Monster Princess

Monster Princess

Episode 25

“…….”

Seeing him smiling offended me.

“I hope that your luck will continue until the last day of the hunting festival.”

However, I said that with a smile without showing my true feelings.

Then Kyllian replied with a smile, “I really feel like it’s going to happen because the princess said so.”

If it were someone else, I would have thought he was trying to tease me, but my opponent was Kyllian Bernhardt. So I thought he couldn’t have said this on purpose to stimulate me. However, when I saw Kyllian’s face even though I knew it, I thought he was cheeky.

Still, I split up with him and entered my tent with a smile until the end.

“He’s a really annoying person.”

Then, with annoyance, I took off my gloves and threw them onto a chair.

Marina, who noticed that I was in a bad mood, quickly approached and picked them.

“Princess, do you want a cold drink?”

“Okay.”

When I sat down, the other maids quickly approached and fanned me.

After that, I felt much better drinking the cold lime tea that Marina brought me.

Today’s hunting competition is over now. Originally, I was only going to enter the forest on the first and last days, but now I was about to change my mind.

Kyllian Bernhardt…

There was a firm resolution to bring a prey that would surprise him. Then suddenly, my eyes landed on the white handkerchief on my wrist.

What Judith gave me, saying it contained the origin of the championship. The edge was a little dirty to see if something was buried in the forest.

It was given by Judith, saying it was to be a charm for victory. The edges were a little dirty as if it was picked up in the forest.

Anyway, today’s schedule is over, and I already showed that I wore this gift to the person who gave it to me, so there’s nothing to do more.

I untied the handkerchief and handed it to Marina.

“You keep this.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Come to think of it, there was an episode about the hunting festival related to Judith. What day did it happen?

I tried to recall what I saw in my dream.

However, there was no exact date that came to mind.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter because it’s not directly related to me anyway.’

So in the end, I stopped trying to think more of it.

* * *

It was the third day of the hunting competition.

Until now, Kyllian had been stalling himself as if the forest were his bedroom.

“Young duke Bernhardt hunted a magical creature!”

“I can’t believe you brought a Glanche today! These colorful scales are the best of the best. Besides, you only hit the vital point correctly, so none of the other parts were damaged.”

“Oh, my. There was a male Malaxus in the forest? Two birds that are famous for being hunted rarely!”

“As expected, young duke Bernhardt is amazing. I won’t be surprised if he’ll catch a Galacia at this rate.”

Even today, people were busy admiring Kyllian’s prey.

Kyllian was admired for being humble because he never showed off his skills to them.

On the other hand, I…

“You hunted a Madarak today.” Kyllian, who came close to me after talking to the other people, glanced at my game and said that.

Unlike someone who had been spending time in the forest for quite some time, he had a neat and tidy appearance without any blemish.

Unlike other people who were covered in sweat or dirty with the blood or body fluids of their prey, Kyllian glistened very much without flaws, just like before entering the forest.

From long before, I heard the voices of women screaming from behind after seeing Kyllian and it bothered me.

“It’s a difficult creature to hunt alone, you’re definitely the first princess.”

Kyllian seemed to have praised her in a pure sense, but it sounded a little shaming, perhaps because I was a crooked human being.

“Young duke Bernhardt’s little craft is really great. A Malaxus?”

But I am a noble and dignified princess. So, I won’t show my annoyance with just this or that.

With that thought in mind, Kylian glanced at my face as I was managing my expression, and then smiled.

“As I said a while ago, I think it’s thanks to the First Princess.”

Oh, my. He speaks so smoothly.

And at his subsequent words, I stopped in surprise with a different meaning than before.

“In return, I want to give the best prey I’ve caught this year to the first princess, but will you allow it?”

At that moment, I wriggled my eyebrows reflexively.

What did he just say?

As mentioned earlier, the dedication of the best prey was a right reserved only for the winner of the hunting competition. And Kyllian has been rejecting that right until now.

But he was saying that he would dedicate his best prey for the first time this year. Furthermore, it’s not for anyone else but me!

If other women had heard this from Kyllian, they might have passed out because they were moved.

But on the contrary, I felt my stomach swell.

“It’s still the third day of the hunting competition, and you’re talking like you’re already the winner?”

Kyllian’s relaxed attitude made me uncomfortable.

“Oh my, thank you. But I still don’t know if that will happen.”

Unfortunately, such a humiliating thing will not happen.

I’ll be the winner of this hunting competition.

“I’d like to return the promise to the little duke, but my best prey already belongs to someone.”

Of course, I could have dedicated the prey to him as a means of teasing Kyllian, but I didn’t want to do that in any other way.

It was better to give it to Millium than to give it to Kyllian. However, I don’t mean to do that.

If I won, I was going to dedicate the prey to myself. Why do I have to give others what I caught with difficulty?

So far, there have been cases where the winner has refused to give a chance to dedicate their prey like Kyllian, but there has never been a time in the history of the hunting competition that such a thing happened. 

Hmph, but I’ll take this opportunity to be the first one to do that.

“Is that right? That’s too bad.”

Kyllian said as if he was really disappointed. However, his attitude seemed to be a polite reaction, not a sincere one.

Kyllian once again added with a smile on his beautiful face.

“But I think I can be happy with the rest of the hunting festival because the princess has allowed me to dedicate my best prey to you.”

… … It’s really weird. Is it possible for the male protagonist to be so inconsistent with me?

‘Why is every word that comes out of that mouth so offensive?’

Perhaps it is because of the fate of the main character and the villain designed to pretend from the beginning?

“Gosh, what a weirdo.”

“What are you talking about, princess?”

“Young duke Bernhardt!”

“What? What happened to Young duke Bernhardt? From a distance, the atmosphere around you two looked good. The maids were all making a fuss.”

What is this? What do they mean good, don’t they have eyes?

Why are they making a fuss about the atmosphere with me and that male lead?

“Give me some water.”

I got thirsty for nothing so as soon as I entered the tent today, I drank water first.

Then I found a handkerchief that was finely folded on the table.

“Huh? When did you wash it?”

“Right after the day you left it to me. I kept putting it up over there. You didn’t see it?”

Listening to Marina, I picked up Judith’s handkerchief. The handkerchief has been washed clean in the meantime, so none of the stains I saw last time were noticeable.

After checking, I tried to put down the handkerchief again, but I stopped.

Wait, isn’t Judith the heroine of this world?

Then, Judith might be said to be a child loved by God. Of course, trials are scheduled in the middle, but as a result, no one will be loved by the world as much as her.

“Hmm.”

Then in some sense, it is safe to regard this as the protection of the goddess of victory. Somehow, it’s true that the best prey I caught was on the first day of the competition when I went out wearing this.

My eyes were turned upside down by the game, and I suddenly felt a little tempted.

So I gently looked down at Judith’s handkerchief and gave it to Marina again.

“I’m going to use this tomorrow, so don’t forget to ready it.”

“You must have liked it. I will.”

However, when Marina actually took the handkerchief, I belatedly felt pathetic for myself and smiled in vain.

What am I doing right now?

Believing in such a superstition, Kyllian must have made me angry a lot.

I leaned against the chair, rubbing my forehead.

It’s nothing like a hunting competition.

‘…But really, I’m not going to be humiliated by Kyllian again this year, am I?’

It was also strange for me to keep falling behind Kyllian. I think the site in the west where I settled was not good.

Of course, such a hunting festival is not very important, but from tomorrow on, it would be better to move to the southern hunting grounds or other areas where Killian went. 

This was also an illogical idea based on superstition, but I realized the error of my thinking after a little more time passed and I regained complete reason.