As dozens of horses began galloping into the dense forest all at once, acrid dust rose from the ground. Anya quickly raised his arm to cover his mouth. An anxious thought flashed through his mind that this instinctively seemed bad for the fetus.
‘What’s the point now…’
But even that was only momentary. Participating in the hunting festival itself would already have more than enough adverse effects on the fetus, so he felt pathetic for being alarmed by mere dust, and Anya deliberately stood still in the middle of where the war horses had mercilessly swept through.
“Your Highness.”
At that moment, Sisou’s horse approached Anya’s side. In this hunting festival, from Tildyen, Evernight, Sisou, and Anya participated, excluding Riario. Riario seemed not to care about this place at all as he enjoyed desserts full of summer fruits under the tent.
Sisou diligently tried to break the frozen relationship with Anya by bringing up Riario, saying that was just the kind of person he was.
“It’s, it’s been a while, sir.”
Anya fully understood Sisou’s heart. Even if he went back, Anya would have made the same choice for him. Even if he had to receive Evernight’s terrible condemnation again… nothing would change.
Anya tried not to give his attention to Evernight and his sleek black war horse. He didn’t have the confidence to face him for the time being.
“Your Highness, your body hasn’t fully healed yet…”
Sisou scratched his head as if embarrassed and trailed off. And he inevitably wrinkled his nose involuntarily at the terrible afterimage from a few days ago, then shouted vigorously as if determined.
“I will be in charge of guarding Your Highness in this hunting festival.”
When Anya showed a surprised expression, Sisou hastily added words like an excuse.
“Ah, I’ll ask the Commander for permission too. Even if I try not to worry, Royster…”
When Anya’s eyes momentarily clouded to an ashen color, Sisou cursed damn it inwardly.
“Prince Royster is also participating, and the White Forest has some dangerous corners in many ways.”
He seemed to think Anya was scared because of Royster. But to Anya, Royster was a nuisance but no longer a scary and frightening existence like before. Rather, Anya was more afraid of this small seed of life inside his belly, so Royster was no longer even on his mind. Whether this change in himself was good or bad… he couldn’t gauge it at all.
“It’s, it’s okay. I don’t ne-need a guard.”
Anya’s head carefully shook sideways.
“Pardon?”
Sisou asked blankly. He seemed not to have considered the option of refusal at all.
“Your Highness… have you perhaps come to dislike me?”
Sisou looked quietly at Anya while holding his breath. He had been restless with worry about Anya for the past few days. Every time he tried to rush to the palace after the council ended, if Riario hadn’t caught him and given him sighing rebukes like ‘If you go now, you’ll only provoke Prince Royster’s anger. I’ll go instead’… he would have rushed to Anya’s bedroom long ago, ignoring the gazes within Eos Castle.
“N-no! How could that be? I just… need some ti-time alone.”
Anya said with sincerity. It wasn’t that he disliked Sisou at all. He felt sorry for him, but if he got involved with Sisou, he would inevitably encounter Evernight as well. Even if only for the time being, Anya didn’t want to face his husband.
‘I was fucking terrible.’
If he stopped thinking even a little, the harsh words Evernight had spat out would squeeze through those small, minute gaps and endlessly scratch his heart.
There was a time when he thought his eyes resembled the depths of the blue sea. Anya had never seen the sea, so he was afraid, but couldn’t ignore the instinctive attraction.
But just as no one can live in the deep sea, Anya too had to slowly sink in that cold abyss.
Anya quietly placed his hand on his lower abdomen.
‘Will you also live a life unblessed like me?’
Wouldn’t it be better not to be born at all in that case? Finally, he became afraid and disgusted with himself.
“Sir Sisou, th-thank you. I’ll just accept the sentiment. I can ma-manage alone just fine.”
Strength entered the hand gripping Mil’s reins. At the firm response, Sisou looked back at Evernight with an expression tinged with difficulty and bitterness.
“Commander!”
“Sisou, that’s enough from you too.”
Evernight coldly dismissed him and passed by Anya. Anya unconsciously stepped back from Evernight. He wouldn’t know in his dreams that he was pregnant, but even so, a sense of crisis arose in that moment.
‘I have no interest in your body whatsoever, nor do I have any feelings for you. That will be much better for you going forward.’
In those mysterious eyes resembling the sea, he would probably never be contained in his entire life, even if he died and woke again. He had that premonition.
“Commander?”
Evernight drove his horse toward the White Forest entrance without giving a single glance to the cowering Anya.
“Are you really going!”
Sisou’s war horse wavered between Evernight and Anya. At that moment, Bluoa’s white steed came running toward them with cheerful hoofbeats.
“Young knight of Tildyen. Don’t worry and go.”
“Duke Bluoa, I’m not young.”
Sisou growled toward Bluoa’s sly expression. Bluoa whistled lightly and stood beside Anya.
“Right, you’re not young. Then you should make proper judgments, shouldn’t you? As a knight of Tildyen, you should protect your lord. But rest assured.”
Bluoa chuckled and brought his war horse close to Anya’s side with an affectionate gesture. Mil snorted and kicked. Sisou’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“I’ll accompany the mistress of Tildyen. Even Prince Royster knows that the Runfield territory is a granary, so he won’t dare touch carelessly.”
Bluoa Shonda seemed to already know about the incident with Royster. Could he trust that slippery noble bastard? Sisou felt momentarily irritated. But he knew better than anyone that there was nothing more he could do.
That damned annoying face only said correct things, and above all, Anya seemed to somehow be reluctant to accompany Sisou or Evernight. He even felt a bit hurt by his attitude of declaring he would go alone as if it were completely natural.
“Then, Your Highness. I hope we have the fortune to meet in the forest.”
“Yes. Be ca-careful.”
Sisou had no choice but to turn his horse in the direction Evernight’s war horse had run. If he didn’t catch up now, he would lose Evernight too, so there was no more time to delay. Sisou’s view, as he unconsciously glanced back, caught Bluoa whispering familiarly to Anya.
‘How is the Commander just standing by and watching that?’
Sisou chewed his lips at the landscape he couldn’t understand at all and soon disappeared into the forest.
“…What is it? Si-Sir Bluoa.”
Anya asked guardedly while taking his eyes off Sisou’s retreating figure. He didn’t say anything because Sisou wouldn’t leave at all if he also rejected Bluoa and declared he would go alone, but this Blue Mullet duke was equally uncomfortable.
Then Bluoa leaned close and swept Anya’s long hair aside, then whispered secretly in his ear.
“…You’re not alone, are you?”
Anya got goosebumps all over his body in an instant and hastily checked the movements of people inside the tent. Among the ladies, Riario was openly frowning and watching this place.
“Wh-what nonsense are you talking about?”
Anya made diligent efforts not to show his flustered state and pulled Mil’s reins. Bluoa winked one eye and followed after Anya.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’m exceptionally perceptive.”
‘Don’t stop him. Don’t stop him.’
Anya ignored whatever Bluoa babbled and led Mil in the opposite direction from where Evernight had entered.
* * *
“Your Highness, but is it true that you won the honor duel?”
Even after entering the forest, Bluoa persistently followed behind Anya. Even when he deliberately spurred to increase Mil’s speed, he chased closely without showing any sign of fatigue. Anya consistently responded to his questions with no answer throughout, but Bluoa chattered all day while yawning extensively, or stretching like someone who just woke up, or humming folk songs passed down in the south.
“I don’t believe it. Surely Lord Evernight must have pulled some trick.”
Bluoa openly looked Anya up and down and grinned.
“Didn’t His Majesty the Emperor want to verify that and have Your Highness participate in this absurd hunt?”
“……”
“By the way, Lord Evernight, your husband, is really indifferent. Even though his consort could be seriously injured in the hunting festival, he readily accepted the Emperor’s command thinking it was the right time. Ahh… perhaps you two are planning something aimed at the red earring?”
Anya finally stopped Mil in the middle of the forest.
“Be quiet.”
‘Bingo. As expected, he’s shaken when I mention Evernight.’
Bluoa raised a triumphant smile and shrugged his shoulders.
“Your Highness, with that body, can you even hu—!”
That’s when it happened. Anya quickly drew Haebing from his waist and aimed it at Bluoa. Then he thrust the tip of the sword with force. Bluoa involuntarily gasped and stiffened his body.
“Black snakes are…”
Anya muttered quietly.
“Known as po-poisonous snakes.”
The forest was exceptionally quiet, so the usually gentle voice somehow sounded eerie. The tip of Haebing stuck into the tree trunk behind Bluoa, and soon a beast’s death throes echoed from behind. Something plopped onto the damp moss. Bluoa gulped and looked down at his feet.
A poisonous snake, a black snake as thick as a forearm, was rolling on the ground with its breath cut off in one strike.
“Sir Bluoa, can you hunt?”
Anya roughly wiped the black blood on the tip of Haebing on his collar and asked Bluoa. The question he had just mockingly asked returned in an indifferent tone as is.
