The whirling staff struck the assassin’s shoulder blade as it flew. Arasila had aimed for the head.

It was quite a trivial attack with no significant impact, but it was enough to buy Demian a few precious seconds.

He regained his stance with frightening speed and counterattacked the assassin. Thud. The sharp blade pierced the assassin’s heart.

With the last remaining assassin dealt with, Arasila rushed urgently towards Demian.

“Demian, are you alright?!”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Phew, Demian exhaled and turned his body. Arasila, with her tightly bound hair now loosened, arrived in front of him.

“How are you, my lady?”

“I’m fine too. Are you really not hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m not.”

But unable to believe his words, Arasila shamelessly felt over his hunting clothes, which were too dark to show wounds on the surface.

Demian’s ears turned red at her touch, as if she were on some treasure hunt.

“W-What are you doing?”

“I’m checking to see if you’re lying about not being hurt.”

Arasila sighed in relief after confirming there were no bleeding or torn parts of his clothes.

Since Demian had been fighting at the front, she had worried he might have been injured when the barrier disappeared. If so, it would have been as good as her fault.

Soon after, her relief turned to anger. Arasila grabbed Demian’s collar and glared at him fiercely.

“Losing focus in the middle of a fight, are you crazy to die?”

“…”

“If it weren’t for me, you would have been in big trouble!”

Demian said nothing in response to the sharp rebuke. It was clearly his mistake, and he had no excuse to offer.

“Ah, I really…”

“I apologize. I will surely repay the debt I owe you today. Tell me if there’s anything you want.”

Arasila sighed deeply, let go of his collar, and stepped back. Then, with her hand on her collarbone, she shook her head slightly.

“No matter how insanely cool I look while fighting…”

“…”

“How could you risk your life just to watch?”

Demian was at a loss for words. Did she… interpret it like this?

“This sinful beauty of mine.”

Arasila cupped one of her cheeks and said quietly. How cool must I have looked, she murmured as an afterthought.

Feeling the need to clarify before the misunderstanding deepened further, Demian opened his mouth.

“…That’s not it. I was watching out of concern.”

“Yes, I’m sure that’s it. You must want to make excuses because you don’t want to admit you were in danger while stealing glances at my ever-radiant face.”

Arasila narrowed her eyes and looked over the aggrieved Demian. A subtle voice flowed from between her plump lips.

“Don’t tell me you’ve just fallen for me? Falling in love with one’s lifesaver is too common…”

“I have not fallen for you! Don’t misunderstand.”

“Oh ho, they say strong denial is strong affirmation.”

“No…!”

Demian, who had been flustered, soon frowned when he saw the playful smile on Arasila’s lips.

She was deliberately saying such things just to tease him now.

‘Who said I’d let myself be teased so easily.’

Demian, who had been three or four steps away from Arasila, took a big stride forward. The distance between them closed in an instant.

Arasila flinched as he suddenly came close. Demian slowly tilted his head. Arasila’s eyes widened at the face that came near.

“Do you want me to fall for you, my lady?”

“…No?”

“Then don’t provoke me. I might really fall for you.”

Demian warned in a low whisper, then raised his hand to brush off the dirt in Arasila’s hair. It was an indifferent yet affectionate gesture.

Arasila could only look up at Demian without even blinking. He smiled faintly, lowered his hand, and moved behind her.

Left behind, Arasila blinked belatedly and let out an incredulous sigh.

‘Who uses the threat of falling for someone like that?’

Feeling as if she had been reversed after trying to tease him as payback for saving her, Arasila bit her rolled lip.

Next time, she’d have to tease him with a different repertoire. Having made that resolution, she approached Demian, who was examining the assassins strewn on the ground.

“I didn’t kill them on purpose to find the mastermind. Let’s quickly take them away for questioning. We need to uncover who did such an outrageous thing.”

In response, Demian, who was kneeling to examine one assassin closely, said,

“That won’t be possible, I’m afraid. They’re all dead.”

“What? That’s impossible. I tried so hard not to kill them…!”

It seemed Demian didn’t have the luxury to spare them while fighting with a sword, so she had used weaker magic instead to keep some of them alive.

She had tried so hard to just knock them out. Unable to believe they were all dead, she checked herself and indeed, they all had blue lips and were dead with their eyes open.

‘…Wait, then what about that dark mage!’

Suddenly remembering the dark mage’s existence, Arasila hurriedly went to check. However, the dark mage, sitting motionless as if collapsed, had also breathed his last.

“They shouldn’t have died just from my magic… Did they commit suicide?”

“That could be the case, or someone might have killed the others to keep the secret and then taken their own life.”

Demian removed the mask of one assassin and turned the man’s jaw this way and that. It was puzzling why he had died, with no special external injuries or signs of poisoning.

It’s not like he bit his tongue either.

He pressed the man’s jaw to the side until his neck nearly turned. Then a black tattoo hidden by the collar was revealed.

“This is…”

“It’s dark magic. It seems they had a suicide spell engraved on their bodies to automatically end their lives if the mission failed.”

Arasila, watching from behind, said as she sensed the faint black magical power remaining on the tattoo.

Despite all her efforts to keep them alive, the opponents had suicide magic tattooed on them. It was truly a frustrating outcome.

“Who on earth sent these people?”

“Probably the Vandermir Duke’s family.”

Demian answered calmly. They were the only ones with both the wealth and grudge to send so many skilled assassins.

“It’s the first time they’ve sent a dark mage, but it makes sense if they were targeting you as well, my lady.”

After all, another mage would be best to deal with a mage.

Listening to Demian’s utterly calm words, Arasila felt strange. To think they would send assassins after their son to this extent. It seemed truly vicious.

It bothered her even more that Demian seemed completely unbothered.

“…Let’s go back and report this for now. We should at least inform the outside about what happened.”

“Let’s do that.”

Demian nodded calmly and stood up.

The Duchess Vandermir paced anxiously inside the tent, waiting for the hunting time to end.

Oscar didn’t know, but excluding him, the entire ducal family had previously agreed to eliminate Demian and Arasila.

The Grand Duchess’s grudge had deepened since the marriage, and they judged that ignoring Demian, who was gradually showing a stronger presence after the marriage, could lead to greater danger.

In truth, there was no need to kill Arasila as well, but following the Grand Duchess’s advice to leave no loose ends, they decided to stage it as an accidental death along with Demian.

By now, the dark mage they had hired for a hefty sum should have lured the bewitched prey to lead the two to a secluded spot, where the assassins would be attacking them.

What result would come this time? It was half worry, half expectation.

“Darling, do you think it succeeded this time?”

The Duchess embraced her husband from behind as he sat on the sofa smoking a cigar, and asked.

“Of course. We sent skilled assassins and even a dark mage. Even if they don’t both die, it’ll be hard for them to return unscathed.”

The Duke answered coldly. He showed no sign of guilt for sending assassins after his son and daughter-in-law.

At this, the Duchess smiled with satisfaction. It meant her husband didn’t care for his dead ex-wife’s son.

“We also made a contract for them to commit suicide if they fail, to avoid any loose ends. We won’t be blackmailed like last time.”

“As expected of you. How can you be so meticulous and smart!”

The Duchess leaned her face on her husband’s shoulder and lavished praise on him. The Duke’s expression became smug.

But their expectations were utterly shattered. The two returned right on time, looking perfectly fine.

They seemed completely unharmed from head to toe, making the ducal couple grab the backs of their necks.

Moreover, they even reported being attacked by unidentified enemies during the hunt.

“Darling, they won’t find out it was us, right…?”

The Duchess, having returned to the tent after confirming her stepson’s safe return, worried anxiously. The Duke sharply retorted while putting a new cigar in his mouth.

“Of course not! All the assassins are dead. That’s why Demian, that brat, also returned empty-handed.”

“That’s a relief then… He’s been tenacious since childhood. No matter what we do, he stubbornly comes back alive.”

The Duke expressed his agreement through silence. As heavy silence pressed down inside the tent, Oscar returned.

“Mother, Father. I’m back.”

“Welcome back, Oscar. Did you hunt well?”

“Yes, more or less.”

Oscar lied nonchalantly despite not having hunted at all and just playing around. His mind was full of thoughts about telling his parents about the brilliant idea he had come up with today.

‘…But the atmosphere seems a bit off?’

Getting the feeling that it wasn’t the right time to speak up, Oscar wisely kept his mouth shut.

Why are they in such a bad mood?

Having been unaware of how the hunting festival was going while fooling around the whole time, he only realized the reason a little later when the award ceremony began.

Contrary to what his mother had said in the morning, Demian was proudly named as one of the three candidates for the winner.

The award ceremony to determine the winner of the hunting festival began at 6 PM.

All participants gathered below the platform set up next to the red tent.

Arasila spotted the Vandermir ducal family among the crowd and recalled the conversation she had with Demian just before.

‘We reported it, but we can’t expect much from the results. It’s often ended up fizzling out like this before.’

‘How can that be? You’re a member of the Vandermir ducal family.’

‘The family name shines when they choose to support me. In cases like this, they’re likely to deliberately intervene, cooperate half-heartedly, and then quietly sweep it under the rug.’

Considering the power of the Vandermir ducal family, it wasn’t that surprising. They could certainly make a murder disappear as if it never happened.

‘They really are despicable people.’

As Arasila glared at them chatting and laughing among themselves, she turned her head forward when she heard the announcer’s voice.

“I will now announce the three finalists for the winner. Crown Prince Frederick, Lord Demian Vandermir, and Lady Arasila Vandermir!”

The three went up to the platform as their names were called. The atmosphere heightened as Arasila really made it to the finalists.

Who among the three would become the winner?

Gazes mixed with curiosity and anticipation focused on the platform. The announcer built up suspense before announcing the winner.

“The winner of this year’s hunting festival is… Congratulations! Lady Arasila Vandermir!”

Arasila won first place, Frederick second, and Demian third.

The fox that Arasila caught at the very end of the competition tipped the scales. With her catch being similar to Frederick’s, that one fox gave her the numerical advantage.

Clap clap clap!

Amidst the applause, Arasila received the laurel wreath from Duke Sander, the award presenter. The wreath was placed on her lavender hair, now tightly tied again.

“Wow, isn’t this the first time a woman has won in the history of the hunting festival?”

“As expected of a candidate for the next Tower Master, she’s different.”

“But then, what happens to this year’s Hunting Queen?”

People congratulated the win while also murmuring questions about the Hunting Queen.

Originally, the Hunting Queen received as much attention as the winner of the hunting festival.

Until now, since all the winners had been men, they would dedicate their catch to their lover, wife, or woman they fancied, making her the Hunting Queen of the festival.

But Arasila was the first female winner, so it was unclear who would become the Hunting Queen.

“Won’t Lady Vandermir hold both titles?”

“The choice might pass to His Highness the Crown Prince who came in second.”

As such hypotheses spread among the people, Arasila looked around the crowd and spoke in a loud voice.

“As the winner, I will dedicate my catch to my husband, Demian. This means my husband will receive the everlasting flower crown, right?”

It was the moment when this year’s Hunting Queen was suddenly decided to be Demian.