Chapter 39
“She’s here!”
Before the words were finished, Becky popped up from behind the guard captain, raising her hand high.
Seeing her unharmed appearance, Riina unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
She took a step back from him and looked at Einar, now surrounded by people.
How many times had his luck overcome her misfortune?
It wasn’t perfect.
If Einar’s luck had completely overpowered Riina’s misfortune, they wouldn’t have encountered the black tiger in the first place.
But if he hadn’t been there.
“…Fortunately…”
What would have happened to Becky, who was now chattering and circling around her, checking and re-checking her?
As if sensing Riina’s gaze, Einar suddenly turned his head towards her and smiled, his eyes crinkling.
And on the faces of those surrounding him, there was a very clear expression of having so much they wanted to ask, but not daring to bring it up now.
But soon they lowered their gazes to the ground.
After all, rather than dwelling on the unknowable, they wanted to talk about the incredible thing right before their eyes.
Those examining the black tiger that Einar had carelessly pinned to the ground and the sword stuck in its jaw formed a circle.
“To take down such a beast with a sword!”
Whether it was a sigh or an exclamation, someone’s words were echoed by others.
“Even if ten men with spears had charged at it, they couldn’t have captured it without bloodshed.”
No sooner had those words ended than someone shook their head and grumbled:
“That’s not right. If that were the case, it wouldn’t have been caught as prey in the first place…”
“That’s not what I meant.”
The one who was about to offer advice pursed their lips but kept quiet.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
A hunter squeezed through the nobles and knights surrounding the black tiger.
“If we don’t drain the blood now, the hide will be ruined.”
“Ah, we can’t let such a precious thing be ruined. Let’s all step back.”
As soon as those who had been crowding around stepped back a few paces, the hunters skillfully began to process the carcass.
As sharp knives flashed here and there mysteriously, revealing the entire body of the black tiger that had been so tightly curled up, people unanimously burst into admiration.
“To take down such a beast in one go, and in that situation! As… as expected of His Highness the Second Prince.”
Those who were clicking their tongues and marveling soon raised their heads towards Einar, but he had already disappeared.
“Where is His Highness?”
“Huh? Over there.”
“Is he… leaving?”
And so, while people were still going “Huh?”, the carriage carrying Einar and Riina had vanished.
* * *
The day after the eventful hunting competition ended.
The young ladies who had attended the competition gathered in small groups from the morning.
But instead of the usual chirping like small birds, only occasional weak sighs could be heard.
As the tea in the cups was growing cold…
“Ah, isn’t it just so romantic?”
As a baroness sighed and floated the question, all the gathered ladies sighed in unison as if on cue.
“It really is.”
“How he appeared at such a perfect moment…”
“I didn’t see it well, but he cut off the breath of that enormous beast in an instant, didn’t he?”
“That’s right. With just one sword, he took down the dangerous creature that no one else could approach!”
“You might think this childish, but…”
At someone’s hesitant words, the others’ ears perked up.
As all eyes focused on her, holding their breath, the lady who first spoke swallowed hard and licked her lower lip.
Finally, she opened her mouth.
“It felt like watching a prince rescue a princess right before our eyes.”
As she closed her mouth, silence fell.
How long did this awkward, tingling silence last?
Suddenly, a lady known for being usually very calm raised her hand high.
“I, I thought so too!”
With her exclamation, her cheeks flushed red, and soon a flood of affirmations and agreements poured out.
“So I wasn’t the only one who thought that.”
“Me too. I never thought I’d see a scene right out of a fairy tale book with my own eyes.”
“Me too! Should we say, as expected of Bolshevik?”
“Oh my, that’s right. It was the Bolshevik lady, wasn’t it?”
“To think that all the protagonists in the fairy tale books and theater plays we saw as children were people from the Bolshevik family. Indeed.”
The ladies nodded, finding understanding in an odd place, confirming that they were all of one heart and mind.
“Wasn’t it perfect until the very end?”
At the words of a lady with dreamy, hazy eyes, those who had been present at the hunting competition simultaneously recalled the same scene in their minds.
Not long after dealing with the black tiger, Einar and Riina, who were looking only at each other, enveloped in an air as warm and exciting as a spring breeze in their own world…
‘Einar, may I go with you?’
Of course, in contrast to the voice overflowing with pathos, Riina’s expression, visible only to Einar, was as dry as dried fish, but only Einar could see that.
Einar, suppressing a laugh, also spoke loudly.
‘If that’s what you wish.’
And so, in an instant, the two left the hunting competition grounds.
Those left behind, even including the Bolshevik family’s guards, just traced the trajectory of their disappearance with dazed faces.
‘My, my lady!’
‘Your Highness? Your Highness?’
Not long after, those attending to Riina and Einar also left in a hurry, and soon the hunting competition came to an empty conclusion.
Even if you looked at it sideways, Einar, who had caught the black tiger, was the winner, but as this was widely expected, they needed to determine the runner-up who would be the de facto winner.
But the Second Prince, who was best suited to judge this, had left, and the Third Prince had also mysteriously vanished at some point, leaving only the First Prince.
‘The runner-up is…’
The First Prince, who had been lying sick, mustered all his strength, even the strength he used to suckle as a baby, to fulfill his duty as royalty, and the hunting competition that had once again created a legend came to a complete end.
While the young ladies gathered at the tea party were chattering about the relationship between Einar and Riina,
The young lords gathered at another tea party were not much different.
“The Bolshevik lady went to the imperial palace with His Highness the Second Prince…”
“Good heavens, we expected this based on their appearance before the hunting competition, but…”
“And that black tiger was really…”
“Indeed, when His Highness the Second Prince attends the hunting competition, there’s always an incredible story…”
Amidst their animated discussion about Einar, Riina, and the black tiger, a brief silence fell.
“By the way.”
Suddenly, one young lord opened his mouth.
As the others’ gazes focused on him, he hesitated for a moment before spilling out his inner thoughts.
“I don’t know if I’m the only one who thinks this way. It’s quite a childish thought.”
He stumbled over his words, finding it difficult to speak, but no one rushed him.
Probably because most of them had similar thoughts.
A silence fell where they just eyed each other for a while.
Finally, the young lord who had first spoken out exclaimed as if making a serious confession.
“The scene where His Highness the Second Prince saved the Bolshevik lady was so cool that I… um… I…!”
The rest of his words didn’t need to be heard to be understood, so another young lord next to him patted his shoulder.
As he closed his mouth, silence fell again, but the young lords nodded deeply at each other, exchanging glances.
Even after that, their topic of conversation didn’t stray far from Einar, Riina, and the events of the hunting competition.
But in the whispers of the young ladies and lords gathered at the tea parties, and the heads and mistresses of each family, the Third Prince was absent.
There should have been at least one mention of Einar, Riina, and Smith being in a love triangle.
However, Einar and Riina being together seemed so natural that people didn’t even realize this fact.
* * *
While people were making all sorts of speculations, inferring about the relationship between Einar and Riina and the future dynamics surrounding the Crown Prince position to the point of overheating,
Inside the Second Prince’s palace.
Having welcomed Riina, who had visited the Second Prince’s palace since morning, Einar was spending time alone with her, having dismissed all the servants.
At first glance, it was a heartwarming scene of the injured Second Prince and the Bolshevik lady tending to his wounds.
“It’s done. Thanks to the physician’s proper treatment, it’s healing cleanly.”
Although her skill was too proficient to be described as merely “tending”…
“As expected, your skill is excellent.”
Einar, too, rather than gazing at her tenderly, purely marveled at her treatment skills anew.
The atmosphere between them was neither tender nor exciting as people might expect or anticipate.
Once the treatment was over, they were simply lost in their own thoughts, comfortable even in silence, like very old acquaintances.
How much time had passed?
Riina suddenly opened her mouth as if something had just occurred to her.
“I faced off against the black tiger twice, and both times I came out unscathed. So it’s certain that our luck affects each other even when we’re somewhat apart.”
To be precise, Einar was injured in the second encounter, but Riina herself was perfectly fine, so…
“Twice?”
“Yes. Before that…”
Riina listed the events that had occurred before the black tiger burst into the safe zone in an extremely dry manner.
“…and so we safely reached the clearing, but.”
“Wait a moment.”
Einar raised his hand to stop Riina and asked:
“Why did you enter the forest in the first place? The experiment to see if our luck affects each other even at a distance could have been done sufficiently with you remaining in a safe place.”
