CH 31

The rabbit jumped almost as high as the woman atop the horse and tried to attack her.

However, the knight who was with her simply stopped the creature with a swing of his sword. The Lady was surprised, but she was happy that he caught it.

I was staring at them when Rupert warned me, “Let’s go. Watch out; Look straight ahead.”

Rupert stopped for a moment and watched, then came back and led the horse.

However, we didn’t run into any ants, much less monsters, even after a long time. Then suddenly, I saw the brooch on the chest of my hunting suit.

Ah, right. You said it had the effect of keeping monsters from coming? I stroked the brooch with my hand.

For a moment, the black thing inside the jewel seemed to vibrate. I was puzzled but thought I had just seen it wrong and looked forward again.

Rupert didn’t say a word the whole way. What was he thinking? Did he want to go to Chloe?

As I thought so, I heard a horse galloping from behind, and when I turned around, I spotted Chloe. Where did you disappear to a while ago? Her escort knight was nowhere in sight.

And then…

“Rupert!”

As expected, Chloe called for my husband to escort her, and Rupert looked back at her in surprise.

The hand holding my horse’s reins stopped. The scene was absurd, but I had to admit that Chloe looked breathtaking on her horse.

“You can go if you want to. I’ll bring Sir Damon.”

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“Who said I was going? Don’t make decisions on your own,” Rupert growled and grabbed the reins even tighter.

He was so strange. Rupert seemed to like Chloe, so I don’t know why he’s so possessive about me.

I couldn’t understand how selfish the male lead was.

“Then you’re going to escort the two of us by yourself?”

“You have that brooch, so monsters won’t come anyway, so there’s no problem.”

That’s true, but that’s not the point. What would people think if the husband escorted the wife alongside his lover? He didn’t even consider that.

“I’ll just go back. I’m not going to hunt monsters anyway.”

“You have to stay for a certain amount of time. Otherwise, others will see it as you ignoring the Imperial family who prepared this hunt.”

“Hello, Madam,” Chloe greeted with a nod.

Chloe looked embarrassed, but she smiled. The smile somehow made me feel more determined.

“Huu, I can’t think about it. I’ll just walk around alone.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“You said it would be fine with the brooch. I cad ride a horse by myself.”

Amid our squabble, Chloe moved the reins on her own and slowly turned around. She was good. I didn’t know she could ride it before.

I smirked. You deliberately pretended to be afraid to arouse Rupert’s protective instinct. You really work hard, huh?

Thinking like that, I was wondering what to say so Rupert would let me go, but suddenly the ground rumbled.

“W-what? Earthquake?”

The man was surprised, but the horse even more so because it was sensitive.

“Ahhhh!”

The two horses started fussing at the same time. Rupert caught Chloe’s horse first while mine ran wild on its own and stumbled onto the slope.

“Ah…!”

The moment I fell down the hillside with my horse, Rupert’s eyes met mine. In that brief moment, surprise, regret, and guilt flashed through his eyes.

So what? It’s too late.

I closed my eyes and covered my head with my hands.

Unfortunately, my mind was clear in the midst of this. I vividly felt the scratches and bumps here as I rolled down.

It hurt. My whole body ached, and I was sad.

Rupert saved Chloe, not me. It was natural for him to do it.

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I wondered if he would do anything about the strange obsession and the kindness I’ve seen these days. But of course, he still loved Chloe. Terribly.

Suddenly, everything was no longer a blur, and my body hit the floor. As soon as I reached the ground, I managed to raise my head to throw up.

I felt sick because I rolled too hard. Tears I couldn’t hold back slid down my cheeks. This situation was a mess.

But I tried moving my hands and feet little by little. Scratches and bumps covered my body, but fortunately, I didn’t seem to have broken anything.

“…Ha, Thank god.”

If I broke my leg… Ah, I didn’t even want to think about it.

I barely regained my composure and looked around, but I had no idea where this place was.

“Rupert, you b*stard.” The curse came out by itself.

Whether Rupert loved Chloe or not, the important thing was that he didn’t save me.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my angry mind. I needed to survive.

The thought made my heart grow firm.

No matter what I did in the future, I was determined not to care or worry about Rupert anymore.

Thinking about it… Yes, it’s a good idea.

After taking a moment to calm myself down, I stood up with a groan. And without realizing it, I fumbled for my necklace to check if it was okay.

“Huu.”

Fortunately, it didn’t fall off and stayed intact.

The noblewomen’s hunting clothes were shorter and thinner than normal and were worn with leather shorts under the skirt. I took out the dagger I had hidden under my skirt and held it in my hand.

I was alone, and I didn’t know what was going to happen.

My whole body screamed, but I clenched my teeth and looked around, taking one step at a time.

As I walked, I thought about the contents of the novel.

In the hunting contest in the novel, Chloe, who fell for Erin’s shallow scheme, slipped and fell, and was slightly injured.

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But now it was I, Erin, who fell and got hurt. What was this situation? Was I being punished for not following the original story?

Damon eventually had to trudge back after missing Countess Kalina.

In the low-level monster area, it was customary for a knight to dedicate the monster to his partner Lady.

There would be no point in catching monsters without Countess Kalina, and the fascinating Lady was with her cheating husband, so Damon had nothing to do.

On the way back, Damon spotted Rupert in the distance. The sight irritated Damon, and he tried to go back.

But looking closely, the woman next to Rupert wasn’t Erin. Damon moved closer to confirm it.

“W-what should we do? If Madam is dead, heuk…. because of me.”

‘What did I just hear? Who died?’

Upon closer inspection, the woman beside the ducal heir was Chloe, his lover.

“If you fall there, you’re dead, down there… Rupert, hurry up and find her.”

The woman was sobbing, blaming herself, and Rupert clenched his fists as he looked down the steep slope. The crying woman was about to say something more when she suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed.

Damon could only guess what had happened.

If he went down the slope now, would she be there? But Imperial Knights were forbidden to go there.

If he went down alone, they might die together.

Determined, Damon ran and went to the headquarters as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Enoch was investigating the abnormal magic flowing through the northern mountains.

“It’s not over yet.”

He had planned to wrap things up in the morning, but it took longer than he thought. As soon as he arrived, he was about to change his clothes, then go to the lower-level area.

Then someone jumped into the barracks and shouted, “Hey! Something happened! Mrs. Clifford!”

Enoch’s heart sank at the sound. He hurried to Damon, who was panting.

The knight didn’t recognize the Crown Prince, but it didn’t matter to Enoch. He grabbed Damon by the shoulders and asked, “The Duchess? How is she?”

“I don’t know, I think she fell down the hillside.”

“Rupert, what did Duke Clifford do?”

“He was looking from above with his lover.”

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Viscount Therien was also in the barracks. He’s been with the Crown Prince for a long time and knew how important Erin was to him.

“Your Highness.”

At Therien’s call, Enoch urgently said, “Let’s go. Lead the way. Therien, I’ll go ahead, so follow me. Make sure to look everywhere. Come on!”

Damon finally realized that the person in front of him was the Crown Prince.

“Your Highness…?”

“Hold on tight so you don’t fall.”

Enoch grabbed Damon by the arm and dragged him out of the barracks.

“Uhhh…!”

For the first time in his life, Damon felt his body float.

Damon was desperately holding onto Enoch’s waist when Enoch asked, “Where, where is it? Be precise.”

Damon calmed his trembling body, barely reaching out and pointing the way.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I was looking at the hillside. And then she fell…”

As soon as he finished speaking, Enoch and Damon made a sharp descent. Damon couldn’t even scream at the sudden drop and just clung to the Crown Prince.

After descending to the ground, Damon found a more precise route and led Enoch to where Rupert and Chloe had previously been.

Rupert and Chloe were no longer there. He didn’t know if they left to save the Duchess or if they just went back.

“The two of them were standing here, looking down. The lover was crying, saying, ‘What if Madam died?'”

Enoch looked down as he listened to Damon’s explanation.

“Your Highness?”

Blood ran down Enoch’s nose, and he frowned, wiping it off with his sleeve. The mana in his body was running wild as he used advanced magic to fly to the location.

But right now, it didn’t matter.

Enoch could feel a very strong magical energy flowing from the mountain range below.