Chapter 38 - The Hunt Pt. 2
You know what's funny. It seems like Bea and I are the only girl participating in the event. Among the sea of noblemen, young and adult, the two of us stood up greatly in the eyes of the spectators. Especially at the side of noble ladies who would be watching and waiting for the guys to come back and offer them their kills.
I saw some whispering to each other while discreetly pointing at us. Some are blunt with it, and by some, I meant Rosamunde and her troupe.
Why do I have to see her face first and foremost? Who invited that girl?
"I feel a bad omen approaching," I mumbled.
Bea glanced at me in question but saw Rosa among the crowd and agreed.
Rosamunde is a duke's daughter so it is only natural that she would have the best view and be at the forefront. That also means that I would get to see her face because she is that visible.. She was haughtily sitting there while being fanned by a servant of hers. She did not even care if her big parasol was blocking the view of the others behind her.
'She really reminds me of the novel Nadia, but tamer…'
"...That is all. May God Luminus bless you in your hunting," Ezekiel, as the crown prince, took charge of the speech on behalf of his emperor father.
The crowd applauses, and after more formalities, the event officially started. It was now time for the cheesiest part of the occasion, offering kills. It is also the most competitive part among noble ladies out there.
Right, I forgot to mention. The one would be offered the most kills, or the winning kill would be crowned as Queen of The Hunt. It was not official, but they do it anyway and had been a tradition now.
So yes, they sure go wild among themselves. Trying to outweigh each other in terms of popularity and all the jazz. It's toxic I tell you.
Our group stood there looking sheepish as to what to do.
"Hey, does this mean we need to offer someone ours too?" I whispered to Bea who was also confused like me.
'Welp, this is awkward now…'
Because we don't know what to do at this moment, we just watch at the sidelines as men and women do their thing. It was truly entertaining to watch them being cheesy with each other.
Conrad and Gwen in particular look very odd. I almost snorted as I watched the two of them acting like weirdos. Gwen was flushing beet red; she looks like a ripened tomato while Conrad stood there, saying nothing at all.
"H-here," Gwen mumbled, eyes looking everywhere but him.
She handed him a... rope? Lace? What is that? It was green. Conrad took it before wrapping it around the hilt of his sword and stared at her again. It looks like he wasn't going to talk at all.
"They are weird," I muttered.
Bea nods, "They are both idiots like I said."
"Wow, Miss Rosa! You are really popular!" a voice says. It was purposely said out loud to make the others hear it.
"I bet you will win this hunt!"
"Yes, I am sure that you would be Queen of The Hunt this year!"
Rosa raised her chin arrogantly and smirked.
"Hmph, naturally."
Jeez…
Three young men, probably one of the students, came to her and kneeled to the ground.
'The hell… That's too dramatic…'
"Lady Rosa, we would like to offer our spoils to you. Please grace us with your magnificence," the guy in the center uttered.
"Fine then," she snobbily replied.
The three then stood up and left. Rosa's group exploded in loud cahoots yet again.
"Miss Rosa! The three of them at the same time? You truly are awesome!"
"That would make it as 7 now, isn't it?! The crown is yours, Miss Rosa!"
'Excuse me but what crown are y'all talking about. That doesn't sound right you know…'
Rosa looked even more pompous now from all those boot-licking the girls are doing. What a surprise though, they are all from the tea party. The same bunch of barking dogs.
She then looked in my direction and smirked. I was not sure what she's trying to say with that so I looked behind me to make sure it was directed to me.
'Is she trying to compete with me? That's dumb though? I am participating after all.'
Her eyes traveled to the direction of Prince Ezekiel who was engaged in conversation with the guys.
'Ah, is she waiting for the Prince to offer his spoil? Heh~'
That made me interested. For whom are you offering yours, cousin? And Nathan too. I bet he wouldn't, he's a snob anyway.
"Who are you all offering yours?" I asked the guys after they were done talking.
Eon blinked and scratched his head, "That…" he then turned to the direction of his sister, "...my sister?"
"You don't have someone you want to woo? Another girl?"
'I am curious as to what Eon's type is.'
Eon stared at me blankly.
'Ah, nothing then…'
I looked at the smiling prince who appeared to ignore what I just said.
"How about you, prince Ezekiel?"
"Hmm? What is it?" he asked, wearing a confused expression.
'This… Whatever. There is the issue with the prospective fiancees anyway. People might start gossiping if he went and offered his spoils to some girl out there.'
I was about to ask Nathan but then thought about it and stopped. That is a silly thing to do.
"I will offer mine to you," Nathaniel suddenly declared which earned him looks of bafflement.
"Wait, what?" Eon commented.
'Yeah, what?'
"Is that possible? I am participating too, you know."
Ezekiel hummed, "There isn't a rule about that so it is possible, I think."
"Oh really? Then I will offer mine to Bea then," I said.
Anyhow, Gwen already has his brother and fiance.
Bea blinked at me and looked down.
"I will offer mine to Nadia," she quietly whispered.
'Bea is too cute, damn.'
Noah thought for a moment, "Then mine would be Nadia too."
'Woah, wait. Calm down, everyone. Don't just dump the spoils to me just because you have no one to offer it to!'