Chapter 33
Riina pressed her chest firmly.
She closed her eyes tightly, then opened them and let out a long sigh.
Sooner or later, Jane would become a Bolshevik, and she would leave.
Jane would become a fairly capable and somewhat lucky Duchess of Bolshevik, not a miserable failure with terrible luck like herself.
As much as she loved Bolshevik, as much as she loved her father, Riina didn’t want to see Bolshevik stained by her own stubbornness again.
So this pain stabbing at her chest must be lingering attachment.
Riina lifted her chin, squared her shoulders, and straightened her back.
A possibility is just a possibility.
“I need to check.”
Riina immediately turned her horse around.
“My lady!”
The shocked voices of her guards rang out behind Riina as she very simply left the safe zone and headed into the depths of the forest.
But Riina didn’t stop.
Surely Jane wouldn’t stick to just the safe zone.
If she was going to fumble around in the safe zone, she wouldn’t have come into the forest at all.
“My lady, it’s dangerous!”
“The safe zone is just as dangerous.”
“What? My lady, my lady!”
The guards chased after Riina, stomping their feet in confusion at her incomprehensible words, but Riina offered no further explanation.
There was nothing to explain.
How could she explain that everywhere was equally dangerous for her, safe zone or not?
Because I have terribly bad luck.
If she said that, they’d laugh it off as a joke or call it nonsensical stubbornness.
The answer she’d get from them was obvious.
Even with bad luck, there’s a world of difference between staying in the safe zone and not, so please stay in the safe zone.
That might be true for ordinary people, but…
“Making a fuss will be more dangerous.”
At Riina’s cold words, the clamoring guards fell silent.
She then dismounted from her horse.
In a situation where it was becoming difficult to take care of herself, she couldn’t skillfully handle a horse as well.
“We’ve already left, so keep a sharp eye on the surroundings.”
Riina slapped the horse’s rump to send it back, but even as she said this, she didn’t particularly expect much from the guards.
If something were to happen, they likely wouldn’t play a significant role.
That was a fact she had learned through long experience.
Soon, Riina beckoned Becky with her eyes and whispered:
“If something happens and His Highness the Second Prince is nearby, stick close to me. If not…”
She paused briefly and wiped away a bead of sweat from Becky’s temple.
Becky, her cheeks flushing red, quickly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped Riina’s fingertips.
Riina’s voice fell on Becky’s crown as she meticulously cleaned Riina’s hand.
“Get away from me. As far as possible.”
Becky, who had been carefully wiping Riina’s hand, jerked her head up, but Riina was no longer looking at her.
Riina nodded slightly as she walked a bit faster than before.
To enter a dangerous place of her own accord and trust not in herself but in others.
Anyone who heard would laugh scornfully at how pathetic it was, but Riina didn’t care.
“Has trusting myself ever worked out well?”
Riina calmly muttered to herself and sneered.
Someday it will work out.
If I try this hard, if I invest my effort, my time, my sincerity, someday…
I’ll succeed.
Such hopes had long since burned to ashes and crumbled away.
Ah, ash-colored.
Yes. She had met Einar.
Only after meeting him did Riina, for the first time, not “fail.”
Since Einar had entered this forest guaranteeing success, if she could just meet him…
She might be able to find out what Jane was up to and leave this forest.
Safely…
No, whatever happened, it would be better than being alone.
She couldn’t predict at all what Jane would do, so she had no idea which direction she might have gone.
But if Jane hadn’t come here to do some work on behalf of her father, that is, the Duke of Bolshevik…
“She won’t want to stand out.”
Whatever she was up to, if it was something completely above board and good, Jane wouldn’t have come here with a Bolshevik family permit obtained through backdoor dealings.
Riina asked the nearest guard captain:
“Which direction has the fewest people?”
“It seems to be… that way, but…”
Riina immediately turned in the direction the very disgruntled-looking guard captain pointed.
Indeed, as he said, the deeper they went into the forest, not only were there no signs of people, but even bird calls became scarce.
“Um, my lady. Something feels off. Perhaps we should turn back now.”
Riina nodded at the guard captain’s earnest voice.
“Yes. It is definitely strange. It shouldn’t be this quiet.”
The faces of the guard captain and guards brightened momentarily, but they gripped their sword hilts tightly and widened their eyes again at Riina’s next chilling words.
“But not yet. We haven’t accomplished what we came to do.”
It was a fact known to practically every noble in the Empire, with perhaps a bit of exaggeration, that Riina Bolshevik, the sole heir to the Bolshevik family, never abandoned a task she set out to do.
So those guarding her closely would certainly know this.
That’s why they couldn’t strongly insist on returning even when Riina left the safe zone.
All they could do now was protect Riina to the best of their ability.
As they reached a point where not only bird calls but even insect sounds had faded away,
The guard at the very front suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“What’s wrong…”
It was a coincidence.
How else could one explain it?
“ROARRR!”
The moment the arrow pierced the black tiger’s shoulder, Riina arrived in close proximity…
As the beast’s roar shook the entire forest, assaulting their ears, a group of people entered Riina’s field of vision.
A group hurriedly drawing bows and beginning to loose arrows in unison.
Judging by their attire, they were clearly the hunting party accompanying the princes.
And sure enough, the Third Prince could be seen among them.
His eyes were fixed on Riina, who stood out in red amidst the all-green forest.
Their eyes met, but Riina soon turned her head indifferently, as if looking at a pebble on the road.
Smith’s lips twisted sharply at this.
It was a coincidence that Riina happened to be there at that very moment, but the arrow that flew towards the black tiger was no coincidence at all.
It was intentionally loosed by Smith.
The hunters who first confirmed the fletching of his arrow aimed at the black tiger were shocked, but there was no time to simply be surprised.
“Your Highness!”
“Shoot! I said shoot! Aaargh!”
“How dare you, with the First Prince there!”
“If we leave it be, it’ll be dangerous anyway!”
Even in the midst of this, the hunters moved in coordination, and the guards surrounding Riina held their positions, shielding her.
“Don’t try to hit it with arrows, try to lure it instead!”
“That way! That way!”
“Hey! Throw any prey you have in that direction for now!”
The surroundings were chaos, with shouts and the clash of weapons mixing in a jumble.
And anyone who had touched the black tiger would have fully expected this to happen.
Of course, including Smith, who had loosed the first arrow.
A few minutes earlier.
The Third Prince’s group had encountered the group searching for the First Prince.
“Huh, huh, Your Highness the Third Prince!”
Smith gave them a cursory glance, but fortunately, he couldn’t see the First Prince among them.
Of course, it was fortunate only for him.
The First Prince’s group was frantic, searching for the one they were supposed to be attending.
But not long after, fortunately for them and unfortunately for Smith, they did spot the First Prince.
With the largest and most dangerous beast of the hunting competition, the black tiger, right in the middle.
“That… mmph.”
The shock that was about to escape someone’s parted lips was blocked by another’s hand.
Silence fell over the scene in an instant.
Smith, too, surveyed the entire area without opening his mouth.
Very fortunately, even though the black tiger sensed the presence of the people who had appeared in droves, it showed no particular reaction.
It merely flicked its tail as if annoyed.
However, with just that movement, the grass beneath its tail was uprooted and the ground was gouged, so there was no need to explicitly state the danger of the black tiger.
Just then, the First Prince’s face brightened slightly as he spotted them, but that was all.
He was still in a position where he couldn’t move, forced to stay with a woman who seemed crazy.
“Your, Your Highness. What should we do about this situation?”
Those looking at the First Prince weren’t in a particularly good position either.
The black tiger blocking their path wasn’t moving now, but whether they tried to go around it or cross its path, the moment someone moved…
A hunter who envisioned his neck in the beast’s jaws instinctively swallowed hard and glanced at the Third Prince.
Smith was watching the situation with narrowed eyes.
He wasn’t particularly terrified and shaking like the First Prince.
At least he was confident he could extract himself from that beast.
“Your Highness?”
It was probably a question about what to do with the First Prince.
Smith shook his head.
“I’m thinking.”
If he had his way, or rather, sincerely, he wanted to just leave the First Prince behind and go.
But with all these eyes watching him, he couldn’t just ignore the situation and pass by.
Yet he didn’t have any brilliant ideas either.
In truth, the simplest method would be to push someone as prey for the black tiger and use that moment to extract the First Prince…
But he couldn’t voice such an inhumane and cruel method himself.
“This has become troublesome.”
As they were whispering about how to extract the First Prince from there,
The hunter with the sharpest ears among the Third Prince’s group flinched and turned his head to the left.
“Your Highness, I see another group to the left.”
