Chapter 61: The Beginning of The Change (2)
“I’m just taking a break.”
“I heard you made a bet with Duke Ernest. But I see you’re quite relaxed, Lady Fiona.”
He kept making jokes, but it seemed he hadn’t caught many monsters. He really was unmotivated. I laughed softly. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Your Highness must be quite bored with this competition.”
‘Don’t nag at me; you’re the same!’ was the implied meaning of my sentence.
However, Sigren seemed relaxed. Even though he might have caught the meaning of my words, he just rubbed the back of his neck slightly.
“Oh, it sure isn’t fun.”
“….”
“So I hope I could join you two in your break.” Sigren smiled at Arrendt.
Arrendt answered with a picturesque smile, “It is my honor, Your Highness.”
Noticing the shift in the atmosphere between them, I decided to move away. “I have to end my break now.”
Both of them looked at me simultaneously. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“It’s not good to overdo it.”
“I want to hear more of Lady Fiona’s opinion, but I can’t. It’s a pity.”
“Marquis, I don’t think I can tell you anything more because I don’t know more than that. And Your Highness, the Prince.”
Sigren’s eyes met mine.
“I know my stamina well; don’t worry.”
I really didn’t understand why Abel and Sigren were so critical of me in Heilon. They always nagged at me. Honestly, it was quite annoying. My stamina was normal—not bad at all. It was them who were not normal; their stamina was definitely beyond human limits. For me, I was just an ordinary human.
Sigren shrugged lightly, as if to say, ‘Really?’
Cheeky guy.
“Besides, I made a bet, so I have to do my best.”
Sigren replied as if recalling something. “Come to think of it, Duke Ernest seems very motivated.”
“Did you meet him?”
“No, I just saw him pass by.”
I couldn’t believe that Duke Ernest just passed by after seeing a prince. But Sigren didn’t seem to care about that. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“It seems that he went beyond the control line.”
I opened my eyes wide. “What? Why didn’t you stop him?”
“Why should I?”
‘You should stop him!’
Sigren burst into a small laugh upon seeing my expression.
“Lady Fiona, Duke Ernest is not a young man who can’t control his actions. He would come back if he finds what he’s doing is unreasonable. Besides, the knights who followed him definitely won’t be weak.”
I made a concerned face. “The Duke is quite… he must have been in a hurry.”
“I told you.”
While we were conversing, a loud horn sounded from afar. Usually, blowing the horn signaled everyone to gather at the hunting competition headquarters. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Doesn’t that mean the end of the hunting competition?”
Arrendt looked up at the sky and estimated the position of the sun. “No, it is still far from over. But the fact that the horn was blown already is—”
“It means something is wrong,” Sigren said firmly.
“Yes, I think it would be good to go back.”
The three of us hurriedly set off. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
***
Duke Ernest urged his horse forward.
“Duke, it’s dangerous to go any deeper than this!”
“It’s fine! I can’t see any other monsters anyway—”
At that moment, the horses suddenly stopped with a whinny, as if terrified. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“What is it?”
The duke looked around casually. It was a quiet forest, and he couldn’t see anything unusual.
“DUKE! Look at the ground!”
The ground? Duke Ernest lowered his gaze, and his eyes widened in shock. The ground was pitch black. The surrounding plants were dry and twisted—a bizarre sight. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“How… how did this happen…”
A knight spoke up.
“This is a phenomenon I’ve heard of: The Darkness. The surrounding land dies after it appears…”
The explanation vaguely reminded the duke of something. It was a theory that academy scholars had debated loudly. Humans should prepare countermeasures against Darkness. However, since it was such a rare phenomenon, this was the first time Duke Ernest had seen it with his own eyes.
“Then what will happen?”
“I’ve heard that the surrounding monsters become stronger and more ferocious than usual. Even the lowest-level monsters would be difficult to deal with. We need to evacuate quickly… ARGGH!!”
Suddenly, red blood splattered, and screams rang out. Duke Ernest was stunned by the sight before him.
A monster appeared out of nowhere and bit the neck of the knight who had been speaking. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
‘Whe—where did it come from?’
The monster’s speed was incredibly fast, almost impossible to follow with the naked eye. Its appearance was obviously that of a low-level monster, but its speed was exceptional.
The sound of swords being drawn echoed from all directions.
“Ready to attack!”
“Protect the duke!”
At the same time, the distant sound of a longhorn blared. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
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