This place was a hunting ground not far from the border village.

Kantard and his soldiers were in Blandiche. Judging by the bows and weapons they held, it seemed they had come for a hunt.

‘Still, that’s technically illegal.’

For a nonimperial Kursian to hunt here was against interstate restrictions. But crossing the border to hunt was simple. It wasn’t a food issue. The likelihood was they came purely for the enjoyment of hunting.

While they were here, their only job was to occasionally hunt down monsters. And the village people, who were favorable towards Kursians, would likely turn a blind eye.

I understood. But if the knights who would come up soon noticed, things could escalate.

‘I need to go tell them quickly.’

I still had things to say to Kantard since we hadn’t properly greeted each other. I cautiously moved toward where they were, just as I was about to call his name.

The sound of horses breaking through the forest path rang out.

My head snapped around.

Sure enough, Liri and Violet were riding their horses deep into the forest.

Violet was hastily chasing after Liri in the lead.

I really can’t live like this.

“Liri! Stop!”

Because of my troublesome cousin sisterinlaw, not a day passed when I could rest easy.

I changed direction and climbed onto a horse. Kantard and his group heard my voice and started moving hurriedly.

“Liri!”

No matter how much I called, Liri, who was racing forward through the empty hunting ground, didn’t look back.

‘It’s my fault for believing she’d stay put.’

Regretting it now was too late.

The knights didn’t seem to have any plans on coming, and all I could hope was that nothing would happen.

Once we reached the middle of the forest, Liri gradually slowed down. I quickly dismounted and grabbed her reins.

“Get off.”

“Do you know what I found, sisterinlaw? A winter deer went in there!”

A winter deer was a creature of legend.

Only appearing in the tales descending on Blandiche.

Even if it was here, going without the knights was dangerous.

“Whether it’s a deer or not, wait for the knights.”

I barely held back from dragging her to the castle right then.

I didn’t want to hear that my nineteenth birthday was ruined because of my sisterinlaw.

“Why do we need knights? Do you think it’s my first or second time here? This is like my playground. I’ve been here dozens of times without knights.”

I swallowed the sigh that almost escaped and put my hands on my hips.

“Liri, this is different from the promise we made when coming here. You said you’d hunt safely if we came, didn’t you?”

“……Fine.”

For some reason, Liri obediently listened to me.

Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief and let go of the reins.

“Okay, let’s hunt safely. When we go back to the castle……”

That was the moment.

“I’ll behave and hunt just like you said, if we just go see the deer!”

“Liri!”

The moment I let go of the reins, Liri immediately kicked her horse into motion.

Foolish me!

I’ll never allow hunting again.

“Are you not going in there?”

I felt like I was aging as I rushed after her.

Liri did not stop and raced like mad. The winter deer wasn’t in sight, yet she sped ahead as if it were right before her eyes.

“Slow down!”

Her figure, seemingly entranced, looked precarious as she followed the forest trail.

“Ma’am!”

Fortunately, the knights were following. But neither I nor the knights could keep up with Liri’s speed.

“The edge is a cliff!”

She surely heard it, but showed no sign of stopping.

At a brisk pace, Liri’s body jolted significantly. She encountered a large fallen tree, causing both her and her horse to leap into the air. Simultaneously, Liri vanished from sight.

“Liri!”

I impulsively ran toward where she disappeared. A gaping cliff revealed a vast landscape.

There was no time to admire it. I had to find Liri.
Fortunately, Liri was sprawled at the edge of the cliff. I pulled her vigorously to a safe place. Luckily, she was not badly injured; it seemed she had lost consciousness due to the shock. I entrusted Liri to the knights who followed me.

“We must hurry to the ducal castle.”

“Yes, my lady!”

It was when one of the knights hastily picked up Liri. Violet, who had been watching her worriedly, exclaimed in a surprised voice.

“Liri has opened her eyes!”

As she said, Liri barely opened her eyes and painfully opened her mouth.

“Ali… is Ali okay?”

“Ali? Your horse?”

“Yes… is Ali okay?”

Worrying about the horse in this situation.

Osen checked and then shook his head at me.

“One of its front legs is broken; it’s impossible to take it with us.”

“So, are you saying we should abandon Ali?”

Liri almost started to cry immediately.

“There’s nothing we can do.”

Even if the two knights, Violet, and I combined our strength, it would be impossible to drag Ali with our bare hands.

“Let’s go out and call for help.”

“No! So, you’re saying to let Ali freeze to death here?”

“That’s not what I meant…!”

“You’re cruel, sister.”

Liri buried her face in the knight’s shoulder and sobbed.