Chapter 35
“No.”
“Not even nearby?”
The guard with the keenest senses among them held his breath for a moment and looked around, but soon shook his head.
Finally accepting that Einar was not here and showed no signs of coming, Riina immediately pushed Becky’s back forcefully.
“Go! Go anywhere!”
Startled by Riina’s sudden urging, Becky looked at her with a bewildered face.
But Riina firmly pushed her shoulders again, leaving no room for argument.
“I said get away from me.”
It was nonsense.
Becky was Riina’s closest servant, wasn’t she?
Come what may, she should move together with Riina, even taking threats in her place if necessary.
Moreover, in this chaotic situation, being surrounded by the Bolshevik family’s guards would be the safest option.
Yet Riina told Becky to get far away.
And before this situation arose, Becky had already heard such words from her.
Becky bit her lip hard, but if it was Riina’s order, she would willingly carry it out even if told to jump into a fire pit.
She soon kicked off the ground and moved far away from Riina.
Had only a few breaths passed since Becky moved away from her?
“ROARRR!”
“Huh!”
“We can’t stop it! Dodge! Dod—!”
As if it had been waiting, the black tiger leaped towards where Riina was.
Simultaneously, the guards stepped forward, putting Riina behind them.
That way, she wouldn’t get caught up in it.
Riina briefly looked at the backs of these guards before immediately moving away from that spot.
It would be far better for her to move to a distant place rather than standing there stupidly crying or trying to be of help by doing useless things.
Moreover, was it instinct, or a sense accumulated from experience?
The black tiger wouldn’t bother with the guards.
That beast would follow her direction of movement as if blind.
“Gasp!”
“No, why is it suddenly going there!”
“No! Stop it! We must stop it!”
“Scatter the steel traps! No, throw the nets, I said!”
As if to prove that Riina’s bad premonitions never miss the mark.
The moment she put all her effort into distancing herself in the opposite direction from the black tiger.
The black tiger swung its foreleg towards Riina.
-Crack!
With that single swing, not just branches but entire tree trunks were shattered miserably, with fragments flying everywhere.
And Riina, who was fully showered with these fragments, twisted the corner of her mouth upwards.
I knew this would happen.
“Grrrrr.”
The black tiger, blocking Riina’s path, bared its teeth and growled as if mocking her.
“Huh!”
“Ah, my lady!”
“Oh God…”
The situation where the sole heir of the Bolshevik family suddenly found herself facing off against the black tiger.
People were so tense they could barely breathe, not knowing what to do.
The difference between the massive beast and Riina was extreme, as if she might collapse just from the tiger’s light exhale.
What on earth was the reason that beast suddenly jumped there?
Of course, there’s no particular pattern to the black tiger’s rampage.
But hadn’t they been gradually driving the black tiger in one direction with a barrage of arrows and steel traps on the ground?
Thanks to that, the situation seemed like it might be contained somehow.
While everyone was silently screaming and going mad, Riina’s breath, who should have been the most terrified and trembling, remained calm.
Was it because she had expected this, so she wasn’t scared? Or was it because she had already experienced death once, so she wasn’t afraid?
If not that, was it because she no longer had any lingering attachment to life?
Or was it a mix of all of these?
A faint sigh escaped between Riina’s lips as she quietly gazed into the black tiger’s bulging eyes.
“Huh.”
The black tiger flared its nostrils as if inhaling that sigh, but didn’t immediately pounce on her as if to swallow her whole.
How long had it been since the sole bloodline and heir of the Bolshevik family faced off against the most dangerous and massive beast in this forest?
The face of the experienced hunter who had captured the black tiger showed clear impatience and urgency.
As time passed, the movements of the black tiger’s forelegs and tail were changing into a preparation stance to charge at its prey.
“We must do something.”
And the faces of those who realized that only seconds remained until the black tiger swallowed Riina whole turned pale.
If they had eyes, they couldn’t possibly miss the severity of Riina’s situation.
Even Smith, who started all this trouble, was frowning as he looked at Riina.
Only his eyes weren’t filled with worry, concern, and fear like the others.
In Smith’s eyes, slimy desire, a sense of superiority, and even a hint of excitement were swirling.
“Perfect.”
“Pardon?”
“No, I said it’s a perfectly dangerous situation.”
Smith, who had unintentionally let his true feelings slip, packaged them plausibly and tried to control the corners of his mouth that kept trying to rise.
Isn’t it truly perfect?
If he dramatically rescued Riina from that situation…
All the troublesome matters that started with Riina would magically disappear, wouldn’t they?
A smile he couldn’t hide finally spread across Smith’s lips, as he counted his chickens before they hatched.
He took one step at a time, very carefully approaching Riina.
Riina also knew that he was approaching her.
Isn’t it laughable?
The black tiger didn’t even turn to look at Smith, who was slowly approaching with clanking metal.
As if only Riina existed in this place, the black tiger just growled while looking only at her.
Just as Smith was two steps away from blocking Riina’s front…
“How about this, you beast!”
One of the hunters shot an arrow with a pouch attached—filled with a scent so strong it would make any beast recoil—right at the black tiger’s hind legs.
-Pop.
As the pouch burst, releasing a smell so strong it momentarily numbed the nose, and the next moment.
“Grrragh!”
The black tiger leaped high, but instead of pouncing on Riina, it disappeared into the undergrowth over her head.
No matter how dangerous, a beast is still a beast.
Even without direct harm, the sudden numbing of its sense of smell must have made it feel threatened.
Moreover, the scent that had been severely fueling the black tiger’s aggression, unknown to the people, also disappeared in an instant.
“Is… is it gone?”
At the tiny sound that escaped someone’s lips, people held their breath and watched the direction the black tiger had jumped into.
How long had it been?
The most experienced and longest-surviving hunter among them moved quietly without making a sound.
He moved almost crawling, carefully examining and re-examining the direction where the black tiger had disappeared.
How much longer did the rest of the people hold their breath, lowering their bodies following him?
The hunter straightened his deeply bent back and waved his hand widely.
“It’s gone.”
At this, people collectively exhaled.
As the tension eased from their stiff shoulders, not a few were trembling in their arms and legs.
“My la—!”
Becky, who was about to shout loudly, startled herself and covered her mouth, approaching Riina almost rolling.
Her hands were covered in dirt, and there was black soil smudged under her nose, as if she had been doing something somewhere.
“Are you alright? You’re alright, aren’t you? You look fine, but may I check…”
Becky thrust her face close, almost touching noses, like a puppy clinging to its owner who had returned from a trip.
Riina pushed her face away with one hand and shook her head.
“I’m fine, as you can see.”
She was covered in debris from the exploding trees, but they were just scratches.
She had expected at least one limb to be crushed, but for some reason, she was perfectly fine.
Does Einar’s luck affect her even when they’re somewhat apart?
Riina’s thoughts didn’t last long.
“Oh, my goodness. Wounds! Here too, ah, and here!”
What were nothing to Riina were not at all insignificant to Becky.
She looked upset at the wounds on Riina’s neck and cheeks.
“If I had blocked—”
Before Becky could finish, Riina cut her off.
“Stop it. It was a situation where we should be grateful just to be alive. More importantly.”
Riina clicked her tongue briefly as she surveyed the guards who were now meticulously checking around her.
One person was missing.
“We need to handle the aftermath first.”
No sooner had those words fallen than people began to gather around her.
In terms of rank, the person in charge here should be the First Prince or the Third Prince.
But theory and reality are different.
The one who took control of this situation was not the two princes, but Riina.
Riina opened her mouth towards those who were just staring at her lips.
“First, confirm the well-being of Their Highnesses the Princes.”
As soon as those words ended, people scattered, and soon after, they found the First Prince.
“Your Highness!”
The First Prince was unharmed and safe.
But he just blinked his flickering eyes, seemingly drained from facing the black tiger alone earlier.
“His Highness the Third Prince is… fine, so now.”
Riina glanced at Smith as if looking at a buzzing fly nearby, then called over a few hunters—specifically those capable of assessing the situation and predicting what might happen next.
Putting aside everything else, she asked the one most important thing.
“Can we move to the safe zone?”
