I’m Hunting My Enemy - Chapter 78

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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78. Catastrophe (2)

In equally disheveled state, Yosua had no choice but to quickly throw out what he had originally intended to say carefully in a one-minute summary.

“We’re not engaged, Yeongae. I’ve never decided on a candidate, and if you don’t want it, nothing will happen!”

“You still don’t know why I’m angry?!”

Yosua, who was trying to focus on what Ryuie was saying, barely dodged a kick that came flying up through that gap.

She really was a girl he couldn’t let his guard down around.

“Why do you get to decide that! Just because you’re the Crown Prince, does that make it everything? Ugh!”

“Please forget it. The nonsense of an unruly daughter gets worse by the day— mmph.”

The last sound was a groan he was trying to suppress as Ryuie bit him firmly.

Even an enemy wouldn’t bite like that, let alone a father.

Now it was beyond surprising—it was simply marvelous.

“Why are you so angry? You’re Yeongae.”

Ryuie’s rebellion stopped. And even with her half-covered face, she shot fierce glares at him.

“You can already do whatever you want with everything, so was my deciding something first for once really that detestable?”

At Yosua’s question, Ryuie became docile. The Duke, sensing something, carefully removed the hand covering her mouth.

“You really are an idiot.”

That was the first disparaging evaluation Yosua had ever heard.

Yosua, who was accustomed to being called a genius at everything he learned and praised for how quickly he grasped things, was a bit surprised.

Like the upright friend he was, he fell into contemplation about what he might be failing to understand.

But Ryuie didn’t wait for an answer and twisted her waist this way and that to escape from the Duke, then stormed out.

“I will apologize on her behalf.”

“No.”

Yosua, who had been looking toward where Ryuie left, quickly shook his head.

“…No.”

This would probably be the last time he’d see Ryuie.

They were people who wouldn’t meet again until they ascended as Emperor and Duke respectively.

Thinking this, Yosua felt a little regretful.

Not knowing he would see her the very next day.

Thud.

Ryuie, who entered Yosua’s room as if it were her own house, carelessly placed a heavy package on the desk.

“Apology.”

“Yeongae.”

Yosua stood up abruptly from his desk with a bewildered expression.

“How did you get all the way here…”

“I walked.”

Even the tutor who had been teaching Yosua, since he was studying until just moments ago, looked around awkwardly in confusion.

“I brought my apology, so now I’m here to receive yours too.”

Yosua looked once more at the mysterious gift placed on his desk.

And he caught the tutor who was trying to slip away.

“Please don’t leave. I cannot be alone with Yeongae, so it would be better if you stayed.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The tutor rolled his eyes uncomfortably.

Yosua was equally perplexed. He didn’t know how he should behave.

When meeting ordinary noble young ladies, he followed etiquette—being kind and always speaking first.

Not offending them, while also not compromising his own dignity, and also…

But Ryuie was already in a bad mood before he could do anything. So Yosua also spoke thoughtlessly without thinking.

“What did you bring?”

“Open it and see for yourself.”

Ryuie had already lost interest in the gift and was flipping through a book.

Yosua felt his heart racing for some reason as he opened the gift. Carefully unwrapping it without tearing the wrapping paper.

Ryuie’s gift was a worm-eaten apple. One with a very plump fellow still inside it.

“…Haha.”

“What? You’re not screaming?”

Ryuie pouted with a deflated expression.

She seemed to have intended to treat him like a child in revenge for him treating her like a child yesterday.

Looking at the wriggling caterpillar, Yosua gently brought his finger close to it.

“Thank you, Yeongae.”

“You eat it too.”

“Pardon?”

“They say worm-eaten fruit tastes the best. I wouldn’t know since I’ve never tried it.”

It was clearly teasing, but Yosua actually split the apple. For some reason he didn’t understand, he wanted to impress that young lady.

Crunch.

Yosua’s eyes widened slightly as he bit into the unrotten part.

“It’s delicious.”

“…”

Yosua became delighted. Not so much because of the apple’s taste, but because Ryuie’s eyes had also widened.

‘She must not have thought I’d really eat it.’

His shoulders rose with pride. He felt a strange tickling sensation. He wanted to make her even more amazed.

After all, he hadn’t even started showing what he was really good at yet.

Ryuie quickly pretended not to be surprised and acted smug.

“See? What did I tell you.”

“Want to try some?”

“I don’t steal other people’s gifts.”

“Aha.”

“Aren’t you going to eat more?”

“I’ll save the rest for my birds.”

“You raise birds too?”

“Many of them.”

As the conversation flowed naturally, Yosua sat down next to Ryuie.

Until much later when the Duke, having heard the news, came to carry Ryuie away, Yosua remained sitting right next to Ryuie.

Close enough to violate etiquette.

At that time, Yosua couldn’t hear at all the tutor’s coughing sounds suggesting they should separate.

Before leaving, Ryuie stretched and asked.

“So, have you thought about my question?”

“I still don’t know.”

Ryuie showed a surprised expression again when Yosua didn’t ask what she meant.

In fact, Yosua had really been thinking deeply about why Ryuie had called him an idiot.

“I even considered whether my very existence was the problem.”

Ryuie giggled and suddenly answered.

“Next time we meet, speak casually.”

For some reason he didn’t understand, Yosua felt like he had passed some kind of test. Perhaps it was the magic created by Ryuie’s smile, which he was seeing for the first time.

Yosua answered as if enchanted.

“Okay. Next time.”

‘Next time.’

So we can meet again.

The heat of his secretly racing heart made his skin tremble slightly.

A year had passed since the Crown Prince and Yeongae had been spending time together.

Rumors circulated in society that the two might really get married.

Yosua had remained silent, but when even the Emperor subtly inquired, he had no choice but to bring up the topic with Ryuie again.

But Ryuie dismissed it outright.

“It’s just a false rumor. You already know I rejected it long ago.”

“…That’s right.”

Ryuie truly didn’t care even the slightest bit.

After all, that matter had already ended and become a thing of the past.

But Yosua was bothered by it. Really, truly bothered by it far too much.

‘She’s still only eleven years old.’

Ever since meeting Ryuie, time had been flowing too slowly for Yosua.

Why time mattered was because it was important if he wanted to simply move past what had happened before.

‘How much older would we need to be before I could make the Empress candidate incident a thing of the past and seriously discuss engagement?’

Ryuie, who had been pulling at her hair, kept coming to Yosua demanding he provide return gifts.

Yosua carefully prepared items that would impress Ryuie.

In the meantime, the two became friends.

Ryuie, who had stuck out one side of her tongue in concentration, pulled the trigger.

Bang!

“I hit it!”

Yosua hurriedly chased after Ryuie as she ran over the hill.

Ryuie, who had run swiftly ahead, satisfactorily lifted up both pieces of the broken plate. The bullet had hit slightly off from the center.

“Your skills are getting better and better.”

“What are you learning this for?”

“For anything.”

Ryuie answered lightly, though it had only been a week since she’d been allowed to handle a gun.

It was amazing that she already showed this level of accuracy.

Yosua suspected that Ryuie was probably quite intelligent herself.

It was just that she had no interest in studying and was absorbed in things like horseback riding, shooting, and fencing.

“Why don’t you come to school?”

“You’re there.”

Yosua had already monopolized first place in every subject at school since enrollment. Ryuie had only attended the entrance ceremony and never went to school at all.

Yosua caught his breath a little.

“If you were serious about it, you could easily beat someone like me.”

“Why bother?”

Ryuie just turned the broken plate around, holding it up to the sunlight.

“Power must be taken completely. Otherwise, it’s nothing at all.”

That was something Ryuie always said.

‘Duke of Greatone never said things like that. Why would it be important to Ryuie?’

Yosua wanted to understand.

Ryuie pulled up the corners of her mouth.

“Relax your expression. Since we’ve become friends, I’ll overlook the treason a bit.”

“How very grateful.”

Yosua now knew how to avoid the terrified adults and be alone with Ryuie.

This was surprisingly no ordinary feat.

Ryuie was stubborn, possessive, and easily bored.

‘Even if we had really gotten engaged back then, we probably would have broken it off before long.’

Yosua understood.

And somehow he couldn’t shake the thought that he had buttoned the first button wrong.

Because they had become friends, wasn’t there no room left for anything else to slip in?

Yosua’s lips pursed slightly.

“Does everything absolutely have to be to your liking?”

“Of course.”

“Even if one thing goes wrong, it could still be okay.”

“You saw this.”

Ryuie shook the shattered plate.

“It’s meant to be thrown away.”

Ryuie threw the plate that had been ruined by just one hit back onto the ground.

To think she would discard without a trace of regret the object she had been looking at with such bright eyes just moments before.

Only poor Yosua muttered to himself for no reason.

“…Was becoming engaged to me that detestable?”

“Someone’s coming.”

Ryuie suddenly spoke, then belatedly asked Yosua.

“What did you just say?”

“It was nothing.”

Yosua hurriedly shook his head. In doing so, he missed seeing Ryuie secretly smile.

Yosua stood up, finding it strange that Ryuie had suddenly become cheerful.

“You were both here.”

“What is it?”

“There’s a visitor at the Count’s Mansion, so Yeongae should go see them.”

“Ah. I know who it is.”

Since Ryuie frowned, Yosua thought he should check who this person was.

If it was something unavoidable, he could help.

But when they went to the Count’s Mansion together, a foreign boy with exotic dark blue hair came running over with a bright face as soon as he saw Ryuie.

‘Huh?’

Yosua finally heard the sound of breaking pottery that he hadn’t heard earlier.

Crack—the sound of something somewhere in his chest splitting.

While he was puzzled, the foreign boy was very happy to see Ryuie and poured out a stream of foreign words.

‘I know… wait? What, hold on. Too fast.’

He had gotten perfect scores on foreign language in class, but actual speech from a foreigner was unfamiliar.

What was even more shocking was that Ryuie, despite looking bored, answered fluently in the foreign language.

‘Since when could she do that?’

This was still a Ryuie he didn’t know.

Yosua, who suddenly felt like he’d been exiled, could only stare blankly at the world unfolding between the two.

Even when Ryuie returned to the original world and spoke to him, it was hard for him to easily come to his senses.

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