Knoum Forest.
A quiet woodland not far from the capital, where a beautiful river wound its way through the trees — a place often chosen as the venue for the Imperial Hunt for precisely that reason.
This year was no different.
Pernoa sat astride his black horse, the reins held loosely in one hand as he gazed up at the sky. Then he turned his eyes to the right.
There was Rosinante, just returning with his men.
Despite being bundled in warm clothing, Rosinante had his shoulders hunched against the cold.
“Achoo!”
“……”
“Why are you looking at me like I’m carrying some kind of disease?”
“Observing.”
His horse let out a soft whinny as Pernoa pulled it back a few steps and tilted his chin.
Rosinante, who had briefly looked a little wounded, composed himself and gave his report.
“No issues to the south. The crates containing the magical beasts were placed exactly where they needed to be, and the magic arrays are functioning properly.”
“I see.”
“We put everything into the preparations, so there shouldn’t be any accidents, my young lord.”
Rosinante was right.
When the Imperial House had sent a request for magical beasts to be supplied, the first thing Pernoa had done was reach out to the Magic Tower for assistance. He had wanted them to provide a specialized magic array — one that would prevent the beasts from straying outside a defined perimeter under any circumstances.
Whether that array would prove fully effective remained to be seen.
“I’ll never understand the tastes of the nobility,” Rosinante muttered with a look of mild distaste.
Just then, the rest of the group returned one by one — the men who had been sent to inspect the other sectors. Johannes, with his characteristically pale complexion, arrived first, pulling back his hood to signal his return. Behind him came Haydin, and then Milia, in that order.
“How did each sector look? Johannes, Haydin, Milia.”
“Nothing unusual in the north.”
“Same for the west.”
“The east looks fine as well. As long as the Magic Tower holds up their end, it should stay that way.”
The three of them reported in the order they had been called. When Milia finished with a bright smile, Pernoa gave a small nod.
It was nearly time to begin.
“Then I’ll fire the signal flare.”
Rosinante beamed and produced a firework from inside his coat.
“I’ve always wanted to do something like this, at least once.”
Something like this — meaning the extravagant pleasure of sending hundreds of thousands of gold coins bursting into the sky in a shower of light and color.
A moment later, Rosinante yanked the cord.
⁂
Riersha had been sitting inside her tent, deep in thought, for quite some time.
“His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, Her Imperial Majesty the Empress, and His Imperial Highness Prince Isierd have arrived!”
A booming voice rang out from beyond the tent flap, announcing the arrival of the Imperial family.
“Time passed that quickly?”
Riersha startled to her feet.
She hurried out to the tent entrance, glanced around, and then, following the lead of the other nobles gathered nearby, inclined her head in a respectful bow.
The Imperial carriage rolled to a stop before the tent flying the banner of the Declair Empire. A knight rushed forward and pulled the door open, and there they appeared — Calius Declair in gleaming golden armor, and Karla Declair radiant in an elegant gown, standing side by side with matching smiles.
It was the very picture of a devoted couple.
Behind them, Isierd stepped down from the carriage.
The moment the carriage door swung shut after Isierd, expressions of disappointment flickered across several nobles’ faces. Somewhere in the crowd, a quiet sigh escaped.
These were the people who had submitted petitions arguing it was unfair for only Isierd to participate in the hunt — that Adrian deserved a chance as well.
“…I had my doubts, but it seems Prince Adrian truly isn’t attending again this year.”
“Such blatant favoritism is deeply troubling.”
“Still, the Empress is here. Perhaps she’ll lend her support to our cause somehow.”
The nobles exchanged grim words and fell quiet.
Meanwhile…
It’s Isierd!
The moment Riersha spotted him, she fought to keep her lips from curling into a smile.
Standing beside the Emperor, Isierd seemed noticeably taller than the last time she had seen him. At least a full hand span taller, by her estimate.
It’s only been a few months, but his whole air has changed.
The first time she met him, he had been like a wild bird — untamed, flinging himself in every direction without a second thought. But now, he carried himself as though he had been raised within palace walls from birth, having adapted seamlessly to the rhythms of the Imperial court.
That’s a relief. It looks like he’s settling in well.
Riersha let out a quiet breath of relief.
Just then, Isierd — who had been looking elsewhere — turned his gaze directly toward where she was standing.
But then—
Whoosh.
“…Huh?”
As if he hadn’t seen a thing, Isierd turned his head away without a moment’s pause.
Coldly. Completely.
Riersha stood there, one hand half-raised in an awkward half-wave, as hundreds of question marks began drifting through her mind.
“Did he… not see me?”
No, that couldn’t be right.
She was fairly certain he had looked straight at her.
Slowly, Riersha lowered her hand.
Given the current situation, it was probably better to greet him properly at another time.
The Emperor, standing at the entrance to the Imperial tent, swept his gaze over the assembled nobles with an expression of satisfaction.
Then he spoke.
“Today is a day for enjoyment, so let us dispense with the burdensome formalities. Regardless of rank or title, I hope everyone will come together and truly relish this hunt.”
“There is no doubt about that, Your Majesty. I believe we all feel the same. The weather today is so fine — it seems even the Goddess is smiling down upon us.”
Karla responded with a gentle smile and a soft, melodious voice.
And indeed, she was right.
The sky was brilliantly clear — the kind of day that lifts the spirits without any effort at all.
“Then we shall begin the hunt the moment the signal flare is confirmed.”
Calius tilted his face up toward the bright sky as he spoke.
A moment later — bang! — a firework burst high into the heavens, blooming into a magnificent cascade of light.
The hunt had begun.
⁂
The start of the hunt didn’t bring any dramatic change in the immediate surroundings.
Nobles who weren’t participating in the hunt itself were apparently permitted to enter the forest under the protection of knights if they wished to observe — but by and large, most people seemed perfectly content to cluster together in small groups, sipping tea and waiting for the results.
And as for the younger noble children, they were strictly forbidden from entering the forest at all, leaving them to gather with whoever they happened to know, or else…
Riersha was walking through the grounds when she spotted a familiar group.
It was Olivia and her companions from earlier.
She drifted a little closer and tried to make out what they were talking about. It seemed they were placing bets on who would win the various martial and competitive events scheduled as part of the hunt.
The first to offer an opinion was a girl named Anna, standing beside Olivia.
“Who do you think is going to win? I’m guessing… it has to be the young lord from the Tetran Marquessate. He’s always been first in swordsmanship at the Academy, hasn’t he?”
“Hmm, I’m not so sure. Even if it is young Lord Tetran, Prince Isierd is participating this year too… Do you really think anyone would try to beat him?”
A boy with his hair pulled back in a small tail grinned and answered in a breezy, knowing sort of way.
Anna clutched her chest as if she might expire from frustration.
“Didn’t you just hear? His Majesty the Emperor said himself — forget about rank at the hunt.”
“And you believe that? Declair is a society built on hierarchy through and through. How could anyone just ignore that?”
The ponytailed boy clicked his tongue and shook his head slowly.
Riersha didn’t know his name, but from the way he spoke and carried himself, he seemed like someone who had already learned a thing or two about how the world really worked.
The boy looked around at everyone and, with exaggerated gravity, opened his mouth.
“Do you plan to see these people again tomorrow?”
“……”
“I said — do you plan to see them again the day after today?”
“……”
“Are you sure about that?”
At his words, every single person in the group fell silent, as though they had rehearsed it.
Riersha found herself nodding vigorously along with his every word.
I don’t recognize him from earlier. Who is he?
She was still studying him with curious eyes when the ponytailed boy, who had apparently known all along that she was eavesdropping, walked over and greeted her with easy familiarity.
“Hey. You’re Riersha Arachrene, right?”
“Yeah, hi. Who are you?”
“I’m Olivia Willias’s cousin — the older one. I’m ten years old. Name’s Yuta. Nice to meet you.”
