CH 3.4

CHAPTER 3: YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO BE THERE (IV)

Part 043

On the day of the hunting competition, Adrian arrived at the Ethard mansion early. He praised Damian saying that she was pretty when he saw her wearing a short maroon-colored coat and long leather boots rather than the long mouse coat he was used to seeing.

Adrian, who smiled brightly, was also mesmerized by the vivacious appearance of Damian, who was wearing a maroon skirt of the same color and a two-button jacket for women, carrying a small bag. Damian, who smiled at Adrian who praised her with a thrilled face, looked back slightly at Jenny, who perfectly matched her today’s outfit, and Jenny raised her thumb with a happy face. It was Jenny who had recently been in frequent correspondence with the butler of the Duke of Bigor. For Adrian and Demian’s perfect date, Jenny, who had prepared her outfits in advance, sent the two of them off with a smile as they left the mansion wearing matching couple looks.

Damian and Adrian, who left Ethard mansion in the Bigor family’s carriage, arrived at the hunting ground behind the palace in time.

As Damian stepped out of the wagon holding Adrian’s hand, two knights she had never seen before approached holding the reins. One of them had a frightening face and was enormously tall and bulky. It was surprisingly large for Damian, who was used to Adrian and Franz’s slender length. The other was Honam, who had silver hair of unknown age and a sad expression. The colossal size of the dark horse thrashed and rubbed its nose at Adrian. The silver-haired knight, who handed over the reins to Adrian, whimpered at Adrian with a face like a puppy looking for praise. Adrian, who pretended not to know what he was saying, shook his head slightly at the continued pace and introduced him to Damian.

“Damian, these are Hegel and Thierry of my Knights.”

A gigantic knight named Thierry bowed his head in moderation, while a silver-haired knight named Hegel greeted Damian with a single smile.

“Baby, no, Lady Damian. This is Hegel. I wanted to see you.”

“Nice to meet you, Sir Hegel.”

Upon receiving Damian’s greeting, Hegel took a step closer and added in a slightly lower voice.

“If you don’t like the kid standing behind the lady, feel free to tell me. I’m always ready to escort the lady.”

When Damian smiled at Hegel, who pretended to be friendly without hating it, Adrian pushed Hegel away without revealing it and stretched out his hand. Then he led Damian to the huge, ornately built barracks. It was a place where noble ladies and young girls who came together to cheer on their families or lovers participating in the hunting competition would gather and spend time. Franz, standing behind Damian, grumbled and glared at Hegel, then followed.

Damian looked at the people who would participate in the hunting competition with a curious face. Most of them were male, but a few young ladies stood out as well. Each of them was mounted on a horse and had a bow slung on his back. A large bow was also attached to Adrian’s black horse.

“Do you shoot a bow too, Adrian?”

“I know how to handle pretty much anything.”

Damian, who had no talent in arts and sports even from the previous world, praised him for being cool with his eyes shining brightly, and while Adrian blushed and laughed, they arrived near the barracks. Now the participants had to gather separately and prepare. After exchanging greetings and seeing faces from a distance before setting out, they must stay away from each other until the hunt is over. With a sad face, Adrian let go of Damian’s hand. And when he hesitated and couldn’t speak, Damian smiled and took out a white handkerchief from the small bag she was carrying.

Adrian’s eyes sparkle.

“I don’t have any embroidery skills, so don’t expect too much.”

He unfolded the handkerchief handed to him by Damian with trembling hands. As the meaningless numbers appeared, Adrian tilted his head. Indeed, even if Damian had embroidered his earthworm and called it a dragon, it was Adrian who would have nodded his head, saying that he could feel his spirit. Even if only one line had been drawn, he would have praised it, saying that the truth of all things in the universe was contained in it. However, four numbers 7, 11, 5, 2 were embroidered on the white handkerchief. Adrian tilted his head as he recalled the array of numbers automatically used in military codes. He couldn’t figure it out even after trying to guess like this, so he was sweating a little.

After repeating that several times-

“Arella-Mubakah.”

He found the answer. When he raised his head, Damian nodded with a satisfied face. Adrian stared at Damian’s face and spoke again.

“Arella-Mubakah.”

His face was still smiling, but Damian averted her eyes as he rolled his eyes. Adrian’s smile grew wider.

“Arella-Mubakah.”

Damian’s face slowly turned red. 

‘Hmmmm.’

She cleared her throat and turned her head, but Adrian’s face was already smiling so wide that she couldn’t see.

“Arella, Muba-“

“Stop it!”

Unable to hold back Adrian’s confession again, Damian raised her hand to block it. Adrian, who was blocked by her small hand, laughed ‘ha ha ha’. Damian’s hand was wrapped around his right hand to keep it from falling off, and he kissed her fingers that were touching him. Damian has her fingers tickling, her face hot, her chest tickling, and she just couldn’t help herself, but Adrian puts her hand to his mouth and smiles with a worldly expression.

“I’ll bring a game suitable for this handkerchief.”

“Okay, so please let it go. It’s itchy.”

Adrian smiled and removed her hand, and Damian hid her hand behind her back. It was the first time he had seen her face turn red. It was lovely, and his fingertips tingled.

Damian’s side face turned red as she rolled her eyes and averted his gaze.

He wanted to hug her, but he couldn’t. His desire to keep looking at her as she was, and his desire to shut her words like crazy, were heard at the same time. 

Adrian waved his hand at Damian as he entered the barracks, gruelingly persevering.

* * *

She stepped into the barracks with her back to Adrian, who was waving. Sometime after summer, it’s hot. And as soon as she entered the barracks, she was surprised by the sudden change of seasons. Inside the huge barracks, there was a cold air that seemed to form icicles. 

Maybe forty or fifty. The wives and young girls were sitting in groups on either side, leaving the center a little empty, with Philia sitting in the center of one side and Eilene sitting in the center of the other side, fighting each other.

Damian was not confident in this kind of fight. She had only stepped into the entrance, but she already wanted to go home. Standing vaguely near the entrance, contemplating which way to go, Lady Titana, the youngest daughter of Luther, who was seated next to Eilene, raised her voice and started talking to the group. However, her voice was so loud that it could be heard outside the barracks.

“Isn’t that why she is crying on her face, saying that her 20th birthday is just around the corner, and there is no man to be engaged to, let alone get married?”

“Oh, maybe it’s okay. It’s really sad. But the fact that the marriage proposal was rejected doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with the young lady?”

She knew nothing about the social world, but even if she didn’t know it, she knew who it was aimed at. It seemed that rumors have already spread that the Galleon duchy submitted a marriage proposal to Adrian but it was rejected.

A sigh escaped her mouth for some reason when she found Eilene laughing sweetly among the laughing crowd of nobles. Their eyes met for a moment, but Ailene turned her head away first.

She didn’t want to interrupt, so she went to a corner and sat quietly. This time, the daughter of a certain count who was next to Philia raised her voice.

“Ladies, I have a question. Among the young ladies I know, there is one who got married but did not share the wedding vows. Should I call her young lady or wife?”

“Where is such a marriage? It’s not even an affair.”

At the question with a clear target, the women from the royal family and aristocratic families burst out laughing. Only Eilene’s half-sister Lillian, who was sitting in the royal family, quietly lowered her eyes.

As soon as autumn began, she let Eilene go into her royal palace, but everyone knew that she still hadn’t received her princely title. Eilene, whose half-married was recognized by neither the king nor the Duke, dyed her face red and her hands trembled.

“Hong, I think it’s better than begging here and there for a marriage proposal.”

When Titana looked at Philia and provoked her, she rose from her seat as Philia, who had only been smiling so far, twisted her red lips into a smile. Just as she was about to take her steps, the queen, Veronica, entered the barracks.

“Were you telling interesting stories?”

Seeing her up close, she was very beautiful. She was a typical cat-like beauty with raised eyebrows. Why did someone who had a grown-up son look so young?

Everyone in the barracks stood up and bowed at the sound of her picky voice. She also got up quietly and bent and straightened her back.

“Greeting the Queen.”

After looking around the audience, her hubby put on a smile as if she had made it up, then went to Eilene and held her hand.

“Eilene, I said you don’t have to come because it’s a rough place. Are you feeling well? Dozern is worried about you a lot.”

Philia pursed her lips and sat back down. Her pick came out like that, so it couldn’t be helped. The queen took a seat next to Ailene and she stroked the back of her hand affectionately. However, Eilene’s smiling face looked somewhat uncomfortable. Her mouth was also awkward, she couldn’t even make eye contact with her and she had her head down.

Damian knew that face. In any case, it was Eilene whom she had seen for over 20 years. Very rarely, when Si-yeon’s father scolded her, or when her friends or acquaintances said uncomfortable things, she had such an ambiguous face. The child who shouted that she was happy, got married and had a child, and the face of the new bride who said she was swollen with dreams of becoming a queen didn’t looked happy at all.

When the fighting in the barracks went into a lull due to the appearance of the rear guard, a servant came in and announced that the hunting competition would soon begin.

She quickly left the barracks and went to the place where the participants were lined up. At the very front, she found Adrian on a nice black horse and waved. The King was giving a speech, but Adrian just waved back.

Among the knights she saw for the first time today, the silver-haired Sir Hegel seemed surprised by Adrian’s appearance. He opened his mouth and looked at the back of Adrian’s head. And she was surprised by something else. Everyone was standing in a group of people. Adrian was the only one who took just two knights with him. He’s just going with a single platoon over there. She looked back at Franz, who was standing behind her, wondering if she should attach Franz as well, but she was at a loss for words because he had a serious face like the last knight protecting a princess on a battlefield.

Anyway, more people participated than she thought. She heard that this hunting competition was like a battlefield for the pride of men from aristocratic families. Until last year, Marquis Luther had a winning streak, but how many people were they taking? Wasn’t that a foul? Herr Adrian only carried two knights!

She saw Duke Nodovan too. Earlier, Lillian was also pretending not to know Eilene, looks like she didn’t contact her family at all.

The Galleon’s young Duke also came. She heard he’s a kid who went to the academy, but a hunting competition? She guessed he really didn’t care about his family. They came from aristocratic families that were known for their prosperity. The Crown Prince and Dozern also participated.

But her Adrian was the most handsome. Looking at him, even if he stayed still, flowers bloomed on his face. Was that person trying to catch the prey by twisting it in the face? Everyone had serious faces, but why was he smiling so brightly? 

After the King’s speech, they dispersed one by one and headed to the hunting grounds. First and foremost, the winner was the one who catches the biggest game. They had to come back by sunset, but if they showed up last and made their partner wait for a long time, they would be laughed at. By the time the horn sounded long, Adrian, who had greeted her, turned his head and disappeared into the woods. 

‘Anything was fine, so grab it roughly and come without getting hurt. Better come early. I don’t want to stay here. This lady here is scared.’