The Hunt
The entrance of the ‘White Forest’, the western woods of Maneregia, soon began to fill with processions arriving one by one. The noble ladies and young misses moved to the tent structures with excited faces. At the entrance of the White Forest flowed a shallow stream connected to the summer-blue river that crossed through the middle of the forest, and the tent structures for the distinguished guests were erected close to that stream. Brilliant sunlight shattered and sparkling water scales shimmered on the tent roofs.
“What a truly beautiful spectacle.”
They moved to seats arranged by their husbands or fathers and gazed with enchanted eyes at the knights participating in this hunt festival, the young heirs of provincial lords, and the eldest sons of great nobles. The number of participants easily seemed to exceed fifty. The massive warhorses they rode made snorting sounds as they firmly guarded their territories.
“Everyone, do you see that young knight? There’s a rumor he’s Prince Cloy’s bastard.”
One noble lady whispered elegantly while fluttering a thin silk fan. Her gaze pointed to Cloy, who was smiling brightly with his golden cloak fluttering, and a boy standing awkwardly beside him.
“Isn’t he just a young squire who recently received knighthood?”
“Yes. There’s a rumor he was brought in disguised as a knight to establish his position this time.”
My goodness, the women looked surprised with their mouths covered. The rumor was actually true—while surprised, curiosity quickly blossomed. The noble lady who’d just spread the rumor showed a very proud expression as she shared various news she’d learned at this capital social gathering.
Among them, what drew the greatest response from the young misses wasn’t handsome wandering knights or free cavalry, much less the young heirs of provincial lords or the eldest sons of great nobles, but rather the intimate private lives of the Empire’s seven dukes.
“But doesn’t Duke Bluoa have any bastards?”
Someone suddenly pointed to Bluoa Shonda sitting on a white horse in the distance and asked. He was the Empire’s greatest womanizer, but considering his outstanding appearance, impeccable manners, and the South’s fertile territory, everyone agreed it was fitting behavior for him.
“Of course he does. Madame Shonda has been offering gold and bouquets to her son’s mistresses as soon as bastards are born, so they’re keeping their mouths shut.”
“How can he have so many mistresses yet not get married?”
Several young misses, still young enough to dream of beautiful romantic marriages, imagined their hearts naturally fluttering at the thought of whether such a bad man might reform after meeting them. The noble lady let out an empty laugh and fanned even faster.
“If he got married, what wife would just sit and watch that? He’s delaying marriage to enjoy it legally. Madame Shonda is looking for a beautiful and chaste spouse, but what lord would send his daughter to Runfield where hardship is obvious?”
“Still, he’s so handsome, and all of the South’s Runfield is the Shonda family’s territory, so I could easily overlook such things.”
One viscount’s daughter murmured hazily while wrapped in jewels and a beautiful dress, picturing herself reigning over people. Those sitting beside her giggled. Then they suddenly pointed to a figure who’d been bothering them quite a bit.
“By the way, my lady, that person… the one sitting on the black warhorse is Lord Duke of Tildyen, right?”
They all simultaneously looked at the man who stood out particularly異質ly under the birch tree shade. Having spent most of their lives around Maneregia without knowing hardship, they were seeing a Northerner for the first time here. Everyone said Northerners were uneducated, very barbaric, and poor.
But the Tildyen man they saw for the first time was indeed very foreign… yet simultaneously mysterious. The young misses even blushed knowing he was already an imperial prince’s husband.
“The one next to him is Prince Anya, correct?”
Next to Evernight’s black warhorse, the Twelfth Imperial Prince, Anya, sat atop a brown horse slightly smaller than the other warhorses. His soft hair swayed in the forest breeze, and his somewhat young face, not much different from the young misses sitting under the tent, was somehow shrouded in worry.
“I’ve never seen a male partner before. Sir Evernight must prefer men?”
Someone asked carefully with a slightly disappointed voice.
“For that to be the case, the two don’t seem to be on good terms. I know a few maids who work at Eos Castle, and they say Sir Evernight doesn’t particularly like the prince. It’s a political marriage as always.”
At that sound, several daughters of provincial lords couldn’t hide their brightened expressions.
“I hear he brought back loads of rare ores and treasures from the frozen lands beyond the barrier? Before long, a prosperous travel route to Tildyen might open.”
“Oh my, doesn’t Sir Evernight enjoy free love?”
Here, free love secretly referred to the act of nobles keeping mistresses. There were promiscuous ones like Bluoa who kept mistresses regardless of status, but generally, the higher the rank, the more they had secret meetings with misses or noble ladies of viscount rank or above. Since most were political marriages rather than love marriages, some noble couples tacitly permitted each other’s free love after marriage.
“Miss, our lord is not such a gentle and well-mannered man. Only you will be hurt, miss.”
Ah, what a surprise! The women who’d been enthusiastically talking jumped at the eerie male voice suddenly coming from behind. Riario gulped down tea water with an indifferent expression.
“Who, who are you?”
To the sharp question, Riario answered.
“I’m a mere mage belonging to the knight order led by Duke Evernight, whom the young ladies have been enthusiastically discussing.”
A mage? Their faces soon contorted with embarrassment and awkwardness. If he was a mage, he was a precious talent and must be close to the Duke. Soon, with throat clearing, they had to straighten their postures and calm their heat with fans.
‘This is why the capital is fun.’
Riario hummed as he took a big spoonful of the sweet dessert brought by servants into his mouth.
Soon, a gigantic horn trumpet sounded so loud it made the summer leaves vibrate rustily. The Emperor’s carriage arrived last in the forest, escorted by flag bearers holding magnificent banners embroidered with a black two-headed bird and the Imperial Army.
As if nothing had happened, the women arranged their dresses, stood from their seats, and bowed modestly. The men participating in the hunt festival also stood in rows before the carriage.
“Pleasantries are done.”
The Emperor gestured as he descended from the carriage. Empress Violet followed behind him. Today the Emperor wore golden scale armor and had a gold-plated sword at his waist. Especially, everyone’s eyes narrowed to slits as they were naturally dazzled by the Sildor cloak fluttering behind his robust back. Empress Violet was also adorned entirely in gold from head to toe, but her cloak was dazzling white.
They sat on the seats of honor prepared in the golden tent in the very center. The one who’d escorted the Emperor’s carriage at the forefront with the knights was Royster Claist. As soon as the Emperor sat in the seat of honor, Royster turned his horse’s head and naturally took the front position among the rows of participants.
‘Stupid bastard.’
He pulled up his lips in a fishy smile as he passed Anya. Anya had a somewhat dazed expression as if lost in some deep contemplation. Evernight’s blue eyes, standing beside Anya, sharply followed Royster’s back. Royster let out a scoffing laugh and proudly puffed out his chest.
‘You holding your heads high will only last until today.’
Soon Emperor Luksus stood from his seat and gave a speech.
“This Maneregia hunt festival is an event celebrating my birthday, but it is your festival and the gods’ blessing. Originally, the beasts living in this White Forest are known as spirit creatures receiving the sacred care of ancient elves. To those who bring sacred offerings to dedicate to me and all the merciful gods of this land, I will gladly bestow great rewards.”
The participants all struck the shoulder guards wrapped around their chests in unison. As dozens of gauntlets and shoulder guards clashed violently simultaneously, it made a loud sound as if the forest was ringing.
As if waiting, the Emperor’s chief attendant came forward and unrolled a silk scroll to read.
“This hunt festival will follow our humanity’s ancient, instinctive, and traditional methods. First, in determining the ranking of the hunt festival, the weight and aggression of the beasts will be used as indicators. Second, only those who return alive to this campsite before the Door of Death opens at the White Forest’s heart tree—that is, before midnight—will be recognized. Third, regardless of any circumstances, prey belongs to whoever marked it first.”
After leaving Maneregia’s western fortress and riding for quite some time, one arrives at this White Forest territory. Some said it came to be called that because of the giant birch settlement and the birch village that now only had its site remaining, but historically, there were also those who argued it was called the White Forest because this place was, in the distant past, during the Third Age, the settlement where elves lived in colonies. This was because the majority of elves had hair close to white silver.
Boooom.
A trumpet sound similar to a ship’s horn echoed through the air again like a reverberation. Dozens of horses raised their forelegs and responded.
It was the start of the hunt festival.
