Chapter 75

Chapter 75

“Thanks. This’ll come in handy.”

The duke took the canteen from me as he replied. And then, right at that moment—

“Excuse me, Your Grace!”

A soft voice came from somewhere. A moment later, its owner hurried over and stopped in front of us, her footsteps light and quick. She was a young lady with a pale, almost translucent face and an endearingly cute impression.

“What is it?”

The duke’s gaze shifted straight to her.

“This… I wish for Your Grace’s safety.”

She held something out to the duke. It was a clean handkerchief embroidered with blue roses. Clearly handmade. The intent behind gifting something that had taken so much time and care was obvious. The woman before me was conveying her feelings to the duke. Her face, blushing shyly, proved it.

“…That’s quite all right.”

The duke replied flatly. His voice was dry, carrying not even a trace of apology—a refusal that felt brutally cold.

“I… I was hoping Duke Cuvershaiden would accept it.”

“I can protect myself. Give it to someone else.”

“It’s not like I’m asking for something unreasonable! I’m not demanding anything—I just want you to take it, that’s all!”

Her face crumpled as if she might cry at any moment, her voice rising to a shout. But the duke didn’t answer. He only turned to look at me, quietly.

“Let’s go, Laura. The hunt will start soon.”

“Ah… yes…!”

He snatched the bundle from my hands and slung it over his saddle. In an instant, my hands were empty. I blinked, flexing my fingers open and shut. Then, abruptly, I turned to look at the woman. She was staring at me with a razor-sharp expression.

“What? What did I do to deserve that glare? Can’t blame the Duke, so she’s taking it out on the easy target—me.”

I knew I couldn’t afford to lose this stare-down, but with her rank higher than mine, I couldn’t pick a fight. So I just blinked innocently, as if to ask what the problem was. Her face twisted into a snarl instantly. I hadn’t meant it that way, but my reaction only seemed to stoke her anger.

“Come here. Now.”

By then, the Duke—who’d already walked ahead—called for me. I scurried over to him. Of course, I didn’t look back. Truth was, I didn’t need to. A stare sharp enough to bore a hole through the back of my skull was already drilling into me.

We retraced our steps back toward the gate. Walking beside the duke, I stole a sidelong glance at him. His profile flowed in an elegant line — the kind of face that struck anyone at first sight as handsome. That lady from earlier must have thought so too.

A strange unease settled in my chest. It wasn’t that I saw her as a rival, but I harbored feelings for the duke, so naturally it pricked at me. Still, I didn’t want to waste emotion on it. I wasn’t sure I could fully accept this turmoil inside me. So I forced my mind blank and quickened my pace.

We left the clearing entirely, skirted the edge of the garden, and soon the gate came into view. Participants in the tournament were already gathered there, checking their rifles and bows with solemn expressions. Unlike the duke, who’d said we only needed to catch a single animal, they seemed intent on hunting in earnest.

“Your Grace.”

Then someone called out to the Duke as they approached. This time it was another young lady. Blushing behind her fan, she held out a handkerchief. Right. For some reason, it was a handkerchief again.

Huh? Was it this country’s custom to give a handmade handkerchief when confessing?

I found myself quietly baffled by the young ladies’ unified method of courtship. Behind her, several other women were already milling about in a line, handkerchiefs clutched in their hands.

Maybe this was high-noble culture…? I wouldn’t know about that…

Either way, being caught among them felt awkward. So I quietly took down the luggage strapped to my horse and stepped back from my spot. Then I started heading back toward the garden, passing the rows of knights standing in formation.

“Laura.”

But in that instant, a voice called out to me from somewhere. I turned my head and saw the young marquis holding the reins of a white horse.

“Hello, Young Marquis.”

“Hello, Laura. Nice to see you here. You came with Illiaje, I take it?”

“Yes, that’s right. You’re attending the hunt festival too, Young Marquis.”

“Indeed. Well, His Majesty the Emperor is quite fond of hunting with me. So I usually attend every year.”

He shrugged in reply. Then he quirked one corner of his mouth and met my eyes.

“So, Laura. Do you have anything to give me? Something to wish for a safe return?”

He stroked his chin as he continued speaking. A wish for safety… Come to think of it, that pale-skinned young lady had said something similar to the Duke. While specifically giving him a handkerchief. The conclusion I could draw from all this was just one thing.

“Hmm… Are you talking about a handkerchief?”

“Yes. Do you have one for me?”

Just as I thought! So handing someone a handkerchief wasn’t a confession after all. There was a custom of the hunt festival that I didn’t know about. But I hadn’t known that. No—no one had told me in the first place.

“Ah… well… I only just found out now. That there’s a custom of giving handkerchiefs to people heading out to the hunt festival. If I’d known earlier, I would have prepared one…”

“Hmm… is that so? Then… Elize must not have gotten one either.”

“No. But I do have other things. Take a water canteen packed full of ice. There’s a towel too. Ah! …Should I give Sugar Cube some sugar cubes?”

“Haha. Alright. But this one’s a bit fierce, so I’ll feed him myself. Hand them over.”

The young marquis held out his palm toward me. I placed a few sugar cubes onto it, and he began feeding them to the horse, one by one.

“But why does a handkerchief come to mean a wish for safety?”

I watched him, then gave voice to the question that had suddenly risen in my mind.

“Hmm. Truth be told, I don’t really know when or where it started. This custom’s been around since I was very young. Ah—but I did hear something. They say that in the old days, knights who didn’t receive a handkerchief always came back wounded.”

“Really? That’s an awfully unlucky coincidence.”

“Isn’t it? That’s why fine cotton handkerchiefs sell like crazy once the hunting festival starts. They have to be embroidered and handed out to the participants, after all.”

“I see… So, Young Marquis, did you receive many handkerchiefs?”

“Me? I…”

I’d asked expecting a confident yes. But he didn’t answer. Instead, his voice trailed off, dragging out the end as if turning something over in his mind.

“…I didn’t receive a single one. What if I come back wounded now?”

And that’s what he finally said. It had to be a lie—it was obvious. I mean, the Young Marquis was the kind of person anyone could see was popular. Not receiving even one handkerchief? That made no sense at all.

I stared straight at him, my eyes narrowing into slits. A wordless expression of deep suspicion. But the Young Marquis just smiled at me, a fleeting curl of his lips. Even with his lie laid bare, he didn’t seem the least bit rattled.

“Well! Don’t get too badly hurt. It’s going to be hot today—make sure to take some cool water.”

I obliged, playing along with his game. Then I pulled a canteen from my pack and handed it to him.

“Got it. Thanks.”

The Young Marquis took it and tucked it into his breast as he replied. The same moment, a booming horn blared—the signal that the hunting festival was about to begin.

“Looks like it’s starting soon. I’d better take my leave.”

I said, looking up at the Young Marquis. He gave me a single nod, then vaulted lightly onto his horse.

“Right. I’d better get going to His Majesty.”

After that, I parted ways with the Young Marquis and began weaving through the crowd gathered before the castle gates. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted that trio—the Three Musketeers who’d tormented me at the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet. They were gathered at the entrance to the garden, chattering among themselves.

This was really the last thing I needed. I definitely didn’t want to run into them. So I spun on my heel and hurried off. But just then, their shrill voices reached my ears.

“Oh my, if it isn’t His Excellency the Duke’s secretary. That red hair must be why she’s so hard to miss~”

Of all the things to pick out — “the Duke’s secretary” and “the redhead.” It was clearly me they were calling. I swallowed a small sigh. I couldn’t for the life of me guess the motives of people who’d bother acknowledging someone they barely knew. Still, I couldn’t just ignore them. It wasn’t like we wouldn’t cross paths again during the Hunting Festival. So I pasted on a decent smile and offered them a greeting.

“Yes. It’s been a while.”

“It’s been a while, Secretary. Were you heading back into the palace, by any chance?”

“Yes. What about it?”

“Oh my… I thought you might have studied some etiquette in the meantime, but it seems you’re still lacking. Well, I suppose… it can’t be helped.”

Hah… Not this pattern again! And once more with the cheesy villainess lines out of a romance novel!

Even just standing here had me getting into a spat, and it was frankly infuriating. But even so, I had no choice but to keep up my pleasant, easygoing smile. I didn’t want to get angry at every single thing they said.

“What do you mean by that?”

So I pulled myself together as best I could and continued speaking calmly. That was when the bird-like woman seized the opening to speak first.

“It’s proper manners to wait until all the knights have left the city before entering.”

“Goodness! You really didn’t know? Well, how could you, I suppose. You only got to come see the Hunting Festival after landing a secretary job. You wouldn’t know about this kind of culture. It’s not like you can look it up in a book.”

The women quickly covered their mouths with their fans and began to giggle.