A black military jacket with a wide collar draped under Cedric's grey shirt, wrapped tightly around his body, showing off his strong muscles. Cedric only uses one lapel pin as an ornament on his outerwear, and a black tie on his undershirt. Garter shirts are worn over his underwear, as well as garter sleeves on both sleeves, to avoid unnecessary wrinkles. Cedric's legs were wrapped in black tight pants with calf-high boots in the exact same model as Kirsi's. On his left thigh, was a black gun holster that supported his beloved silver flintlock. By simply standing in place, his presence had already grabbed everyone's attention.
As soon as the Emperor's speech was over, the event officially began.
Cedric couldn't go straight to Kirsi while the Emperor still had a lot of small agendas to do. So Kirsi was the one who had to go there and pay respects to the Emperor, Empress, and 8 concubines, along with several princes and little princesses. The Emperor was chatting with the Grand Marshal and several other well-known generals, leaving no room for someone as low as Kirsi to join. Because of that, Kirsi postponed the small talk for the Emperor and turned to greet all the members of the imperial harem. The concubines were friendly to her, each hugging their son and daughter affectionately, as if they were part of a happy family in general. Seeing them only made Kirsi imagine her very future, where Cedric who had become Emperor would probably attract more concubines than his father could because of how handsome he was.
When Kirsi bowed politely before the Empress, the woman smiled gently. The majestic woman sat on a chair with soft cushions. Two beautiful ladies-in-waiting fanned her with a foot-wide feather fan. It looks majestic and luxurious. The Empress is not as old as the Emperor. She was married at an even younger age than Kirsi. And when compared to Cedric, she seemed more suited to be his older sister than his stepmother.
"Your Majesty the Empress, greetings from this daughter-in-law."
"My daughter-in-law, you look charming in that outfit. Do you want to join in on the hunt?"
The Empress is a woman who upholds the dignity of a woman, but she is not conservative. For her, women don't have to be confined in tight cuffs and walk gracefully in dresses that wrap like a birdcage. According to her, it would be better if women could receive the same common education as men and could work as they wished. She is the person who most demands gender equality. Seeing Kirsi who dared to violate society's unwritten rule about women not wearing pants made the Empress at least feel a little admiration for her.
"I wouldn't dare, Your Majesty. I would only spoil the fun of the men there. I was planning to have a look around here looking for a stray rabbit or two. The meat is so tender and low in fat, I wish I could serve it on the menu for tonight's dinner."
The Empress looked radiant, saying, "I am looking forward to it."
Even though Kirsi looked petite compared to Cedric who was 198 cm tall, when compared to the Empress, Kirsi who was around 172 cm tall looked like a towering pillar. Arthur has a height of 186 cm, while the Female Lead is only approximately 153 cm and is the shortest among the other characters.
As soon as her chat with the Empress ended, Kirsi intended to withdraw and find a place that was a little quieter to calm down. But unlucky, Arthur can't seem to let her wish come true and intercepts her halfway. Kirsi scowled. Arthur wore clothes not much different from Cedric, and looked cool. No need to use a waste of words to describe this one person, because the author of the novel "My Dearest" has spent more than enough pages of paper to tell his dramatic Love story.
Arthur just opened his mouth to speak when Kirsi raised her hand in the air, giving a 'stop' sign while frustratedly cutting him off, saying, "If you're worried about Lady Viona, then there's no need to worry about. I don't have the strength to bother her. If you don't believe it, you can keep an eye on me all the time."
Arthur closed his mouth again. He didn't really mean to say that. Even though their love affair has ended, they are at least still bonded as a pair of playmates. Arthur intended to take Kirsi to talk with their old friend who was assigned to the South and had been separated for years. Even though what Kirsi just said wasn't completely wrong, Arthur remembered their last conversation about discontinuing the argument. That's why he didn't come here to upset Kirsi. When he was about to open his mouth again to clear up the misunderstanding, in an instant, Kirsi had disappeared from his sight.
Just like Cedric, Kirsi is also equipped with a 9-inch flintlock draped in a gun holster on her thigh. She had no intention at all to make small talk with the other young masters and madams, even avoiding her father and older brother to prevent a long, time-consuming chat. With her all-too-ordinary attire, although she was so beautiful that it almost blinded everyone who looked at her, her overall appearance was not so flashy that it was very easy for her to blend in. Plus the black cloak she had picked up from the nearby horse stable, it was getting harder and harder to find her.
Kirsi had thought of the perfect alibi before going to her destination. Since she wasn't good at riding horses, she walked.
Kirsi walked far enough that her calf went numb. She didn't go deep into the depths of the forest, just went around before moving around to the starting point. She had to keep a distance neither too close nor too far from the Emperor's tent. From where she was standing, Kirsi could see people in the distance.
The men sat proudly on their horses, while single ladies and married women lined the edge of the hunting grounds waving their handkerchiefs, hoping one of the young masters would grab them. In addition to handkerchiefs, they also have flowers to tuck in the shirt pockets of the targeted youths. The sound of a loud hand whistle echoes, indicating that the hunting event has officially started.
The rumbling came several times, before getting further and further away and leaving only a faint tremor on the ground. The horse herd of the noble youngsters drove in an arrogant rhythm. The rumbling of footsteps did not only come from the hoofs of the horses, but also from the herd of elephants brought by the ministry of rites whenever events outside the palace were held.
Kirsi hid behind the bushes, calming herself down.
The first day of the hunt is usually spent walking around the area memorizing the route. If they are lucky, they will meet game animals along the way. Not everyone takes it seriously on the first day. Even the Crown Prince's entourage was playing rolls of dice and eating nuts from inside the shoes of his tent.
The fall hunting event is actually held for 7 days each year, and is held in late October or early November. However, due to the Emperor's recent poor health, the event was sped up and reduced by 3 days to only 4 days and 3 nights.
Today Kirsi intends to go on her special patrol. For security reasons, the Emperor would switch positions several times with a member of the patrol during a certain period to obscure the specifics of his whereabouts. Even the Empress was not informed of this. Only the people from the guard group knew. And if later the Emperor's position was exposed and an attack occurred, it would be easy for the palace to guess who was the mastermind.
Based on the novel's content that was still fresh in Kirsi's memory, the tragedy of the Emperor's attack was carried out not far from the public tent where the Emperor was secretly hiding. In the novel, the Emperor swaps positions for the first time with one of the commanders of the imperial guard troops, who later the fake Emperor will be taken on a 'secret' escape by the Crown Prince, to distract their prying eyes. This method is very effective. But the actual problem came when the real Emperor had to part with Cedric.
There were people outside the rebellion group who held a personal grudge against the Emperor who happened to see the situation as a golden opportunity and spontaneously staged a coup d'etat. But it was still uncertain whether they were really passersby who happened to see a golden opportunity in passing. It could be that the protagonist guesses wrongly and intentionally leading the reader to believe a false diction.
The emperor should at least be guarded by a competent person. And around the current hunting grounds, only two people can really prevent the Emperor's misfortune. Those people were Cedric and the Grand Marshal. In the novel, the Grand Marshal accidentally meets a fragile Female Lead who is caught in the middle of an enemy confrontation and is forced to save the little Princess first. As a result, no great person was able to reach the real Emperor's place in time, causing the Emperor to nearly lose his life. And because of that carelessness, the person who was most affected by the sap was Cedric, so he was temporarily excluded from qualification as the Emperor's representative, and the position fell heavily into the Empress' hands.
Rather than a lucky person, Kirsi prefers to call the Female Lead a bearer of misfortune.
Kirsi wasn't going to bother Cedric and let the guy go his own way. In exchange, Kirsi would kidnap the Grand Marshal and make him run to the Emperor's position as soon as the attack alarm sounded. Kirsi wasn't going to let the Female Lead cause trouble and be a major cause of tragedy for the next half year. At least Kirsi knew very well the position of every important person during the attack. She could chart a path that wasn't high risk and had the Grand Marshal save the Emperor in time.
Today was spent by Kirsi checking whether the paths mentioned in the novel matched the real terrain in this world. Some things are not quite the same, but the rest fits the description of the novel. Kirsi marked some trees with the fruit knife she stole from Laura. And on her way home, Kirsi hunted forest rabbits while passing by. Although Kirsi was not very familiar with events like this in modern life before, don't underestimate Kirsi's ability to survive in the wild, as she is the most competent member of the scouts of her generation.
It was late afternoon when Kirsi returned to the camp area. Some people have returned from their hunts and carry their prey proudly. Most people get deer and donkeys. A small portion is filled with rabbits and partridges. The one who brought the most impressive bounty was the tremendous Grand Marshall. He bravely managed to defeat a sun bear and dragged it to the camp area alone.
Numerous people cheered him on proudly, filling the area around him to such an extent that Kirsi couldn't see his face properly. Last time when she was about to see the face of the popular Grand Marshal, the man was talking to the Emperor so Kirsi didn't dare steal a glance. Now that the man was not so far away from her, Kirsi was still pitifully let down by the circumstances. She gave up stealing glances at one of her idols and moved away.
Kirsi brought the two rabbits she had caught and tied their legs with her hair ribbon. Just as she was on her way to the soup kitchen to hand over the rabbit, someone stopped her. The person tapped her on the shoulder from behind. And when Kirsi turned her head, a strong and rough index finger poked her cheek.
That person is Cedric.
Kirsi is at a loss for words. Don't know what to say. Cedric came in soaking wet. His thick outer uniform had been removed, slung over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. His black hair was slicked back messily, revealing a sweat-soaked forehead. Not only on his forehead, but his entire body was so wet that the grey shirt stuck to him tightly, tracing all the lines of his muscles into something worth watching. Not to mention that his black tie had been loosened, with the top two buttons unbuttoned, revealing his pale, slightly flushed collarbone.
Kirsi furrowed her brows, and lowly asked, "Did you fall into the river or something?"
Cedric tilted his head, exposing his sexy, sturdy neck. There are two black moles lined up vertically on his right collarbone. Cedric answered with another question, "Where are you going?"
Kirsi snapped out of her daydream, and cleared her throat softly as she lifted the two rabbits she had managed to get. Her current appearance is also no better than Cedric's. Her long black hair that was left loose was mostly tousled and stuck to her forehead and neck. Her shirt was pure white in the beginning, but now that after a long and tiring adventure in the forest, her shirt had become so dirty and tattered.
"No need to take it to the soup kitchen. Let's cook together." Cedric closed the distance between them, in one action taking over the rabbits. "I'm starving."
"What about your own quarry?"
Cedric grinned wickedly, his mischievous canines showing, and said, "This useless Crown Prince was too busy playing dice that he forgot to go hunting."
Kirsi complained, "But I have promised the Empress to serve the rabbit I hunted for her."
Cedric rolled his eyes and started to move away while carrying other people's prey like his own. Kirsi followed behind him. Cedric said without turning his head, "Then take a rabbit at random from the soup kitchen and say you hunted it."
It's actually a good idea too. Why didn't Kirsi think about it earlier? Knowing that she didn't have to bother catching the rabbit herself.
Not far away was a lonely place with a fallen tree trunk across the ground. On the other side of the log, there was a burnt burner whose fire was still burning. Just need to be fanned a little so that the fire gets bigger. Cedric brought Kirsi to that place. Not far, there was the sound of splashing water, indicating that the river was quite close to here. Cedric went to cut and skin the rabbit there. When he returned, the rabbit was skinned and stuck to a stick. Cedric stuck it sideways by the burning fire, then took a seat next to Kirsi and sat on the ground, sighing comfortably. Since Kirsi was sitting on a tree trunk, the difference in height between the two allowed Cedric to rest his head on Kirsi's thighs. He did it so naturally as if the cold back incident last night never happened.
Seeing Cedric really acting normal as he said made Kirsi inevitably have to get used to it and act equally normal. Kirsi wouldn't be the first to ask his part how guilty she felt, because it was up to Cedric to decide. Because in the first place it was the original Kirsi who forced Cedric to be in an uncomfortable position right now. Kirsi sighed, but with a tired tone. Her hand unhesitatingly reached over to Cedric's head next to her thigh, rubbing his limp hair. She commented, "Looks like I'm the only one who's ever seen your real hair?"
Cedric's blue eyes focused on the blazing flame in front of him. Red and orange sparks reflected clearly on the clear blue bead. When he heard Kirsi's question, he snorted and said, "If anyone ever finds out about this big secret of mine, then I know who the culprit is who leaked it."
"Big secret? In my eyes, you just don't like your real hair."
"If I had to choose, I do prefer black."
Kirsi took a tuft of Cedric's black hair and tossed it in her hands, spun it, curled it, and then tugged at it. She said in a serious tone like a wise imperial academy scholar in composing her demo speech, "You were born white so you are grateful for your white. I was born black so I am grateful for my black. God created differences so we get to know each other, and we make up excuses as if differences justify discrimination."
Cedric furrowed his brows, "What kind of discrimination do you mean?"
"Discrimination against what we and others do not have. There are some things we cannot change or choose on our own, and that is our physical appearance and which family we will be born into. Everything is determined in God's hands. Even so, humans actually never satisfied so they are blind to what they have and are less grateful."
Cedric chuckled, he looked up to see Kirsi and wittily said, "It seems our chat has suddenly become heavy."
Kirsi complained, "I just don't want you to be caught in a chain of discontent."
"Well, it's just a matter of like or dislike, not rejection and hate."
"Good then." Kirsi was still ruffling Cedric's hair with her hands, looking like a child playing with an interesting toy. She asked once again, "The black colour doesn't fade even though it's wet with sweat. Did you use magic?"
"Just a simple trick."
The sound of burning flesh filled the atmosphere around them. Cedric twisted the log supporting the rabbit meat and exposed the fire to the other side. He sat back in his place patiently. After they had been silent for a while, Cedric suddenly said, "You know, this place used to be a place of mass executions?"