Crown Prince Rahegar? This name... it sounds too familiar. was he the villain? or one who's gonna probably mess everything up?
Man, I need to focus here, but I can't. I am sitting here thinking...thinking...thinking...
But I can't.
And why can't I focus? Oh, lemme tell you why.
"Oh my god, Lady Lora, you look absolutely stunning! Where did you get this dress?"
Yeah, you guessed right. I'm in this room full of these noble ladies, all sipping tea. And I know you might be wondering, 'How the hell did I end up in this room?'
Well, strap in, 'cause my so-called mother—the Grand Duchess—decided that I need to go relax and have some tea. Yeah, sure, I thought it was just gonna be a chill moment, but instead, it's a full-on mingle with the rich and fancy session, complete with tea and cookies.
Oh but, that's not the main point here.
The main point is— These ladies, treat me like I'm a freaking ghost. A ghost, I tell you! like, I'm sitting here, in the middle of the room, but they act like I'm not even here. I mean, come on, it's not like I'm dying to talk to them.
sigh...
Can we just get to the part where I go to hunt?
But then... that girl Zara... the one with the cotton-candy hair I met at the boutique? Yeah, she's here too. And guess what? she kept glancing at me and smirking. What's so funny? Do I look like a clown to you? Is there a big red ball on my nose?
Okay, okay, Eun-Byun Lee. Chill out. Chill out. Just ignore her. Because my temper? It's not exactly the most trustworthy on the planet, so let's keep it together.
Let's mind our own business.
I looked around, sipping my tea, trying to mind my own business, when...
"Oh my lady Cecilia..." Zara calls out.
OH NO. here she goes.
I turn to her, trying to keep my calm.
"I heard you're going to join the hunt festival too?" she asked, almost mocking me.
I can't even. I let out a lazy sigh, "Yeah..."
And then, the whole room starts laughing. Hold up, what? Did I just make a joke? I didn't even try to be funny. What's so damn hilarious?
"Then I guess you'll be the first one to lose," she says.
My hand's twitching.
I swear to God, if she says one more thing... I could punch her right now and be done with it. But nope. Calm down, Eun-byun Lee, calm down. If I lose my temper here, I'll end up chained in a dungeon.
So, yeah... I'll just sit here, pretend to sip my tea, and pray the hunt starts soon.
***
Finally, the hunt begins...
I swear, I was about to suffocate from all the gossips and those eyes of hatred burning through me. But now? Now, I'm standing here in front of a big, handsome horse.
And thinking, Did I sign up for this?
I look at the horse, my face practically pale and white. I turn to the Grand Duke, trying to play it cool. "So... you're saying this is my horse?"
The Grand Duke nods like he's just handed me the keys to a Ferrari. "That's right. since this is your first hunt, I picked this horse out just for you, my child," he says all proud.
It's great, really great, but... How do I tell him I've never ridden a horse in my life? I mean...back where I come from, we had cars and bikes. No horses. No carriages. So, what the hell am I supposed to do with this thing?
The Grand Duchess, still a bundle of nerves, looks at me and says, "Sweetie, you can still give up. You don't have to go."
I force a smile, awkward as hell.
But I know she must've caught the fear in my eyes, and it's not even the hunt I'm scared of. It's this horse. This mean-looking, beautiful creature that looks like it's about to kick me.
Then Tristian and Theodore walk over with Lora, all calm, cool, and collected. Tristian scans me like I'm some kind of puzzle piece he can't figure out. And then—he opens his mouth.
"Stay close to me. Don't get lost, or else I won't protect you."
Bro, did I ask you to protect me? I mean cool down, man.
"And he is the male lead," I mumbled under my breath.
Forget it. I'm already stressed out because of this big, mean horse that probably hates me. I took a deep breath, trying to hype myself up.
It's fine. I'm Eun-Byun Lee. I got this. I can control this horse. It's not that tough, right?
...Right?
I mean, how hard can it be? It's just a giant beast that can probably stomp me into the ground. Totally fine. I'll just walk up, give it a little pat, and show that horse who's boss.
So I muster up all my courage. FIGHTING!
I reached out to this horse, all confident, and—SNORT!
Oh, hell no.
It snorted right in my face, like it was saying, 'Get lost, human.'
I freeze for a second, glancing at the Grand Duke, who's grinning. "Don't worry, Cecilia, you can control him. Just use the technique you learned in your class."
Technique? What technique?
Real Cecilia probably learned something useful. But me? I'm just here hoping I don't get trampled by this horse. I smile awkwardly, nodding. "Yeah, sure."
So, I take a deep breath, straighten up, and go for it again. I reach out to touch the horse.
SNORT!
Okay, now it's personal. This horse is literally telling me to back off. Then I heard Theodore's voice saying, "She can't even control the horse. How's she supposed to go for the hunt?"
I glared at him. But I calmed myself again. Alright, horse. You think you're tough? Well, I'm the fighter, too. I got this.
Now, I stood in front of that big horse. I stand tall, puff out my chest, and lock eyes with the horse. We're in a staredown now, me versus this giant beast. The tension was real. And then something magical happens. The horse stares at me for a good minute, then suddenly—it bows.
My brain short-circuits. Did this horse just—BOW? To me?
I freeze.
The entire world freezes.
I mean—everyone freezes.
"What just happened?" I mumbled to myself.
I hesitated, my hand slowly reaching towards the horse. Please don't snort me again; please don't snort me again…
I touched his head.
He didn't snort.
He didn't even try to bite me.
He was calm. He actually let me pat him!
I'm not gonna lie, I was kind of... shocked. My eyes went wide.
"What... what happened?"Theodore stammered, totally confused.
I blinked at him, honestly wondering the same thing. Like, what just happened?
Did I just—did I just control this big freaking horse guy?
I glance at the horse, patting him like it was no big deal. "I... I guess I did," I mumbled under my breath.
This is how I own horses now. I guess.
The Grand Duke gave me a satisfied nod. "Great. Now, let's get ready. The hunt festival will begin."
I was honestly feeling pretty good at that point. I mean, yeah, maybe it was just a horse—but I had tamed him. For the first time in this messed-up world, I finally felt like I had something that was mine. Like, I actually owned something now.
Then, Lora started doing her thing. She looked at the Grand Duke, Theodore, and Tristian, all serious. She pulled out some weird thread bracelet thing and tied it onto their swords, like some kind of mystical warrior ritual.
"Good luck," she said, with a gentle smile.
I stared at them, completely confused. What the hell is going on here?
Lora caught my eye and then suddenly looked all hesitant. "I... I'm sorry, Cecilia," she said. "I didn't know you'd be going to the hunt, so I didn't make one for you."
I shot a quick look at the Grand Duchess, confused as hell. "What is that?" I asked, pointing at the weird bracelets.
She smiled softly. "It's a symbol of protection, my dear. A charm for victory in the hunt. It's tradition."
A tradition?
A charm for victory? Protection? Okay, so this hunt wasn't just some random thing. It was a big deal, and if they had their little charms, I want one too.
I looked at Grand Duchess with all the seriousness. "I want that too."
She blinked at me, clearly taken aback. "But dear, we... we don't have extra."
I straightened up and said, "It's okay; you can tie anything for me. It doesn't matter. I just... I just don't wanna go empty-handed."
Grand Duchess looked at me for a moment and then smiled gently. She took off one of the rings from her finger. It was weird—like, not the normal kind of ring you'd expect. It was blue, but not just any blue. It was this deep, mysterious shade, almost like the night sky or something. Cosmic, maybe? Whatever it was, it definitely looked weird.
She handed it to me with that soft smile. "Here. You can have it as your lucky charm. I hope nothing harms you, my dear."
I stared at the ring for a moment. It was... mysterious, sure. But who cares? At least I got something as my lucky charm, right?