Crackle, crackle.

With every step, a rattling sound echoed from the pockets. It was fortunate that the hunting pants had four large pockets.

Although the pants became a bit baggy and bumpy due to the bulging pockets filled with purple horns, Stella felt ecstatic.

As she collected more purple horns, Stella couldn’t help but think that Mila had chosen the hunting outfit exceptionally well.

The people watching from outside the fence were already beyond Stella’s concern.

With the taste of the hunt, Stella’s eyes gleamed, and she leaped around the hunting ground searching for purple-horned lizards as if she could fly.

“Stella! Look, there it is again! This time it’s a big one!”

“Really? Let’s go!”

Even the earth fairies were excited together. Stella sprinted in the direction pointed out by Esta, fearing she might miss it.

“It’s behind that tree!”

Ark, perched on Stella’s forehead, shouted in excitement.

For several hours until the trumpet announced the end of the hunting competition, Stella tirelessly ran around, completely absorbed in the hunt.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Along with fireworks, applause and cheers poured from various places. Princesses who had entered the hunting ground a little earlier and the knights stationed everywhere for unexpected incidents would soon come out of the hunting ground.

With an anxious expression, Mila stood at the entrance, waiting for Stella to emerge.

As soon as the firecrackers went off, the princesses rushed out of the hunting ground as if they had been waiting.
Among them, there were quite a few princesses who proudly came out after catching one or two small monsters. Most of these princesses were those who had obtained excellent weapons with outstanding performance from their homeland.

Using simple weapons infused with a small amount of magic was allowed within the hunting ground, making it possible.

Melissa, who was observing with a haughty gaze, chuckled as she watched the princesses, who appeared energetic as if they had successfully hunted with their own abilities due to the magic inserted into their weapons.

“Cute.”

Just in case, Melissa glanced at Kai, but no princess caught his attention. Melissa asked with a more relaxed tone.

“How about the princesses participating in this year’s hunting competition? Anyone catching your eye?”

A subtle tone mixed with anticipation.

Kai, in response to Melissa’s question that laid bare his thoughts, smirked dryly while staring at the princesses coming out of the hunting ground.

Even though he looked at these beautiful women like bright flowers, Kai’s gaze was as indifferent as when he saw rolling pebbles.

Seeing Kai, who revealed no emotions, Melissa leaned back on her chair as if expressing boredom. That’s when it happened.

Kai, who had been lazily leaning forward, suddenly sat up straight. Following Kai’s gaze, Melissa quickly turned her head towards the entrance of the hunting ground. Something didn’t feel right.

Whom could he be looking at?
Dozens of princesses were pouring out at once, making it difficult to identify anyone in particular. Melissa scrutinized Kai again. The corners of his lips, which had been stiff with annoyance, twisted slightly.

Is he smiling?

That was the expression Kai made when he found something interesting. The expression he made when he discovered a skilled swordsman, found a monster he had never caught before, or discovered a weapon he didn’t have.

Without realizing her eyebrows were fiercely furrowed, Melissa anxiously observed the princesses pouring out without a break.

Who is it? Who could it be?

Just before bursting, Melissa’s eyes flickered as she spotted someone.

Purple horns?

A princess, relatively plain in comparison to the others, emerged from a slightly bulging pocket in her rather modest hunting attire. She pulled out a sparkling purple horn, shaking it, and grinned widely. The purple horn sparkled like amethyst in the sunlight.

A maid rushed towards her. It seemed like the maid was the one the princess greeted while shaking the horn. Quite a lot of horns were visible in the pocket, indicating that she had hunted quite successfully.

“It looks like that princess caught a purple horned lizard. The assigned knight must have helped a lot. Still, they helped way too much, compared to the other princesses.”

Melissa, feigning disinterest, casually uttered the passing remark as if it were inconsequential.
I thought there might be some words, but I couldn’t hear any response from Kai. He just stared at the same place, wearing a smile that seemed to say something, just like before. It was clear that the princess with the purple horn was the one Kai was looking at.

“Do you like that princess?”

I tried to ask the question as nonchalantly as possible, but unintentionally my voice trembled. As a bewildered Melissa cleared her throat, Kai looked at her and smiled slightly.

“Never.”

His smile was incomparably gentle and affectionate compared to before, but for some reason, Melissa felt like his smile was empty.