The tournament began amidst everyone’s cheers, and I ran towards Anna, who was waiting for me on her horse up ahead.
What about Remy?
Remy? Unfortunately, I forgot.
“—Ariiiiiiis!!!”
“Good~bye~!”
Well, she might just be sticking around with the cute and cuddly parents over there. She might sulk, but I hope Anna Unnie will handle it later.
Next to the horse Anna was riding, there was a relatively smaller horse, which I realized was prepared just for me.
“Ariis, can you ride it by yourself?”
“Yep!”
Since I had countless memories of riding, I could easily handle a gentle little horse like this.
That’s right, that’s right.
Vrooom!
What? If it doesn’t listen, I’ll just neuter it?
!!?
I gripped the reins of the horse that acknowledged me as its master tightly and looked at Anna, who was getting ready to go hunting.
Did she sense my gaze? She turned to me and flashed a bright smile.
As we exchanged smiles, Anna turned her head with a blush, and awkwardly opened her palm, glancing over for no particular reason.
It was like the look of an older sister who adores her beloved little sister. No matter who sees it, won’t it look like a girl who’s too excited and shy about the upcoming date with her little sister?
Excited?
What could be so exciting for our Unnie?
Is it the thought of going out just the two of us?
Or perhaps, soon enough, I’ll be able to grab the prey with two hands?
Or could it be…
—the fact that she could kill me?
“Okay, let’s go! Be careful and follow me.”
“Yeah! You be careful too, Unnie!!”
“Alright, alright.”
How would she kill me?
To be honest, it would be surprisingly easy for her to kill me.
The problem is that I trust others too easily without suspicion. Following the maid who promised to show me something fun, I ended up being caught and dressed up like a doll at least twenty times in total. No matter how unreasonable the request, the kind youngest princess would still comply.
That’s what the current Third Princess ‘Aris Akaia’ is like.
And Anna probably knows that better than anyone.
Poison.
Just offering me a drink laced with a deadly substance would be enough to kill me. Even if it’s a ridiculous poisoning using some strange-tasting poison, if Anna offers it, the little lady Aris Akaia will gulp it down without a hint of suspicion.
While she would laugh at the sight of her little sister, spewing blood from every hole in her body, she could easily shove the antidote in front of me, making me beg for it.
Murder.
Just one word of encouragement to trust her, and that foolish little sister would close her eyes willingly even with a knife pointed at her throat. The youngest princess, not wanting to betray her older sister’s trust, would wait, believing in her until the moment the blade is poised to sever her neck.
Bang, perhaps even after her head rolls, the naive youngest princess would mumble her name?
Honestly, I wouldn’t care what she did. I was always ready to enjoy her obsession. My love is an open door. Love is an open door.
But she didn’t.
She chose the hard way rather than the easy method.
And on top of that, she’s even putting on a mask to take me somewhere.
Who would turn down that growth, that effort?
Anna Akaia is talented.
However, she was born with a talent that no genius could possess.
That’s effort.
Look at her gaze. Look at her touch.
The warm hand she reaches out to me, the worried look in her eyes, but lurking within those are monsters darker than the abyss.
She probably wants to tear my throat out right this moment. She wants to display my corpse in the marketplace, spit on it, trample it, and laugh in front of it.
But she is holding back that impulse, exercising patience.
I can tell how hard she’s working right now.
Isn’t that commendable?
And that’s why I thought she is truly a person worthy of being a queen.
Although her current efforts are tainted with malice and hatred towards me, such reasons and motives can easily change.
Once her efforts shift to dedication towards her people, she will truly be a magnificent queen admired by all.
And that fuse will be my death.
I sensed she would live with inferiority complex ahead, even as I turned three years old.
No matter how hard I try, fate won’t change.
So, I thought—of the best scenario.
To break the chains of inferiority that bind her, not just break them but to bind her with an even larger chain.
My last words will become her shackles, shaking her with guilt. I will always whisper, just like I said to her.
“—Unnie, please be a good queen.”
And she will accept that shackle willingly. The birth of a kind and wise queen she longed for.
At last, I will exist forever in her heart.
That’s all I hope for.
The ordinary hunt continues.
To her, it was nothing but an annoying and unpleasant play.
Me?
I’m always having fun.
I stealthily follow the direction of her gaze. Until she draws me into a secluded area, I must keep up this ridiculous act. Thus, Anna was currently trying to scan the surroundings normally to discover prey.
Oh, that direction has rabbits.
She’ll find them soon.
A slight furrow appears on Anna’s brow. Proof that she’s staring at something that feels out of place.
In the snow-covered field, a rabbit dyed the same white color as the snow would soon be exposed to her.
Realizing this, Anna would swiftly pull the bowstring to catch the rabbit.
And so—
Whizz!!
“Got it—!!”
“……!!”
I threw a knife at the freshly caught rabbit that Anna found.
From Anna’s slightly opened mouth, I could tell she had just found the rabbit.
The plump rabbit didn’t even sense the knife hurled at it and happily donated its life.
Bam, red blood splatters across the white snow.
I said cheerfully,
“Hehe, I got it!! Anna Unnie!! I caught it!!”
“……Ah, really. Yeah, Aris caught it again. Once more.”
Leaving Anna behind, I dashed towards the fallen rabbit’s corpse.
So, Unnie, how is it?
Isn’t hunting fun?
As if answering my question in my heart, I could hear Anna’s laughter from behind.
Yeah, looks like Unnie is having fun too. I’m really glad.
Wasn’t it worth coming here?
I proudly held up the white rabbit with the knife stuck in it.
I felt a hot gaze behind me. I turned around to see a kind sister celebrating my catching the rabbit.
Hahaha.
After laughing at me for a while, Anna looked at me and said.
So naturally.
As if it’s all for me.
“Aris…it seems the prey here is all gone now—”
“…Huh?”
“—Should we go somewhere I know well?”
I looked up at the sky. The sun was still far from reaching its peak.
Maybe it’s time to go.
The librarian must have started organizing the books by now.
Tessa is lazy but not dull.
As always, she would take out the books from the return box and put them back in position, and my crafted book would depart from her hands and scatter on the floor.
Even if the notes are seen as the simple childish scribbles of a rough imagination, I doubt she would think so if she’s the one I know.
Good, perfect.
I answered.
“Yeah! Got it!”
Tap, I got back on the horse and followed Anna. Soon we entered into the thick woods with dense trees.
The smile on Anna’s lips stretched wide.
Tessa would surely run to where the king and queen are. And in front of them, she’d risk her life to alert them to my danger.
‘By chance,’ Remy, who happened to be there, would hear that I might be in danger and would rush to look for me without a second thought.
The clumsy set I haphazardly wrote, some script that popped into my mind the day before.
Well, it wouldn’t hurt not to come—
But the more spectators, the better; I hope they show up.
Ah, I want to see Remy Unnie.
I hope she sees my dying self.
I can see the iron fence. It’s a sign indicating we’re in the royal hunting grounds. Anyone who carelessly trespasses inside must be prepared for death.
At the same time, it also signifies that leaving this area means their safety cannot be guaranteed.
“Uh…Unnie..?”
“It’s okay, Aris.”
Anna simply cut through the fence and walked deeper into the woods.
I stood still outside, pretending to be a hesitant and scared child who was afraid of getting scolded.
Hah, a small sigh slipped from Anna’s lips. Hearing that sound, I lifted my bowed head.
Aris Akaia dislikes hurting others’ feelings.
If Anna sighed out of annoyance, then I must go, right?
Hehehe.
‘In the woods, there are monsters, so don’t wander in.’
A line from the fairy tale Remy read every night. It’s a scene where Alice’s parents warn her as she tries to go into the woods.
That’s right, Alice. The forest is dangerous.
Because there are terrifying monsters lurking in the woods.
Monsters that eat people—very ferocious monsters, you know.
Ultimately, the story’s Alice ends up meeting that monster after ignoring her parents’ warnings and going into the woods.
“I hope Aris follows me in there…”
“…!! Alright!”
Her sweet voice tempts me.
With a determined look, I passed through the fence. Swish, moving hastily, my skin was scratched by the sharp fence, leaving small droplets of blood.
Drip.
Drip.
The blood droplet fell.
Ignoring the pain, I swiftly ran to Anna’s side.
Though Anna was fully aware of what had happened, she didn’t seem to notice that I was hurt, or perhaps seeing the blood didn’t seem to matter to her anymore.
Well.
It doesn’t really matter.
Choose whichever reason you prefer.
We moved on with our horses tied up at the fence, stepping into the dark woods where not a single beam of light could pierce through.
Deep.
Deeper still.
An aimless journey. In the forest, finally, aside from the sounds of our footsteps, nothing else could be heard.
If I were a child who came looking for a lot of prey, I might start to feel disappointed and want to return to the original place.
Suddenly, Anna gasped.
“….Ah!!”
“….?”
As if she found something, she pointed to behind me.
I knew there was nothing there except for the lush bushes and trees, but I dutifully turned my head.
There were no rabbits, deer, bugs, or even birds to be seen.
“Uhm….~?”
“……”
A place where only long grass and trees blocking out the sun exist, like a primeval jungle.
Yet, pretending not to notice Anna’s lie, I kept staring at the direction she pointed at.
I tried squinting, closing one eye, even both eyes.
Although I couldn’t find anything, did Unnie find something?
Creek, the sound of the bowstring being pulled back from Anna echoed behind me.
Wow, I have no clue at all.
Unnie discovered it after all.
Amazing.
In just a few seconds, the bowstring was drawn and released.
The time was very short, but the arrow hitting the prey was even shorter.
Thud, I felt the air’s vibration brushing past my body. It meant Anna had shot the arrow.
I heard a light sound follow. Thwack, the arrow had deeply embedded itself into the target.
And then came the warm sensation rising from my calf.
Anna’s affection for me.
The hunt had begun.
The forest echoed with screams and laughter.
Prey has been set.
Monsters chase from behind.
The girl searches for them.
This is where Aris gets hit by the arrow and crawls.
And afterward?
It’s all in the previous episode, right?
