IDIBC Chapter 63

Summer Hunt (1)

The morning of the day the summer hunt began was hotter than other days, and the sky was clear without a single cloud.

I glanced at the man sitting across from me in a demure posture.

It was somehow difficult to stare openly at Ricardo, who was dressed impeccably in a black jacket and black trousers, golden epaulettes decorating his shoulders, and boots adorned with gold thread.

They said a woman’s usefulness at a hunting festival was to wear form-fitting hunting attire and bolster the man’s pride…

Sabrina’s words had been wrong from the start.

How was I supposed to further elevate the shoulders of a man who already stood tall as if he knew no bounds? It would be fortunate if I didn’t bring them down instead.

Choosing the least ostentatious outfit from among the hunting clothes the Duchess had sent was the only thing I’d done right today.

“You don’t need to steal glances at your fiancé like that.”

At his mischievous expression, I unconsciously bit my lip hard.

“You must find this very amusing, Young Duke.”

I spoke curtly to the dazzling man I was meeting after a long time, though I hadn’t meant to. He smiled broadly with a genuinely amused expression.

“What?”

“Watching me turn into a fool because I like you.”

He merely lifted the corners of his lips slightly and gave a soft laugh. Even that made my heart tremble.

“Well, I’m not really in a position to be observing other people’s situations right now.”

An incomprehensible man saying incomprehensible things. He didn’t suit my tastes at all, as I usually preferred things simple and straightforward. Did I just like him because he was handsome?

“By the way, have you already forgotten that you were going to call me by a pet name?”

Of course I remembered, but after being given permission to use his name, it had become harder to say it. Rica, Ricardo. I rolled the awkward name around in my mouth, then just smiled a little.

“I suppose so.”

“Well, you’ve always been the type whose heart flips as easily as turning over your palm.”

Ricardo shrugged his shoulders. Since I had been somewhat like that until now, I had nothing particular to say in response.

“I suppose so.”

He gazed at me with a calm look as I readily admitted it. Leaning back against the carriage, he slowly looked me over from head to toe.

“Ah, even if you’re my fiancé, is it right to look at someone so openly like that?”

“Isn’t it better than stealing glances?”

He had a natural talent for leaving me speechless, which really wasn’t my type either.

Actually, until I met Ricardo again, I thought I preferred gentle men. The kind who would warmly ask after you every time you met.

Though it was a very brief and awkward relationship, there had been a man with whom I once exchanged fluttering glances, if only for a moment.

The son of an innkeeper rumored to handle some money in the village, his name was… what was it?

“What are you thinking about?”

“Thoughts that would be troublesome if my fiancé knew.”

He laughed shortly and suddenly leaned toward me.

“Don’t think about other men.”

Startled, I pulled my body as far away from him as possible.

“That really is an amazing ability. That Rochester power of yours.”

I shook my head with a feeling of renewed surprise, and he shrugged his shoulders.

“This isn’t the power, I was just guessing. If it’s a troublesome thought to have in front of your fiancé, well, it would be something like that.”

The man was so complex I couldn’t read him, not gentle at all, and even irritating. Yet my pounding heart showed no signs of calming down.

It was astonishing that my pride-less, hopeless heart was beyond saving and even diligent on top of that.

“The hunting festival lasts three days, but you should return tonight.”

“Yes.”

Hearing my quiet answer, he slowly cast his gaze out the window.

“That outfit… did you choose it yourself?”

“Ah…”

Was it strange? There didn’t seem to be anything particularly objectionable about it.

“Yes, I chose it from among the clothes the Duchess sent. Is it not good?”

“…No.”

The answer seemed to come a bit late somehow. Was it really strange but he couldn’t say so out of politeness? Looking at his perfect attire made me keep examining my own outfit. The seat next to an overly perfect man was always tiring.

“If it’s not good, please tell me. I brought other clothes to change into.”

“It’s not that.”

The trousers I was wearing for the first time in my life already felt awkward enough to kill me. I looked around at myself, rubbing my thighs unnecessarily and glancing at him. Fortunately, Ricardo had his long, delicate fingers spread over his eyes, covering them completely.

****

The forest was enormous. It was said that the forest, which included several fairly steep-looking mountains and huge lakes, was divided into three large areas according to the species of trees and the density of undergrowth.

The hunting dogs were already in a state of great excitement. Five dangerous-looking dogs that no one but their owner could touch were tied to leashes held in one man’s hand.

The hunting dogs with long legs and narrow bellies barked at the air, ready to dash out at any moment.

The men’s appearance was not much different. They shone their eyes toward prey not yet visible, like excited beasts.

While the men gathered in small groups to talk about hunting, Sabrina approached me. Unlike me, Sabrina had chosen the most splendid riding outfit from among those the Duchess had sent.

When she wore it, the large decorations didn’t seem so ostentatious. In many ways, Sabrina suited flamboyant things very well.

“Did you bolster Young Duke Paquin’s pride as planned today?”

“Well, yes. Everyone’s eyes were burning with desire, looking like they wanted to bet on when I’d sleep with Julian.”

How did that become bolstering a man’s pride? The world she spoke of was truly one I neither could nor wanted to understand.

“It’s a bit hot. The forest really doesn’t suit me. I’ve finished everything I needed to do, so I just want to go home quickly.”

Sabrina habitually reached into her sleeve to find her fan, then rubbed her empty arm and soon made a deflated expression. Though I couldn’t agree that everything was finished, I felt the same about wanting to go home.

“Today is the day for catching small animals like rabbits and foxes, they say. After all the women return home, that’s when the real hunting begins.”

“Ah…”

“So you won’t need to ride a horse at all. Meaning you suffered learning to ride for nothing.”

Looking around, just as Sabrina had confidently stated, it was rare for a woman to be mounted on a horse alone.

“Then that’s fortunate.”

At that moment, I saw Julian, who had been surrounded by people in the distance, give us a light nod. Sabrina, who had been frowning until just a moment ago, responded to him with a full smile as if nothing had happened.

She turned lightly and left, just as she had come.

‘Good luck.’ Wishing him fortune lightly.

Soon the men who had decided on the hunting locations lifted the women who would accompany them onto horses. Ricardo was having a conversation some distance away from me, perhaps having something left to discuss with the Crown Prince.

Even while conversing, he occasionally turned his head to look at where I was standing.

I stood in an open area where he could see me well and recalled in my mind how to ride a horse.

Starting a week before the hunting festival, I had learned horseback riding with Freddy’s help.

Though Sabrina had boasted there would be no need to ride, wasn’t it true that one never knows what will happen even a moment ahead?

It made no sense to wear riding clothes if I wasn’t going to ride at all.

While I wasn’t particularly lacking in athletic ability, I wasn’t yet skilled enough to ride and gallop alone without someone’s help. I could only mount a horse and walk lightly, at most.

“Lady Fennel.”

At that moment, Walter suddenly approached. Riding a white horse so pure it seemed transparent except for its black eyes and eyelashes. Without dismounting, he stood beside me and gave a slight stiff nod while keeping his gaze forward.

“It’s been a while, Young Duke Chaplin.”

Though his behavior was somehow unnatural, my feeling of gladness came first.

“Did you not receive my letter?”

But the words that came were sudden.

“What… letter do you mean?”

He slowly turned his head to meet my eyes, then immediately jumped down from his horse. His blue-green eyes, trembling finely in a way that might have been my imagination, looked directly at me.

“I sent correspondence. I heard you were staying at the Rochester ducal family’s winter estate…”

I could easily guess the source of that information. If it was correspondence sent through proper channels, there would be no reason for it to go missing. Unless someone had intentionally disposed of it.

“I asked Julian. I asked him to enclose it with the letter to Lady Sabrina Fennel.”

“Ah…”

“Along with a bouquet of yellow roses.”

The moment I heard his words, I recalled the pile of yellow roses that had briefly caught my attention.

“So those were flowers you sent, Young Duke Chaplin.”

Sabrina had thrown away Julian’s letter with its formal words without even properly opening it. Along with the comment that she didn’t particularly want to see correspondence that was clearly written by someone else.

“I’m sorry, but due to carelessness, I didn’t receive the letter.”

Unable to say that it had been thrown away tucked between letters that hadn’t even been read, I smiled awkwardly and gave a simple answer. At this, Walter visibly showed a relieved expression.

“I see. I had….many thoughts.”

“…..”