* * *

The next day, Giles rode leisurely on his horse. His bow hung at his waist, and his arrows were neatly tucked away in his quiver.

No wonder he was the first-place winner.

Even after a day had passed, the forest remained devoid of animals.

Thanks to this, everyone else would surely fail in the hunt. Then, naturally, first place would be his. He would be suspected of using trickery, but since there was no evidence, even if someone said anything, he could just say he was lucky, and that would be the end of it.

“I think it’s time to head back.”

The sun was setting in the west. Giles turned his horse towards the entrance of the forest, and his aide followed behind him.

“Sir Giles! You’re here! I think someone used a trick!”

At that moment, someone riding a horse suddenly appeared.

It was Carinne.

She was still talking about the trick. If she tried, it would be nothing more than a fuss over something insignificant. All the evidence from yesterday had been destroyed, so Giles had nothing to worry about.

“Do you have any evidence?”

“I’m sure. If you come and see—”

Carinne’s words were cut off by a deer that jumped out of the bushes. It was the first animal they had seen since the start of the hunting competition. Everyone was surprised and speechless as the deer ran away.

“What are you doing? We have to catch it! Sir aide, what are you doing!”

Carinne was the first to come to her senses. Giles’ aide widened his eyes and looked flustered.

“Me, me, the deer?”

“Yes. Go and drive the deer this way. Then, Sir Giles will be able to catch the deer.”

At Giles’ gesture, the aide replied that he understood and went after the deer. As soon as the aide disappeared, Carinne opened her mouth.

“There weren’t any animals in the forest after all…”

She looked somehow bitter.

Her voice was full of regret, like a child who was sad because it was raining and couldn’t go outside.

“Oh, right. This isn’t the time for this. Come this way. It’s right next door, so it won’t take long.”

Carinne changed her expression and clapped her hands.

He followed her, wondering what she was up to, and found a cart hidden in the bushes. It was full of live rabbits and deer. Next to the cart was a quiver full of bows and arrows. Anyone who knew how to handle a bow, even a little, would be able to shoot the animals easily.

“I guess they were trying to catch animals this way because they couldn’t hunt yesterday.”

He nodded in agreement with her words.

“Certainly, it wouldn’t be easy to get away with it now that there’s evidence.”

Whoever it was, they must have been an idiot… to bring a cart to such a conspicuous place. If they were going to use trickery, they should have been a little more meticulous.

‘Just like me yesterday.’

Giles felt his shoulders rise involuntarily, and he straightened his back and let out a chuckle. However, Carinne was staring at the cart with a strange look on her face.

“How did they come up with this idea… I don’t know who it is, but they’re amazing.”

“What?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

The way she pulled back as if she had been caught doing something wrong piqued his curiosity. He remembered how the princess had looked strangely regretful a moment ago, and he felt like he was missing something.

“It’s okay, tell me.”

“Ah…”

Carinne seemed to hesitate for a moment before opening her mouth.

“Yesterday, I thought Sir Giles used a trick. I thought it was amazing. Other people might think it’s cheating, but that’s how the world works, isn’t it? Cheating and being cheated.”

Giles doubted his own ears. She thought he was amazing? Because he might have used trickery? He hadn’t thought of that. Then again, a special woman like the princess would have unconventional thoughts.

Whenever she showed interest in him, she would say no, but when he invited her to the hunting competition, she came and participated in the competition. The Princess’s actions were certainly strange and difficult for ordinary people to understand.

While he was marveling, Carinne continued, her eyes fixed on the cart.

“There’s nothing wrong with the person who cheats. The person who gets cheated is just a fool. I think I should follow the example of the person who cheats. If someone is smart enough to do that, they would know how to make money, so they would have a lot of money, and then naturally, power would follow. That’s why I thought Sir Giles must have used trickery. I was wrong.”

She sighed, looking utterly disappointed.

Ah, so that’s what it was.

Giles slapped his knee inwardly. The Princess hadn’t been doubting him all this time. She had been checking to see if he had the qualities, testing whether or not he was fit for her unique criteria.

The Princess must have felt the same way when she saw the deer. She must have had high expectations, thinking that he had used trickery, but when the deer appeared, she must have thought that he might not have used trickery after all, and her expectations must have been dashed.

But what if what the princess thought at first was true?

Now that he had read her mind, there was still a chance. Giles carefully chose his words, his mouth dry.

“No, you’re right. You were right.”

“Yes?”

“I’m only saying this because we’re alone, but Princess, the truth is, I used trickery.”

“Oh, stop lying.”

Carinne waved her hands as if to say it was ridiculous. Yet, unlike her words, there was a faint glimmer of hope in her grass-green eyes.

Could he get her to fall for it today if he played his cards right?

Giles licked his lips and thought of what to say. It wasn’t a difficult task. He just had to mix truth and falsehood in the right way.

“I’m serious. I had my aide bring the cart here. I caught the animals yesterday in a similar way. I brought the deer that I caught earlier and put it here, and I tied the rest up in a cave and shot them with arrows.”

“So you’re saying you didn’t catch those animals in this forest but somewhere else?”

What an obvious question to ask. Could it be because she’s acting cute and stupid today because she’s in a good mood? Giles couldn’t help but smile, wondering where to go for dinner tonight.

“Yes, I caught them alive in the White Oak Forest and kept them caged before shooting them with a bow. That doesn’t mean my archery skills are bad, but…”

“You’re just not very smart.”

“Right… I mean, you’re saying I’m smart, right?”

“No.”

Huh? What does that mean? Did she change her mind? Carinne burst out laughing as she saw Giles looking bewildered.

“Did you believe that?”

At the same time, the veil was lifted as a group of people appeared before their eyes.

“I knew it!”

“I couldn’t find any game, no matter how hard I looked. You must have used trickery!”

“Aren’t you ashamed? You’re the one who organized the competition, and you’re using trickery!”

Next to the people stood a man Giles didn’t want to see. The man was holding an unidentified object, and as he clicked a switch, the people disappeared and reappeared.

“It’s a magic tool. It hides their appearance.”

Carinne added an explanation.

Giles’ face turned bright red as he realized the situation. He looked like a tomato that was about to burst from being overripe.

“You tricked me!”

“You’re the one who tricked us.”

She stopped laughing and spoke in a cold tone.

“And isn’t it obvious if you think about it? If I thought the person who used trickery was amazing, would I have gone looking for you? I would have found the person who used trickery on my own.”

In fact, even when she was planning, she wondered if it would work. Even though Giles was stupid, she couldn’t be sure if he would fall for the lie that he admired the person who used trickery. But then Archen stepped up and insisted.

“It will work.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. He’ll fall for it no matter what. He’s the kind of person who can’t stand it if he has anything to brag about. If you set the stage for him, he’ll be desperate to brag about it somehow.”

So, Carinne carried out the plan as planned, thinking that it would be right to follow Archen’s words, as he would know Giles better than she did, though she didn’t expect things to be this easy.

It was all thanks to Giles being stupid.

“No, I never ordered anyone to bring the cart! I used trickery yesterday, but not today!”

“Are you going to keep making excuses when there’s evidence right in front of you?”

“I heard you say that you ordered your aide to bring it!”

The people started to point their fingers at Giles.

Giles’ face turned pale, and he started to shout that Carinne was framing him, but his excuses were useless in the face of evidence and witnesses.

She approached him with a leisurely smile.

“Oh, right. The most important thing. I do like smart people. So, by the way, I don’t think you’ll ever catch my attention.”

Giles shouted at the top of his lungs, his face turning red and blue, but it was drowned out by the shouts of the other people. As Carinne and Archen left, the people, filled with anger, surrounded Giles.

To be caught using trickery while organizing a hunting competition.

What a disgrace.

“You did a good job.”

Archen approached, drunk with the joy of victory. It was also thanks to him that the plan succeeded. He had been able to separate Giles’ aide from Giles by releasing the deer at the right moment.

The only thing that bothered him was that Archen seemed reluctant about the plan.

He wasn’t happy with the fact that he was giving Giles leeway. Even if he were to cut off all ties with him later, he wondered if it was really necessary. In fact, even though the plan had been successful, his expression was not very bright.

“Are you still not happy?”

“No, it was for the best.”

He replied calmly.

Feeling unnecessarily sorry for him, Carinne changed the subject.

“But where did all the animals go? It was strangely empty, wasn’t it?”

It was a sudden question.

Even if Giles hadn’t taken care of it beforehand, it didn’t make sense that there wasn’t a single animal in the forest. Did they instinctively sense danger? Or did someone tip them off? It was a pointless thought. How could an animal understand the tip-off?

“Well… I don’t know either. But where are we going to have dinner?”

At that moment, Archen said something out of the blue, and Carinne’s mind was blown. She had made a promise with Archen to have dinner together today, which they couldn’t do last time.

“Surely you haven’t forgotten, have you? I’m really looking forward to it.”

Hearing his playful voice, she was relieved. Fortunately, he didn’t seem angry.

“Oh, of course! How about a shrimp specialty restaurant?”

Archen said yes, so the two of them stopped by the mansion to tie up their horses before riding a carriage straight to the city. They arrived at the shrimp specialty restaurant and immediately reserved the best window seat. There was still plenty of time before the break time was over.

“Yay! Let’s do everything we wanted to do while we’re at it.”

Instructing the carriage to be parked next to the restaurant, Carinne shouted excitedly.

“Let’s go buy some clothes!”

—