was a place where making a person into a fool was the easiest thing in the world.

‘Call it the venue for a women-only hunting tournament.’

The problem was that the game was always Camilla.

With piles of things to nitpick, what better game could there be?

‘Rather than sit there, I’d rather go hunt myself.’

She’d never hunted before, but it beat becoming prey for the women.

"I’ll catch a bear and give it to you."

"Are you cra—!"

About to say “crazy,” Ravi shut his mouth, mindful of the Duke of Sorpel’s eyes, and Camilla let out a faint laugh.

"You’ve come."

A little later, when they arrived at the hunting grounds, the Duke of Jevillan greeted them warmly.

‘I really do see him often these days.’

"Are you well?"

"Yes, thanks to your concern, I’m fine."

On seeing her, the Duke of Jevillan asked after her health.

"Elisha."

Soon after, he immediately called for his daughter. At his voice, Elisha, who had been standing quietly to the side, hesitated and came toward Camilla.

As if previously primed, she bowed her head at once, politely.

"Sister, I’m truly sorry. I made a huge mistake last time."

Sincere or not, Elisha offered her apology, looking thoroughly deflated, and Camilla gave her the kindest smile she could.

It wasn’t something she could snub when so many eyes were watching.

"All right. I wasn’t badly hurt, so don’t worry."

Only then did the Duke of Jevillan relax his stiff expression and fondly pat his daughter’s head.

"Did you eat something wrong?"

"Are you sick?"

Keeping her expression as generous and mild as possible, she played her role—and Ravi and Arsian sidled close and spoke in low voices at the same time.

When did that man get here?

"..."

"..."

For a moment, the two stared at each other.

"You..."

Ravi reacted first.

"Why are you acting familiar with my little sister?"

"Little sister? Ah, the brother who supposedly hates me?"

"What the— You’ve talked that much already? I told you not to get close to that guy!"

"Isn’t meddling in your sister’s relationships a bit much?"

"I’m her brother. You’re the one who shouldn’t meddle."

What are they doing now?

Not wanting to get dragged into a nuisance, Camilla quietly slipped away.

While she did so, the two—who hadn’t noticed she’d vanished—kept arguing.

"Don’t... come near... her."

"That’s overprotective... and in the first place, that’s between me and Camilla... it is."

‘Well, I’ll be.’

Standing at a distance from them as if not part of the group, Camilla watched Arsian arguing with Ravi, a little amazed.

‘He isn’t the type to get into a war of words.’

He’d punch rather than prattle.

Wasn’t Arsian the sort who, with good fists at hand, wondered why anyone would bother with a tiresome argument?

Then again, by that logic, the very fact he was here was funny.

Arsian loathed official functions with lots of people; he practically shuddered at them. The Duke of Sephra didn’t seem to be attending either...

"Why did he come?"

Was the prize for this hunting tournament that good? Come to think of it, I still don’t even know what the prize is.

"Are you planning to participate in the hunt?"

"...!"

As Camilla backed farther and farther away to avoid the two, Petro approached her side.

Dressed for ease of hunting, he was, as ever, tall and neat. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Can you shoot a bow?"

"I can, more or less."

When she’d acted in historical dramas, she’d trained with a bow for a long time.

She’d kept going to shoot even after that drama ended because she seemed fairly accurate. People had often praised her skill, too.

Catching moving game was another matter, but that was how it was for /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ now.

"If you’re going to hunt, keep to the entrance area over there. The deeper in you go, the more dangerous animals there are."

Knowing this was her first Imperial hunting tournament, Petro offered a caution.

"All right."

Camilla tossed back a simple answer and turned away.

He stared at her as if he had more to say, but she didn’t pay it any mind.

"When does it start?"

She could feel gazes beginning to fix on her.

Especially the whispers of ladies and young misses at the sight of her in hunting clothes—really...

‘Annoying.’

If she’d dressed in a gown for tea, they would have whispered about that, too.

If they were going to talk either way, then doing as she pleased was the right answer.

"We greet the Crown Prince."

"We pay respects to the Little Sun."

"Your Highness, you’ve arrived."

A moment later, another swell of murmurs began on one side. At last, the star of this event, First Prince Edsen, had appeared.

At his entrance, Camilla edged farther back, bit by bit. To somewhere as inconspicuous as possible!

‘Absolutely not that way!’

The Duke of Sorpel’s side was the safest and also the most dangerous place.

The first people the Crown Prince brat would greet would be the Duke of Sorpel and the Duke of Jevillan.

[Gyuu?]

"Huh?"

Working hard to retreat without drawing notice, Camilla halted at the small cry she suddenly heard.