211 - I Got Engaged to the Blind Duke
Gerald turned to Marin with a complicated look in his eyes.
He had been avoiding the Emperor's dinner invitations, but he couldn't do the same with the Hunting Festival.
The reason for holding the Hunting Festival was to celebrate the marriage of the Crown Prince and Dia.
Marin, unaware that Gerald had been rejecting the Emperor's invitations on his own, strongly desired to attend, saying she couldn't leave Dia alone among the nobles.
Should he have left her behind by force?
Should he send her back now?
At that moment, Henders and Uvis burst into the tent, panting heavily.
"The Duke!"
"Henders?"
"Uvis?"
Gerald and Marin spoke at the same time.
"What brings you here?"
Olive asked with a puzzled expression, looking at the two.
"We came to see The Duke. Uvis, tell him."
Henders, catching his breath, nodded to Uvis, who was standing next to him.
Uvis looked at The Duke with a nervous face.
"We came to see The Duke. Your Grace, the Giant Rabbit is gone."
"What?"
Marin's green eyes, shocked, trembled.
"I'm sorry, Miss."
Uvis lowered his head with a dark face, and Gerald's cold voice echoed through the tent.
"Report in detail."
\ \ \
Uvis, who had become close to BaniBani while sparring, headed to BaniBani's treehouse early in the morning.
He had even brought some delicious beef for BaniBani, who had been listless since Marin had left for the capital.
He entered the treehouse, whose door was always wide open, without hesitation.
"Rabbit, I'm here!"
But there was no response from the bedroom.
BaniBani, no matter how listless, always perked up at the sight of meat.
The meat on the plate was still warm, and a delicious aroma was rising from it.
He's not coming out even after smelling this? He should have jumped out already?
Uvis tilted his head and looked inside, but the bedroom with straw bedding was empty.
"Did he go for a walk?"
The back of BaniBani's treehouse was connected to the Duke's Castle forest.
BaniBani, who still had the characteristics of a Rabbit, liked the forest and often went for walks.
Uvis looked down at the steaming meat.
Freshly grilled meat is tastier than cold meat, if possible.
He went to the back of the treehouse to give BaniBani warm meat.
The soil was soft from the rain two days ago, so BaniBani's footprints were clearly visible.
Uvis followed the footprints into the forest.
But he couldn't see BaniBani even after walking for a long time.
What was even stranger was that the footprints, which had been neatly aligned at first, were becoming more and more staggered, as if they were staggering.
Eventually, he came to the Duke's Castle walls past the forest.
In front of the walls, there were pieces of half-eaten meat and the ground was dented as if something heavy had been dragged away.
Uvis frowned at this.
BaniBani left meat behind?
That could never happen.
With a bad feeling, Uvis picked up the leftover meat and went straight to Sebas Butler.
"Butler!"
Uvis, who burst into the Butler's office without knocking, met Sebas Butler's stern gaze.
"Uvis, how old are you and you still-"
He interrupted Sebas Butler's nagging in a hurried tone.
"BaniBani is gone! He left this meat behind! BaniBani never leaves meat behind!"
Sebas Butler stood up in surprise.
"Let me see."
Sebas Butler carefully took the meat and examined it. Upon closer inspection, white powder was visible between the red flesh of the meat.
"Anything else?"
"I saw traces of something being dragged away."
Sebas Butler's jaw tightened.
He took out a vial from a box on his desk and poured it on the meat. Then, red bubbles began to form on the meat.
"What is that?"
Uvis asked with a curious face.
"I'm checking what's in the meat."
"What's in the meat?"
Sebas Butler's face, which always wore a gentle smile, turned red as if he was holding back anger.
"Blue bubbles are poison. Red bubbles like these are sleeping pills."
"Sleeping pills?!"
"Bring Henders to the Butler's office as soon as possible."
"Yes!"
Sebas Butler, who had sent a brief report by carrier pigeon, met Henders, who had rushed over.
Henders was the fastest in the Knights Order.
"If the carrier pigeon doesn't arrive, you need to report directly. Your Grace will probably guess who took the Rabbit. Go to the Duke's Residence in the capital as quickly as possible."
"Yes, I understand."
"I'll go too!"
Uvis, who was standing behind, raised his hand.
When the Butler looked at Uvis, Uvis insisted with a determined face.
"I found him, so I'm confident I can explain it well to Your Grace."
After a moment of consideration, Sebas Butler nodded heavily.
"Alright. You go with Henders too."
\ \ \
After Uvis's report, silence filled the tent.
Everyone present couldn't easily open their mouths.
Gerald's deep, sharp gaze turned towards the outside of the tent.
The Emperor's face, smiling leisurely on the platform in the distance, was clearly visible.
The sudden Hunting Festival. The kidnapped BaniBani.
What does the Emperor want? He wouldn't simply want a rare BaniBani that follows people.
What he wants is…….
Gerald clenched his fist tightly and turned his head to the side.
Marin, pale as a sheet, slowly raised her eyes and met his gaze. Her eyes were trembling as if there was an earthquake.
Afraid that a terrible premonition would become reality the moment they spoke, the two stared at each other without rashly opening their mouths.
Clear dew slowly gathered in Marin's green eyes. Seeing that, Gerald felt as if his heart was being torn apart.
"Marin……."
"……It's not, right?"
Marin shook her head, her vision blurred. Tears fell in drops. Her body was trembling as if she had a chill.
"It's not. It can't be……."
Marin kept repeating the same words.
Gerald wrapped his arm around Marin's shoulders and pulled her slightly into his embrace. Her heart was beating like crazy.
"Lord Gerald, if our Rabbit really is-"
Thump, thump, thump.
At that moment, the sound of drums echoed loudly through the hunting grounds.
Marin's shoulders, startled, rose and fell. Marin's face, clutching Gerald's collar tightly, was pale.
Her head turned towards the direction of the drums.
Please don't let the Rabbit be there.
Please.
\ \ *
Following the sound of the drums, the nobles all came out of the tent.
But for some reason, a circle was drawn on the wide open space in front of the tent.
And the Imperial Guards surrounded the wide platform where the Emperor was, like a shield.
The Emperor, sitting languidly on the throne, looked down at the nobles gathered densely below.
"Listen. Before the Hunting Festival, I have prepared a special event, so enjoy it."
As soon as those words were finished, a carriage covered with black cloth came out from behind the platform.
The carriage was parked in the circle. The knight who drove the carriage jumped down and stood next to it.
Ppoooo-
As the sound of the embossed trumpet rang out, the knight slowly removed the black cloth.
"Oh my!"
"Gasp! What is that?"
"Oh my goodness!"
The nobles exclaimed in shock and surprise.
A white Rabbit was crouching inside the bars of the carriage. It was bigger than a person, and its fur was stained with Blue Blood in places.
"This is a Desert monster called BaniBani. It is an apex predator among Desert monsters. I will bestow my Holy Sapphire upon the one who brings me the head of this Monster."
Holy Sapphire.
The necklace, as beautiful as it sounds, had diamonds densely embedded in a deep blue sapphire that resembled the night sea.
It was one of the Imperial Palace's greatest treasures and the most cherished possession of the late Empress, and was currently stored in the Imperial Palace treasury without an owner.
To offer something so enormous as a prize.
Several of those confident in their swordsmanship gripped their sword hilts tightly.
At that moment, the nobles busily parted to both sides. The Duke of the West and his fiancée walked out between them.