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Chapter 91

Could it be that he'd foreseen this very situation?

Lucas's gaze turned to Kayden.

He met the Duke's eyes—Kayden was watching him with his arms crossed.

A short while later.

Aron, seeing Lucas calm down, smirked and ordered the imperial knights.

"Detain that knight for now."

After all, since he was his sister's knight, he should at least be there to escort her on her wedding day.

For his sister, who had listened so well and not said a word to her own knight—he should grant her at least that much.

Aron looked down at the nobles, who were fidgeting nervously, and said casually.

"Well then, let's resume the hunting competition."

---

Meanwhile, Emilia had been watching the scene from a distance with bated breath.

Thankfully, Lucas didn't push further and quietly allowed himself to be led away.

Emilia looked up at Kayden and said.

"Thank you for warning Lucas."

In fact, Lucas had been her greatest concern in all of this.

In the original story, the Princess's knight had died resisting.

When Selena was announced as the prize, she'd been terribly worried about his reaction.

Then Emilia shifted her gaze to Prince Aron.

He seemed rather pleased by Lucas's defiant act.

As if he found his outrage amusing.

If they had let Lucas in on the plan, that utterly wicked prince would surely have grown suspicious.

Bwooo—

Just then, the horn for the second half sounded.

Emilia spoke to Kayden, a little tense.

"Good luck."

"Yes, I'll be back."

Kayden nodded as if to tell her not to worry.

---

Perhaps because of the Prince's prize, the participants were far more fired up than before.

Some were grumbling that they should have given it their all in the first half.

Marquess Monstera listened to the chatter from atop his horse.

His lips twitched with satisfaction.

Go ahead and talk. The win is mine.

The night before, he'd hidden game he'd caught in advance, keeping them barely alive and stashed in various spots.

And in some key locations, imperial knights were standing guard under the guise of patrol.

Just wait a little longer, Princess Selena.

In his mind, he was already picturing the wedding ceremony.

But his daydream was interrupted—he spotted the Duke of Valen, expressionless.

Monstera recalled the first-half tally and scoffed.

He's not as impressive as I thought.

Monstera immediately turned his horse and approached him.

Kayden glanced at him briefly.

"Your Grace, are you nervous? Your catch was rather unimpressive."

Despite the blatant provocation, Kayden answered calmly.

"Yes, so I'll try harder in the second half."

The Marquess suppressed a sneer.

Even if he caught every remaining game in the forest, it wouldn't matter.

The high-scoring animals were all already in his grasp.

The Marquess shrugged and said condescendingly.

"Well, I'm sure the Duchess would be happy even with a small catch."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, I just thought—since she's a commoner, she'd be satisfied with modest things. Haha!"

But his bride would be a princess.

So he had to offer a prize worthy of her.

Of course, it was all provided by the Prince!

Laughing heartily to himself, Monstera didn't bother to check Kayden's expression and returned to his spot.

---

Monstera rode leisurely, as if out for a stroll, enjoying the scenery.

The weather was clear—the heavens themselves seemed to bless his future.

Time to collect the game.

He reached into his coat and pulled out a map.

"Let's see. Oh my, there's quite a lot."

He murmured, checking the marked spots.

Since hiding all the game in one place was too risky, he'd scattered them.

Smiling contentedly, he tucked the map back into his coat.

I'll start with the highest-scoring catch.

He rode slowly toward the location.

But soon, he found himself bewildered.

Hmm?

No matter how he looked, he couldn't find the imperial knights who should have been patrolling nearby.

Sensing something wrong, he dismounted and entered the cave where the game should have been.

And what he saw made him gasp.

"What the—!"

He rubbed his eyes—but there was no game.

Instead, only a small magic stone, used to trap the animals, was left embedded in the ground.

Monstera's face went pale.

Who found this place?!

He rushed out of the cave.

But he quickly composed himself.

Thankfully, there were multiple hiding spots.

I-it's fine!

This one was probably just discovered by chance.

He mounted his horse again.

Even if this spot had held the highest-scoring game—

I'll just collect everything from the other spots!

He reassured himself, but cold sweat trickled down his back.

Clip-clop, clip-clop!

Unlike before, Monstera gripped the reins tightly and headed toward the ravine.

---

Inside the tent, Selena recalled Lucas's furious face.

I have no face to show Sir Lucas.

Her heart had dropped when he drew his sword without hesitation.

He'd been ready to risk his life to charge at Aron for her sake.

Knowing how that made her heart ache—and yet somehow feel glad—would Sir Lucas scold her?

He must be disappointed...

He must be terribly disappointed in her for letting it come to this.

Maybe he wouldn't even want to see her face again.

At that thought, the tears she'd been holding back threatened to spill.

But she was determined not to cry in front of Aron.

She wouldn't give that detestable brother of hers any more satisfaction.

Just as she finally managed to push Lucas from her mind and regain her composure—

Aron's voice came from beside her.

"You'd better not hold on to any false hope."

"Hope...?"

Selena lifted her head and looked at Aron.

"Yeah. Hope that someone else might win."

Aron grinned.

And as if wanting her to sink deeper into despair, he cheerfully explained.

No matter how much game someone caught, it was impossible for anyone else to win.

Selena listened silently. It was all things she already knew.

This was Aron's game, and there was no way to change the outcome.

She waited for him to finish, then spoke.

"Just keep your promise. That you won't touch Sir Lucas later."

"Fine. It would be a headache if you killed yourself after marrying Monstera anyway."

Then Aron shook his head, as if he couldn't understand.

"Having something precious seems like such a nuisance. That knight—you had the same expression when Lorelai was taken away."

At that, Selena paused. She looked straight into Aron's eyes and spoke calmly.

"Yes. You wouldn't understand, living off whatever Mother hands you without a thought."

"What?"

"You'll probably keep living that way, bored forever. Never knowing the joy of having someone precious."

Aron let out a hollow laugh.

"So you're going all out now? Still, it'd be better not to talk back like that once you're married to the Marquess. He's got a bad habit of raising his hand, you know."

Just then, murmuring came from outside.

Aron's lips curled.

"Let's go out, sister. It seems your future husband has brought you a fine catch. You should greet him, shouldn't you?"

Aron forcibly pulled the reluctant Selena out of the tent.

But the smile vanished from his face in an instant.

Because—

What greeted them as they stepped outside was—

"..."

The Duke of Valen, standing leisurely before a mountain of game.

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