Chapter 189

For a moment she thought she had misheard him. She was so surprised that even the tears she had been holding back disappeared. Scheuer blinked and asked again,

“You really won’t go? ”

“Instead, will you allow me to go for a short period? ”

He seemed to think she was simply anxious about a long-term hunt. Up until now, when he went on a hunt, it lasted at most a week. Though she had never been particularly fond of the hunts, she had let him go without complaint, so it was understandable to consider the duration. In fact, that wasn’t entirely wrong. If there was a guarantee that he would return quickly, she felt she could relax a little.

Scheuer knew she had to back down to some extent. She cautiously asked, 

“How long will you be gone? ”

“A week should be fine.” “…Scheuer glared at him with a lot of dissatisfaction. In response, Raygrain immediately offered another alternative.

“Five days.”
“……”
“……Three days. Anything less is difficult.”

It was a compromise that seemed to have taken some thought on his part. But was that really okay? Even though she was being stubborn, there had to be a reason Raygrain had initially planned for a longer duration.

“Is that really alright? ”

“It would be hard to remove the black stone located deep within. However, it should be enough time to take care of the ones that come down to the villages in three days.”

Usually reticent, he seemed unusually verbose today. Clearly, he was squeezing out his words to soothe her. Knowing that made it hard for her to simply refuse.

After some hesitation, Scheuer subtly nodded. Only after that small concession did Raygrain seem relieved as he gently touched the redness around her eyes. Although the tears had vanished without a trace, the fact that she had cried still weighed on her mind. She felt both sorry and grateful for his willingness to offer an alternative, which made her smile softly.

***

From the morning of the next day, a large number of Blenga’s knights were mobilized.

Upon hearing the news that they were going out for a one-time operation, Leilda stood defiantly and confronted Scheuer.

“What’s the point of bringing a hunting party just to clean up the front yard? What a waste of manpower.”

Feeling guilty, Scheuer quietly offered him a bouquet of chamomile. Still looking sulky as he looked down at her, Leilda asked,

“It takes a week just to find the place hidden in the mountains, you know? But the mining site we’re actually going to is inaccessible.”

Seemingly frustrated, Leilda poured out his words in a rush and grumpily accepted the bouquet. Perhaps understanding that he was saying this out of concern, it didn’t sound so unpleasant anymore.

“I understand why the god Lapel made emotions so exhausting. If emotions overflowed, we would be stuck in the mansion of sin while the continent perished.”

As he grumbled and put on his robe, a familiar voice called out from behind him.

“Let’s go.”

Turning his head, Leilda nodded casually at Raygrain, who was standing straight. Raygrain’s blue eyes briefly glanced at her. Scheuer smiled widely to convey her support, as if to say not to worry.

“Have a safe and quick trip! Be careful of the monsters! ”

After a nod, the hunting party left and returned safely just two days later. Naveed, who had taken the lead, seemed to be still filled with joy from the successful battle, excitedly chattering away.

“Scheuer, you won’t believe it! The moment I was about to slice off a monster’s head with my sword, the Duke’s sword energy went whoosh!”

Sevi, watching Naveed as he animatedly explained his experience, merely frowned in disdain.

“How barbaric.”

As Sevi breezed past, shaking her shoulders in disdain, Naveed lowered his voice. Feeling awkward, he scratched the back of his head and leaned in to whisper to Scheuer,

“It seems quite a few have already come down to the North. I have a feeling it won’t be long before they reach the Central region.”

“Really?”

“Well, for us, it’s not a problem since our Lord handles things quickly. But I’ve heard that the Central region is gathering all the knights from the North, centered around Prince Silcaro. But strangely, there hasn’t been any talk of Count Erina.”

He spoke quickly, as if worried someone might overhear. Just then, Jess, looking like he might collapse at any moment, trudged past. Naveed, who had been bending down to match Scheuer’s height just moments before, quickly stood up.

Naveed, who had just been bending down to match Scheuer’s height, quickly straightened up.

As if nothing had happened, he started doing some exercises and even blurted out nonsense to lighten the mood.

“Oh, our Lord is so cool! ”

Was Erina left out of the hunting party? That seemed a bit surprising.

The hunting party took a day off to rest at Blenga and set out again the next morning. This routine continued, going out for a day, resting for another, and repeating the cycle. Scheuer would gaze out the window, waiting for Raygrain to return, and as soon as she heard the sound of the horn signaling the arrival of the hunting party, she would rush down the hallway.

“Boo!”

Having heard it so often, she had grown accustomed to the sound of the horn.

“Duke!”

When Scheuer called out loudly, only one person emerged from the crowd of knights. In the past, the knights of Blenga would stop to watch her, but as time passed, they simply greeted her without paying much attention.

Rushing over, Scheuer was quick to observe his expression. Despite his usual cold but handsome appearance, she scrutinized him carefully, not wanting to miss any small change. She couldn’t help but worry that he might have lost his emotions. Given the increased frequency of consuming sword energy, she couldn’t shake off her concern.

Even though she was there, Raygrain’s pale blue eyes briefly reflected indifference. Thud, it felt like Scheuer’s heart dropped.

‘Could it be…? ’

Ever since realizing her feelings for him, she had been dreaming every night of him appearing emotionless. In her dreams, he would go on a hunt and never return, just like the last scene of a novel. Just before Scheuer’s expression turned pale, Raygrain lightly extended his arm and lifted her up.

“Here you go again, looking at me like that. I told you I’m fine.”

Only then did Scheuer quickly flip her expression into a smile.

“Did you do well on this hunt too?”

“Thanks to you.”

As he spoke, he glanced at the statue of himself standing proudly in the garden. Raygrain had told her to focus more on him than the statue, but Scheuer tended to the statue as if praying for someone. Today, she had placed a bouquet of sunflowers in its arms, and it seemed the large flowers caught Raygrain’s eye.

Feeling embarrassed, she subtly blocked his line of sight with her body and quickly asked,

“When are you leaving again tomorrow? ”

“I’ll tell you after I get the report.”

His tone was casual, but the fact that he was delaying the conversation suggested that something serious was happening. Sure enough, upon arriving at the office, Jes immediately spoke up.

“There are currently three monsters that have crossed over to the center. It seems two of them were taken down by the central hunting party, but the damage appears to be significant.”

Raygrain briefly cast a glance at Scheuer, gauging whether it was okay for her to hear. She tightly gripped the hem of her dress and pretended not to notice. Raygrain then calmly responded.

“The number of hunting party members? ”

“It seems to be a royal hunting party trained mainly with knights from the north.”

If they had already taken down two monsters, that was quite an achievement. The image of their triumphant demeanor was clear in her mind. And Zero was likely among them. They wouldn’t let outstanding knights from the North go unutilized.

Jess, perhaps worried about him, pressed his pale lips together and quickly added,

“Currently, monsters are avoiding the area where His Highness had previously hunted, leading to simultaneous reports of damage from various locations. There are limits to splitting the hunting party.”

“And the injured? ”

“Fortunately, the flowers from Lady Bi have been doing their job.”

As Jess spoke, his voice trailed off, likely because Scheuer was present. Instead, he handed her a letter from Emperor Lemos.

“His Highness requests that we help the commoners at least with Lady Bi’s flowers.”

As the hunting expeditions increased and the damage escalated, the chamomile supply had noticeably decreased. However, it was still manageable. 
Scheuer, who had been listening nearby, nodded vigorously.

“Please say we can provide it to the commoners, excluding the nobles. They are innocent.Understood.”

Jess bowed his head without raising any further objections. Just when she thought the report was over, he didn’t leave his post. As a questioning expression crossed Scheuer’s face, his delicate voice emerged softly.

“Currently, it seems effective even with short-term hunts, but the situation is gradually worsening. Please consider long-term hunting just once.”

“I refuse.”

Raygrain shot down the suggestion before Jess could finish.

But Scheuer instinctively understood. She realized that Jess was speaking to her. 
He simply bowed his head once more and exited the office. It was clear. Just the visibly diminishing amount of flowers hinted at the extent of the damage. Even if Raygrain kept his words to himself, it was impossible not to notice the fatigue accumulating in the knights of Blenga. Some were even receiving divine energy from Sevi and Koa to regain their strength.

Raygrain gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder and said,

“It’s still manageable. You don’t have to worry.”

Still. 

That meant the future was uncertain. Scheuer realized that she could no longer retreat. The original story had always unfolded as desired.

“Raygrain.”

“Yes?”

“Go on a hunt.”

Scheuer smiled softly and added,

“But just for a week. Please stay with me all day.”

“ALICE; how long is forever?

WHITE RABBIT; Sometimes, just one second.”