Arasila momentarily thought those arrows were aimed at the golden leopard.

However, the arrows did not stop even after the leopard disappeared, and Demian’s words as he deflected them with his sword awakened her mind.

“It’s an ambush! My lady, come this way!”

Arasila dazedly followed Demian to hide behind the rock where the leopard had been sitting.

Even in a sparsely populated forest, an open ambush during a royal hunting festival.

Moreover, it was her first time experiencing an ambush in her life.

Although she had lived a life with many competitors and people who hated her, she didn’t have enemies who would send people to ambush her like this.

“What kind of sudden ambush is this?”

On the other hand, Demian, who had plenty of such enemies, reacted calmly.

“They’re probably targeting me. I’ve experienced many ambushes like this since childhood.”

“What? Are they crazy?”

Arasila’s mouth gaped open. How could he speak so calmly about frequently facing assassination threats?

In reality, more arrows were flying towards Demian than her.

Demian glanced at Arasila. Crouching behind the large rock, she looked smaller and more fragile than usual.

‘If they approach and attack, she’ll clearly be subdued immediately.’

So it seemed better to keep her hidden to avoid getting involved in the fight.

He had always overcome such crisis moments alone, and he was confident he could take down any number of opponents, so he didn’t need Arasila’s help.

“Stay here, my lady.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll go handle this. Stay hidden in a suitable place until it’s over.”

Before he finished speaking, the rock they were hiding behind split in half with a crack. It was cut by magic shot from the bushes.

That meant there was a magician among the assassins.

“Wait.”

Arasila, who quickly sensed an ominous energy from the black marks left on the rock, grabbed Demian and shook her head.

“There’s a magician among them. It doesn’t seem right, so we should fight together.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like I haven’t faced magicians among the assassins I’ve dealt with before.”

Demian said as he moved with Arasila behind a large nearby tree while observing the enemy’s movements.

“You’re vulnerable to close-range attacks, my lady. I can tell just by looking.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m as skilled in defensive magic as I am in offensive magic.”

Arasila proudly smiled as she quickly formed a barrier to block the lightning-attribute magic that flew from the opposite direction, splitting the tree.

But Demian was still not convinced by that.

“Then stay hidden behind and protect yourself.”

Demian said so and tried to go forward alone. Arasila grabbed his clothes.

“How about this? I’ll take care of long-range attacks, and you handle close-range attacks.”

At any other time, Arasila wouldn’t have cared whether Demian fought alone or not. She knew well that he was a Sword Master.

But as a magician, once she felt the ominous energy in the opponent’s magic, she couldn’t just stand by.

“I don’t like it. I’ll handle it myself.”

Demian brushed off Arasila’s hand as if dealing with a street peddler.

Oh, this stubborn fool, really!

Arasila immediately grabbed Demian’s wrist with her other hand.

“Let’s just do it together! Honestly, those people might be targeting me too, so why do you keep telling me to stay put!”

Demian hesitated at Arasila’s protest.

There was a high probability that this ambush was instigated by the Vandermir ducal family. Most of the assassins he had encountered since childhood were like that.

In fact, he had internally speculated that they might plot something at this hunting festival, but then expected they wouldn’t dare scheme at an imperial-hosted event.

However, now that that expectation was completely shattered, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Arasila was also a target of the assassins.

The Vandermir ducal family had already attempted to harm her once before.

However,

‘If that’s the case, all the more reason I should handle this.’

One way or another, Arasila was someone who got involved in the internal conflicts of the ducal family because of him.

He didn’t want her to be exposed to danger again.

Even if they were targeting Arasila, he seemed to be the main target, so if she quietly hid, she would probably be fine.

“That possibility is low. So, my lady, please don’t get involved…”

“Oh, come on! Whether the target is me or you, can’t we fight together? Why are you refusing help in a life-threatening situation?”

Apart from everything else, Arasila was a person with a sense of justice and humanity. She couldn’t easily ignore the fact that assassins had come to kill someone.

Moreover, the enemies seemed quite skilled, which made it even more so.

“Bluntly speaking, I would help even if it was a stranger, and we’re married. We’re in the same boat.”

“…”

“It’s natural for me to help you. I absolutely won’t try to take credit for this, so let’s do it together!”

Eyes like a transparent but unfathomably deep lake stared straight at him. It was hard to judge whether it would be dangerous or not to dip one’s feet into them.

After a long hesitation, Demian finally nodded. With the incessant rain of arrows and successive magical attacks, the tree they were hiding behind was about to fall sideways.

“Please be as careful as possible when fighting. If it seems dangerous, retreat immediately.”

“You too, if it seems dangerous while fighting, hide behind me.”

Demian let out a laugh that could have been either a chuckle or a sneer at Arasila’s confident retort. To think he would hear such words from such a delicate woman.

Nevertheless, somehow feeling reassured, he quickly composed his expression and said quietly,

“Well then, let’s go.”

“Alright.”

The tents where the royalty stay are red, the tents for each noble family are white, and the public tents are yellow.

The noble ladies who did not participate in the hunting festival gathered in the yellow tents to chat. The family tents were often used by the older women of the household, so the young people gathered outside.

Among them were a few male nobles who did not go to the hunting festival. Most of them had injuries or chronic illnesses that prevented them from going.

In other words, all the able-bodied men had gone into the forest to hunt game.

In this situation, Oscar, who was wandering around the yellow tent area without any particular reason for skipping the hunt, looked very much like an idler.

Still, since he was quite handsome and from none other than the Vandermir ducal family, many ladies were interested in him.

It was when Oscar was flirting at the table of the lady he found most appealing.

“But why aren’t you hunting, young master?”

“…Hm?”

An uncomfortable question flowed from the lips of the lady he had been painstakingly trying to seduce. The lady, not noticing his subtly stiffened expression, continued.

“The other gentlemen are working hard to catch game, trying to make the woman they fancy the queen of the hunting festival. I was wondering if there’s a reason you’re here by my side like this.”

The lady’s intent behind the statement was to find out if Oscar had a woman he was seeing.

Since he mostly stayed in the ducal territory, little was known about his relationships with women.

Since his younger brother, Demian Vandermir, suddenly got married after a secret romance, she thought the elder brother might be the same and wanted to check in advance.

‘What… Are you trying to test me now?’

But the narrow-minded and selfish Oscar became upset as soon as he sensed this. He disliked feeling like he was being obsessed over and constrained when they weren’t even in a relationship yet.

Instantly losing interest in her, he looked around to scout for other women.

Instead of doing the hunting he was supposed to, he was mentally ranking the ladies gathered in the tent when a relatively quiet table caught his eye.

Oscar stood up after spotting a pretty lady among those having a small conversation over tea.

“Y-young master? Where are you…”

The lady, flustered by his sudden departure without a word, tried to stop him.

But Oscar was not a man kind enough to even those he approached just for a day’s fun.

Coldly brushing off the lady’s hand, he invaded the table of quietly chatting ladies like an attacker.

“May I join you for a moment?”

“Y-yes?”

The ladies, who generally had mild impressions, were at a loss at his sudden appearance.

Oscar sat down in an empty seat without permission and smiled flirtatiously. The lady he had his eye on was sitting next to him.

“What is your name?”

“Ah… I’m Amelia Bennett.”

“Ah, so the name of the flower I was drawn to like a spell is Amelia Bennett. Pleased to meet you.”

Oscar arbitrarily took Amelia’s hand and kissed the back of it. Amelia’s shoulders shrunk at the unwanted contact.

An innocent and passive reaction. An unremarkable family whose name he had never heard before.

These were good conditions for Oscar’s habit of womanizing in the ducal territory to slowly emerge.

“Lady Bennett, isn’t it boring to just be with your friends after coming all the way here?”

“What? No, I’m fine…”

“Why don’t we move to a cozier place for the two of us to have an intimate conversation?”

Whether he couldn’t see Amelia’s discomfort or not, Oscar forcefully grabbed her wrist and pulled.

“If you come with me, you definitely won’t regret it. I’m extremely popular with the ladies, you know.”

“Ah, no…”

It was when the other ladies couldn’t actively intervene because he was the Vandermir young master.

“Stop, young master.”

A thin, clear voice restrained Oscar. Amelia’s expression brightened as she saw who appeared behind him.

“Lady Hugo!”

“Lady Bennett seems to be uncomfortable.”

Iris, with a smiling face, naturally and gently took Amelia’s hand from Oscar’s grip.

Oscar turned to look at her who had suddenly intervened, with a somewhat displeased expression. He was already feeling negatively towards the Hugo marquis family for various reasons.

‘Who does she think she is to tell me to stop…’

Oscar’s expression, which was about to frown and get irritated as much as possible, suddenly changed subtly.

He saw the beautiful Iris with her brown hair neatly braided down, wearing a pure ivory dress adorned with flower decorations.

What the.

‘She’s quite my type?’

Captivated by Arasila’s dazzling appearance, Oscar hadn’t paid much attention to Iris until now. Even at the wedding, he had only glanced at her briefly, never looking closely.

But Iris, whom he was now facing directly, was a woman of considerable beauty.

Her delicate features and slender figure, along with an aura that suggested she might be an obedient and virtuous woman, captivated Oscar’s heart.

‘She doesn’t seem feisty like my sister-in-law either. If I were to marry, this one would be much better, wouldn’t she?’

In fact, although Arasila was a great beauty, she didn’t exactly match Oscar’s preferences. He didn’t really like women beautiful enough to intimidate him.

Oscar originally preferred women with a pure appearance and docile personality.

In that respect, Iris, who seemed more fragile and had a gentle impression compared to his sister-in-law, was the pinnacle of the female image he desired.

‘Why didn’t I think of the other Hugo lady before?’

Oscar, whose mind worked faster than anyone else when it came to women-related issues, grinned.

‘I can seduce this Hugo lady, can’t I?’

The plan to seduce Arasila had already failed, so it was time to move on to the next target.

Iris before his eyes seemed much easier to approach than his sister-in-law.