… It seems the preparations are already finished.

Damian frowned at the emperor’s earlier appearance than he had expected.

Just before ascending to the palace, he had an unpleasant conversation with Eriel and was saying words close to a notification to her.

Although Eriel said she wouldn’t think of him as her husband, fortunately, she listened calmly to Damian’s story and nodded.

Damian released his hand that was holding Eriel’s shoulder.

As her warmth disappeared from his hand, Damian felt like he was about to choke up with tears without realizing it.

Dying was nothing, but it was sad to leave Eriel who said she would wait for him.

Maybe it was fortunate that they fought just before.

She would wait not for him as her husband, but merely as Lucy’s father.

“Duke, His Majesty the Emperor has already arrived.”

A subordinate outside urged him.

Eriel looked outside the tent for a moment and soon raised her head to Damian.

“Damian.”

Eriel, who softly called Damian’s name, carefully reached out to him. A faint warmth rose to Damian’s face and rested on his cheek.

Damian hastily brought his hand to the warmth she offered first, like a person who had been starving for days.

Holding Eriel’s hand resting on his face, he hoped she might say something.

The thought that it was fortunate they fought last just now felt like someone else’s thought.

“I also… married out of love.”

Ah… Eriel.

“So rely on me even a little. We are… husband and wife. Sharing difficult things is hard… mmph.”

Damian’s head lowered to Eriel’s lips. Damian’s patience was felt at the end of those lips that collided for a moment.

Damian, who had pulled away from Eriel, asked quietly while panting.

“May I kiss you? Eriel?”

Strength was already put into Damian’s grip that cupped her cheek.

Eriel glanced outside for a moment and recalled the previous incident at the palace.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t completely refuse as his excited breath felt close.

“Just for a very brief moment.”

With short permission, Damian’s lips captured hers. It was a very brief single kiss.

*

Amidst the pouring applause, the emperor and empress entered on horseback.

The emperor with a solemn expression seemed to be trying to maintain a grave atmosphere befitting the hunting festival.

However, in the emperor’s golden eyes looking down at the nobles, there was a somewhat bored light at times.

When the slowly moving golden eyes turned to the front again, the loud voice of the attendant rang out.

“His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire, Her Majesty the Empress, and His Highness the Crown Prince are entering.”

The nobles, largely divided into two factions, the emperor’s faction and the noble’s faction, bowed their heads in front of the tent of the Zenova ducal family and the tent of the Farnese marquis family.

The emperor, looking at the nobles, responded to their greetings by blinking his eyes.

As the emperor’s horse stopped, the attendant rushed over and handed the emperor a scroll.

The hunting festival to celebrate the abundance of the upcoming autumn started quite early this year.

“… Lastly, I wish good luck to all who attended the hunting festival.”

As the emperor’s voice stopped, another round of applause poured out.

Amidst the friction of palms colliding, the emperor moved to the imperial tent placed in the center, followed by the empress and crown prince.

Only after they had completely entered the tent did the applause stop.

“……”

After a brief silence, the nobles gathered in front of the ducal tent glanced at Damian.

It wasn’t that the emperor arrived early because the palace clock was broken.

Even though there was still plenty of time left before the starting time, the emperor’s early arrival at the hunting festival was a kind of warning and vigilance towards Damian.

When the emperor arrived, all nobles, including the leaders of each faction, had to move to pay their respects to the emperor.

So it was customary for the emperor to appear leisurely, giving them time to receive greetings first.

However, this year, the emperor did not follow that custom at the hunting festival.

Even for a favored subject, there were times when the emperor deliberately did so if that subject’s power was too strong or displeasing, but it was a bit unexpected for it to be directed at Damian.

Even the rebellion was not imprisoned thanks to the emperor’s consideration, so everyone seemed puzzled that he showed such displeasure at a mere hunting festival.

Eriel was also equally puzzled. It seemed something had definitely happened at the palace.

Eriel quickly turned her head to Damian. Holding his hand, Eriel put a bitter smile on her lips and comforted him.

“It’s probably because of me. There was an unpleasant incident at the launch ceremony. His Majesty likes flawless subjects.”

“No. It’s not your fault.”

Damian, who raised the hand holding Eriel’s, kissed the back of her hand.

“Eriel.”

Finishing the kiss, Damian quietly whispered to Eriel.

“After the hunting festival ends, Marquis Farnese will look for you.”

“Marquis Farnese?”

“I don’t know how the situation will unfold, but if the marquis happens to come looking for you, be sure to listen to what he says.”

“I understand… Damian, just let me know one thing. Is Marquis Farnese who comes looking for me an enemy or an ally?”

At Eriel’s question, Damian’s eyes settled calmly.

His blue eyes that passed by the imperial tent seemed to be looking at Marquis Farnese beyond it.

Damian’s composed voice flowed into Eriel’s ear.

“He will be neither an enemy nor an ally, but simply Marquis Farnese himself.”

*

“Duke, as you have been on the battlefield for a long time, the hunting festival must be nothing more than an amusement to you.”

The emperor, casually holding a champagne glass, received Damian’s greeting with a short laugh.

The nobles waiting for an audience laughed along with the emperor’s laugh, leaving the inside of the tent, and Damian calmly nodded at the emperor’s strangely sarcastic attitude.

“It seems it cannot be compared to the battlefield.”

Damian, who uncharacteristically answered the emperor’s words, put a faint smile on his lips.

The grip of his hand covering Eriel’s shoulder was felt to be instinctively tightening.

“Yes, I thought you would think that way. It’s the first autumn hunting festival my close friend is experiencing in the empire, so I can’t help but pay attention. I prepared a special banquet for you today, so I hope there will be as much amusement as on the battlefield.”

“Thank you for preparing it specially.”

Damian bowed his head.

Eriel also bowed her head following her husband, but she couldn’t help but be surprised by the emperor’s attitude, which was incomparably sharper than before.

Weren’t Damian and the emperor close friends who had been together for a very long time?

While Eriel’s question mark was growing larger, the atmosphere became more and more brutal.

Even when Damian bowed his head and Eriel bent her waist, no words came from the emperor’s lips telling them to rise now.

There were still many nobles left who had to greet the emperor, but the emperor did not open his mouth as if he would continue to receive Damian’s greeting like this.

A strange silence flowed through the hall.

Eriel felt the surroundings turning icy cold even as she bowed, looking at the floor.

That’s when it happened.

Footsteps rang out, and the emperor’s boots stopped in front of Eriel and Damian.

The emperor tapped Damian’s shoulder, and as soon as Damian raised his head, he grinned.

“I’m kidding. My close friend came to the hunting festival after a long time, so I played a mischievous prank. Oh my, Eriel too…”

As the emperor’s hand reached for Eriel, Damian tapped down the emperor’s wrist just as the emperor had tapped his shoulder.

It was a very light tap.

However, even that light tap was something that should not have been done to the emperor.

It was a grave crime to dare lay a hand on the emperor’s body, but Damian smiled as if it were nothing.

The face of the captain of the imperial knights turned blue and he tried to draw his sword as if he would rush at Damian at any moment.

The emperor’s hand gestured to the captain of the knights that it was alright.

“Haha. How would they know our jokes, Damian? You displayed some nonexistent humor because it’s the hunting festival.”

“I also tried playing a joke, how was it? Was it alright?”

“You need to work a little harder. The one thing you lack the most is a sense of humor, and looking at the reactions around, it doesn’t seem to be going over well.”

“I will try to work harder.”

Damian gently laughed and nodded.

“Yes. There’s still a long way to go, so let’s stop here.”

Damian bowed his head once more.

Eriel also bowed her waist and then sat in the Zenova ducal family’s seat placed at the edge of the imperial tent.

The nobles following Damian bowed one by one and paid their respects to the emperor as if they had never seen the events just now.

Eriel maintained a smile with a graceful face as if nothing had happened, but inside her head, a storm was raging.

While Eriel was having a private fight with Gerald, it seemed another incident had occurred at the palace.

Eriel glanced at Damian.

His eyes, sitting indifferently, were only calmly gazing forward.