Chapter 60

Chapter 60

I was still grinning happily to myself when I felt someone sit down to my right.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” came a cold voice. I turned to find Derrick sitting next to me, speaking so low that only I could hear. “If you damage the family reputation once more, I won’t let it end with only imprisonment.”

The duke sat opposite me, and the Eckhart table was finally full. I had somehow ended up seated between the two male protagonists who loathed me. Why me? I glanced between them, unpleasantly surprised by the unforeseen situation. Why do these assholes have to sit beside me?

Though it would likely keep the crown prince from trying to kill me, I wasn’t happy about it at all. In addition to the crossbow at my back, in my vicinity, there were forks, knives, and even the hunting rapiers that many of the men in attendance were wearing. Each of them posed a significant threat to my life. And to think I was trapped between these bastards. This is not good.

An unpleasant foreboding feeling was already creeping over me when someone suddenly called out, “The crown prince!”

My gut feeling had taken tangible form already. I whipped around, startled by the loud voice, and noticed the man quickly striding down a red carpet laid out through the center of the venue.

[Affection Score 2%]

Lustrous, golden hair glowed against the inky night sky. The first thing I usually noticed when one of the love interests appeared was the white letters floating above their heads, but the crown prince’s hair always attracted my attention first. I was staring blankly at his shimmering blond hair when he began to turn in my direction, perhaps feeling my gaze.

Oh god! His red eyes were about to find me. Panicked, I ducked down to hide behind the table. I could feel the brothers staring down at me oddly, but I had more pressing concerns. Please, dear game! Please say he didn’t see me! I beg of you!

I usually cursed the game at every opportunity, but now I was praying that it would spare me this time. I heard the crown prince’s voice ringing out in the distance.

“As His Majesty has gone south to recuperate,” he began. “I will be hosting the hunting tournament this year.” The crown prince, Callisto, had arrived to deliver the festival’s opening speech. Surprisingly, he sounded like a perfectly normal human being.

I slowly returned to my seat as though nothing strange had occurred, and saw the crown prince confidently sitting upon a raised golden throne. At the foot of the platform sat a variety of people dressed in strange outfits, no doubt the royalty came from other kingdoms to attend the event. Thankfully, the prince wasn’t looking in my direction. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“This year we are honored with the presence of many guests from the empire’s allied kingdoms. I’d wager their participation will cause the competition to be fiercer than ever before. There have been many unique beasts brought from distant lands for the hunt, so I hope you all have an enjoyable time.”

As one might expect from the crown prince, his short, lazy speech ended quickly, and he made to immediately take his leave.

However, a voice calling from a table to the side of the venue prevented his escape. “Your Highness! My apologies, but I have a question.” I glared in the direction of the voice, wondering which damned idiot had stopped His Imperial Highness from leaving the party.

“Ah, Marquis Ellen. Look who it is, it’s been a while.” The House of Ellen was the empress consort’s family, but even so, the crown prince should have shown a little respect to someone who was old enough to be his grandfather. Instead, he’d chosen a disrespectful tone. “What is your question?”

“Wh-why is it that the empress consort and the second imperial prince are not in attendance?”

There were actually seats prepared for the imperial family at the very top of the platform, but the only person seated there was the crown prince. A dangerous smile appeared on the crown prince’s lips at his enemy’s foolish question.

“She, just like His Majesty, seems to be ill. She did not respond to my invitation.”

“Sh-she was fine when I met with her not too long ago. Are you saying she suddenly fell sick?”

“I don’t know the details. Perhaps learning that I was to host the event was too much for her to bear,” Callisto responded with a careless shrug.

Marquis Ellen’s expression hardened. “Th-then what of the second imperial prince...”

“My beloved younger brother seemed sad to be parted with the emperor during the hunting tournament, so I sent him south. If a child wants to remain with their father, they should of course remain together. Isn’t that right?”

The second prince was not young enough to be referred to as a child by any stretch of the imagination. I knew instinctively that Callisto had taken his revenge for the events of the second prince’s birthday.

“Hahaha! That sounds about right!” Someone laughed, loudly agreeing. The voice came from where the families that had supported the crown prince in the war and joined him in battle were sat.

No matter how you looked at it, the prince was the perfect predator—verbally crushing his political foes while everyone watched, including the leaders of other kingdoms. I supposed a struggle for the throne would be a heated, dirty battle, but such struggles felt out of place since this was meant to be a dating simulation game. I hadn’t seen any scenes like this in the game when I’d been playing previously. It was a uniquely strange feeling, becoming one of the characters in the game and witnessing the politics of the situation unfold for myself.

I was staring blankly at Callisto when his red eyes suddenly darted to mine. Oh no. Our eyes met before I could react. I wanted to lower my gaze, but it was too late. His lips formed a twisted grin the second he recognized me.

[Affection Score 3%]

The letters above his head blinked. Sh*t. The anxiety that had sat quietly simmering in the pit of my stomach now roiled, completely overwhelming me. The crown prince held eye contact for a long, agonizing moment, but soon turned to regard Marquis Ellen.

“I think that answers your question, Marquis.” He was warning the man in a roundabout manner to know his place.

“Y-yes... Thank you, Your Highness,” said Marquis Ellen, having no choice but to bow despite how soundly he had been humiliated.

I assumed the crown prince would leave then since nothing was stopping him from doing so. Or maybe it was more accurate to say I desperately wanted him to. But it was not to be.

“Originally I had planned to give the opening speech and take my leave,” he said. “But I’ve changed my mind.” His red eyes peered down at me, glittering with the excitement of finding a new toy. “I will remain until the Eve Festival is over.”

Boxed in on either side by impossible assholes with the crown prince in front of me—I honestly wanted to cry.

Having finished his speech, the crown prince ascended from his throne, seemingly intending to speak to the nobles that made up his supporters. I couldn’t shake the feeling, however, that he was slowly but surely making his way to me. At the same time, the duke left to greet his fellow nobles.

“My lady? Do you feel ill?” asked Emily.

Maybe I’d made my anxiety too obvious since she was regarding me with a worried expression. “I’m fine,” I said, trying to school my expression to seem unconcerned. Then I said, “Actually, Emily, would you get me some water?”

In an effort to quench my anxiety I’d been drinking water, and my cup was now empty. I could have called for an attendant, but I was afraid of doing even that in case I attracted the crown prince’s attention.

“I’ll also ask if they have any chamomile tea,” Emily whispered quietly. Chamomile had a calming effect on the mind. It seemed to me that she was taking her role as my devoted servant very seriously based on how attentive to my needs she was being.

“That would be nice,” I said, nodding with a faint smile. A minuscule warmth spread through my heart.

Emily had not been gone for long when Reynold rose from his seat.

“Wh-where are you going?” I asked, impulsively grabbing his sleeve.

He frowned, looking down at my hand. “I’m... going to say hello to my friends.”

“Must you go? Can’t you just stay with me—”

“A-are you insane?” he stammered, snatching his arm away and storming away from the table.

[Affection Score 22%]

The rapidly retreating letters blinked above his head. Though I’d recovered the tiny drop in affection score from earlier, I wasn’t at all happy about it. Now two of my shields had disappeared, and I was more nervous than ever.

You’re all I have now, I thought, turning to my right with a desperate look on my face. Derrick was the only person left at the table. But he’d already been getting ready to leave with someone else while I spoke with Reynold.

“...and it would be nice to finish discussing that project I mentioned last time. What do you say? All the relevant parties are in attendance.”

“That sounds fine.” Derrick left without a single backward glance, following the man who’d approached him.

No! Don’t leave me here alone! Unlike with Reynold, I didn’t even have time to try and stop him. I was suddenly alone at my table, all my human shields gone and exposed to the risk of death. I looked around me, noticing that everyone was gathered in groups of three and five, engaged in amicable conversation; and no one looked interested in approaching me other than the crown prince.

What do I do now? I was looking around hopelessly when something caught my eye. There was a group of women wearing peculiar clothes, not at all similar to the dresses worn by the noble ladies of the empire. Some of them were wearing more provocative, translucent clothing while others were covered from head to toe in dark fabric, only their eyes visible.

There was also a group of women who wore outfits with a distinctly Eastern look to them. They were the royals and nobles visiting from foreign countries—or more precisely, from kingdoms conquered in the war. One of the women draped entirely in black removed something round the size of a soccer ball from a small cage.

What is that? It had a smooth, opaque surface not dissimilar to a ball of bubblegum, and an enormous eye that took up half of its face. It also had no hands and only two thin legs that resembled those of a chicken. Is that one of the exotic animals people will be hunting?

Though it was a strange creature I’d never seen before, I found the way it waddled about quite cute. I could see tiny canines peeking out of the strange creature’s mouth as it chirped.

“Keeyoo! Keeyoo!”

“Oh my, it’s so cute!” someone exclaimed.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought so; I could see some of the other young nobles glancing in the creature’s direction.

That was when I received a notification.

<SYSTEM>

~Main Quest: Become the Queen of the Hunt!~

[First Objective: Save People from Danger]

(Rewards: +5% affection score for all love interests, +50 reputation)

[Accept / Decline]