A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 99

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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99.
‘Cedric likes me… really?’
It was something I could never have imagined.
Well, I suppose I entertained the thought somewhat. Thetis and Leonard had mentioned it, after all. I simply believed the probability was low.
“….”
As I struggled to find words, silence settled over us.
Whoosh—!
The sound of air being cleaved reached my ears.
Before I could even register it was an arrow, Cedric wrapped his arms around me and rolled us to the side.
“Eek!?”
The floor filled my vision and my breath caught in my throat.
I’d barely managed to push myself up when I saw it—an arrow embedded deep into the very spot where I’d been standing moments before.
“M-my necklace.”
I quickly felt my neck. Fortunately, Deliño’s tear was still there.
I immediately reinforced my defensive magic and swiftly cast a protection blessing as well.
Until now, I’d refrained from using it for fear someone might discover I possessed holy power, but surely that was better than death!
“Princess, are you unharmed?”
“Yes, thanks to you… I’m truly grateful.”
What madman would attempt to assassinate the Prince’s Consort in the midst of a Succession War?
“Cedric? Get on behind me.”
As I climbed onto Hippolyte with determination, Cedric’s expression turned peculiar.
“What are you planning?”
“I need to find whoever dared attempt my life.”
I’d tried to live righteously, but Blake was proving decidedly uncooperative.
Just as I was about to seize Hippolyte’s reins, Cedric simply stared at me.
“Why aren’t you getting on?”
“Because I feel my confession is being dismissed rather carelessly.”
“…!!”
“The arrow seems to have made you resentful.”
At his words, which struck like a blow, Cedric pushed off the ground and settled behind me in one fluid motion.
“I’ll hold the reins.”
His hand took the reins from mine with such natural ease.
“A… no.”
Strangely, the body pressed against my back felt entirely different from how it had at Silverstone.
Then, he’d felt like merely a Guard Knight, but now….
As my body stiffened, a soft chuckle reached my ears.
“Are you aware of it now? I should have confessed before arriving at Blake.”
This won’t do. I love Leonard, and I’m a married woman. I must preserve my virtue.
I squeezed my eyes shut and cried out.
“I’m sorry, Cedric, but please get down.”
“…How troublesome.”
He acquiesced readily, yet a faint smile still lingered on his lips.
“It matters not if you refuse me, Your Highness. I am well aware that you love Leonard at present.”
“…Cedric.”
“However, you will eventually depart Blake and return to Sincester, will you not? I need only be your final love.”
My mind had become far too tangled.
Unable to decide what to do, I kept my gaze fixed downward, yet somehow I had already arrived at the direction from which the arrow had flown.
While I remained lost in thought about his confession, Cedric had guided me there without a word.
He dismounted and headed toward something.
“There are traces of someone kneeling on one knee just moments ago.”
His cold voice drew my senses back into focus.
I too dismounted and made my way toward where Cedric stood.
There were marks of rapid footprints turning sharply away.
“They seem to have fled in haste. We should summon a Mage later to examine the traces left at this location.”
“Agreed. The arrow remains as well, so the suspect list may narrow considerably.”
I examined the arrow the culprit had fired at me from every angle.
It was an ordinary arrow—no magic or holy power had been inscribed upon it.
“We must apprehend them without fail. I need to know who dared attempt murder at an official gathering.”
“Yes.”
The atmosphere had lightened somewhat, hadn’t it? Thank goodness.
I rose cautiously, stealing a glance at Cedric.
“Well then, Cedric, I shall descend the mountain now. I had no intention of attending the Hunting Festival anyway.”
“I am an Inspector of Patrol. Since Your Highness has just faced a mortal threat, it is necessary that I provide protection.”
“Even so, I can protect myself. Therefore—”
It was then.
Boom!
Rumble…!!
A tremendous explosion erupted from somewhere on the mountain, and the ground trembled violently.
“Eek!?”
“Your Highness!”
Cedric attempted to steady my waist, but the tremor was too violent.
I collapsed to the ground. Before I could even rub my aching rear, I opened my eyes and—
“…What?”
What was that?
In the distance, flames and ice shards scattered through the air. Two forces collided, birthing a pure white tempest.
Rumble-!!
Crash-!
A crimson light, like blood, spread across the distant trees. The heat bore down, warping the very air.
On the opposite side lay the depths of winter.
A bone-chilling cold surged in waves, clashing fiercely against the flames that spread through the Forest.
Crack—
Thick trees were half-uprooted, their roots exposed, and the hillside split open as dust clouds swirled through the air.
A deep, resonant roar shook the heavens, and steam gradually obscured my vision.
“Damn it.”
Cedric quickly pulled me to my feet.
“It appears the 1st Prince and Sixth Prince are fighting. We must flee at once!”
“This isn’t even a fantasy world, and yet—”
Ah, but it is a fantasy world.
“Cedric, mount Hippolyte with me, quickly!”
The moment Cedric climbed up behind me on Hippolyte, I seized the reins with all my strength and pulled hard.
Hippolyte, sensing the danger instinctively, began to gallop at breakneck speed.
After riding for some time, I glanced back over my shoulder.
A sun of flames and an ice storm clashed violently, demolishing the mountain beneath them.
‘Good heavens…’
For someone who had spent her entire life in the Holy Kingdom, this sight was utterly alien to me.
The sky splitting into two halves. Winged beasts fleeing skyward beneath it.
They said it would feel like catharsis, like a film—but it was far more terrifying than I’d imagined.
Fear transformed into worry.
He possessed the power to regenerate wounds with flame. Yet James had still perished at Demian’s hands, had he not?
‘…Will he be all right?’
But anyone witnessing that scene would understand that fleeing was the only way to truly help him.
“…”
Please, Leonard, stay safe.
My grip on the reins tightened, but I forced myself to look away.
We rode on and on, galloping for what felt like an eternity.
The wind lashed viciously at my ears, and an inexplicable chill made my entire body tremble.
I thought we needed to descend the mountain as quickly as possible.
Yet I found myself reflexively pulling the horse to a halt.
“…!”
A crimson stag stood directly in my path.
“This can’t be…”
【Crimson Stag】
The prey we believed to be the answer.
But I could not capture it.
The princes must solve the riddle and capture the beast themselves—every step of this hunt.
Cedric, understanding this, urged me forward.
“Princess, let us continue!”
But why did I hesitate?
An inexplicable dread crashed over me, and a chill ran down my spine.
And in the next instant, that premonition proved devastatingly accurate.
Whoosh—
Another arrow flew through the air, this time striking a crimson stag.
The sharp arrowhead pierced the deer’s neck with perfect accuracy, and it collapsed instantly.
I slowly turned my horse’s head toward the direction from which the arrow had come.
“…Who are you? It would be wise to show yourself.”
Cedric asked menacingly, but the undergrowth merely rustled in response.
‘So they lack the courage to reveal themselves?’
I retrieved the bow and arrows I had secured to the saddle earlier.
“Princess, what are you doing?”
“This sacred artifact strikes exactly where I aim it.”
I watched Cedric’s face contort with growing distress.
“Why are you so alarmed?”
“I cannot allow Your Highness to commit such a cruel act. Let me do it instead.”
Cedric extended his hand, asking me to give him the bow.
“This sacred artifact responds only to me.”
“Then I shall dismount and capture that wretch myself.”
There was no time for such deliberation.
I turned away from him and drew a breath.
As I nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring taut, something extraordinary occurred.
Without any invisibility cloak, I could see the silhouette of the person crouched in the brush with perfect clarity.
The fletching of the arrow felt acutely sensitive against my fingertips. My heartbeat seemed to pulse through the bowstring itself.
‘If I shoot both legs….’
Before the thought could finish, my gaze had already fixed upon the target.
In that same instant, the arrow left my hand.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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