Bluoa couldn’t move. Perhaps sensing its master’s tension, the white horse anxiously shook its head from side to side with snorting sounds.
“……”
He looked at Anya somewhat blankly. As if Anya hadn’t expected an answer from Bluoa in the first place, he spun Haebing around once and put it in its sheath, then dismounted from Mil. His long hair of an affectionate color danced gracefully before Bluoa’s eyes.
“Wh… what are you doing?”
Only then did Bluoa come to his senses with a start and asked in a choked voice. Anya took out a sack bag hanging from the saddle, picked up the black snake’s corpse and tossed it in, then tied the neck of the sack tightly and answered.
“…It’s a hunt festival.”
His tone suggested “don’t you know that?” Bluoa felt unnecessarily embarrassed and let out a couple of throat-clearing coughs. The now-heavy sack was placed back on Mil’s saddle. As Anya mounted his horse and set off again, Bluoa quickly caught up with him.
“You asked if I could hunt, right? I can’t. I can’t do it.”
His tone was urgent. Anya looked back at Bluoa with an expression that said he didn’t understand. Bluoa burst out laughing and his eyes sparkled. He readily admitted that he’d been captivated by this Twelfth Imperial Prince in an instant. He was always a man honest with his emotions, after all.
“So please help me out a bit, Your Imperial Highness. If I go back empty-handed, the Shonda family might kill me for being embarrassing.”
What was he supposed to do about that? Anya let out a small sigh. He’d provoked him, so Anya thought if he ignored him to some extent, his pride would be hurt and he’d just leave… but Bluoa Shonda was definitely a strange nobleman in some way. Now he was following Anya around asking for help like a well-trained hunting dog.
“My earlier remarks were all slips of the tongue. Slips! Something must have gone wrong with my head. The honor duel victory was a well-deserved result. You’re beautiful in appearance, excellent in swordsmanship… ah, what on earth could Sir Evernight be so dissatisfied about?”
At the name ‘Evernight,’ Anya let out a hollow laugh, then stopped Mil and turned to look at Bluoa. Finally you’re looking at me! Bluoa showed the charming expression he used when seducing someone, the smile his mistresses called the most beautiful in the world. But somehow, as soon as Anya saw that smile, he furrowed his brow.
“Si-Sir Bluoa. I’d appreciate it if you’d stop following me.”
Anya rarely turned serious as he warned Bluoa. Anya really wanted to forget about Evernight, even for a moment. These confusing feelings about his husband that he didn’t even know when they’d taken root in his heart, and the fetus in his belly… his head was all jumbled up, so if he could, he wanted to ride Mil at full speed through this damp forest.
“Did you happen to fight with Sir Evernight?”
But Bluoa either lacked tact or truly found this situation entertaining, as he didn’t back down at all.
‘Let’s not get involved.’
Anya made a vow to himself once more and answered bluntly.
“…No.”
“Come on, you did fight.”
When Bluoa let out a light laugh, it echoed over the dense summer forest.
Fought with him… Anya mulled over those words inwardly.
That was a combination of words that didn’t make sense in the first place. Fighting only fits when both parties are on equal footing. But what about Evernight and himself? It was nothing but his one-sided threats. Things like “someone like you can’t dare bear my heir,” “don’t dare demand my heart.”
Bluoa observed Anya’s darkened complexion and playfully opened his mouth.
“Ah. Is it perhaps because of the pregnancy?”
“…Really, please stop.”
If Anya had gotten angry, if he’d bristled up, Bluoa would have continued just because that reaction was interesting. But somehow Anya had a miserable face as if the world had collapsed. Was it because it was a somewhat unripened face that still seemed to stand on the boundary between boy and young man? Seeing that moisture-soaked face made Bluoa unknowingly massage the throbbing area around his chest.
“I’m sorry. I won’t talk about that anymore.”
There was definitely some story hidden. This isn’t a light matter. Well, thinking of that ice-cold Duke of Tildyen, it would be stranger if there were nothing between them.
‘The Duke of Tildyen doesn’t know his partner will become an incredibly beautiful jewel in the future. If he leaves him this defenseless, other men will drool and cling to him gladly, so what will he do then? Really, regretting it later will be too late.’
He clicked his tongue, genuinely worried about Evernight’s distant future.
“Your Imperial Highness. If we go just a bit further from here, we’ll reach the White Forest’s Lake of Memory.”
Bluoa deliberately adopted a bright voice to try to change the atmosphere. Fortunately, that effect worked.
“Lake of… Memory?”
Anya’s eyes widened slightly, filled with delicate curiosity.
‘Still a child after all.’
Bluoa glimpsed a fantasy of drooping puppy ears perking up again from Anya’s brown head as he gently urged his white horse forward.
“The White Forest was once a place where elves gathered to live. You know that, right?”
Anya’s head nodded slightly. Bluoa began his story gently, like a caring older brother telling old tales to a younger sibling at bedside. His pleasant-sounding voice traveled along the dense green tree trunks and spread gently into the moss beneath the rocks.
“In the middle of the White Forest is the Lake of Memory where the summer-blue river begins. It’s called ‘memory’ because when elves return to the gods’ embrace, they release the memories they held on earth into the lake before leaving.”
Bluoa’s white horse and Anya’s brown horse matched their pace as they occasionally lightly jumped over forest debris.
“So you must never drink the water of the Lake of Memory just because you’re thirsty. All sorts of earthly thoughts will rush down your throat in an instant and destroy our minds.”
Bluoa tapped his head with his index finger a couple of times. Anya’s eyes narrowed to slits. Between the trees, he seemed to glimpse water scales shimmering in the sunlight.
“In these ancient forests, there are bound to be guardian trees that protect the forest. Many forests have disappeared now, but… old forests each have their own ancient trees older than humans. The White Forest is the same. The Heart Tree.”
At that moment, a huge lake unfolded before Anya’s eyes. Unlike Tildyen’s frozen lake, the White Forest’s lake had transparent blue streams gathering to form a quiet fortress. In the middle of the lake, the White Forest’s Heart Tree, with giant roots growing up from deep in the water, stood tranquilly.
“Does Tildyen also have a guardian tree?”
Yes. Unlike the green vegetation here, in Tildyen’s old forest where white snow covered all the world’s clamor, there was a guardian tree crouching like a giant under the full moon. And beneath it, Evernight had once told him to point his sword at him. With long, beautiful fingers, he pointed out vital points while touching Anya’s body.
“Shh, Your Imperial Highness. Look over there.”
Bluoa suddenly lowered his voice and pointed to the lakeside for Anya. There, a giant reindeer was bending down to drink water. Bluoa dismounted and hid behind a rock.
“Hurry and come down. Before that fellow notices.”
Anya followed Bluoa’s lead, dismounted from Mil, and similarly hid behind the rock. Bluoa took out his bow from behind his back.
“Wh-what are you trying to do?”
Anya’s eyes widened slightly as he questioned Bluoa urgently. Bluoa pulled the bowstring taut and aimed the sharp arrowhead at the reindeer.
“To see a reindeer here—the Shonda family always has good fortune indeed. The White Forest’s reindeer are spirit creatures. Elves used to ride reindeer instead of horses. If I offer that fellow, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor will be very pleased.”
Indeed, as he said, that reindeer was much larger than other ordinary reindeer, and its chest fur was very white like a birch trunk. The creature’s ears fluttered, then it raised its head to look toward the rock area where Anya was. Eek. Bluoa hurriedly hid. Anya looked at the reindeer visible through the gap in the rocks beside him.
“……”
He felt as if those glistening black eyes were staring directly at Anya. For a moment, all the air flow around them seemed to stop, and Anya even forgot to breathe. The creature soon stretched its neck long again to drink water.
“Come now, into this older brother’s arms.”
Bluoa exhaled and pulled the bowstring taut again. Just as he slightly exposed himself beside the rock to release the string, Anya blocked his path and pulled the bow downward.
“What is it?”
“E-elves rode reindeer, you said. If this is their forest… we shouldn’t kill a spirit creature.”
Anya looked up at Bluoa with a thoroughly stiff expression.
“What? Your Imperial Highness. We’re participating in a hunt festival right now. And everything I said is just folklore.”
Move aside. Bluoa frowned and gestured with his chin for Anya to step back. But Anya couldn’t forget the reindeer’s eyes from earlier. It might sound crazy, but he felt like he’d communed with the creature for a moment.
“No, Your Imperial Highness already obtained prey so you must feel secure, but if I return empty-handed, I’ll properly disgrace our Shonda family. Hurry and move aside.”
“The black snake, I’ll give it to you.”
Anya pointed to the sack containing the black snake without a trace of hesitation. Bluoa ran his hand through his hair and let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
“Why did everyone call someone like this a half-wit?”
The black snake, then it’s mine. He grumbled and reluctantly lowered his bow. Thank goodness, just as the corners of Anya’s mouth lifted slightly with relief—suddenly an arrow flew quickly from behind Bluoa and grazed Anya’s cheek.
“Your Imperial Highness!”
Bluoa screamed in horror. The arrow left a thread-like scratch on Anya’s cheek and flew like lightning to pierce precisely through the reindeer’s body. The terrible screaming sound the giant beast made as it rampaged echoed throughout the forest.
