novelDon't come to the hunting contest in the forest (13)
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Chapter 51: Chapter 51 Don't come to the hunting contest in the forest (13)
Lard's party followed the servant to a stream nearby.
The servant arranged a blanket and Wendy sat down. Opening a water bottle, she drank slowly. The lukewarm water calmed her.
"Whew..."
Melissa sighed and sat beside Wendy. Melissa didn't look good either. As if she recalled Wendy's reminder of skin protection, she covered her face with her hands whenever she could. She held the reins of her horse silently because she was also scared about the cruelty of hunting. It was the first time she'd seen it.
Wendy handed her canteen to Melissa, "Drink some water. It will calm you down a bit... Hunting is not a pretty sight for women."
Melissa became more depressed at Wendy's gloomy tone.
She said, "I think I have to give up the championship. Hunting is such a terrible thing."
It seemed that she initially had the ambition to win, but it was nonsense from the beginning for a tender lady like her to go out hunting. Would it be easy for her, who couldn't kill a worm, to see a beast bleeding to death?
After a long talk with Jean, Lard returned to them and said, "As we have come to this place, why don't we eat here?"
Although she didn't have an appetite at the moment, Wendy nodded because it was a good time to eat. Melissa also instantly agreed, as if she wanted to delay hunting.
Soon, the servant handed out a lunch basket to each of them. Finger sandwiches, grilled meat, and fruit were in the basket and looked delicious, but Wendy ate only a few sandwiches and a couple of pieces of fruit, leaving the rest untouched. She really couldn't eat much. It was not easy for her to eat right after seeing the cruel scene of the hound biting the dead fox.
However, Melissa ate slowly to delay the return to the hunt. Eventually, after eating a whole sandwich, she wiped her mouth with a napkin after emptying her water bottle halfway.
As Wendy watched the movement of grass bugs, a strong wind began to blow. A grass bug suddenly flew into the strong wind. Wendy turned her eyes to the surrounding scenery where the branches were swaying. Schroder was the first to stand up when he felt something unusual. Looking up at the sky, he noticed through dense trees a dark black cloud gathering in the sky.
"I think it's going to rain. We need to find a place to avoid the rain for a while."
They hurriedly packed up and got on their horses. They tried to find a place to avoid the rain with the help of the servant who was familiar with the forest trails, but it began to rain before they found a suitable place. In no time, the rain soaked their shoulders.
As it was raining, Snowyko neighed a bit. Cold raindrops made other horses feel good, but for some reason Snowyko didn't like it.
'Don't you like hunting?' Wendy gently tapped Snowyko's wet nape to appease her.
By the time they got under a rock that protruded like a roof, they as well as the horses, were already soaked.
Wendy pulled the veil over her face several times then took off the hat as if she couldn't help it. Melissa shivered as if she felt cold suddenly because she got wet in the rain. Jean hurriedly took off his jacket and handed it to her. Watching that, Lard looked at Wendy, but she shook her head to tell him he didn't need to take his jacket off.
Sitting under the rock while waiting for the rain to stop, they were silent. The silence was broken when Jean started whispering to Melissa. He babbled about his private life and other trifling stuff, but for Melissa, who was uncomfortable about this kind of awkward silence, such a dialogue was like sweet rain.
Listening to Jean whispering to her, Wendy also decided to tell Lard what she wanted to say.
Wendy spoke with a low voice, watching the leaves swaying in the rain, "Sir Lard, I want you to do me a favor."
Looking at the horses standing in the rain, Lard turned his eyes to her. Wendy wiped rain from her forehead and looked into his eyes. His dark hair soaked in rain looked blurry like a watercolor painting.
"Tell me."
"... If you don't mind, I want you to stop hunting now. It is not very pleasant to see the dying animals. Of course, I'm sorry it's going to disgrace your honor if I can't do well in the hunting competition, but I would appreciate it if you consider my request."
Lard was silent for a while as if lost in thoughts. Only after rain flowed down the leaves for several moments, he opened his mouth.
"My honor is not kept by the scores of the hunting contest. If I pretend not to know your difficulties, I would be disgraced... Don't worry. I will stop hunting here. However, as there are many watchful eyes in this contest, we should not return to the entrance of the forest right away. If you don't mind, we'll spend more time in the forest."
Wendy nodded. His reply was more than enough to satisfy her.
Given the crown prince's attitude, it was not wise for them to return right away, so she gladly agreed with his suggestion that they spend more time in the forest, but she soon had to look up at his worried expression with suspicious eyes. His answer could easily satisfy her, but he didn't consider his own interests.
Wouldn't a typical man do anything to enhance his honor? That might be the same case with Lard. He had excellent skills and potential to win the contest. So, she could not understand his decision to give up.
If he were really bothered by what she said, it would be no problem for them to continue to hunt while keeping her and Melissa at a distance, although it may not be a perfect solution.
Even if he did that, it would not go against chivalry.
Above all, if Lard returned without hunting any game, he would be the object of people's ridicule. It would be hard for him to save face with the game he hunted so far, let alone being included in the award list.
Given the high expectation of the participants in the contest, his hunting today would be regarded as very poor performance.
Wendy pondered it seriously. So far, she habitually showed knee-jerk reaction to his excessive favor or kindness with suspicion, but she had to reevaluate him this time. He offered to do her a favor by giving up his own gains and even incurring damage to his honor.
Suddenly, she recalled the main character of the play, which women admired, in front of Linus Medical Center.
'Was the name of the play called 'Shasha who stole the knight's kiss?'
The imperial knight, the hero of the popular drama, would have captured the hearts of women using eloquent words like Lard. Namely, he must have used the kind of romantic words that captivated the women.
Wendy sighed a bit, looking at Lard at that moment.
Lard's words were far from romantic, but if she had to screen out the most romantic of all the words of the world, she would choose what he said. Actually, she liked the true courage of the man who would give up the championship for her rather than giving her the glory of winning the hunting contest.
But she soon shook her head at her idle thoughts. She felt she had grown a bit romantic after seeing a cruel hunting scene a few times.
'How can I use this kind of cheesy expression 'romantic'?'
Her face hardened as if she was disappointed with her reckless thoughts.
"Melissa, are you okay? Your face doesn't look good, " Jean asked Melissa with a worried tone. Wendy's eyes turned directly toward Melissa. Melissa was still shivering as if Jean's jacket alone couldn't keep her warm. He asked the servant to bring a blanket and wrapped her with it.
"Melissa, can you tell me where it hurts?"
Wendy approached her and examined her condition. Her condition seemed to be quite serious, given that even her lips turned white.
"...... My body is cold and aching. I feel nauseous. I think I have an upset stomach, too, " said Melissa, crying while covering her mouth with her hands. In fact, she reluctantly ate a whole cold sandwich, and worse, she got a cold as she got rained on. Wendy sighed after looking at her forehead. She seemed flushed.
Wendy hurriedly looked around to check if there were any helpful plants nearby. There were all kinds of green plants in the forest. After looking for something for a while, Wendy found a welcome plant near the rock and ran to it.
When Wendy picked up several leaves of the plant and returned to Melissa, she looked up at Wendy, with her face almost buried in the blanket.
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