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Chapter 15
“Now! Let us begin the competition. Everyone, please take your seats!”
As the crowd that had been bustling finally settled down, the Head Attendant signaled the knight holding the Sands family’s shackles.
Clank.
Heavy iron chains fell to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
“The first Prey Competition begins now!”
“WOOOOAAAH!”
With the roar of the crowd, the participants began sprinting toward the central pillar.
Two men wearing numbers 1 and 3 took the lead.
“It’s a fierce race between Numbers 1 and 3! As expected, will the physically superior men take victory?”
Once known as the Baron of House Sands and his heir, they had already been reduced to mere objects.
“Run faster! Number 3!”
“Number 1! What are you doing? You’re the head of the family!”
Wilcock’s commentary continued to fuel the audience’s excitement.
“Ah—an unexpected attack from Number 4! Number 1 is knocked down, and the rankings shift!”
“Wooaaah!”
The only daughter of the baron’s house—now Number 4—grabbed her father’s pant leg and pulled him down.
“Oh my! Number 5, still a child, can’t even climb the pillar properly! That explains the low betting odds! And now—Number 3 has reached the top! Number 2 is right behind—oh! A mother and son meet halfway up the pillar!”
“Push him, Number 3!”
“Don’t lose, Number 2! You’re the mother!”
The audience no longer cared about anything else.
To them, the ruined noble family was no longer human.
They were just pieces on a board.
“Aah! Oh no—the prepared food has fallen!”
While Numbers 2 and 3 struggled, the transparent box containing food fell from the pillar.
The others—1, 2, 3, and 4—immediately jumped down toward the ground.
At that moment, something strange happened.
All four froze.
Their eyes still locked onto the food, but none of them moved.
Their bodies stiffened as if turned into statues.
And in that instant, the winner was decided.
Crunch.
The youngest child—Number 5—who had frantically opened the box, grabbed an apple and took a bite.
A moment of silence followed.
Then Wilcock shouted:
“Number 5! The winner of the first Prey Competition is Number 5! Congratulations!”
A wave of noise erupted.
Some cheered, some groaned in disappointment, others already looked forward to the next event.
“Please await the Imperial announcement until the next event.”
Wilcock smiled brightly as he scanned the crowd.
“Those who correctly guessed the winner, please show your slips to the attendants before leaving. Once again, glory to Her Imperial Majesty!”
“LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!”
Praise for Mary echoed endlessly.
* * *
“Y-Your Highness! I’ll go get something to drink!”
The moment they returned to the detached palace, Mori fled the room.
Her stiff expression made it unnecessary to even ask for the result.
As she staggered out, Lilia lowered her voice.
“I still don’t understand this. Even a thousand gold… how many people did they expect to guess correctly?”
“Robert wouldn’t give information Mary didn’t already know. She must have expected very few correct guesses.”
“But still! Even if only three people win, that’s three thousand gold… doesn’t the Emperor have no sense of money?”
Lilia spoke bluntly.
“…Even if this event causes some loss, she probably sees it as an investment for the future.”
Obviously Robert Edenbarker’s idea.
Evelyn swallowed the rest of her words.
“Investment?”
“Yes. News that someone won a huge prize will spread quickly through the capital. Then what happens?”
“Ah… more spectators will come. And betting will increase.”
“The palace will take the difference. Gambling always benefits the organizer the most.”
“Running gambling using citizens… that’s insane.”
“Yes.”
This was only the beginning.
If this continued, the capital would become a city of indulgence and corruption.
“Then the Empire will…”
“Collapse.”
“…”
“So we have to stop this madness as soon as possible.”
“How?”
“First, we take down the hunting dog.”
Her heavy gaze drifted toward the sunset outside the window.
“I regret the days before this.”
If only she had sensed the danger sooner in past lives.
If only she had fought harder to survive.
Maybe more people could have been saved.
A bitter taste filled her mouth.
But regret was a luxury now.
Even if she crouched low, she had to keep struggling beneath the surface.
And when the time came—
She would drag down these monsters one by one.
“Lilia.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Record the names and identities of everyone who participates in future Prey Competitions.”
That powerless paper, tied to the lives of victims—
Would eventually become the whip that brought down the hunting dogs.
Her voice dissolved into the darkening sky.
* * *
Five months later.
Aiden rode at the head of a vast plain, followed by dozens of knights.
Dust rose around their horses as they galloped.
“Your Grace, we will soon reach the capital.”
Despite days of travel, Aiden still carried himself with striking presence.
His ash-colored hair, dusted with dirt, shimmered strangely in the wind.
His amber eyes shone like a tiger’s even in the dark.
Even the exhaustion beneath his eyes only added to his dangerous charm.
But his appearance was undeniably worn.
“We’ll stop and clean up before entering.”
He could not enter the capital like this.
He ordered his aide Scott to find a river nearby.
After passing through a wooded area, they found a wide stream.
Aiden dismounted.
“Wash up and change your clothes. Make sure you look like the proud knights of the Glaster Order.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knights quickly began stripping and entering the water.
Aiden removed his leather armor as well.
The fabric, soaked with sweat, revealed his sculpted body.
Scott approached him.
“We made it back alive after being sent to die… The Emperor must be displeased.”
“Scott.”
Aiden’s relaxed expression hardened instantly.
Scott quickly lowered his head.
“Forgive me.”
“I’ve told you many times—your mouth will get you killed. Be more careful in the capital.”
“But Your Grace… the Duke’s house fought alone in a national war. And even achieved victory! The Emperor can’t easily cast us aside anymore.”
“…It was luck.”
At the beginning of the war, Brang had overwhelming superiority.
A collapse of their front lines seemed inevitable.
“We should request Imperial support.”
Just as he prepared to do so—
The heavens intervened.
A massive storm struck Brang.
Their granaries flooded, disrupting supplies.
With food shortages worsening, they were forced to surrender.
“To defeat a theocratic nation like Brang because of luck… isn’t that divine will? How did Princess Evelyn predict it?”
Aiden recalled his conversation with Evelyn months ago.
“Half a year. The war will end in exactly half a year.”
“And all the families who supported my mother will disappear from the capital.”
Everything had unfolded exactly as she said.
She predicted all of it.
Setting aside Mary’s purges, how could she have foreseen divine weather itself?
Since then, Aiden had not stopped thinking about Evelyn.
“Once we arrive in the capital, you will go directly to the palace, correct?”
“Yes. I must report the victory.”
“Will you only see the Emperor?”
Scott asked carefully.
He had no personal hostility toward Evelyn, but she was undeniably dangerous to associate with.
The Emperor was already purging all supporters of the former Empress Blair.
Evelyn, her daughter, was effectively a ticking bomb.
No one knew why she had been spared.
But getting involved with her could mean being dragged into treason by association.
“Maybe.”
“Your Grace…”
“If possible, I would like to meet the Princess.”
Scott’s eyes widened.
Aiden did not notice.
“I have things I want to ask her.”
His amber eyes sank into thought.
Was she the one who guided all of this?
After months of imagining her, he now genuinely wanted to see her.
In every possible sense.
“Let’s wash first.”
Leaving a stunned Scott behind, Aiden stepped into the river.
Cold water rose from his ankles to his thighs, sharpening his senses.
He washed his face repeatedly, then submerged himself completely.
