Chapter 98.
“Ahhh!”
At that moment, a corner of the awning suddenly erupted in sound.
“Oh my god, Duke Leonard is actually ranked fifth!”
“Oh my god, it’s so handsome!”
“Would you give your prey away?”
Not far from me, a few ladies were making a big fuss. Probably hearing the commotion, Leonard waved his hand divinely.
“Ahhhhh! Gongzi!”
The bleary-eyed scream made me frown.
‘What ah. Same as the fan club.’
I didn’t want to see that Leonard guy get carried away. I walked on in case I locked eyes with him.
Leonard wasn’t about to hand over his prey to anyone else without a special shout, followed by the next code name.
“Fourth place, Derek Eckhardt Jr. Duke of House Eckhardt! …… Two wolves, two white foxes, and a rare animal from the Duchy of Yetta, Flavius!”
“Ahhhh!!!”
A similar reaction to Leonard’s was repeated. A bit of a surprise. That guy Derrick has a lot of pride, I thought he’d be competing with His Royal Highness for one or two places.
Is it because of me?
Anyway, because I do things casually, crazy things like hunting are possible.
But that’s not my job.
I’m more interested in the strangely-named prey this guy caught than the ranking.
A rare animal in the Duchy of Yetta ……?
I lifted the sunshade that was leaning down close to me and checked out where the prey was piled up. But there was so much dead prey lying around that I couldn’t see much on my side. Between the familiar prey, I suddenly saw a vivid purple color.
“Next, third place! The Marquis of Belldandy!”
I was just about to observe a little more, when I immediately became interested in the roll call.
“Three deer, two adult boars, two eagles, and a Caprian mountain mammoth!” Probably because there were a lot of large animals, next to the Eckhardt section, the Belldandy section looked pretty full.
Oooh. Not bad, huh?
I thought it was nerds who only know magic, but it looks like they’re good at hunting too. It was time to look at Winter with fresh eyes again.
“One moment, please.” He suddenly raised his hand.
“My hunt is dedicated to Penelope Eckhardt-sama, the best in this tournament.”
Suddenly dropping the bomb.
What’s it saying ……?
I opened my mouth.
“Oh my.”
“The Marquis of Belldandy, to the Duchess …….”
The people around me who recognized me made inexplicable exclamations and blinked. Thanks to him, I’d gotten high up on the list.
“You happen to be there.”
Winter, who had unknowingly spotted me, looked at me. Eyes met and he narrowed his eyes and smiled.
The buzz got louder and I didn’t want that kind of attention at all.
‘What’s wrong with you, just take it yourself!’
Because of the damn good sense, it was almost semi-forced to accept the main quest. It’s a bit tempting to cry, but Winter has absolutely no intention of collecting herself.
In a moment of panic, jumped to the next code name. The field was already fully occupied with my prey.
“Second place! Callisto Legulus! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! A white tiger!”
A sudden explosive declaration was made, and in my delirium, the name and prey that I also dreaded to hear.
Callisto had been chased by assassins since the first day of the convention and had been unconscious since then, with no time to hunt. So apparently that white tiger was caught before meeting with me ……
Scary Guy.
Was creeped out and wincing.
“Isn’t the main character of this tournament a male female?”
The Crown Prince suddenly spoke up.
“I’ll also dedicate my prey to the Eckart male daughter.”
As if he had radar installed, without realizing it the Crown Prince’s red eyes were also staring clearly at me. Looking at the stunned me, he laughed.
‘Are you mad? What’s wrong!’
Not only the Crown Prince, but the eyes of everyone in the clearing turned to me. There were more gibbering voices.
“So the queen of this hunt is the male female ……?”
“Don’t say things like that, there’s still the first place left!”
“But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince isn’t first place, so who exactly is first place?”
The empty space began to be chaotic. The mad dog of the Duke’s family, who was given a ban last year, became the queen of the hunting festival this time.
‘The long-awaited first place.’
In order to satisfy people’s curiosity and stop the Duchess from winning the crown, the long-awaited first place was immediately named.
I hadn’t thought about it at all until then.
“The Eckhardt family’s Penelope Eckhardt male daughter! A brown bear!”
The encounter with the brown bear before the assassination.
After I was named, silence fell. It was as if it had frozen. Crazy ……
I really don’t know how that damn brown bear was the one I caught. Seems like it must have been the Crown Prince’s doing.
But more importantly, the worry became a reality. It really did become the crazy chimpanzee of the Duke’s family!
Felt it from all the sights looking at me. Now that the nobles have been gathering for a while, I can be sure it’s going to get noisy.
“Adding the Marquis of Belldandy’s and His Royal Highness’s hunts together, the winner of this hunting contest is ……!”
And, the squire who took the roll simply closed the roll book.
“Duchess Penelope Eckhardt! Congratulations!”
“I hope you will be able to ascend the stage and receive your prize and championship trophy!”
That’s how I wanted to turn to dust and disappear. But that never happened.
“Ha……”
I sighed deeply and moved my feet toward the high platform in the distance. The marvelous sight followed as it crossed the silent clearing.
Finally reaching the stage, I folded my pretty light pink parasol and lifted the hem of my dress.
I should have known to come in a hunting outfit.
The flowing gowns with pink at the end of each lace did not match the title of champion of the hunting competition. The two males won first place for the brown bear even though they didn’t give the hunt ……
“Congratulations on your championship, male daughter.”
The Crown Prince looked like he was glad to see me on stage. The attendant held the trophy on the cushion and delivered it right away. The awards ceremony was no big deal.
“The reward for this championship is 100 million gold. Deliver it to the Eckhardt mansion through the valet.”
Until the crown prince said something like that.
‘One hundred million!’
Suddenly there was a light in front of my eyes. Isn’t 100 million the same amount of money I bought Ikris with a blank check! Even if I don’t need the game currency, there’s no reason not to want the money given for free.
Looking at me whose eyes changed, the Crown Prince’s expression changed. At that moment, another attendant walked over with something on a mat.
“Here, take it.”
The Crown Prince held up the thing on top.
“I, that ……!”
Seeing what it was, there was a hubbub in the arena. What the Crown Prince gave me was the stone bow that was confiscated as a tool of the crime.
“I also took steps to return the stone bow of the male daughter who contributed greatly to my special bear hunt.” Callisto curved the corner of his mouth and handed me the stone bow. He completely cleared me of the charge of being a “noble murderer” through this incident. What the princess did during this time has shocked the nobles who were hiding evil forces.
“…… Thank you, your highness.”
With a trembling expression, I turned my stone bow.
“Why don’t you say a word of sentiment?”
The Crown Prince stepped to the side and pressed darkly. I couldn’t speak, my voice was muffled. I barely stood in the center and looked around.
Standing high up, I could see the figure of the male lead among many others.
[Favorability 44%]
Winter who gazed at me calmly with a marvelous expression.
[Favorable Sense 40%]
Leonard who has a sad face for some reason.
[favorability 32%]
Positively locking eyes with Derrick’s blue eyes. Although the face was expressionless, an inexplicable light radiated from his eyes when he met them.
Your trust and all that, it won’t be needed in the future.
Looking at him, aggravation flooded my heart all of a sudden. I raised my head, then scanned downward in an arrogant manner. The countless people who have scorned and belittled Penelope so far, stop underestimating me.
“…… First, I dedicate this opportunity to the Sun of the Inca Empire, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
“A brown bear hunt, no big deal.”
I shrugged and laughed lightly. One word, and the clearing calmed down. Another glance down. The woman standing in the far awning was red-faced and glaring at me in exasperation.
Unlike my father, I had heard that she had no clear suspicions and was quickly released. I wondered what kind of chutzpah it was to come to the closing ceremony.
I looked at her clearly and said.
“I’m going to slit the elk’s throat at the next hunting competition.”
I heard someone inhale sharply.
The elk is the symbol of Count Kaelin’s family. I did it carefully, traveling to and from the palace’s book library, reading ahead in the genealogy of the nobility.
“Thank you.”
An exaggerated bow like a dramatist in a stage greeting, and then when I looked up.
Suddenly there was a flash before his eyes.
[System] Received the title [Queen of the Hunting Festival]!
[System] Reward: gained [100 million gold] and fame +200 (TOTAL: 400)