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Chapter 49: The Champion and the Hunting Queen

The staff spun through the air and struck the assassin’s shoulder. Aracila had aimed for his head, but missed.

It was a weak attack with little impact, but it bought Damian a few seconds—enough time.

With terrifying speed, he adjusted his stance and launched a counterattack. Thud. A sharp blade pierced the assassin’s heart.

And with that, the last remaining assassin was taken care of. Aracila hurriedly ran toward Damian.

“Damian, are you okay?!”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Exhaling deeply, Damian turned his body. Aracila arrived before him, her tightly bound hair having loosened slightly.

“What about you, my lady?”

“I’m fine too. Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“I am.”

But Aracila didn’t trust his words. Without hesitation, she ran her hands over his hunting attire, which was dark in color and wouldn’t easily reveal any wounds.

Damian’s ears flushed red at her touch, as if she were searching for hidden treasure.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Checking if you’re lying about being injured.”

After confirming that there was no blood or torn fabric, Aracila finally sighed in relief.

Since Damian had been fighting at the front, she had worried he might have gotten injured when the barrier disappeared. If he had, it would’ve been no different from getting hurt because of her.

But her relief quickly turned into anger. She grabbed the collar of his hunting attire and glared at him fiercely.

“Losing focus in the middle of a fight—are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“……”

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

At her sharp reprimand, Damian remained silent. He had no excuses—this was undoubtedly his own mistake.

“Hah, honestly…”

“I apologize. I will make sure to repay the debt I owe you for today. If you have a request, please tell me.”

Aracila let go of his collar and took a step back, placing a hand on her collarbone as she shook her head slightly.

“I know I look insanely cool when I fight, but still…”

“……”

“You can’t just stand there gawking and risk your life like that.”

Damian was utterly speechless. Is this really… how she interpreted it?

“This damn sinful beauty…”

Aracila muttered under her breath, cupping one cheek as if even she couldn’t believe how dazzling she must have looked.

Before the misunderstanding deepened any further, Damian felt the need to clarify.

“……That’s not what happened. I was watching over you out of concern.”

“Sure you were. You just don’t want to admit you were staring at my ever-radiant face and got distracted, so now you’re making excuses.”

Aracila narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Damian’s unjustly accused expression. Her soft lips curled slightly as she spoke in a teasing tone.

“Don’t tell me… you’ve fallen for me? It’s such a common story—falling in love with the person who saves your life…”

“I have not! Don’t misunderstand.”

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

“No—!”

Damian was about to snap back but stopped when he noticed the playful smile tugging at Aracila’s lips. He frowned.

She was deliberately saying these things just to tease him.

Like hell I’m going to let her have her way.

He took a step forward, closing the short distance between them in an instant.

Aracila flinched as he suddenly came so close. Damian slowly tilted his head down toward her.

The abrupt proximity widened Aracila’s eyes.

“Do you want me to fall for you?”

“……No?”

“Then don’t provoke me. Because I just might.”

He whispered the words in a low, almost dangerous tone. Then, he raised a hand and gently brushed away the dirt clinging to her hair. It was a casual yet oddly tender touch.

Aracila could only stare up at him, unable to even blink. Damian, his lips curving slightly, lowered his hand and stepped past her.

Left standing alone, Aracila finally blinked, letting out a sigh of disbelief.

Who the hell turns “falling for someone” into a threat like that?

She had only meant to tease him a little as payback for saving her, but somehow, she had ended up being the one thrown off balance. She bit her lip.

Next time, she’d have to find a different way to mess with him.

With that determination, she approached Damian, who was now inspecting the assassins sprawled on the ground.

“I made sure not to kill them so we could track down whoever sent them. Let’s hurry and take them for questioning. We need to find out who was behind this outrageous attack.”

But Damian, who had been crouched beside an assassin, replied grimly.

“That won’t be possible. They’re all dead.”

“What? That’s impossible. I went out of my way to keep some of them alive…!”

Since Damian had been too busy fighting with a sword to hold back, Aracila had deliberately weakened her magic so a few would survive.

I tried so hard to only knock them unconscious. But seeing it with my own eyes, I still couldn’t believe they were all dead. Their lips had turned a ghastly blue, and they lay lifeless with their eyes wide open.

‘……Wait a minute, then what about that dark magician?!’

As soon as Aracila thought of the dark magician, she rushed over to check. But the magician, sitting slumped over without a single movement, had also drawn his last breath.

“This can’t be. My magic alone wouldn’t have killed him like this… Did he take his own life?”

“That’s possible. Or maybe someone killed them all to keep a secret and then ended their own life as well.”

Damian removed the mask of one of the assassins and turned the man’s chin this way and that. There were no visible wounds, no signs of poisoning—nothing to explain his death.

And yet, he hadn’t bitten his tongue either.

Damian forcefully twisted the man’s jaw to the side, almost to the point of breaking his neck. That’s when a black tattoo, hidden beneath the assassin’s collar, was revealed.

“This is…”

“It’s black magic. It looks like they had a suicide spell engraved on their bodies in case their mission failed.”

Aracila, watching from behind, sensed the faint remnants of dark mana in the tattoo and spoke.

They had tried so hard to capture them alive, only to discover their enemies had prepared for this by inscribing a suicide spell on themselves. It was an utterly frustrating outcome.

“Who on earth sent them?”

“It’s most likely the House of Duke Vandemir.”

Damian answered calmly. There was no other enemy with both the resources and the grudge to send such highly skilled assassins.

“This is the first time they’ve sent a dark magician, but if they were targeting my wife as well, then I understand.”

To fight a magician, sending another magician was the most logical choice.

Listening to Damian’s composed words, Aracila felt a strange sensation. No matter what, sending assassins after one’s own son was truly merciless.

What unsettled her even more was how unaffected Damian seemed.

“……For now, let’s return and report this. We have to inform the outside world about what happened here.”

“Let’s do that.”

Damian nodded calmly and rose to his feet.

—

Duchess Vandemir anxiously paced inside the tent, waiting for the hunting event to end.

Oscar had no idea, but aside from him, the rest of the Vandemir family had already reached a collective decision—to eliminate Damian and Aracila.

The Grand Duchess’s resentment over the arranged marriage ran deep, and with Damian gaining prominence after his wedding, they feared that leaving him unchecked could become a greater threat in the future.

Strictly speaking, there was no need to kill Aracila, but following the Grand Duchess’s advice to leave no loose ends, they had decided to stage an accident that would take both of them out.

By now, the dark magician they had hired for a hefty sum must have lured the prey to a secluded place, and the assassins would be attacking the couple.

What would be the outcome this time? The Duchess felt a mix of worry and anticipation.

“My love, do you think they succeeded this time?”

The Duchess wrapped her arms around her husband from behind as he sat on the sofa, smoking a cigar.

“Of course. We sent skilled assassins and even a dark magician. Even if they don’t die, they won’t return unharmed.”

The Duke responded coldly. He felt no guilt whatsoever about sending assassins after his own son and his son’s wife.

His response made the Duchess smile with satisfaction—it confirmed that her husband held no affection for the son of his deceased first wife.

“We even made sure the assassins had a suicide contract in place if they failed. This time, there won’t be any loose ends or threats like before.”

“As expected of you. You’re so thorough and intelligent!”

The Duchess showered him with praise, resting her head on his shoulder. The Duke’s expression turned smug in response.

But their expectations were utterly shattered.

At the scheduled time, the two of them returned, completely unharmed.

From head to toe, they appeared perfectly fine, causing the Duke and Duchess to instinctively clutch the back of their necks in frustration.

To make matters worse, Damian and Aracila even reported that they had been attacked by unknown enemies during the hunt.

“My love, they won’t find out it was us… will they?”

Back inside the tent, the Duchess anxiously asked, now deeply unsettled by her stepson’s survival.

The Duke, lighting a new cigar, replied sharply.

“Of course not! The assassins are all dead. That means Damian returned empty-handed.”

“If that’s true, then that’s a relief… But he’s been so tenacious since he was young. No matter what we do, he keeps finding a way to survive.”

The Duke remained silent, but his agreement was clear.

As a heavy silence filled the tent, Oscar returned.

“Mother, Father, I’m back.”

“Oh, Oscar? How was the hunt?”

“Well… it went alright.”

Though he had spent the entire time goofing around instead of actually hunting, Oscar lied without hesitation.

His mind was completely preoccupied with the brilliant scheme he had thought up earlier, eager to share it with his parents.

‘…Wait, the mood seems a bit off?’

Sensing that now wasn’t the right time to speak, Oscar wisely kept his mouth shut.

Why do they seem so upset?

Since he had been messing around the whole time, he had no idea what had happened during the hunt. It wasn’t until the awards ceremony began that he finally understood.

Contrary to what his mother had told him that morning, Damian had been proudly named one of the three finalists.

—

The awards ceremony for the hunting competition began at 6 PM.

All participants gathered beneath the platform set up beside the red tent.

Among the crowd, Aracila spotted the Vandemir family and recalled her earlier conversation with Damian.

‘We reported it, but I wouldn’t expect much. Incidents like this often get swept under the rug.’

‘How is that possible? You’re part of the Vandemir family, aren’t you?’

‘The family’s power only works in my favor when they choose to support me. In this case, they’ll likely intervene just enough to pretend they’re helping but will ultimately bury the issue.’

Given the Vandemir family’s influence, it wasn’t surprising. They had the power to make murder disappear as if it had never happened.

‘What pathetic people.’

Aracila shot a sharp glare at the laughing and chatting Vandemirs. But as the announcer’s voice rang out, she turned her attention forward.

“Now, we will announce this year’s top three finalists: His Highness Crown Prince Frederick, Sir Damian Vandemir, and Lady Aracila Vandemir!”

As the three names were called, they stepped onto the platform. The crowd buzzed with excitement at Aracila’s unexpected placement.

Who among them would take the championship?

All eyes filled with curiosity and anticipation locked onto the stage as the announcer dramatically delayed the reveal.

“And the winner of this year’s hunting competition is… Congratulations! Lady Aracila Vandemir!”

Aracila took first place, Frederick second, and Damian third.

The final ranking was determined by the fox Aracila had caught at the last moment. Since her game count had been nearly tied with Frederick’s, that single fox tipped the scale in her favor.

Clap, clap, clap!

Amidst the roaring applause, Aracila received a laurel crown from the award presenter, Duke Sander.

The light purple hair she had tied up tightly was now adorned with the victor’s crown.

“A woman winning… Isn’t this the first time in the history of the hunting competition?”

“As expected of a future candidate for the Tower Master.”

“But wait… What happens to the Hunting Queen title this year?”

While people congratulated her victory, they also murmured about the fate of the Hunting Queen title.

In the past, since the champion was always a man, he would dedicate his prize to his lover, wife, or a woman he admired, making her the Hunting Queen.

But with a female winner, the situation was unclear.

“Maybe Lady Vandemir will take both titles?”

“Or perhaps the choice will go to the second-place winner, the Crown Prince.”

As speculations spread through the crowd, Aracila suddenly raised her voice.

“As the champion, I dedicate my prize to my husband, Damian. That means the withering crown will go to him, correct?”

In an instant, this year’s Hunting Queen was decided to be—Damian.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ✧: *. ꕥ .* :✧ﾟ. ───

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