Chapter 32
“Your Highness, if this fellow tucks its tail and can’t move forward or backward, you must quietly, very quietly, remove yourself from that spot.”
“The horse won’t move?”
“Yes. It happens sometimes. Even with this renowned brave steed.”
“Why?”
“It’s instinctual.”
The stable hand lowered his voice to a whisper.
“It senses a predator nearby that could swallow it in one bite.”
The First Prince dismounted with an extremely disgruntled expression.
Surely not.
It couldn’t be, right?
He tried to steady his trembling legs as he took a very careful step forward.
-Rustle.
But even the sound of grass being crushed seemed extraordinarily loud.
As the First Prince froze in place, he recalled the words of that talkative person:
‘My goodness, do you know what the most magnificent prey is in this competition? It’s…’
Just as the First Prince shook his head vigorously to clear the thought, he came face to face with a pair of bright red eyes.
“Huh… ugh.”
What the First Prince locked eyes with was an enormous creature.
No, if it were merely enormous, it wouldn’t be called the worst prey in history.
Between its closed jaws were razor-sharp teeth as big as saws, and its thick forelegs could sweep away a cow’s head with a single swipe.
The claws hidden in those forelegs could tear through steel shields like paper.
Face to face with such a beast, the First Prince lost his senses and gaped.
“A… black tiger?”
His voice squeezed out in shock, but fortunately for the First Prince, the house-sized black tiger paid him little attention and simply turned its head.
The lingering effects of the tranquilizer used to capture it for today’s event after it had devoured three hunters hadn’t fully worn off, and someone like the First Prince was little more than a passing fly to the beast.
More importantly, there was a very pleasant scent in this spot.
“Grrrr.”
The black tiger rumbled low in its throat and shook its thick neck.
And that’s when the First Prince realized.
Why the forest had been so peaceful even though he had left the safe zone.
This entire area was the beast’s territory.
With such a massive and dangerous creature holding its ground here, other animals wouldn’t dare approach.
If it were a bear, it might have left claw marks on trees, but being a tiger, there were no such markings.
-Crack.
The sound of a small twig breaking underfoot seemed louder than thunder to the First Prince, causing his shoulders to jerk violently.
The black tiger’s ears twitched, but it merely flicked its tail—thicker and stronger than most ropes—as if annoyed.
Drawn by the pleasant scent where it sat, the black tiger opened its massive jaws wide in a yawn.
“Ugh… huh.”
The First Prince made a sound as if about to faint, quickly covered his mouth, and then fell backward, landing hard on his bottom.
Although this made an even louder noise than before, the black tiger remained seated.
The scent of a very rare plant that grows only in this forest at this time of year is avoided by most animals, but to the black tiger, it was an almost drug-like pleasant aroma.
And so, the First Prince began a standoff, unable to move away from the black tiger, but also unable to get closer.
Although the black tiger paid him no mind…
* * *
At the moment the First Prince was startled by the black tiger’s yawn and fell over, Jane was searching for her target herb in a deep part of the forest not far away—a distance the black tiger could cover in just a few bounds.
“This isn’t it either.”
Jane’s delicate brow furrowed as she dusted off her hands, blackened with soil.
She was certain it was supposed to be in this forest at this time of year.
“Is it so hard to find?”
Muttering to herself, Jane ended up taking a few more steps deeper into the forest, in the direction where the black tiger was resting its chin.
Jane alone possessed information about a mysterious poison unknown to anyone else in the world, but unfortunately for her, that information wasn’t particularly detailed.
“It was said that most animals avoid its scent.”
Jane recited aloud the information about the ingredient that she could explain in her sleep if asked.
It can only be obtained in this forest at this time of year, and it emits a scent that animals dislike, making the surrounding area quiet.
However, the apex predators of the forest actually prefer the scent very much.
Also, it’s safe enough for humans to touch with bare hands, but it must never be chewed.
If someone eats it, or consumes something containing it…
“They become very aggressive, it was said. Well, I won’t be eating it anyway.”
The poison that would be completed with this ingredient mixed in—one that would slowly drive a person mad—was destined to be consumed by the impostor currently occupying her position.
Jane’s face remained calm as she brushed aside branches scratching her cheek.
After walking for some time, she looked around.
There were no signs of small animals, or even larger creatures that wouldn’t normally flee from humans.
“There’s almost no birdsong either, so it must be nearby.”
A smile gradually spread across Jane’s face, which had grown quite tired from searching the forest.
Unaware that a black tiger capable of killing her with a single touch was just ahead, Jane’s steps became lighter.
As a breeze swept across her forehead beaded with sweat, Jane’s view suddenly opened up, and she instinctively knew.
“This is it. It must be here.”
With a pleased smile, Jane took one large step forward, and then another.
Completely focused on finding the ingredient, she failed to notice that the surroundings had become so quiet that not even birdsong could be heard.
Just as a bead of sweat teetering on the edge of her nostril fell to the ground, she finally spotted the exact ingredient pictured in her book.
But.
“Ah… mmph! Mmph!”
Jane’s eyes widened as she reached out, but she couldn’t grasp the ingredient.
Someone had clamped a hand over her mouth with great force and was pulling her backward.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
Just as Jane was about to fall backward from the strong force pulling her, the First Prince—the one who had grabbed her—steadied her.
Of course, this was less out of concern for her well-being and more to prevent the sound of her falling from reaching the ears of that enormous beast.
Jane, suddenly silenced and restrained, struggled, but the First Prince was equally desperate.
With no one to protect him, one wrong move could see him torn apart in the jaws of that beast.
Realizing she couldn’t break free from the strange hands holding her no matter how much she struggled, Jane squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them.
Sensing that Jane had calmed down somewhat and stopped struggling, the First Prince spoke.
“Shh, shh. I’ll let you go, but first…”
The First Prince turned Jane’s face toward where the black tiger was.
“Look over there. Look and calm down.”
It was truly paradoxical to tell someone to calm down while looking at such a massive and dangerous beast, but it was also precisely the right thing to say in this situation.
Although she had been forcibly silenced and dragged, the owner of those rough hands was at least human, but what was before her eyes…
“That… is.”
“Shh. I understand you’re shocked, but we must be quiet. For some reason, it doesn’t seem interested in us.”
The First Prince rambled on desperately, trying to prevent her from screaming or suddenly running away.
But Jane wasn’t listening to the First Prince’s words.
Of course, Jane had seen the unrealistically large black tiger.
And like the First Prince, Jane had frozen with wide eyes the moment she saw the black tiger.
But in the next instant, what caught her attention was what lay beneath the black tiger.
With each flick of the tiger’s tail, she caught glimpses of…
“This is the right place.”
A faint expression of joy spread across Jane’s face as she found the essential ingredient for the poison she had been searching for.
And for a brief moment, as the First Prince glanced at her after staring at the black tiger, his face twisted into a very strange expression.
What kind of expression was that in this situation?
“Have you… lost your mind?”
The First Prince muttered as he grabbed Jane’s wrist again, pulling her back as she leaned forward, unable to even cry out.
To be stuck with a person who had gone mad in this situation.
Just as the First Prince grimaced at the situation that had become even worse than before and loosened his grip on Jane…
-Whoosh!
An arrow flew through the air from somewhere, tearing through it.
Whether it was a blind shot or one that found its mark accurately…
“ROARRR!”
In any case, that single arrow had lodged itself in the black tiger’s shoulder.
* * *
About 10 minutes before Jane encountered the black tiger.
Riina, who had entered the forest, was strolling through the safe zone, far away from where Jane was.
In the silence broken only occasionally by the sound of horse hooves striking the ground, Riina pondered.
She didn’t know what relationship Jane had with Becky’s blackmailer, but it didn’t seem like there was no connection at all.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to move around with a Bolshevik permit.
“No…”
Riina immediately clamped her mouth shut at the involuntary denial that escaped her lips.
It wouldn’t be long before Jane entered the Bolshevik Duchy.
The tea party season would begin in earnest after the hunting competition concluded.
It could be her father’s arrangement, completely unrelated to Becky, something that had happened without her knowledge even before her regression…
