Chapter 97: Whispers of the Hunt

But even next week, I want to see you. Selfish as it sounds, I just want to be with her.

If you’re up for it, how about next week—week, week, week!

“Week…?”

“Weeek…?”

“Scent…?”

“No, I mean, weeekk…”

“Mountain goat? Mountain goats are adorable.”

“Right. Mountain goat… Yeah, they’re cute.”

Karlahee silently fought back tears as she let her go.

“Long time no see, Schomord Youngae.”

“Indeed. Hoho. How have you been?”

When Lara Schmord arrived at the tea party, dozens of young ladies had already taken their seats. At the center of it all stood the reformed villain Rozally. After exchanging brief greetings with familiar faces, Lara lifted her head at the murmurs coming from the entrance.

“Oh my, who might that be? Isn’t that His Highness’s fiancée?”

Rozally clasped her hands and turned toward the entrance. All eyes fixed on the newcomer—Elina II, dressed in a bright yellow dress, stepped forward with an innocent gait. Their faces shone with warmth, yet an unspoken tension hovered between them.

“It’s our first meeting since His Highness’s birthday. Hoho. How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine, really. Hehe. The folks in the Imperial City treat me so well that every day is a blast.”

“Blast…? I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it’s a relief to hear you’re doing well.”

With a pure smile, Rozally tilted her head and asked in a tone as innocent as a child’s.

“Oh, by the way, Lady Elina I isn’t going to miss the hunting contest, right? As His Highness’s partner, of course.”

“Of course! Hehe. I’m already super excited for the hunting contest!”

“I’m excited too. Will you be at the contest party afterwards?”

“You bet. Hehe!”

Rozally laughed brightly at Elina II’s spirited reply.

“Then, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the contest party.”

“Me too, Rozally.”

‘Come on, Kim Bing-ui. I’ve set a special trap just for you.’

‘You wicked woman, the more you go off, the brighter the Female Lead shines.’

The two exchanged quiet, knowing glances, as if they understood each other’s hidden meanings. With sparks about to fly in their second showdown, the extra young ladies quietly split into three groups.

One group backed His Highness’s fiancée, another supported a reformed Rozally, and a third remained neutral, indifferent to the contest. As Lara searched for a group to join, a majestic divine revelation echoed in her mind.

The proclamation was so grand it nearly made her head spin. As Lara staggered to a nearby chair, the Supreme Deity seemed to speak next.

“Danger, you say?”

It was as if a slick insurance salesman were pitching “Direct Male Lead Injury Insurance.” Though Lara almost thought, “Maybe I should get one,” she remained unmoved.

‘I know the drill. Whenever the heroine ventures into the mountains, something unfortunate always happens. She’s always stranded while the Male Lead frantically searches for her…’

‘They’d either be declared dead or given a death sentence anyway… Extras aren’t meant to survive in such peril.’

Lara shrugged and picked up her cup. She’d rather skip this dreadful hunting contest cliché and join another event.

* * *

Inside the Daeshin Shrine’s administrative office, a suspicious man in a black robe entered. With practiced ease, he strode across the room and stood before a desk. Then, with a flick of his thumb and forefinger, his cumbersome robe transformed into swirling black magic and vanished into thin air.

At the same moment, the man slumped into a chair. Clenching his lips against the stabbing pain in his heart, he bowed his head as his soft golden hair cascaded forward.

‘…Did I burn through too much magic?’

Mikhail clenched then relaxed his fist as the pain gradually faded. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at the stack of books on the desk. There lay “Magical Girl Lilica Official Edition”—a comic he was forced to collect every volume of, though it seemed an endless task.

‘What’s so amusing about this, anyway?’

Mikhail picked up Volume 5 and flipped past the cover. The artwork showed huge, round eyes, a V-shaped chin, and an adorably quirky pose.

He couldn’t fathom the obsession with recreating such gaudy 3D models. After all, wasn’t the Emperor supposed to prize his figurine? Didn’t that keep Lara attached? And don’t people cry when they lose them? Strangely, Lara herself seemed oddly captivated by the figurine.

As Mikhail lazily turned pages, one illustration suddenly caught his eye.

‘…Really? This character exists too?’

It was the debut arc of Magical Girl Tisha—once Lilica’s frail friend too sick to attend school, later chosen as the second Magical Girl to aid her.

Although Tisha made her first appearance in Volume 1, her gloomy look with dark hair and glasses had initially gone unnoticed. Her long hospital stay kept her in the background. But after her transformation—with light blonde hair and red eyes—she captured readers’ hearts in an instant.

Now, Mikhail couldn’t take his eyes off Tisha.

“Isn’t she just adorable?”

With every page turned, her cuteness only grew, and with it a pang of sympathy. Reading the dialogue in the white text box that revealed Tisha’s true feelings made his heart ache.

Before long, Mikhail skipped over the parts featuring Lilica, immersing himself solely in Magical Girl Tisha’s segments. His pace quickened, and in no time he had devoured up to Volume 15.

As the moon over the office disappeared and dawn broke, Mikhail inhaled the crisp morning air, his mouth agape.

“Damn… Does the author harbor a grudge against Tisha or something? Sigh… Where’s Volume 16? Tisha… oh.”

Tisha—once the healthy version of Lilica she had long admired, doomed to return to the hospital when her magic faded—grew increasingly jealous of her desire to attend school with Lilica. That envy soon turned to self-loathing, and eventually, her magic twisted into dark sorcery, corrupting her into a Black Magical Girl. How could anyone read about it without shedding tears?

“Tisha…”

Leaning deeply back in his chair, Mikhail ran his hand through his hair. His parched lips parted as her name escaped effortlessly. Overcoming a lingering emptiness, overwhelming emotion surged through him. Tisha. Tisha. His mind was consumed entirely by her.

At first, he was drawn to her transformed cuteness, but soon his empathy deepened. Now, even her spectacled, dark-haired look struck him as endearing.

Mikhail whispered her name, hoping she’d find happiness. The deeper his feelings grew, the more he dreaded turning to the next volume.

* * *

At dusk, under the brooding sky, a woman slipped out the rear gate of the annex where the Emperor’s fiancée resided. Swiftly, she climbed into a carriage and pulled down the cloth that veiled her face. Her silver hair shimmered in the moonlight.

Elina II gazed out the window. Moments later, her eyes fell upon the grand Duke’s estate. Stepping down from the carriage, she walked quietly to the main gate, greeted by Diches—who had been waiting at the entrance, adjusting his glasses.

“I knew you’d come, Elina II.”

“That letter really caught me off guard. What’s going on?”

“Let me take you to my study. We’ll talk there.”

Diches led her into his study, and as she followed, Elina II’s appetite grew.

This was unmistakably the moment when the Male Lead began to notice the twin sister he had long forgotten, leaving behind the twin younger sister who had lived in his shadow—a moment filled with regret for all his past actions as his true feelings emerged.

“Remember what you promised last time.”

The Male Lead paused for a moment before speaking.

“I need to know what it means.”

“…I know the Duke fancies Lady Elina I, that he wants to keep her close. So he’s been using me…”

“Wrong.”

“Huh…?”

Had he been surprised, the Male Lead would approach, gently seize her shoulder, and press his face to hers.

“Elina II, you were always told to use your charms to your advantage, but I have no intention of using you. Because you’re… not a substitute for Lady Elina I.”

“But compared to her, I’m nothing… I’m just not suited for a Duke…”

At the twin sister’s self-deprecating remark, the Male Lead silenced her with an unexpected, passionate kiss, their mutual feelings confirmed in that instant. Meanwhile, as Elina II savored the kiss, she suddenly noticed a piece of meat wedged between her front teeth.