### Chapter 278 – Room 204, Mission Room – ‘Hotel Cinema’ (2)
—
– Elena
—
After the crown prince informed me about the fox hunt, the surrounding space began to shake. I wasn’t surprised since I’ve experienced this once before. Skipping the boring “filler” and heading straight into the fox hunt.
In that moment, my body vanished, and I became like a ghost, staring at a scene unfolding before me.
“Gellion! Can’t you just admit you’re hurt during this hunt?”
“Your Highness, didn’t I tell you several times? The fox hunt is a tradition dear to the founding emperor, spanning 232 years, aimed at promoting camaraderie among the imperial elite—”
“Ugh! I get it. I’m going, okay? Ugh… just thinking about that Pendleton guy bragging is irritating!”
“My lord, the important thing isn’t the number of captured foxes—”
“I said I understand!”
Alright. I roughly got the vibe. This scene is one where the heroine doesn’t appear. It’s a cut to explain the character of the ‘male lead,’ the crown prince.
And this movie’s male lead, the crown prince…
Is an idiot.
*
“He’s an idiot.”
“… Is that narration a problem, by any chance?”
Songee, worried, sighed deeply.
“I’ve been worried about that since earlier. If the narration reaches us, it means it’s dialogue for the ‘audience’!”
*
— Bam!
“Oh! Lord Pendleton! You hit the target flawlessly!”
“Haha! George, it’s nothing. If a fox is standing under a tree begging to be shot, it’s just stupid to miss it. This reminds me of two years ago, when I fought at the northern front—”
— Bam!
“…”
“… It seems my lord is still not accustomed to shooting.”
Just as expected, the fox hunt was progressing accordingly. With the grand title of having fought at the northern front, Duke Pendleton was shooting every visible fox dead on target.
On the other hand, the prince turned bright red at the mere sight of a fox, shooting blanks into the air. Watching him, it seemed quicker for the fox to catch the crown prince rather than the other way around.
Stay calm. Recall why this event exists in the movie.
The first event, the ‘party,’ was a setting for the crown prince to fall in love with the heroine. Then what is the second event about?
“Ugh! I’m going inside now!”
“B-but sir! It’s still morning!”
Is this to bolster the mood of our elementary school-like ‘male protagonist’? For a happy ending, at least he needs to feel joy, right?
“Gellion, could you come over here for a moment?”
“Lady Crosibel? Do you have something to say?”
“You don’t seem very happy, Your Highness.”
“… Well, not every matter in the world can be joyful.”
“Still, if those around you could ‘help’ a little, wouldn’t you become happier?”
“Help?”
Can my plan actually work? Honestly, the nobles gathered here aren’t foolish; there are limits to their deception. A quick-witted person would surely catch on.
— Bam!
Pendleton shot his gun into the air confidently. Seeing Pendleton feign disappointment too obviously gave me confidence in my plan. I employed the attendants for a little ‘operation.’
Adjusting my parasol to reveal my face, I leisurely moved toward the prince. The prince, who had been sulking like a child, suddenly became cautious, reacting to my approach in a way that was almost comical.
“Lady Crosibel! Did you come to see me?”
“Of course. Your Highness, are you enjoying today’s hunt?”
“…”
“Oh dear, have you not caught a single fox yet?”
“D-don’t tease me!”
“Teasing? Hunting can go well or poorly. On my way here, I noticed Lord Pendleton hitting three trees in a row. It seems he’s lost his flow.”
“R-really? But even so—”
“Your Highness, why not go for a fox in the north this time?”
I led the prince toward my pre-established direction. Soon, the utterly childish show began.
— Bam!
“Whoa! Your Highness, did the fox in the brush fall?”
“W-what?”
— Bam!
“How on earth did you hit that one?”
Every time the prince pulled the trigger, everyone hustled around. Someone secretly placed a pre-dead fox there, and someone else pulled the trigger simultaneously, hitting the fox.
Thus began the ‘entertaining fox hunt’ for the prince!
At first, I worried about employing this ‘support hunt.’ The naïve prince could easily be swindled. He probably wouldn’t even grasp where he was aiming the gun, so it seems likely he could mistake random shots for success.
But these nobles aren’t foolish; they won’t fall for such tricks! In fact, the situation was starting to unfold even more successfully. The quick-witted nobles began actively collaborating in this ‘fixed game!’
Moments earlier, the son of Earl Antidum snuck up and quietly slid a fox he’d caught into the prince’s trophy basket.
Just earlier, Baron Toyburg shot at the same time as the prince, hitting the fox he was aiming for, and congratulated the prince afterward.
Lord Pendleton started to shoot his gun towards the air again, five consecutive shots now.
“Ha ha ha! Caught another! Caught another!”
“Congratulations!”
The sound of the crown prince’s laughter filled the hunting ground. With what seems like plenty of movie time left, just thinking about aligning with that fool’s whims makes me shudder.
What if someone ‘else’ was there instead?
If a capable person were there, they would probably be mingling among the nobles, enjoying themselves whether or not they caught a fox. Even if they suffered a hit to their pride, they would find a way to stir things up.
After all, is it necessary to catch a fox at such a networking event for the elite? The throne of the empire isn’t reserved for those who shoot well.
Hmm…
If the crown prince were Seungyub, what ‘little tricks’ would he pull?
*
“Cough!”
Suddenly, my name popped up! I almost dropped my drink in shock. What even was that last line?
Across from me, Songee was doubled over in laughter.
“Oppa, can you stop with the tricks?”
“Eh, what does Elena think I usually do?”
Ahri chuckled and chimed in.
“To be honest, most is just trickery, right? In room 104, you suddenly imitated a god sent from above, right? I’m curious what you thought while Elena was trying to keep up with you!”
*
With this, I’m guessing the second event, the ‘fox hunt,’ went pretty well, right?
The prince approached me, mouth agape in disbelief, bearing a basket full of fox carcasses. I wonder how many of those were truly taken down by the crown prince?
Around that time, the surrounding space began to shake again. A signal we were moving on to the next event. Shortly thereafter, I awoke, strolling through the radiant city of the empire.
…
This time, I was a bit flustered.
While there had been prior notices during the party and the fox hunt events, there was none this time. The stage transformed suddenly, and I found myself in the heart of the capital. When I hurriedly asked a nearby maid, she informed me that a New Year’s festival was ongoing. Apparently, quite some time had passed since the fox hunt.
What on earth?
This is ‘a movie.’ Earlier, a maid told me I was ‘going to a party,’ and as soon as the party ended, the prince mentioned ‘fox hunting.’
Both lines were meant for the audience. They were cues to help predict the unfolding story. But with no context or explanation like just now—how could the audience possibly understand the plot?
As I walked through the city, surrounded by lively music, I slowly began to comprehend the situation.
“It seems a scene passed that I didn’t know about.”
The fox hunt and the New Year’s festival. There was some scene in between. The audience and my companions outside surely witnessed that scene. Yet it was withheld from me, the heroine.
A growing tension started to rise within me. While they showed the chatting scene between the prince and the attendants revealing his inferiority complex, why not show the just-passed scene?
It means the heroine must remain unaware of that scene. What could this mean?
Suddenly, I realized the maid serving me had casually vanished. Oddly enough, it had become dark around me. I had been wandering in a city alive with music, yet when I came to my senses, I found myself in a dark alley, desolate as if it was expected that no one else was around.
Heavy footsteps could be heard from somewhere.
— Clack!
The intense tension sent chills down my spine. Was it one person approaching?
“… Who sent you?”
Upon turning abruptly, a man donned in a black robe flinched for a moment.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying—”
“You’ve come to secretly hunt me down, haven’t you?”
“O-oh, what a misunderstanding. Hurt you? No way!”
“You told a ‘lie.’”
A glimmer of light filled the alleyway. In an instant, an explosive force filled my body.
One breath, I jumped off the ground, breaking tiles beneath my feet.
Two breaths, I slapped down the man’s outstretched right arm, which had gone defensive.
Three breaths, I grabbed the throat of the one now teetering.
“Grrrugh!”
“Who sent you?!”
“O-Oh, I swear I’m Gellion!”
Eh? Gellion? The crown prince’s attendant?
My surprise instantly made me want to remove his robe, and indeed, it was him! The attendant who always serves the crown prince, that old man.
“Y-you were following me just now, weren’t you?”
“Of course! The prince invited you! Have you forgotten the meaning of the New Year’s festival?”
Seeing the annoyed attendant made me panic!
I-I made a mistake. Thinking about it, this kind of festival usually means the male and female leads romantically confirm each other’s feelings together!
Images of scenes I had witnessed countless times in novels and movies flashed through my mind. The prince, disguised as a commoner, enjoying a late-night date with his beloved in a vibrant city.
Around dusk, under a thrilling atmosphere, the prince reveals his heart. That’s just the flow of the story!
With a deep sigh, I lowered my head and began to follow the attendant.
“… You didn’t see that last scene, did you?”
“Not at all. But my lady, what was that movement just now? I swear, what I just saw was like an Imperial knight’s combat!”
What was that? It was my lie detection unearthing a falsehood, dealt with swiftly.
Breath caught in my throat. I had certainly detected that ‘lie’ just moments earlier!
Immediately stepping back, trying to maintain distance, a hazy fog began to impair my vision.
Hah! Such mist can’t halt the activation of justice. If it’s the power of blessings, these petty fools are…
… Wait, should I use blessings?
For a fleeting moment, I was overwhelmed with confusion. I had entered a movie categorized as romance, not action fantasy!
If the heroine enters a crisis in a romance film, it’s perfectly normal for the princely figure to swoop in to rescue her. I’ve never seen a story where the heroine casually slaughters assassins.
Would it ruin the story if I wiped out an assassin with blessings here? This brief hesitation cost me the chance to counter.
“Capture her at all costs! Those who harm her will find their limbs broken! And it seems she has some skills, so be cautious!”
My consciousness began to blur. A fleeting thought—someone’s face flitted before my mind.
*
“Wait, why is Elena worried about such things? Using justice would have wiped everything out, but her doubts caused it to fail!”
“Isn’t that Elena’s judgment? Isn’t it about time the male lead rushes in to save her? What romance movie has a heroine whacking an assassin? Wouldn’t it be a mistake to wrestle with the attendant in front of her?”
Gain, listening to Mooksung and Ahri’s conversation from behind, felt a headache coming on. The idea of the heroine overpowering an assassin in a romance movie was laughable. Should I still save power and end up getting caught even in an ambush?
Gain felt his head start to throb from the complexity.
“This mission is tougher than I thought!”
As Songee immersed herself as if about to enter the screen, she raised another question.
“What was that fleeting image at the end? It looked like Elena was recalling something!”
“It went by too fast for me to see. Maybe I fainted before I could grasp it.”
Of course, there were those who realized the ‘identity’ of that fleeting image. Leaning on her chair, Ahri felt an indescribable sensation wash over her.
‘…In a moment of crisis, Elena must have recalled her true prince. A prince she knows is absolutely unable to save her.’
It felt strange. It was clear Elena was conscious of Gain. I had known it, yet witnessing it in such a vivid image felt entirely different.
‘If I too were faced with such a situation, would I recall someone as well?’
Having thought this far, Ahri could hardly bear it anymore, kicking the person in front of her.
“Yikes! What was that for?!”
“Just because.”
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