I’m Hunting My Enemy - Chapter 3

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

3. An engagement is a matter between two people. (3)

‘It really was a strange incident.’

After the Crown Prince disappeared, the Imperial Court’s search party did not depart immediately.

Seeing this, people speculated that the Crown Prince had voluntarily left the Imperial Court.

After all, no parent would make a fuss over their child going out.

For the first few years, everyone thought nothing of it when the Crown Prince didn’t appear at official events.

They figured he had gone somewhere to recuperate or was receiving some kind of special education.

But even after 5 years passed, and 10 years passed, the Crown Prince still did not appear at the Imperial Court.

By this point, people were almost forgetting that there had even been a Crown Prince.

People waited for the Imperial Court’s response with half curiosity and half concern, but the Imperial Court remained silent.

They didn’t make a commotion about the Crown Prince not returning.

They didn’t tell the people that the Crown Prince was fine and not to worry.

Only silence.

The reason Ryuie guessed that the Empress would surely know the Crown Prince’s location when she met her was also because of that silence.

Bendam pressed anxiously.

“Did you really hear the Crown Prince’s location from Her Majesty the Empress?”

“I told you. She didn’t tell me.”

“Then where exactly are we heading?”

Ryuie leisurely straightened her back.

“The source of the rumors.”

“Pardon?”

“Rumors about a mad Crown Prince appearing have reached the Capital.”

Bendam’s eyes widened.

The Crown Prince, famous for his proper conduct, had gone mad? Did that even make sense?

“What do you… How could such ridiculous rumors be circulating? Where did you get this information?”

“I’ll investigate first and then tell you. I hate explaining things that turn out to be wrong.”

Ryuie waved her hand gracefully.

Just then, a cough came from outside.

It was a servant.

“Miss. The artists have completed the first portrait and sent it over.”

“That was fast? Bring it here.”

A sketch hastily drawn with just a pen arrived, matching Ryuie’s preference for quantity over quality.

Bendam and Catsy simultaneously peered at the drawing over Ryuie’s shoulder.

Both had worked at Ryuie’s house since childhood, so they had seen the original portrait.

The result was.

“…This was drawn looking at the original?”

“Aside from the black hair and green eyes, there’s not a single resembling feature.”

“Was that supposed to be written as green? I should buy some paint too. The handwriting is terrible.”

It was such a harsh evaluation that if the artist who drew it had heard, they would have wailed and broken their pen.

Ryuie, who had glanced at it roughly, waved her hand.

“Now that I’ve confirmed it, tell them to keep making copies.”

“Understood.”

The servant withdrew after receiving the order, but Bendam’s mouth was itching to speak again.

“Miss. Weren’t you spreading portraits to find the Crown Prince? Then it should resemble him to some degree.”

To him, it seemed like a waste of money.

Ryuie replied without batting an eye.

“Not really?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m starting with creating an atmosphere. That I’m looking for you.”

When Ryuie grinned, her lips curved like a single brushstroke.

“That’s how you conduct a hunting drive.”

Bendam felt a chill down his spine.

* * *

Marco was an ordinary receptionist.

Just an employee who hoped no customers would come when he was working.

“It’s quite quiet today.”

However, the moment he uttered those magic words, a bell rang with a ding.

“Welcome~”

Thinking his mouth had jinxed it, he reluctantly offered a greeting and his eyes went wide.

The door opened and not just one person, but several people came rushing in.

“Hey? If you open the door like that…!”

“Check from the floor!”

“All clear!”

“Move out of the way!”

Armed people suddenly entered the shop and lifted floorboards, examining every corner.

Following them, servants came in to deal with the dust that was being stirred up.

Their hands were so quick that the entrance was cleaned in no time.

It was the cleanest Marco had ever seen the shop during his work.

But it was absurd.

“What exactly are you doing right now?”

In his urgency, he jumped over the reception desk and tried to stop them.

“Who are you people to ransack someone else’s shop like this?!”

“Is this the place?”

The next moment, Marco forgot what he was going to say.

A beauty he had never seen in his life entered through the front door.

Her raven-black hair was abundantly twisted up in a single style, and the wide brim of a hat decorated with feathers instead of flowers covered her forehead.

Even wearing earrings as large as a person’s fist, she was a woman of such striking beauty that her looks were not overshadowed by the jewelry at all.

Marco, instantly mesmerized, stammered.

“How… how may I help you, ma’am.”

“Are you the owner here?”

“No, I’m an employee.”

“I came here looking for someone.”

A black lace glove fluttered as it pulled out a piece of paper.

“Have you seen a person who looks like this?”

Marco glanced at Ryuie while looking at the paper.

As if it had been drawn on a galloping horse, all the lines were crooked and the eyes, nose, and mouth seemed to be doing their own thing.

It was only slightly better than what a child might draw on the ground with a stone.

The cause was Ryuie suddenly speeding up the carriage when she got bored during the journey.

Seeing the bizarre drawing, Marco asked back.

“Is it a monster?”

“Will you shut that mouth!”

A person beside him shouted sternly and placed his hand on his sword.

Startled, Marco stepped back. He couldn’t even ask why they were treating him this way. They provided the reason first.

“This drawing is of His Highness Yosua Albenheim!”

“What? You mean the missing Crown Prince?”

Only then did Marco rub his eyes and look at the drawing properly again.

“I definitely heard he was handsome?”

“Even so, this person!”

Realizing that his recent comment could also be considered treason against the Imperial Court, Marco hurriedly covered his mouth.

Only after respectfully changing his posture did Marco hesitantly continue speaking.

“Why are you looking for someone who disappeared over ten years ago?”

“I heard rumors that the Crown Prince went mad.”

Marco, who was about to open his mouth in shock, stopped himself just in time.

Realizing that he kept glancing at the sword, Ryuie gestured.

The knights immediately withdrew without delay.

Only then did Marco, guessing that Ryuie was not of ordinary status, become a bit more respectful.

“You must have heard wrong. Actually, the rumor about madness got mixed up with another rumor.”

Ryuie’s eyes flashed.

“The Crown Prince really appeared here?”

“Ah, no. You misunderstand! It’s not that—someone who saw the Crown Prince’s ghost was called mad!”

The atmosphere instantly grew heavy.

Ryuie’s arch-like firm eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Ghost?”

“Yes.”

Marco nodded earnestly.

Now that even he seemed more nervous about what he was saying, his voice became solemn.

“The Crown Prince’s ghost dwelling in a blood-stained imperial ring kills people.”

“…!”

The attendants around Ryuie made chilling expressions.

‘A ghost.’

Unlike Ryuie, who couldn’t even scoff, another knight sternly pressed him.

“Where did you discover that object? Why didn’t you report it to the Imperial Court?”

“Oh my, we tried to report it! We did, but it was discovered in such an ominous place that we couldn’t even approach it to verify if it was real!”

“An ominous place.”

“The swampland here! It’s so dangerous that several people have fallen and died, and many monsters appear there. Even mercenaries are reluctant to go.”

“You make a living as a broker for them, so you’d know well.”

“Yes. You can really trust what I’m saying. It’s all what the mercenaries said directly.”

The more Marco repeated his words frantically, the more anxious Bendam became.

‘Please watch your words!’

Descriptions of danger were like stimulants to Ryuie.

‘Is it already too late?’

Bendam felt stomach pain.

Ryuie was already abandoning her noble pretense and fidgeting like a wild horse.

“A ghost in a blood-stained ring. How plausible. Good rumor. I can see why it changed into talk of madness.”

“I find the ring story unsettling, miss. We’ve never heard rumors about His Highness the Crown Prince’s ring before.”

“Indeed.”

“Where can I meet the mercenary who spread the rumor?”

Bendam asked anxiously.

The only thing that could be worse than a mad Crown Prince was a dead Crown Prince.

‘I hope the rumor is fake.’

Ryuie, feeling it was worth investigating, urged him on.

“Guide us.”

Clink.

Catsy dropped a leather pouch onto the desk.

Even amid the chaos, Marco’s eyes lit up.

After hastily opening the pouch, his reaction became even more intense.

“Huh…!”

“This is payment for providing information to the miss.”

Catsy primly pushed the pouch forward.

“The introduction fee should be calculated separately, right?”

Without even looking at the second leather pouch that dropped with a thud, Marco hastily received it with both hands.

“I will serve you with the utmost care.”

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