Chapter 57.

There’s only one day left before the damn hunting convention.

I’ve been woken up by the maids of honor since early morning and forced to dress up.

That’s because in the hunting grounds inside the palace, the Eve Festival is going to be held.

This time, the royals and nobles of other countries are also participating in a big way, so the scale is expected to be bigger than other times.

Drenched in cozy oil for the second time, my wet hair is held in the hands of the maids. I complained with sleepy eyes.

“Why did you do that? Anyway, I’ll wear pants and tie my hair when I hunt tomorrow.”

“So dress up better than anyone else today and let the men go harvest more prey!”

Emily replied in high spirits. Then, the maids who barged into my room early in the morning chimed in.

“Of course, miss!”

“This time, miss must be the queen of the hunt!”

“That’s right! Last year, because of that incident, Kaelyn-sama won first place, and the people over there became arrogant ……”

Finally, the chattering maids suddenly shut up.

Seen through the mirror, Emily prompted the maid, glaring at her and giving her a scowl.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became solemn.

The dark history of the body’s original owner at that time might have made them afraid of disaster to come if it was mentioned.

“It’s not like I did it.”

I was tolerant of the maids’ slip of the tongue and thought about the hunting convention they were looking forward to.

Although there are no details in the normal mode, the hunting convention here is open to all regardless of gender.

On the last day, the winners are screened by the final count of the participants’ hunts, but there is one special thing.

That is, even if you don’t hunt yourself, if you have a large enough number of prey, you can win first place.

Of course, for hard-to-catch trophies such as bears and tigers, they are scored separately.

Therefore, many men will hunt hard and dedicate their prey in order to bring the honor of winning the title to the woman they love.

It was a form of courtship.

Hunting competitions were completely feminized games. It’s a chase for the fanatics of love.

Countess Karin won last year’s hunting contest.

Thanks to Penelope, the wicked girl who attacked her.

The mad dog of the Duke’s family, no, she was nearly shot by a chimpanzee’s stone bow, and sympathy boiled over as the males in the room raced to deliver their prey.

“I’ll bet they’ve been hitting me with this whole thing.”

Sadly, I saved my life. I didn’t care about anything but my job anymore.

“Ah.”

Lost in thought, suddenly my hair was yanked up. Dragging its blessing, I snapped out of my thoughts.

“Does it hurt, miss? Sorry, sorry.”

A maid was tying up all the dry hair to secure it.

Hearing my small moan, she gently releases her hand and walks away.

“Never mind, carry on.”

I allow, shaking my head.

Then mumbled something.

“Don’t worry everyone, because I had the same idea.”

“…… What?”

“If there’s a chance, I’ll take it.”

Suddenly speaking, the faces of the maids stiffened.

“What, my lady?”

“The woman with the most prey.”

“……?”

“Properly watched, and on the last day shot the women with stone bows to snatch all the prey.”

“Ah, my lady!”

It was an attempt to lighten the mood of the joke, but the faces of the maids turned contemplative all at once.

Emily was startled, and hastened to change the subject.

“Never say anything of that horrible kind! Come! It’s all over now. Just put on your makeup.”

“Only a while left.”

I grunted, but dutifully closed my eyes like the maids told me to.

It’s good to look pretty anyway.

The dressing up that started early in the morning didn’t end until the afternoon. I changed into the white pearl accessory suit selected by the maids of honor, and the red gown that exposed my collarbone.

As expected, this face is perfect for this kind of look.

Evil is necessarily beautiful. Setting the difficult mode heroine to the opposite image on purpose, Penelope in the mirror was dangerously mesmerizing.

Slightly upturned eyes like a cat’s, subtly fragrant.

On the surface it looked brighter and more pleasing than anything else, but in reality it was a poisoned apple.

The maids brought a pair of black patent leather shoes that matched the gown.

It had been a while since I’d worn high heels, and they were completely out of place. Stumbling a bit, Emily hurriedly helped me and asked.

“Miss, can I help you downstairs?”

“No, get Ikris.”

“What? Why him ……”

Emily asked in surprise.

I answered absently.

“He’s my escort, of course he’s going to protect me.”

“Ah, it’s him, isn’t it! Just a moment, my lady, I’ll go get him now.”

Emily nodded and scrambled out.

I also understood her reaction. It’s because slaves can’t enter the palace.

But the reason for calling him wasn’t really to escort.

Rather, it was to make sure he hadn’t gotten into a fight with Derrick after I left.

By the way ……

Having been carefully dressed up, will the favorability go up.

After a while, there was a knock on the door and the door to the room opened.

“Miss, I’ve brought my escort.”

“Come here.”

Following Emily, Ikris walked into the room.

“Master ……”

I leaned back on the table, resting my chin and looking at him lazily. Locking eyes with me, he stopped abruptly.

Gray eyes shifted dramatically. It must be because of my well-dressed appearance.

[Favorable Sense 50%]

Unlike before, the favorability increased slightly, and I revealed a deep smile.

“Emily, take my stone bow and go down first.”

“Taking it away today?”

“I think it’s better to put it there first.”

After a while, she walked out of the room with the box of the stone bow.

“Come closer, Ikris.”

I tapped my finger on the table twice.

He looked puzzled for a moment, and managed to come back to his senses, slowly making his way toward me.

A few steps away from the table, Ikris stopped.

“A little closer.”

Nodding once more, he silently closed the distance and stood close in front of me.

“Kneel.”

An unfounded and mandatory order. Without hesitation, Ikris knelt before me.

I reached up and gently rested my hand on his chin.

After the confrontation with Derrick a few days ago, and he had never seen him again, so careful confirmation was needed.

Fortunately, the smooth face showed no blemishes, even under close scrutiny.

“No injuries anywhere?”

Unlike the hand that turned my chin impolitely, I asked with a pretense of gentleness.

“There are no blemishes on the face to move the body.”

Ikris watched me quietly, nodding slightly when I finally stopped moving.

“Luckily there was no fight.”

“After the master left, the headmaster left as well.”

I don’t know if it was because of my obvious curiosity, but he quickly picked up on it and truthfully recounted what happened afterward.

“Were you worried?”

A question like not so long ago. At that time I readily agreed.

Probably satisfied, the gray eyes stared straight at me. A look like that determined the answer, and it felt like forcing to do so.

But because he showed unexpected sincerity, my heart was pounding. But instead of giving the carrot, I picked up the whip.

“Don’t just show up in the future.”

Like lecturing a misbehaving puppy, I said sternly.

“I thought you said you could look out for yourself. Do you want to be kicked out before you’re recognized here?”

“He grabbed his master’s wrist first ……”

“Ikris.”

I retracted the hand holding his chin and warned him coldly.

“You got Big Brother’s approval easily the first time, but does he look like he’ll forgive you as graciously as I do?”

The corners of Ikris’ eyes drooped slightly as he retorted as if aggrieved.

As usual, his face was expressionless, but it looked as if he was upset.

Of course it could be an illusion.

I looked at the white letters floating clearly above his head and said in a soft voice.

“I want you to stay by my side for a long time.”

I can’t let Ikris be kicked out of the dukedom until the goodwill is reached.

Because then I can escape.

“For that to happen, you have to hide your personal animosity.”

“You can’t vent your resentment towards the empire to anyone else.”

I felt uneasy, and not just because I might die in the fight between Derrick and Ikris.

-How a shallow barbarian could teach the Empire’s male daughter archery.

Ikris heard the words, and for a moment, they brought back memories of that rainy day.

As if to kill a man, waving a wooden sword in the air and his sword close to my neck.

Though Ikris was in awe of me who had taken him and cared for him, he seemed to feel strongly that he was in the hands of the Imperials.

In order to successfully escape, Ikris would fail if he was allowed to continue harboring this sense of betrayal.

”I need the full good feeling.”

So it was necessary for me to remind him once.

“Hate me who bought you? Do you think it’s better to be at the auction house than to be belittled here?”

“I need people who are useful to me. But if you don’t like it, and I forced you, I can give you this ruby ring. Whenever you want you can leave.”

I always rolled the ruby ring like I was about to take it off.

If he did leave, he should have switched attitudes and apologized to him right away.

But I’m well aware of the course of the ordinary pattern.

He was forced to accept Penelope’s catharsis and malice, but in the end, he stayed in the dukedom.

Because for a slave in a defeated country, he had nowhere else to go. No place would be warmer than the ducal palace.

“…… Master.”

I drew out the ruby ring. Ikris’s pupils flickered.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t take the ring. On the contrary.

“I …… I did wrong.”