“What are you talking about? My father has died before?”

Lucy tilted her head and blinked her eyes, as if she didn’t understand.

Charles looked into her clear green eyes and awkwardly trailed off, saying, “Is that not the case?”

Even to him, it didn’t make sense.

A young lady who knew about events after the Duke’s death? For that to be possible, the young lady would have to have experienced the Duke’s passing and then returned to the present, or be able to see the future like a prophet.

Both were beyond common sense. Yes, there’s no way that could happen. It was all nonsense created by his excessive speculation.

Charles scratched the back of his head unnecessarily, clearing his mind of the young lady’s unstable appearance and words.

Now, it would be a better choice to think about what excuse to make when he met the Duke.

Just then, Charles entered the marked area.

In their previous conversation, the Duke had said he would hunt near the largest pine tree.

Since he came on horseback, he should have arrived by now with time to spare.

If nothing had happened, he should be starting the hunt by now, searching for prey…….

Charles stopped running in front of the pine tree.

“…Huh? Are these horse hoof prints?”

Are they the Duke’s, or someone else’s?

As Charles was estimating the animal tracks, a metallic sound rang out not far away.

*

The hunting festival was a competition where the head of each family participated alone to showcase their skills.

Ultimately, it was one of the imperial court’s events meant to enjoy the abundance of autumn through numerous hunts.

Therefore, not only Damian, but also Count Scala and Marquis Farnese all had to enter the forest alone to hunt, without any of their subordinates accompanying them.

In other words, it also meant it was an event conducive to planning an assassination.

…Is it one person?

Damian, who had closed his eyes tightly and then opened them, slowly reduced the speed of his horse.

Long ago, it was held for the purpose of the Emperor’s purge, but now that was strictly forbidden.

When their lives were threatened, the nobles stopped participating in the hunting festival hosted by the Emperor altogether.

Damian changed the position of his hand so that he could draw the dagger in his bosom at any time, and listened to the surrounding sounds.

The sound of horse hooves at a certain distance could be heard among the grass.

When he gauged the exact position, Damian immediately drew his dagger and threw it.

“…Ugh.”

Although the opponent’s groan burst out, Damian didn’t stop and threw another dagger. The opponent, who barely dodged it, retreated while holding the horse’s reins.

“From hunting birds to hunting the new master.”

Damian slowly approached the opponent who was pulling out the knife stuck in his abdomen. The opponent, wearing a thick hood, flinched and dropped Damian’s dagger to the ground.

…As expected.

Damian confirmed that he was Count Scala’s aide after seeing the opponent’s hand that quickly disappeared under the hood.

“Did Count Scala want to be the protagonist of the hunting festival that badly?”

The opponent’s shoulders shook at Damian’s sarcastic voice. At the same time, a painful groan was heard.

Even if it was a short-bladed dagger, the dagger that was thrust in an instant must have gone quite deep.

Red blood dripped onto the green grass covering the ground.

He managed not to fall off the horse, but that seemed to be all he could do.

“My, you shouldn’t stop at just an abdominal wound with the enemy right in front of you. You should have at least tried to escape while applying pressure to the wound. The moment you stop, it will be your breath that’s cut off, not your abdomen. Ah, is it because you’ve never participated in a war that you don’t know when to endure pain?”

As Damian slowly approached, the opponent drew a long sword from his waist, but he couldn’t hold it for long and gradually lowered the blade to the ground.

The pain from the wound was already too great to hold the long sword.

Damian confirmed how weak the opponent was in close combat by looking at the lowering blade and the quiver of arrows on his shoulder.

So that’s why he kept chasing at a certain distance.

“For someone who is supposed to be Count Scala’s aide, you’re too weak.”

Damian drew his own sword from his bosom with a sardonic smile. He suddenly closed the distance and struck upward at the opponent’s lowered blade.

“Urgh.”

The opponent’s wrist almost twisted just from Damian striking the blade once.

The distance between the two, which had been close enough for their blades to touch, was slightly widened by the horses startled at the clashing metal sound.

“As expected, your discernment is remarkable.”

The aide’s voice rang out.

“…To be so certain it was me without knowing my face or voice.”

A chuckling laugh was heard from under the hood. Though he was writhing in pain, it seemed he hadn’t lost his fighting spirit.

He took out an arrowhead from the quiver he was holding.

The arrowhead gleamed sharply in the sunlight. Then he raised his hand and swung the sharp arrowhead in the air.

Damian frowned at his strange action, but the laughing man was confident of his victory even while clutching his abdomen.

“If you were an ordinary assassin, you wouldn’t have responded this much. I didn’t want to be your companion on the way, but farewell.”

There was a thud, and then something roaring started running towards them.

Damian turned his head and frowned as he confirmed it was a bear.

“Just one?”

There was a hint of doubt in his tilting head.

*

Charles and Lucy, who were watching the situation from afar, saw the opponent fall from the horse as soon as the bear appeared.

The horse, startled by the bear, reared up, and the opponent, who had already lost strength in his hands, fell from the saddle.

At the same time, his head was kicked by the rearing horse’s hoof.

“Why is there a bear……”

Lucy’s lips moved, her gaze fixed more on the bear running towards Damian than on the man falling from the horse.

“The bear, why…… Uncle surely……”

Charles quickly covered Lucy’s eyes.

“It would be better if you didn’t watch.”

Soon after, Damian gave rest to the charging bear with a few strikes.

“……Papa!!”

Lucy lowered Charles’s hand forcefully and called out to Damian.

Damian, who turned his head at the child’s voice, turned his horse’s reins towards Charles and Lucy with a fierce aura.

“Papa!”

“……Lucy?”

His cold eyes gradually calmed as he saw the child and his mouth opened.

“Lucy!”

As if he had just recognized Lucy, Damian’s shoulders heaved greatly.

He immediately led his horse and came to Lucy, his face and body covered in bear’s blood.

“Papa, something must have gone wrong. Uncle said he had caught all the bears.”

Damian frowned and saw Lucy’s pale face as he dismounted.

“……There were more bears.”

Lucy’s trembling head turned towards the tents.

“……No way.”

*

Despite searching everywhere in the tents, including the playroom, Lucy was nowhere to be found. The knight also reported that Sir Charles, who was with Lucy, was not to be seen.

The last time they were seen was when they were talking with Helen in the playroom, and the knight added that quite some time had passed since then.

Eriel, who was listening to all this news, just listened to the knight’s story with tightly closed lips.

“Since she disappeared with Sir Charles, how about waiting for a while?”

Even at the knight’s words, Eriel didn’t move from that spot.

Standing still like a wooden statue, Eriel’s mind was filled with memories of the previous kidnapping, and her anxiety was escalating.

Charles listened to Lucy’s words then too.

The knight, observing Eriel’s pale face, swallowed hard and asked.

“Why don’t you go inside the tent and rest for now?”

“……No.”

Eriel shook her head and stood up.

The forest.

She couldn’t think of anything else. If Lucy wasn’t visible here, it was obvious she had gone to the forest.

Eriel started walking slowly, despite their attempts to stop her.

Even as maids and ladies tried to block Eriel, saying they should wait a little longer, Eriel kept moving.

As the Duchess headed towards the forest, the captain of the imperial knights finally stood in front of her.

“Duchess, the forest is dangerous. So……”

“Aaaah! A, a bear!”

A scream came from somewhere, and the roar of a beast was heard. Soon after, one of the tents was overturned, and a bear charged at full speed towards the people.

The captain of the knights let go of Eriel and headed towards the bear, and Eriel continued her steps into the forest amidst the commotion.

“Lucy.”

Eriel called out the child’s name softly.

“Lucy.”

“Aaaah! Ack!”

“Lucy.”

“Evacuate! Everyone must evacuate! The bear, knights form a line!”

“Lucy.”

In the midst of the chaos, the servants of the Jenova estate began to search for Eriel.

“My lady! My lady! The Duchess of Jenova……”

In the place filled with screams, the nobles all seemed to be busy saving their own lives, running away as if they didn’t care about anything else.

“……My lady! The lady is over there!”

The eyes of the servants, who had been moving aimlessly, saw Eriel heading into the forest and ran out.

Fortunately, the one bear that had been acting ferociously was quickly caught by the knights’ strike.

“……My lady!”

Ping—!

Amidst the voices of the maids and servants, a strange sound headed towards Eriel.