The imperial palace forest was stocked with game, so there were quite a few animals such as rabbits, deer, and birds. Olentia attempted to hunt with unfamiliar hand movements. However, she failed repeatedly, and the animals easily escaped. But she wasn’t disappointed. In fact, Olentia didn’t really enjoy hunting animals for fun.

She was just pretending to hunt, and later, when Dimidius revealed the mastermind behind the attack on the Grand Duchy, she would just have to stand by his side and support him.

At that moment, the magic amplifier installed in the forest announced the results of the hunt.

− His Highness, Grand Duke Dimidius Belial, has hunted a wild boar.

It seemed that Dimidius was the first to hunt a wild boar. She was curious about how he hunted such a terrifying animal.

As Olentia slowly wandered through the forest, she spotted Regalis Pulpa nearby. Of all people, it had to be the crown prince. She tried to pass by pretending not to know him, but he approached her.

“Lady. I’m even more delighted to meet you in a place like this. Have you been well?”

The Grand Duchy had been attacked, and the servants were trembling in fear as they tried to identify the spy. How could he ask if she had been well? If the empress was behind the attack on the Grand Duchy this time, there was no way Crown Prince Regalis could have been completely unaware of it.

Olentia looked at him with cautious eyes.

“I haven’t been well. The Grand Duchy was attacked.”

Upon hearing this, Regalis showed a surprised expression and looked over his riding outfit.

“You’re not injured anywhere, are you? An attack… You must have been very frightened.”

“I almost got hurt. Something I never even thought of happened.”

If she hadn’t had a premonition dream, she wouldn’t have thought that there was a spy in the Grand Duchy and that they would attack Dimidius.

The ability to have premonition dreams was really scary and terrifying, but sometimes it was a blessing.

Olentia had nothing more to say to Regalis and was about to change the subject when she heard his poignant voice from behind.

“Do you have no intention of accepting my heart? I already consider you my lady since we’ve met.”

If any of the numerous nobles in this forest heard him, it would be a big deal.

Olentia looked around, swallowed her saliva, then turned around and said to Regalis.

“I have no such intention. Your Highness, the Crown Prince. Please abandon that feeling of yours, whether it’s sincere or not.”

“You’re being too much. Insulting my sincerity like that. My feelings for you are all genuine. I was surprised too. I didn’t know I would think of you so often.”

At that moment, Regalis’ blue eyes seemed to sparkle. But Olentia didn’t want to believe him. She thought it was just a twisted emotion. Perhaps Regalis hated Dimidius as much as Dimidius disliked him. So he might be toying with her, Dimidius’ wife.

Ignoring Regalis’ words, Olentia went deeper into the forest. She felt she had to move far away to avoid him.

The amplifier kept announcing the hunting news of Dimidius or other nobles. So far, it seemed that Dimidius was overwhelmingly in first place.

Did he want to win the first place prize, the treasure of the deep sea? Or did he have something else in mind? She couldn’t tell.

“Did I come in too deep?”

There were no nobles hunting nearby, and there was an eerie atmosphere. Only the sound of the wind rustling the trees could be heard.

‘His Grace the Grand Duke told me not to go too deep…’

Olentia was about to turn her horse around to get out of there.

Swoosh−.

Suddenly, an arrow flew from somewhere, grazing Olentia’s arm and passing by.

Startled, Olentia grabbed her bleeding arm and looked around.

“Wh- who’s there!”

If they hadn’t mistaken her for prey, the arrow wouldn’t have missed her so narrowly. Olentia turned her head with a tense face and was attacked by an arrow again.

Olentia clearly saw the arrow flying straight at her. This time, it seemed like it would hit her chest, not just graze her arm. Someone was definitely targeting her on purpose.

Olentia closed her eyes tightly and created a white sphere in front of her chest. Then the arrow bounced off and fell down.

“My lady!”

At that moment, she heard Dimidius’ voice nearby. Dimidius, who had come on a black horse, checked her condition and began to move the horse towards where the arrow had come from. He was trying to find the culprit who shot the arrow.

Olentia trembled and caught her breath. She had no idea who was after her life. If Dimidius hadn’t been nearby, she would have been in big trouble.

‘Did I have someone who held a grudge against me?’

Regalis, who always felt dangerous, and Kikozellia, who might be angry about the inheritance issue, came to mind.

It would be shocking if it were either of the two, and the same would be true if it were a third party.

Biting her lower lip, Olentia slowly left the deep forest. She didn’t want to be in this forest any longer.

With his excellent dynamic vision, Dimidius caught the assassin hiding and moving in the bushes. It was no big deal to catch a fleeing assassin using demonic powers.

The man in the black mask trembled, almost collapsing from Dimidius’ overwhelming energy.

After dismounting, Dimidius grabbed the assassin by the collar and lifted him up.

“Who sent you. Who dared to order an attack on my wife!”

If Olentia hadn’t known how to protect herself with holy power, it could have been a disaster.

The assassin dropped the bow he was holding and begged Dimidius with his hands. He was trying to beg for his life.

“I’m truly sorry. Ah, it was the Marchioness of Armeniaca who ordered it. I only did as I was told. Please spare my life.”

Judging by how easily he revealed the mastermind, it seemed that the relationship between the assassin and the Marchioness of Armeniaca was not that deep.

Dimidius clenched his fist. He never thought that Olentia’s sister-in-law would do such a terrible thing. It was completely unexpected, and he was worried about how devastated she would be when she found out.

Dimidius dragged him out of the forest and told the knights guarding the surroundings.

“Tie him up and keep watch over him. He’s an assassin who snuck into the hunting competition.”

The imperial knights were startled and tied up the assassin’s entire body. As they were glaring at him being dragged away, Olentia emerged from the forest.

Dimidius quickly approached her and looked sadly at her bleeding arm.

“We need to stop the bleeding and treat the wound quickly. In case of any unforeseen circumstances, the imperial palace has stationed physicians in the tents, so let’s go there.”

Olentia nodded with a pale face. It pained Dimidius to see the wound on Olentia’s arm. He was the one who asked her to join the hunting competition. If Olentia hadn’t come to the competition, this wouldn’t have happened.

Dimidius, who had often been threatened with his life because of the empress, had a vague idea of how shocked Olentia must be right now.

The imperial physicians treated Olentia’s arm and said to Dimidius.

“Fortunately, the wound isn’t deep. She’ll be fine, Your Grace the Grand Duke.”

It was because Dimidius had been glaring at them with such fierce eyes.

The treatment was finished after wrapping the injured arm with bandages. Lying on the cot in the tent, Olentia said to Dimidius.

“You caught the culprit, right? Who was it that ordered to have me killed?”

Dimidius hesitated for a moment and let out a deep sigh. He had to tell her, but he didn’t want to say it, thinking about how hurt she would be.

But Olentia spoke first.

“Judging by your hesitation to speak, I guess it’s my sister-in-law. Am I right?”

It seemed that Olentia also suspected the Marchioness of Armeniaca. Dimidius slowly nodded.

Lying down and looking at the ceiling, Olentia let out a big sigh.

“She said she would never forget what happened at the banquet. She crossed a line that shouldn’t be crossed.”

The little affection left for Kikozellia had completely disappeared. She had decided not to care what happened to her anymore.

Olentia nodded and pulled the blanket up.

“I need to rest for a bit. Your Grace, achieve first place in the hunting competition as you aimed.”

That was the trigger. With a determined expression, Dimidius mounted his black horse again and rode into the forest.

Kikozellia, who had been hunting with Sokol all along, felt very uneasy. By now, there should have been news of someone getting hurt or killed in the forest, but there was no such news at all. Did something happen to the assassin?

As Kikozellia’s complexion didn’t look good, Sokol asked her in a puzzled voice.

“Are you feeling unwell? If so, you should go to the tent and rest.”

“No, no. I’m fine. I think it’s better to hunt separately from here.”

At Kikozellia’s words, Sokol nodded without much suspicion and turned his horse in a different direction. Only after Sokol disappeared did Kikozellia let out a sigh of relief. Her entire body was tense and stiff.

“I heard he was a skilled assassin, so he should handle it properly.”

Even rescuing the assassin wasn’t easy. Kikozellia had never done such a terrible thing before, so everything was difficult. But she felt like she could do anything if she could get rid of Olentia, who always ignored her and acted arrogantly.

If Olentia died, what would happen to her inheritance? Now that she was part of the Belial family, would it become Dimidius’? Thinking that, Kikozellia was just resentful regardless of whether Olentia lived or died.

Wandering through the forest, Kikozellia assessed the situation. Since there was still no news of Olentia’s death, it seemed that the assassin’s work was being delayed.

This was troublesome.

The longer the job took, the more likely it was to be discovered.

Kikozellia felt like she was going to lose her mind from anxiety. If she failed to kill Olentia, her position could be in jeopardy.

“That can’t happen. Absolutely not.”