novelDon't come to the hunting contest in the forest (9)
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Chapter 47: Chapter 47 Don't come to the hunting contest in the forest (9)
The woman brushed the dirt off her shoulders with a surprised look. Wendy frowned at her rude attitude and clicked her tongue because she was familiar with her hostile eyes.
She was Altarin, the woman who gave Lard a handkerchief.
The woman deliberately said something ridiculous as if to jar Wendy's nerves, "Oh, my jacket is fine. You don't have to worry."
Lard glanced at them across the distance. Sensing his glance, she quickly changed her attitude and gently spoke to Wendy again, but her voice was still hostile to Wendy.
"I'm Altarin Scholters, the third daughter of Earl Scholters. Can you tell me who you are...?"
Looking up and down Wendy with a conceited attitude, she turned her mouth up slightly.
Wendy briefly thought about her reply, squinted her eyes a bit at the back of a small woman who blocked her vision.
Melissa cut into their testy conversation with a sharp voice, "Oh, Altarin, do you have something to say to my friend?"
Rolling her brown eyes wildly, Melissa looked as if she wanted to claw her face off.
Although her voice was not strong enough to frighten Altarin, Wendy appreciated Melissa's efforts.
Altarin warmed up to her by saying, "...Oh, Melissa! It's nice to see you. How have you been?"
Although Altarin hurriedly greeted Melissa, she showed due manners with reluctance. Obviously, there was a large difference in social rank between a count and a marquis.
"Yes, I've been keeping well. How are you? There are some bad rumors about you in social circles these days..." Altarin flinched at that. The rumors must have been about Lard's rejection of her handkerchief."By the way, Altarin, are you secretly working out your muscles these days? I'm amazed you were hitting my friend with your shoulders forcefully."
Altarin's face hardened. The cramp around her trembling lips showed that she was upset.
"...Oh, you are making a funny joke. I just brushed against her slightly, and I was also embarrassed because she staggered a lot. I think she staggered too much, though fragility is a virtue of women. Is she your friend? May I ask which family she is from?"
"Well, I don't feel like introducing her to you. Since I saw a dear friend of mine embarrassed like this, how can I pretend to stay indifferent while laughing at her?"
Melissa blatantly expressed hostile feelings toward Altarin as if there had been bad blood between them for long. Although Melissa's actions didn't suit her as the daughter of a prestigious noble family, Wendy seemed satisfied. For Wendy, it was like blowing her nose without touching her hands thanks to Melissa's decisive help. It was the first time she changed her perception of Melissa favorably.
"It seems you have misunderstood me a lot as you haven't even given her a chance to introduce herself to me. Let me leave now. Please have a good time."
Though she tried to clarify her position, Altarin was still staring at Wendy with a hostile attitude.
Indeed, she didn't act up to what she said. When Melissa blocked her vision by stepping in front of her, she gave Altarin a more frightening look on purpose. Although her actions were not perfect, that was all she could do at the moment. In the end, Altarin left as if she felt disgusted by Melissa's behavior.
Wendy didn't feel good about Melissa's actions to protect her but felt satisfied because other noblewomen would also refrain from acting like Altarin because they must have witnessed what happened a moment ago. Anyway, she wouldn't have to worry about any further trouble involving them here in Burgonu.
"Wendy!" Melissa shouted, looking back at Wendy quickly with an excited look.
Quickly realizing that she called her name thoughtlessly, she screamed 'Ah', but felt a bit relieved to notice that Wendy didn't look angry.
"Did you see what I did to her?" Melissa asked proudly.
Wendy grinned at her as she looked like a child waiting for mom's praise. Obviously, Melissa tried her best to repay her indebtedness to Wendy.
"Wow, I'm so happy! In fact, there have been bad rumors about her in social circles since Altain was rejected by Sir Schroder. Some say she has been going around many places to vent her anger. Oh my god... what man would like such a woman who is so malicious? I think she acted mean to you because Sir Schroder came here with you. She has never dated him, but she is acting as if she is his girlfriend and stops other women from showing any interest in him. How ridiculous! How could a woman be that bad?"
Standing next to Wendy, she was swearing at Altarin. Because there was no one nearby, she bad mouthed her all the more.
"Wendy, I understand why you are reluctant to reveal your name. You are worried because you might be caught up in some trouble, right? Don't worry about it. Let me stop anybody from approaching you today!" Melissa reassured her.
Wendy added to cheer her up, "Melissa, let me trust you!"
Melissa smiled happily, and Wendy also smiled at her.
While the two were distracted for a minute, other women picked their favorite bows one by one and returned to their partners. Each of the bows was luxurious and well-shaped. Big, colorful jeweled bows were particularly popular.
When they approached the table, there were only crude and nondescript bows left. Wendy picked up a bow with no decoration and a rough surface among them because she liked the curved line of the bow. Melissa, picking up a small, pink bow, winked at her, thinking Wendy let her take it. Wendy didn't say anything about it, though.
"You picked a good bow. You have a good discerning eye."
Unexpectedly, Lard was satisfied with the bow she picked. Given his attention to the bow, it seemed that she chose a very good bow.
"Look at this little signature here. Alain Luharen. He is especially famous among the artisans who make bows. This is one of the popular bows he made during his heyday. There are only a few left in the empire, so I just can't believe the prince put out this bow...I think this is a good gift for the winner of this contest."
"...Well, you can't hide a discerning eye even if you want to hide it, " Wendy said, raising her bow with a triumphant look. She held the bow tightly, putting the arrows handed by the servants against the string incorrectly.
Chuckling at her, Lard corrected her posture and began to teach like he was a master. He doggedly explained some basics of archery ranging from how to grab an arrow to how to control her breathing before shooting an arrow. When it came to martial arts, he was a perfectionist, forcing his disciplines to exactly follow his example.
"Concentrate. Try not to bend your arms. If you pull an arrow like that, your arm will get injured easily." He rebuked her as she was distracted for a moment.
Wendy drew the bow fully with her left hand and released it. The arrow shot through the air and hit the target in the blink of an eye. The servant who stood behind the target came out, checked the target board and raised a red flag. Lard nodded with a smile for the first time. The arrow hit the mark.
"Well done. I think that was a great first try."
Wendy felt her fingertips tingling, thinking archery was interesting. She was happier because she was praised by Lard who was notorious for being stingy about praise. Smacking her lips, she picked up another arrow.
Unlike Wendy, other women were having trouble shooting arrows. Although the target board was intended for beginners, it was still a big challenge for them. Most times the arrows fell into the grass before they reached the target board or missed completely.
Altarin hit the wrong board and complained to the original shooter.
Melissa kept dropping the arrow before she drew it. Jean seemed to be having a hard time teaching her how to draw a bow.
'This is so messy!'
Looking around her in a chilly manner, she pulled the bow hard. When she shot an arrow with a perfect motion, the arrow hit the mark again, and the servant on standby raised the red flag again. She was humming now. She felt happy as if she discovered that she had some talent in archery.
"Oh, Wendy! You must be Wendy Waltz, right?"
Crown Prince Isaac von Benyahan appeared with his hands folded behind his back and spoke with a laugh. Fortunately, the women were spaced far apart for safety, so they couldn't hear him calling her Wendy loudly.
"Wow...." He looked at her several times as if he was interested in her hair color change as well as the veil covering her face. He even exclaimed, "Huh, Huh, " as if he sensed she was wearing it to hide her identity.
"I heard you came to my tent a little while ago. I'm sorry about that, " he said, looking at Lard and Wendy alternately.
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