Chapter 90

“If not you, then who?”

But Noel insisted on asking about it.

“Who, whoever it is.”

Rieta quivered for a moment, fiddling with her hair.

It was a habit she had for whenever she panicked, and it seldom changed.

“Anyway, I . . .”

As Rieta tried to pretend to be calm, she stared at Noel.

“I mean, I really wanted to learn with Noel.”

“. . . Are, are you crazy!”

Noel shouted that unknowingly and turned his head away.

The moment he heard the word ‘together’, for some reason, a smile surfaced on his face.

Well, after all, you wanted to play with me during the hunting contest.

She was like a stupid pPrincess.

He might have thought about it a little, if she would honestly tell him that she just wanted to be with him.

“Are you crazy?”

Rieta immediately pointed out his tone.

When there were other people, they would still show some good attitude.

But when it was only the two of them, they seemed to become more and more harsh with their words.

“Noel, you’re being rude!”

“When did you learn to be rude?”

Noel glanced at Rieta who covered her mouth.

Her pouty face was really funny.

As expected, the slightly sulky Rieta was funny.

She didn’t know why it was so funny.

When he made a laughing noise to himself, it seemed that Rieta was really offended.

“Okay, I’m not going to learn embroidery with Noel.”

“I didn’t even want to learn it anyway.”

“It’s too late to regret later, Noel is an idiot.”

Rieta turned her head back.

“Uh . . .”

Noel smiled quickly and poked Rieta’s knee with his hand.

“Are you really mad?”

“Hmph.”

It seemed that Rieta was really offended by him, so Noel got into a bit too much trouble.

What do I do . . .

As he pondered, he came up with a good idea.

It had to be solved in a very noble way.

“Okay, I’ll win for the Princess in today’s hunting contest.”

“. . .?”

What does that mean? It came out of nowhere.

When Rieta turned around with her eyes wide open, Noel quickly explained.

“I will registering the game I have caught in the name of the Princess. That way, the Princess will be the winner of the day!”

That was the method that the knights of the family often used for their masters and ladies.

They could prove their loyalty and their heart by giving the glory of the competition.

It was a competition for the purpose of friendship, so it was very common.

“Noel would give me the victory?”

“Yes. You’re thankful right?”

“But they said you had to catch the biggest animal to win?”

“Who doesn’t know that? I mean, I caught a rabbit in a contest last year. It was a really big rabbit.”

Noel spread his arms wide to both sides and made a bluff.

Of course, a rabbit of that size could not exist in the Emperor’s hunting grounds, so Rieta did not believe his exaggeration.

“So I might catch a deer this year. I might catch a deer the size of this carriage.”

She didn’t think there was any such thing.

Still, she couldn’t crush his desire to work hard, so Rieta nodded her head moderately.

“Yes, I’ll make sure the Princess wins today!”

Noel even took his handkerchief from his arms and tied it to Rieta’s wrist.

When Rieta stared at her wrist, Noel quickly added an explanation.

“It is the custom of hunting competitions, to wish for victory and good luck for the opponent. It means that I, Noel Mayer, will guarantee Rieta Liz’s victory.”

He smirked and explained, and proudly held out his hand to Rieta.

“. . .?”

When Rieta just stared at his hand, he screamed in frustration.

“Aren’t you supposed to pray for my good game and safety too! Then you will win the hunting contest!”

Rieta didn’t have any particular desire to win, but she didn’t want Noel to get hurt, so she prayed for his safety and gave out her handkerchief.

“I mean, tie it tightly around my wrist. You idiot.”

“. . . Noel, you’re really serious.”

Rietta frowned and tied a handkerchief to Noel’s wrist.

The two handkerchiefs were engraved with the same Duchy’s pattern, so it looked as though they were wearing the same bracelets.

Noel noticed that and was a little embarrassed, so he quickly lowered his sleeves and completely covered his wrists.

* * *

When they arrived at the entrance of the royal hunting grounds, it was quite crowded with the carriages and people who arrived first.

Rieta pressed her face close to the window and watched the hounds squawking and the people preparing their weapons.

Among them, there were not only the elderly and middle-aged, but also children who went hunting with their parents.

Liz has hunting competitions every season.

She heard that it was called a hunting contest.

When, in fact, it was a drinking party in the forest.

Thanks to that, Rieta had never been to a hunting competition until this day.

I didn’t have any servants recommend attending, so it seems that it isn’t a good place for children to be.

This year, Liz’s hunting contest . . . No, maybe there will be a fun and entertaining contest.

There was a high probability that it would be.