Monica was riding atop a horse and at lost at the moment.
"Lady Everett, please held in tight onto me," said Felix sitting in front of her with an excellent posture. Maybe because he used to ride a horse, the figure of him holding the rein looked elegant. And Monica was sitting closely behind him with her legs to the side.
Negotiations with the Falforia Kingdom seemed to have hit a stalemate, but both sides had mutually accepted that it would not be over in a day. To deepen their friendship, Felix had arranged a hunting game today. However, a fatal problem was discovered when they were about to move to the hunting grounds. Monica, Nero, and Glenn—the three people who were supposed to guard the guests—had no experience in riding horses. Though Glenn can use a flight spell to follow them, he can't be flying around continuously during the hunt. After all, maintaining a flight spell uses a huge amount of mana. (In Lynn's case, she can maintain a flight spell for a long time because she's a spirit.)
Glenn was relatively athletic, but it was hardly possible for him to keep up with Felix and the others who were used to riding. As for the non-human Nero, his presence only make the other animals scared in trembling, so it's impossible for him to ride a horse.
After some discussion, it was decided that Monica would sit together with Felix in the back. Two adults might be too heavy, but her small body should not add much burden to the horse. As for Nero and Glenn, they used a carriage to reach the hunting ground and were ordered to stand by in the rest area during the hunt.
This time, the duchess and her daughter also tagged along in the hunting game. They were there not to participate in the hunt, but rather to enjoy a chat over a light meal. You could say it was a picnic. Together with Nero and Glenn, the picnic group would also stay there in the rest area.
I-I would be rather in the picnic grooooup!
For Monica who had no experience in equestrian, riding a horse was too stimulating for her feeble heart. To put it bluntly, she was just too scared. Even a little sway had already made Monica terrified of falling.
What's more, sitting close by near Felix was bad for her heart. Every time the horse swayed, Monica panicked, afraid that the hood would come off. Each time it happened, Monica desperately clung to him in close eyes, until Felix shifted his gaze back to look at her.
"Are you scared?"
"………"
She honestly wanted to nod at his question, but ever since she had vowed to herself last night, she wanted to keep the image of respectable Silent Witch in front of Felix. Not to mention her role as his guard, it would be unbecoming for her if she was scared of riding a horse. So she kept her silent without acknowledging nor denying it and Felix reined his horse to stop in response.
"Pardon me."
"—!?"
Felix grabbed her waist to lift Monica who's desperately killing her voice while pulling over her hood down before placing her in the front seat before him.
In equestrian, it's common to assign a woman to sit behind the man if they ride a horse together. Otherwise, it only makes it hard for the man to rein the horse.
Especially during the hunt. It will only trouble him if Monica sat in the front.
"Mm—! Mmm—!?"
Felix then pointed at his gun on his shoulder when Monica was flapping her hands in panic.
I'll only interrupt his hunting if I sat in the front!
"You don't have to worry. This riffle was only a prop."
"?"
"I've been planning to give some credit to the guests since many of Falrorian like to hunt."
Apparently, Felix was trying to gain some diplomatic advantage by making the other party feel great by handing over the credit in this hunting game.
Well, he didn't think Count Marre's opinion would change over something like that, but it would good starting point for elevating his mood.
I guess diplomacy is a tough job…
The main prey in this hunt will be non-hibernated foxes. Hunting a fox can be quite tricky since it can hide in its nest, but the servants had closed its nest's entrance and they brought hunting dogs that keep it at bay, so it can't hide anymore. It only left the guests to hunt the prey they find—which made this hunt like a game.
Casey probably would frown upon it if she hears about this…
For those living in poor areas, hunting is an act to secure valuable foods, but for the wealthy, it's just a sort of game. Even they were bearing the same noble titles, they had held different principles, and Monica felt that she had just glimpsed the hard fact of this country.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Hey, is hunting a fox really that much fun? Does fox meat taste good?"
"Its meat smells really bad, so it's not suitable to serve as a dish. You still can eat it if you boiled it over a long time and mixed it with many seasonings, but it will not taste like meat."
Eliane was annoyed behind her smile as she listened to Glenn explain to Bartholomew about meat, saying its meat tastes better if served in this way or when the best season for preparing the meat.
Why can't I be the one who shares the ride with Lord Felix? I know it's inevitable since Lady Silent Witch had a job to guard His Highness, but why doesn't she choose another person to share the ride? Or rather, why do these guys begin talking over the meat instead of protecting Lord Felix? Can't they have more civil topics to discuss with the women like us? And why didn't you say anything, Mother?
Her mother, Duchess Reinberg covered her mouth with her folded fan when Eliane met her eyes, which then smiled involuntarily.
"Oh my, you seem very knowledgeable about meat, Young Dudley."
"My knowledge came from my parents as a butchery."
"Well, is that so? Then could you give me some advice on serving rabbit meat? As you can see, my daughter is a picky eater and doesn't eat much."
Eliane maintained her graceful smile and screamed inwardly.
Mother!? Why did you just casually join in on their meat discussion!?
After all, the duchess had tried some recipes, to which Glenn nodded earnestly.
"When choosing rabbit meat, I advise using female ones, since it's more tender and tasty. Before processing the meat, it's better to age it for about three days, also, it is important to cool the abdomens with snow or ice so it won't leave a bad smell."
Though in the daughter of the duke's perspective, it was unnecessary knowledge.
Glenn looked unusually wise when explaining meat. His appearance may look reasonably good if only he's not talking about meat.
"It may be easier to eat if you turn the rabbit meat into patties before adding more herbs and seasonings. As you already know, rabbit meat tastes best when tender, and turning it into patties would prevent it to lose its juice. It's also delicious if you turn it into a soup! And the secret is to hammer the bone so the broth will come out easily…"
In the first place, Eliane's dislike of rabbit meat came from her childhood, when she witnessed a cook skinning a rabbit. So hearing someone talking about how to prepare meat or how to pound bones to make soup stock was not something Eliane would enjoy.
Eliane stood up quietly and jumped on her horse tied to a tree. Eliane might have not been an expert at horse riding, but she could get on and off the horse by herself or at least go for a quick ride around nearby.
The servants had prepared a horse with a saddled for sideways riding for Eliane, even she was wearing a skirt, it wouldn't prevent her from handling it.
"Peter. Accompany me on the ride."
While Eliane asked the servants to follow her, Glenn shifted his gaze to her in surprise.
"Do you need to go to a toilet?"
In which world there's a lady who rides a horse to go to the toilet?
Elaine replied with a smile at his tactless response as her temple twitched.
"I wanted to have a little stroll."
"Then let Bartholomew or me accompany your stroll."
"It's not necessary. There are no large beasts in this forest and I won't get lost since it's like a garden for me."
Peter, who was pulling the horse, was familiar with this forest and would prove no problem for him to find a way.
Glenn seemed wanting to say something but was interrupted by Eliane's urging on Peter.
"Peter. Let's get going."
"Understood…"
Peter seemed to be perplexed but after considering this forest had little to no danger, he obeyed Eliane's order and made the horse carrying Eliane walk.
As Eliane gripped the horse rein in her hands, she let out a sigh while hoping to meet Felix by a chance in the forest.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Are Eli will be okay?"
The duchess offered Glenn a drink who worriedly said as he kept glancing into the forest before smiling gently at him.
"You might find her a bit selfish, but please don't think her badly."
"I never thought of her as a bad person," said Glenn while drinking a warm tea, and the duchess exclaimed an ‘oh my!' inwardly as she smiled gently in response. Her gentleness looked similar to her daughter… or perhaps more than that of her daugher.
Meanwhile, Bartholomew was gnawing heartily at the bread as a light meal while darting his gaze around.
"What's the matter, Bartholomew?"
"I sense something approaching rapidly… I got a weird feeling in its mana."
His golden eyes shifted around until it stopped in the direction where Eliane advanced toward the forest.
"Hey, Loud Boy. You bring back that Fluffy Girl. I feel something ominous approaching."
"Something ominous?"
"I can't explain it since I've never sensed mana this disgusting… but from its shape and size, I can say it's…"
Bartholomew's words sounded so vague that it was hard to feel the tension. The other servants looked at Bartholomew in puzzled.
Amidst this situation, Bartholomew paused to catch his breath, raised his eyebrows then shouted.
"…a dragon! …no, wait, something resembling a dragon is approaching here!"
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