"On royal grounds, every beast has a master—and not all of them walk on four legs."
"So there's a friendly hunting competition coming up soon?"
Jason leaned back, fingers steepled.
"It's a small gathering—only royals and the foreign delegations. It seems they plan to settle matters there," his aide said.
"Ha. Angelique's courage exceeds her judgment. She still believes this place is the center of the Empire."
Jason shook his head, but a smile tugged at his lips.
"Good. It gives me room to act."
He could easily infer the target of the"wolf" the Fourth Princess had arranged to bring in.
"Medea."
The beautiful, poised Princess of Valdina.
"Poor princess. Why does she insist on standing against Angelique?"
His staff exchanged uneasy glances.
"Your Highness... are you not going to stop it?"
Given how he’d sought to win Medea’s favor, they naturally assumed he meant to shield her from danger.
Jason tilted his chin, his gaze tinged with arrogance as he regarded his men.
"Why would I? How could a woman that strong possibly fall for me? It’s only difficult until she’s being chased by a pack of wolves."
The scene unfolded vividly in his mind.
A dense forest. A princess, alone, pursued by a wild beast. At the brink of death, a man appears to strike down the wolf.
Green eyes, wide and shining, looking up at him like a hero. Her trembling frame in his arms as he soothes her, calming her with gentle words and steady warmth...
The fantasy alone brought a deep, smug satisfaction.
Jason ordered his subordinate to see that his sword was sharpened.
Even if he'd fastened the first button wrong, he had full confidence he could sew the rest in place without the whole garment falling apart.
Dawn rose on the day of the friendly hunting competition.
The royal hunting grounds lay half a day by carriage from the palace. Though thick forests still covered the land, truly dangerous beasts had long since been driven out under careful stewardship by the gamekeepers.
It was a pristine domain, strictly off-limits to the public.
Before long, the royal family of Valdina and the Katzen envoys arrived.
Medea stepped down from the carriage behind the Queen Mother. The crisp sky arched overhead, and the cool, resinous scent of the forest brushed her senses.
In the center of the clearing stood a line of spacious royal pavilions; smaller tents flanked them to either side for those not participating in the hunt to rest.
"Given the circumstances, I considered cancelling this event—but we’ve come this far, and some people dearly wished for it to proceed."
The Queen Mother’s posture alone radiated disdain; her entire bearing made clear the Katzen delegation was beneath even acknowledgment.
"We greet Your Majesty the Queen Mother and Her Highness the Princess."
Those who had arrived ahead of them bowed in greeting.
The Queen Mother inclined her head briefly—then her gaze fell upon the Katzen delegation across the clearing, and her expression cooled further.
Both the Fourth Princess and Jason were neatly dressed for the hunt, exuding the air of those well accustomed to such sports.
The rules were simple:
Participants would pair off and hunt the forest’s game. Rankings would be determined by the rarity of the species or the unusualness of its coloring.
"Your Royal Highness, please draw lots."
Medea reached into the box and drew a feather. The swallow's plume in her hand was dyed a clear blue.
Her green eyes slid sideways.
The Fourth Princess held a pink feather, matched to one of the Katzen envoys. Birna, meanwhile, held a yellow feather—the same color as Jason’s.
"Oh, Your Highness! We have the same color!"
Birna’s delight was impossible to disguise; she all but bounced where she stood.
Unaware of the fleeting regret in Jason’s eyes, she lowered her gaze shyly and peeked up at him through her lashes.
"What should I do? I'm not used to hunting at all. I'm afraid I'll be a burden to Your Highness."
"Not at all. It's a friendly match—participation is what matters. Please don't trouble yourself, Princess Claudio."
It was precisely the reassurance she wanted, and he delivered it flawlessly. Still, Jason's attention wandered, his eyes sliding restlessly toward someone else.
While everyone busied themselves finding their partners—
"Medea."
She lifted her head.
Samon approached, holding a feather of the same blue hue.
"It appears we'll be hunting together."
Medea smiled, the picture of relief.
"I'm glad. Then I’ll simply place my trust in you."
"That’s my line. I saw it with my own eyes—how you defeated Her Highness the Fourth Princess last time."
"You know that was luck."
Samon chuckled at her demurral.
"Don’t worry, just rely on this elder brother. I’ll be sure to keep you safe."
But Medea did not overlook the chill lurking behind the curve of his smile.
Sissair, watching warily as Medea and Samon ended up paired, stepped forward with a proposal.
"Your Majesty the Queen. The hunting grounds are not small. If participants go alone, they may lose their way. Would it not be wise to assign each pair a knight as escort?"
'If a knight joins them, our plan will fall apart.'
The Fourth Princess and Samon both stiffened.
Angelique was the first to respond.
"This is a friendly event. We should keep it light. I'm sure there aren't any dangerous beasts left that require knightly escorts. Or are you trying to target *me* with that suggestion?"
It was a provocation—thinly veiled, but recognizable.
The Queen Mother regarded her with cool indifference, then smiled benignly.
"Of course not. The Fourth Princess is a precious guest—she has doubled the relief our kingdom receives. We cannot possibly allow wild beasts to harm her."
That old fox...
Angelique trembled with barely repressed fury.
Still, in the name of fairness, knight escorts were ultimately forbidden.
"You may return here after half a day of hunting!"
*Bang!*
A gunshot split the clear sky, signaling the start of the competition.
Today, the royal family, the foreign delegations, and Valdina’s high nobility all gathered as both participants and spectators.
Tiered seating had been arranged beneath a great canopy to shield them from the sun, facing the open field where game would eventually be displayed.
"Lord Claudio, have you been well?"
Sissair opened with an uncharacteristically cordial greeting.
"Yes. You look well too."
The Prince Regent scrutinized Sissair's face closely.
'Why is he still lucid?'
By now, Halus should have clouded his mind. Was the drug’s effect faint—or had the fish grown resistant to the bait?
The man before him looked not deranged, but clearer and sharper than usual.
"You’re observant as always, Lord Claudio. A few days ago, my head felt unbearably heavy—foggy, pounding, to the point I thought I would go mad."
Sissair, noticing the Regent’s suspicion, smiled with quiet depth.
"But now the 'cockroaches' infesting the palace are gone, and hunger has been eased thanks to Katzen’s relief. With those worries gone, my mind feels remarkably clear, don’t you think?"
The Regent’s eyes narrowed.
"Yes... truly fortunate. It would be disastrous if Valdina's prime minister were to falter."
"Indeed. That’s why I’ve taken to importing holy water by air these days. I realized that, for my country's sake, I must serve His Majesty for a very long time."
Sissair raised a small vial of medicine in a wry half-toast.
"Ah, the Queen Mother calls. Then, Your Highness, please enjoy the hunting competition at your leisure."
The Regent trembled, swallowing his fury.
'If I become king, I will never let you live, you blue goby. I’ll rip out your tongue and hang it from the castle walls.'
"Your Excellency, your neck..."
A subordinate murmured, noticing the Regent’s hand pressed to the back of his neck.
"...It’s nothing."
He forced composure, masking both the throbbing ache and the humiliation simmering beneath.
His eyes gleamed with renewed hostility.
"We’ll see how long he keeps that smug tongue, once Medea’s corpse is dragged back here—torn apart by wolves."
In the distance, he watched his son preparing for the hunt.
The Regent snapped open his black fan with a practiced flick.
Across the field, Samon caught the gesture and gave an almost imperceptible nod.
---