“It’s the same for any wife.”

“Ho ho, is that so? How is your newlywed life?”

“Ordinary.”

Ansi raised the corners of her mouth. But even at the word ordinary, the women let out an “Oh my” in admiration.

Ansi de Orphe.

A woman now called Orphe rather than Rubella.

A woman who not only gained the name of the Orphe ducal family, but also obtained Damion de Orphe, a man with good looks, body, personality, and abilities, as her husband.

They knew that no matter how ordinary she said it was, the standard of that ordinariness was set very high. Just waking up and seeing her husband’s face lying next to her would make her happy, so how much more?

“I saw Damion and Ansi at the luncheon earlier, and honey was really dripping from their eyes.”

“Yes, Ansi. I was so surprised too. I didn’t know my son was such a smiley child.”

As the warm atmosphere continued, Marianne also spoke playfully towards Ansi. The women burst into light laughter at her affectionate jealousy towards her daughter-in-law.

“Ansi won’t be bored waiting for the men during tomorrow’s hunt.”

“That’s right. Just when you start to forget, Damion’s caught birds will pile up in front of you.”

“Yes. I’m looking forward to it.”

She answered like that, but in fact, Ansi knew she wouldn’t have time to count how many birds Damion had caught.

While the men were hunting and the women were waiting for them, Ansi had to put the final period on her revenge.

“Oh right, doesn’t Kardian shoot quite well too?”

“Yes, Kal likes hunting too.”

The topic had somehow flowed to Kardian. Bekishi answered lightly to a woman’s question.

Marianne, unable to hide her pride at the praise for her son, chimed in.

“At the hunting festival held by His Majesty last November, Kardian won first place. The gun he was awarded then was so beautiful.”

Kardian’s gun.

At that topic, Ansi shifted her gaze to Marianne.

“That’s right, I’d already heard the news that Kardian had won.”

“I saw it in the newspaper too. Wasn’t there even a photo of the gun in the paper? It was really splendid.”

“Really? I’m curious.”

The women began to show interest in Kardian’s gun. Ansi too had seen the gun while scanning all the articles about Orphe.

“Bekishi, will Kardian bring out that gun tomorrow?”

“No. He’ll probably use another gun he’s more accustomed to.”

“What a shame. Is there no way we could secretly take a look?”

“The armory is directly managed by Kal, so it’s difficult.”

“I see.”

After a regretful sigh, other conversations quickly followed.

But Ansi pondered.

About the armory that Kardian manages directly.

Kardian, who had returned after watching a polo match with the men visiting Sobelbio, headed straight for the annex.

“Bastards like vermin.”

Team Volvi had lost today. To a team that usually couldn’t even get its name into the rankings. It was truly a stupid thing.

The men at the scene laughed it off, saying that anyone would win and lose repeatedly. As if they had seen a future where all the bullets they would shoot at the hunting event would miss.

It was a funny thing, but not amusing.

There was even less to talk about with such guys over drinks.

Feeling he might show contempt in his expression if he stayed in front of them, Kardian eventually returned to the annex.

Finding peace in his own space was a much more constructive choice to make before tomorrow’s hunt.

The sound of music flowing from the gramophone calmed Kardian’s mind. He slowly moved his steps towards the terrace.

What caught Kardian’s eye was a dark blue-haired woman standing below the annex.

“Ansi?”

Kardian raised his eyebrows. He looked to see if she had come with someone else, but she was alone.

Without Bekishi or Damion, Ansi was standing alone in front of the annex.

“Can you show me around the annex? I didn’t get to see it last time.”

Kardian raised his eyebrows. For Ansi to seek this place out first was quite unnatural compared to her reaction last time.

He couldn’t tell what her intentions were.

But… it was interesting for now.

“Come in.”

At his permission, Ansi entered the annex. Kardian went down the wooden stairs. The woman moved her steps without making a sound, as if walking on clouds.

Ansi de Orphe in his space.

Seeing her in the annex evoked quite an unfamiliar sentiment in Kardian.

After looking around the annex, she opened her mouth.

“I heard that Kardian is good at hunting.”

“From whom?”

“Everyone was saying so.”

“I’m not good, I just enjoy it.”

Kardian slowly scanned Ansi’s expression. This seemed to be the main point.

What was the reason for asking about his hunting skills? To tell him to lose to Damion tomorrow?

“Is my hunting skill important to Ansi too?”

“Kardian’s hunting skill is Orphe’s skill, so of course it’s important. I’m also a person of Orphe after all.”

The flattering words that flowed out were no different from what he heard elsewhere.

But coming from Ansi de Orphe’s mouth, it was somehow special.

It stemmed from her gaze. That straight gaze that didn’t seem to be flattering at all. It was also a big reason why Kardian found Ansi interesting.

“So, if I say my hunting skill isn’t bad, what’s the next question?”

Kardian asked, raising the corner of his mouth. Ansi didn’t miss the opportunity and asked.

“What gun does Kardian use?”

“So that was your purpose in coming to see me. Planning to spy for Damion?”

“No. Not for Damion, but… I’m quite interested in guns myself.”

“Ansi is?”

“Yes.”

Kardian raised his eyebrows with interest.

There were women who knew how to shoot guns. However, this was just to keep up appearances in winter hunts. If a woman was said to like hunting too much, she would be judged as aggressive.

But Ansi spoke directly about her interest in guns.

In fact, he didn’t like that she liked guns. Kardian also agreed that it wasn’t good emotionally if a woman liked hunting too much. Only, it piqued his curiosity that she revealed her preference without being conscious of his gaze.

“Want to take a look?”

He decided to willingly show her his guns.

Ansi and Kardian left the annex together. The management room where his guns were displayed was not far away. Following the path connected to the back door of the annex, a cabin soon came into view.

“If you follow this path, you can go straight to the hunting ground from the cabin. Though I’m the only one who uses this path.”

Kardian chuckled and opened the door to enter. Ansi, who had been staring at the path for a moment, followed him inside.

Ansi slowly looked around the place. Quite a few guns were neatly hung on the wall. They were guns with similar but different shapes.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking there are really a lot of guns.”

“Collecting them is a hobby.”

“I heard the gun you received when you won the hunting competition held by His Majesty the Emperor last year was really beautiful.”

“Ah, that one.”

Kardian went into the inner room. Meanwhile, Ansi slowed her steps, waiting for him to disappear. And as soon as Kardian was out of sight, she immediately approached the window.

Click. She quietly unlocked the window.

“It’s here.”

Kardian’s voice was heard from inside. Ansi hurriedly went to where Kardian was. As she turned the corner and crossed the threshold, she saw Kardian holding an ivory-colored rifle.

“It’s a gun manufactured by Welt. The visible body is made of ivory, and the main parts are metal.”

“It has a unique appearance.”

Ansi scanned the gun with her eyes. Intricate patterns were engraved on the thin surface of the ivory gun. Kardian nodded with a smile on his lips at her interest.

“It’s a picky one, so I had bullets made specifically for it. It doesn’t hold many bullets, but I like that it’s less dull when firing. What do you think? Satisfied now that you’ve seen it in person?”

“It’s pretty. I like it.”

Ansi murmured in response, not taking her eyes off the gun. Satisfaction settled in Kardian’s eyes. He held out the gun as if bestowing a favor.

“Want to hold it?”

Ansi took the gun. She grabbed the gun with both hands and assumed a shooting stance. As befitting a carefully made gun, it felt good in her hands.

She raised her gaze to look at Kardian.

The night in southern Jidenga a few months ago.

She remembered the time when she checked and rechecked the pistol strapped to her thigh, thinking she would definitely kill Kardian when she met him.

And now, she was facing Kardian like this, holding a gun.

If her past self saw this, she would consider it a golden opportunity.

In her heart, she had killed him more than a hundred times. She could have dyed all of this bastard’s creepy smile, voice, and gaze red.

But now was not the time to express this maddening desire for revenge. If it was anger that could be resolved by piercing Kardian’s head right now, she wouldn’t have come this far.

“You need to hold the gun closer to your body and fix it more. Like this.”

Kardian moved behind Ansi, then overlapped his hands on Ansi’s hands holding the gun to correct her posture.

Her whole body broke out in goosebumps.