Episode 75. Locard's Choice
For a moment, I was nervous, and my face turned red. I wanted to see the face of the Princess, so I turned towards them.
The Princess was looking at the sky with a flushed face.
Looking at that sight, I felt like I was on a picnic.
I approached Lord Rond and asked quietly.
"I heard that Prince Orl is not in good health. Is hunting okay?"
"It depends, but I heard that he can go on a street parade. I think the ones who are sweating right now are Viscount Rene and his escort."
"I see."
"Is the maid okay?"
"What is it?"
"Today's competition was not a complete failure."
"Oh, don't joke around. Sir."
Then Lord Rond laughed softly and said,
"Let's move too. Judging by the sound of horse hooves getting closer, I think they are driving the fox this way."
I quickly went back to Princess Milliora and relayed his words. When we remounted, the horses flinched.
A fox burst out of the woods and dashed between us.
“Damn it!”
I looked at Lord Rond as he uttered another vicious curse.
He shouted at Her Highness Milliora.
“Your Highness, follow me!”
Sir Rond immediately put Her Highness Milliora on horseback and set off. I checked the rear and set off too.
As Sir Rond, who was in the lead, turned sharply, Prince Kydel emerged from the thicket where the fox had appeared. Prince Grayon followed closely behind.
Prince Kydel crouched down and galloped, clearing the way for His Highness Grayon to catch the fox. Viscount Rene followed, followed by Sir Falcon and his Majesty’s knights, who tangled together in their paths. They were blocking each other’s paths.
I spurred on my spur to catch up with Lord Rond and Her Highness Milliora, who had moved farther away.
At that moment, a horse leaped out from beside me as if aiming for me. Orl said.
My horse jumped up in surprise and lifted its front legs.
“Ah! ”
My eyes went black. His Highness Orl’s face, looking down at me from his horse and smiling, was my last memory.
***
A woman’s shrill scream.
Locard knew who the sound was.
“Your Highness!”
Locard signaled to Grayon, then slowed down slightly and turned his horse’s head sharply.
Viscount Rene, who had been following him closely, lost his balance and fell over. It was a technique he had often used in Tunbar.
Watching Viscount Rene get up and fall after being thrown, Locard turned back.
When he found Lorisha lying unconscious in the field and raised his head, he saw Orl’s horse’s rump disappearing into the forest.
“Damn it. Damn it!”
Locard jumped down from his horse and shook Lorisha.
“Miss Lorisha, wake up! Open your eyes!”
He carried her and got on his horse.
Soon, Grayon appeared with a dead fox on his saddle.
He returned with a triumphant expression, but his face hardened when he saw Lorisha.
“Locard?”
“I will return, Your Highness. Viscount Rene has lost his horse, so you can handle it yourself.”
“Are you crazy? Locard! Locard!”
However, Locard was already running towards the entrance of the forest. Grayon felt real anger for the first time in a long time as he watched his back.
***
Locard looked at Lorisha, who was being treated by Whined, and felt astonished at himself. How could you abandon your master in the middle of a competition?
When he left Lorisha with Whined and returned to the hunting grounds, Grayon had already caught a falcon and two more foxes.
And so, three foxes were dripping blood from his horse’s rump. The sight was quite gruesome, but not as gruesome as the expression on Grayon's face.
Locard knew that Grayon considered his actions a betrayal. However, Locard did not blame himself too much.
He had eliminated Rene, and the knights still remained, so Grayon only had to deal with Orl. And Orl was a weak opponent.
He had no intention of taking someone who could not overcome even such a crisis as his master and protecting him like a child for the rest of his life.
Locard met Rond and Milliora, who had belatedly noticed Lorisha's disappearance, and informed them of the situation. He did not mention that Orl had done it.
Orl had not caught a single fox, and judging by the density of animals in the palace hunting grounds, it seemed impossible to catch more foxes today.
They naturally decided to call off the hunt today. Since the imperial attendants did not have the authority to declare victory in the contest, they simply recorded the number of foxes each had hunted and returned.
Lorisha was still lying on the long chair that Locard had initially moved. It was because Whined had told them to leave her there. After all, it was dangerous to move her.
Locard had to appease Grayon’s anger and calculate why Orl had attacked her in the hunting grounds. However, his mind was not working well because of his anger.
How could someone named Tagar attack a defenseless woman without anyone’s knowledge?
Blood was too noble to be criticized as mean and petty. It was the absurdity of the world he lived in.
So he swallowed his anger, biting his lip.
Whined was busy boiling, grinding, and stirring something in front of him. Even so, Lorisha did not move an inch. Locard suddenly tried to recall if he had ever seen Lorisha’s face with her eyes closed. He couldn’t remember.
She looked much more like a girl with her eyes closed. Instead of her usual somewhat rough and dapper self, the calm and timid appearance of a child was sleeping there. She even looked a little tired.
Her cheeks looked soft and warm, making one wonder why a woman like her would be hostile to someone like Orl.
It wasn’t hard to understand why Prince Orl had attacked Lorisha. It was a punishment for her repeatedly disrupting this competition, and at the same time, it was a warning to Princess Miliora.
I can’t afford to play with a youngster like you, so get out of your brothers’ battlefield.
The Empress’s proxy revenge wasn’t enough.
The message to her younger sister was also clear.
‘I don’t care about trivial things.’
Locard thought that from now on, real blood might be shed. A cold tension came over him for the first time in a long time.
Whined looked out the window at Miliora and Rond busily crossing the back garden and said,
“Your Excellency, the Princess is coming.”
“Please take care of her, sir.”
“Of course.”
Not long after Locard left quietly, Milliora knocked on the door.
She approached Lorisha, her nose wrinkled at the smell of herbs and medicines in the lab.
“Oh, are you dead?”
Rond frowned and coughed.
“They don’t treat the dead, Your Highness.”
“Oh. Yes. That’s right...”
Rond didn’t scold her anymore. The reason Milliora said anything was because she was really scared.
“Director, what’s going to happen to my maid?”
“I’m doing my best to treat her, Your Highness.”
“I understand that, but what’s going to happen to my maid?”
“...”
Her voice cracked, and Whined was embarrassed. Rond spoke softly.
“The head of the pharmacy is doing his best, Your Highness. You should go now.”
“But she’s my maid?”
“Your Highness.”
‘There’s a name called Lorisha.’
Whined frowned slightly in displeasure, then turned his head when he saw tears welling up in the Princess’s eyes.
Rond returned to Whined after sending the Princess away. Looking at his size, Whined thought for the first time that his lab seemed cramped.
“The maid...”
“She’s in critical condition. But she’ll be able to hold on.”
Rond nodded as if he knew and left.
From the next day on, he spent his time on the bench under Whined’s lab.
***
When Locard returned to the Second Prince’s Palace, Grayon couldn’t suppress his excitement.
“...!”
Grayon couldn’t decide what to say, so he shut his trembling mouth tightly.
Locard stood in front of him with a tired face.
“Congratulations on your victory in the third competition, Your Highness.”
“How dare you...”
Instead of finding another word, Grayon stood up and grabbed Locard by the collar.
“You leave me because of a bastard? I knew you thought I was funny inside. But I am Tagar. I can kill you whenever I want!”
Grayon’s anger was greater than he thought. Locard met his eyes and opened his mouth.
“If Your Highness is good at killing, then the rest is my job.”
“What...?”
“Saving them. If you kill them all, who do you plan to rule over in the future?”
Locard’s voice was low and rough. There was anger mixed in, but because there was no sarcasm, it burrowed deeper into Grayon’s lungs.
That was it. Grayon was always filled with revenge.
Who should he kill? Who should he take in and who should he kill to make himself safer? The first thing he thought about was always death.
But Grayon shook his head. Locard was right, but now it sounded like sophistry.
“You left me and Brother Orl behind. You betrayed me, Locard Kydel.”
“His Highness Orl was the one who attacked her.”
“What...?”
“If she had died, what would have happened to this competition? Your Highness would have lost half of the victory you had already achieved. When we start the competition again from the beginning, you will have forgotten about being a war hero.”
“I won’t believe anything you say now, Locard. You just fell for that girl. I just don’t understand!”
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