CH 137

The other nobles, who were likely to be angry at Aria’s absurd tyranny, coughed for a moment and looked away.

The second thing they were afraid of other than the Valentine’s name, was because the Lord got too dirty for them to take his side. The nobles were very cruel to those who lost their dignity.

Natalie muttered as she watched the back of the Lords who ran far away.

“You said you didn’t want to hunt…”

The shadow of an animal, let alone a squirrel, did not actually pass behind that Lord’s back. It meant that what Aria wanted to hunt in the first place was that Lord.

“You seem to enjoy hunting humans.”

Because of Aria’s delicate deer-like appearance, the Princess keeps getting confused. However, Aria kept surprising her by showing a stronger image than she had imagined every time.

‘So…….’

She liked it even more. Natalie was taken aback as she thought about Aria. And she left quickly.

It was still too early to make a decision, but it was difficult because she thought she would lose her objective judgment about Aria.

“Hmm.”

Lloyd, carefully examining Aria’s hand, confirmed that she was okay. He turned to the Emperor and said,

“Then let’s start the hunting contest, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor, who had his mouth open and a blank expression from the moment Aria pulled out her bow, came to his senses belatedly.

“Let, let’s start the hunting contest.”

It was a very bad declaration.

Aria, Lloyd, and Vincent rode their horses and ran along the hunting grounds.

“What’s going on over here… gasp!”

If the nobles ran into the three by chance, they were all terrified and avoided, so the surroundings were too quiet.

Aria felt peace after a long time, and she ran all the way through the forest.

“Aren’t you two hunting?”

Aria hesitated for a moment, then asked them.

“I don’t care.”

If they didn’t bring even a single prey, they would almost get ridiculed even more than before.

Aria knew that either of them had no qualms about killing.

‘That’s not to say they’re going to go slaughtering indiscriminately, but…….’

It didn’t feel right for the two of them to get ridicule from others in order to match her.

Then Vincent glanced back at Aria and said back.

“We have three days of exploring, so we have no time for hunting or anything like that.”

And Lloyd took over the words.

“Well. What’s the fun of shooting an animal that is held so that it cannot escape outside the hunting ground with a bow?”

No matter how strong people sounded, if they encountered a wild beast in the wild, they would almost be eaten. It was ridiculous that they needed to show their strength by shooting an already captured animal with a bow.

This was the real reason why Valentine didn’t even attend various events held at the Imperial Palace.

“That’s also true.”

“And killing a life is a bad thing.”

“That’s right. Life… no, when did you become such a commonsense person?”

Vincent, who had tried to fight back whenever possible, could not bear it and had no choice but to ask Lloyd.

If Lloyd was saying that so he will look good for Aria, shouldn’t it be something that was more plausible to accept.

“You’ve gone too far.”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’ve always cared for the preciousness of life in my heart.”

“The more you go, the brazen you get, the more it seems that Brother is becoming more and more like the Grand Duke.”

“Do you want to die?”

“What about the preciousness of life?”

It was when the two were talking to each other. Aria suddenly stopped.

“…!”

Because it was a hunting ground, she was prepared. She had to endure the bloody smell and the dead animals all over the place. However, when she found a deer fainted with blood dripping, she couldn’t help but turn white.

Aria was stunned and frozen for a moment, then she quickly drove her horse towards it. And jumped off her horse.

“This…….”

Aria ran and held the deer in her arms, not even moving.

Vincent muttered in a muffled voice.

He thought that if someone had hit a prey in the hunting contest, the servant who was on standby would immediately remove the corpse, so they didn’t think there would be any direct encounters.

‘How do they handle things?’

Seriously, there’s nothing likable about this Imperial Palace from top to bottom. It was when Vincent was clicking his tongue with cold eyes.

Aria looked away from the deer and stared blankly into the air.

Vincent, curious about her, followed her gaze and turned his head.

‘…… what.’

But he saw an unexpected sight.

It wasn’t just the deer.

Carcasses of squirrels, rabbits, foxes, and goats were scattered everywhere.

‘There are a lot of corpses all over the hunting ground, but they didn’t collect them?’

It was weird

As Valentine, they were acting independently, but the other nobles always went hunting with a servant each. Nobles, who care more about aesthetics than anyone else, would have a seizure if they saw this scene, but to leave the animals lying around like this.

‘By the way, there’s no arrow marks?’

If the animal was killed by a bow, it is normal for the arrow to be stuck in the body. There was no way they would have pulled out the arrow after killing the animals. It was usually the case because it proves that it was the prey that was caught with an arrow engraved with a family pattern.

But this was not a common situation. When Vincent was questioning the situation,

“Aria.”

Lloyd opened his mouth, in a pretty firm voice.

“You can go back now if you want.”

Aria had not come to the Imperial Palace with preparedness to participate in the hunting contest. She didn’t have to ride her horse and run the hunting grounds, seeing the carcasses of the animals that she cherished terribly.

“To follow Viscount Tien’s trail, just me and Vincent can do it enough.”

He got off his horse and placed his hand on Aria’s shoulder. To help her. He thought of sending her back on her horse, who had been shocked and lost her soul.

“……live.”

“What?”

“Still alive.”

Then Aria murmured. She could hear the faint breathing and the sound of the dying heartbeat in her ears.

After hearing Aria’s words, Lloyd was able to take a closer look at the injured animals. The wounds barely avoided fatal points.

“They spared their life on purpose.”

The animals won’t die instantly, but if left like this, they can die from excessive bleeding. In this way, the wounded animals will have no choice but to die in pain.

There was a clear sense of malice.

“Who in the world…”

Aria clenched her teeth for a moment, quenching her anger, then closed the eyes of the already dead deer with a painful face.

She then rose and reached out to reach the tree stump near her.

Do you know the land where the lemon-trees grow,

She wrapped her hands around the trembling squirrel and sang a song of healing as she whispered into her arms.

in darkened leaves the gold-oranges glow,

a soft wind blows from the pure blue sky,

A miraculous song that saves even those who were about to die. The song began to resound softly through the forest.

the myrtle stands mute,

She paused while singing.

For some reason, it seemed as if another singing voice was ringing in her ears.

“Did you hear that?”

Aria forgot the serious situation for a moment and looked back at Lloyd and asked.

“The voice…”

“A song?”

But he responded as if he had no idea what Aria was talking about suddenly.

“If it’s a song, isn’t Sister-in-law singing it?”

Even Vincent suddenly gave a strange look to Aria, who was puzzled. Lloyd spoke as if to reassure Aria that was stiff in bewilderment.

“There is no one around us right now.”

“……yes.”

Aria knew it too. That’s why she started singing the song of healing without hesitation.

But obviously that song…….

“Squee…”

At that time, the dying squirrel cried with a delicate sound. As if shedding a groan.

….and the bay-tree high?

Aria felt an unknown discomfort, but she couldn’t afford to pay attention to it now.

When she saw the squirrel’s ears quivering, she sang the song of healing that had stopped.

The mule picks its way through the misted pass,

and dragons in caves raise their ancient brood,

and the cliffs are polished smooth by the flood;

The horrific wounds that had run across the squirrel’s body healed cleanly without a trace. The squirrel, who was in a hurry to breathe, pricked its ears and opened its eyes. The squirrel jumped up from Aria’s hand, wagged its tail, sprinted over her arm, and sat on her shoulder.

“Squeak!”

Aria sighed in relief and let out a small laugh.

“It tickles.”

She got up and checked the condition of the other animals as well.

Unfortunately, the animals who missed the treatment period were not saved, but most recovered their wounds and flocked to Aria’s surroundings.

“Squeak!”

“Baaa!”

“Caaw!”

“Hiihng!”

They couldn’t understand the atmosphere, even the horses that were sneakily intertwined.

“Oh!”

As a result, Vincent and Lloyd were hit and pushed back by the rushing animals. Animals properly possessed by Aria tended to be unable to distinguish predator and prey.

“Uh huh, I guess you’re the fairy in the forest anyway…”

Vincent looked back at Lloyd unknowingly, brushing off the dirt on his trousers, and was startled.

Lloyd was staring intently at the animals that took his place and occupied the place next to Aria at will. With eyes that darkened enough to look black.

“Brother, the preciousness of life.”

“…is it really precious?”

So, didn’t he clearly say that it was not plausible? It was when Vincent was shaking his head.

Suddenly, Aria jumped up.

“Aria?”

“Sister-in-law?”

Then, looking back at the empty air, they stiffened and murmured.

“I hear it too.”

A singing voice.