“…Probably.”
Riersha hesitated for only a moment before the words began to flow.
“I think it’s because of the day Ricador oppa saved me.”
“Is that truly so?”
“Yes. Rosinante will be my witness.”
Riersha felt a small pang of guilt at not being able to tell the full truth, but there was nothing to be done about it.
It’s not a complete lie, at least.
The day after her regression, when she had set off into the forest intending to leave the estate — she had genuinely believed she was going to die when she nearly became a monster’s prey.
Arcmund had been studying her face, trying to gauge whether she was telling the truth, when he shifted his gaze toward Pernoa. Since Rosinante had been mentioned, it seemed he had determined this was something Pernoa could simply verify.
“You’re speaking of the day your ability first manifested.”
“Yes. I think the reason I was able to receive the Mark of Calling is because of what happened that day.”
Pernoa seemed to recall the incident as well, for his brow furrowed.
“Very well, Riersha. Then give me your answer regarding the Mark of Calling.”
Arcmund’s sharp crimson eyes continued to watch her, and he still appeared as though something didn’t quite sit right with him — but he pressed no further.
Riersha thought it was a tremendous stroke of luck that Oberon wasn’t in the room.
Of course, the fact that Grandfather and Father didn’t call for Oberon means they trust me that much — but still.
That thought made her chest feel just a little heavier.
Riersha listed the names as they rose to mind, one by one.
“Dillis, the first emperor. Pavlan, the Imperial Knights’ commander. Valortra, the minister of diplomacy. Gatran, the Grand Sage. Arkas, my great-grandfather.”
“Correct. …I offer my heartfelt congratulations on passing the successor’s examination, Riersha.”
“Yes!”
“You may go.”
Riersha sprang to her feet and stepped out of the study.
Thud.
The door closed behind her, and Riersha exhaled deeply, pressing her hand over her heart.
I don’t think I escaped suspicion entirely, but…
For now, at least, she had put out the most immediate fire.
Riersha was making her way out of Arcmund’s castle when she paused.
“…Hm? What’s that?”
She spotted a group of servants emerging from the direction of the monster forest and watched them carefully.
They were carrying boxes draped in black cloth. The boxes seemed to shudder and clatter, as though something inside was moving around.
What is that?
Had something happened at the ducal castle while she was away?
Riersha tilted her head in puzzlement, then quickened her steps.
⁂
“Miss Riersha! Welcome back. You must be so cold!”
“Sona!”
Riersha broke into a run toward Sona, who welcomed her with a radiant smile.
Thump.
Riersha buried herself in Sona’s arms and took a long, deep breath.
There really is no place like home.
The moment she set foot outside, the hardships began.
She clung to Sona for several long moments before reluctantly pulling back, steeling herself.
“Mmph. Just one more second, Sona.”
“You’ve worn yourself out, haven’t you, my little lady…. I had everything ready for you to wash up and rest the moment you arrived.”
“Mm, thank you.”
She had been wanting to soak the exhaustion out of her bones.
Riersha went straight to the bathroom and sank herself deep into the bathtub.
She had been keeping herself clean with artifacts, but that was nothing compared to lowering her body into a warm bath.
“So good.”
Riersha hummed contentedly as she felt the fatigue melting away, the corners of her lips curling upward.
She hadn’t realized how much had built up while she was at the Forbidden Altar, but it had apparently been quite a lot.
Her eyelids had been growing dangerously heavy, and it took a real effort to pull herself out of the bathtub and back into the room.
Oh, right — what were those servants doing earlier?
Riersha was toweling her hair dry when the image came back to her.
“Sona. Earlier I saw people going in and out near the monster forest — what’s going on?”
“Oh, that? The Hunting Festival is coming up soon. The Imperial Palace apparently sent a request asking if the Arachrene Duchy could provide some lower-ranked monsters — nothing too dangerous, they said.”
“…Lower-ranked monsters? For the Hunting Festival?”
Even low-ranked, a monster was still a monster.
A lower-ranked monster from the monster forest was…
Still more than dangerous enough to cause serious harm to a person.
“I can’t understand the tastes of high-ranking people, I really can’t. …Apparently there were complaints that releasing only animals made the festival feel dull.”
“You mean they’re releasing monsters just because they were bored?”
“Yes.”
“But…. There are nobles who can’t even protect themselves.”
It wasn’t just the participants in the hunt — there would be spectators and supporters attending as well.
Riersha said it with genuine concern, and Sona shook her head as though she couldn’t make sense of it either.
“They said they’ll station enough Imperial Knights and there are plenty of capable nobles, so they judged it would be fine.”
“…Goodness.”
Riersha felt whatever remained of her drowsiness vanish completely.
“And our duchy is the one supplying those monsters?”
“Yes. His Majesty the Emperor made the request personally. He said that this way, even nobles who normally have no interest in the Hunting Festival will find it exciting and come out in greater numbers.”
“…I just hope nothing goes wrong.”
She felt uneasy, though she couldn’t quite say why.
The Declair Empire held several grand events throughout the year, and one of the most prominent among them was the nobles’ Hunting Festival.
If up until now they had been satisfied with releasing large predators…
It seemed that even that had grown too tame for some, and now they were reaching for monsters.
And of all things, the order had come down for the Arachrene Duchy to be the ones to provide them this time around.
If those monsters caused any trouble during the Hunting Festival…
Our family won’t be able to escape the blame.
They could have refused this sort of command easily enough.
Everyone knew perfectly well how dangerous the creatures living in the monster forest were.
“Why didn’t Grandfather refuse?”
“Well…. They say it was an agenda item passed through the noble council. Since this is a meaningful and significant event, it would be appreciated if the Arachrene family personally took charge of making it special, apparently.”
Good heavens.
There was forcing someone’s hand, and then there was this. But since it had passed through the noble council, Arcmund had little formal grounds to refuse.
“How did such a suspicious agenda even get passed?”
“Apparently everyone on the Empress’s side voted in favor.”
Sona let out a sigh heavy enough to sink into the floor.
In plain terms, it meant someone intended to use the Hunting Festival to put the Arachrene family in an openly difficult position.
And knowing that, the Arachrene Duchy had no choice but to go ahead and prepare the monsters to be released at the festival…
Riersha’s expression hardened.
“Oh, and I heard that Prince Isierd will also be participating in the Hunting Festival this time…. So they’re apparently making it quite a grand affair. Prince Adrian will be absent again, as usual.”
“Isierd?”
“….”
“Oh — right. Isierd.”
Riersha flinched. It had been a long time since she’d been in contact with him.
Her clear eyes trembled with something that looked faintly like guilt.
Isierd was probably quite angry with her by now.
She hadn’t reached out to him even once since leaving the Imperial Palace.
It hadn’t been intentional, but she knew it was the kind of thing that invited misunderstandings, and so Riersha opened and closed her mouth silently for a moment.
“…Ah. I need to go ask Father for a communication orb.”
“And I should also mention — the Young Duke has agreed to participate in the Hunting Festival as the official supervisor overseeing the monsters.”
“…At the Hunting Festival?”
“Yes.”
Sona said this while neatly smoothing out Riersha’s bed.
She had clearly assumed that after dozing in the bath, Riersha would fall asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
And indeed, that had been Riersha’s intention up until a moment ago.
But news of the Hunting Festival had her eyes wide open now.
“I’ll just pop over to see Father for a bit, Sona. I’ll be right back!”
“What? …Didn’t you just come from seeing the Young Duke?”
“Something new just occurred to me!”
Riersha dashed out of the castle at full speed.
If she said she wanted to go to the Hunting Festival together, Pernoa would almost certainly refuse again, no question about it — but still.
She wanted to go, and she wanted to find Isierd in person to apologize and explain herself.
Instead of sending an apology through a communication orb, wouldn’t it be so much better to just show up at the Hunting Festival as a surprise and catch him off guard?
In Riersha’s mind, it was a perfectly flawless plan.
