In the Palm of the Hunter
The geometric spiderweb patterns on the walls and the black dots embedded at every joint writhed unpleasively in my field of vision.
This isn’t some simple curse aimed at a single person. It’s a colossal spiderweb meant to swallow the entire imperial palace.
Without thinking, I reached out to the wall once more.
The power inside me seemed to whisper, urging me to burn away this eerie darkness.
Just as the transparent particles of light at my fingertips were about to collide with the black magic and produce a sharp burst of sound—
“Oh my, is Lady Lucerne fascinated by the palace wallpaper?
Since you’ve spent your life confined to your territory, I suppose this kind of extravagant decoration must be entirely new to you?”
A sharp, overbearing voice tore through the quiet of the reception room.
Startled, I snatched my hand back and spun around.
There stood a young woman in a dress so garishly bright it hurt the eyes, her red hair gleaming, accompanied by a stern-faced head maid. Both were glaring at me.
“...Who are you?”
I had been so focused on probing the energy that I hadn’t even noticed the uninvited guests entering.
I realized my mistake, but it was already too late.
“Hah! I am Isabella Belua, the legitimate daughter of Duke Belua. Are you so ignorant of high society that you don’t even know the families of fellow dukes?”
My question must have wounded her pride; her face flushed crimson then paled in rapid succession.
Isabella snapped her fan shut with a sharp click and continued.
“You’re not a child. Have you no sense of shame, my lady?
Wandering around the imperial palace alone without even realizing where you are… tsk.
It seems the Lucerne household didn’t even bother teaching you proper court etiquette.”
The etiquette instructors would faint if they heard that.
Convinced she had dealt me a serious blow, she smiled smugly and hid her mouth behind her fan.
To me, such words were less painful than being tickled with a feather, but of course Isabella had no way of knowing that.
Yet the moment she took one step closer, I saw it.
From the edge of her shadow, the same unpleasant black threads I had seen on Elik began to writhe, slowly resonating with the spiderweb pattern on the wall.
“I apologize. The pattern was so unusual that I lost myself for a moment.”
When I answered calmly, Isabella seemed displeased by my composure. She stepped even closer and gave my shoulder a light shove.
“Unusual? Hmph. I suppose someone who’s only ever lived in a rural estate wouldn’t be familiar with such decorations.
But… my lady.
Why has your complexion suddenly turned so pale? Are you perhaps afraid of meeting His Majesty?”
The instant her hand touched my shoulder, the energy within me surged as if screaming.
At the same time, the spiderweb patterns on the wall vibrated in unison, reacting to her hostility, and began spewing black mist.
Giant spider-leg-like strands of dark magic were descending over Isabella’s head.
No. If I leave it like this, she might actually get hurt!
Instinctively, I grabbed Isabella’s wrist and yanked her hard toward me.
“Kyaa!! What—what are you doing?! You insolent—!”
Isabella shrieked in shock, but in my eyes there was only the massive shape of darkness about to engulf her.
Without hesitation, I held her with one hand while concentrating light at the fingertips of the other and flicking it behind her back.
Hiss—!
Just as I had done with Sir Elik, I carefully flicked the light so no one would notice. Fortunately, because the form hadn’t grown too large yet, I was able to erase it quickly.
However, I suddenly realized how this scene must look to a third party.
Isabella had been dragged by my hand and collapsed onto the floor, while the head maid stood with her mouth covered in horror.
And that was exactly when it happened.
“The reception room is rather noisy.”
A low, yet irresistibly commanding voice rang out from the entrance.
The one who appeared, slicing through the chilled air, was none other than Kaelus, the master of the empire.
He leaned casually against the doorframe, watching with indifferent eyes as I hurriedly withdrew the power I had extended toward the wall after seizing Isabella’s wrist.
“Y-Your Majesty! Please have mercy and execute us!”
The once-arrogant Isabella and her head maid turned deathly pale and immediately prostrated themselves on the floor.
I carefully released Isabella’s arm and drew in a ragged breath.
I had poured every ounce of my concentration into secretly unleashing light while playing the role of a righteous savior,
and of all moments, the emperor had to appear right then!
It was clear the gods had decided to toy with my life.
My slowly raised gaze naturally drifted to Kaelus’s hand.
And at that moment, my heart stopped beating.
W-why is that there…?
Something was being dangerously rolled between his long, slender fingers.
It was a fragment of the broken artifact I had dropped while fleeing several days ago.
Kaelus approached slowly, like a predator driving its prey into a corner, and stopped right in front of me.
He didn’t spare even a glance at Isabella, who lay flat on the floor. His eyes bored into me alone.
It was a gaze that seemed to scour every corner of my soul.
“Lady Lucerne. What exactly were you doing in the reception room? Did the familiar surroundings make you feel welcome?”
Thud—.
It felt as if my heart had plummeted to my toes.
Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
He took one more step closer and whispered so softly that his breath nearly brushed my ear.
“Or… did you come this time to wipe the walls instead of the floor? Elian.”
Kaelus smiled brightly, his face radiant.
That dazzling smile struck me as far more cruel than a death sentence.
Ah, Goddess Lucetia must have hurled a bucket of curses directly at me.
Otherwise, this nightmare of a moment could never be real.
My romance-fantasy heroine life—where I had only ever wanted to walk a flower-strewn path—was now in danger of ending spectacularly in this reception room as either a ‘traitor’ or an ‘impostor.’
I was doomed.
**
“……Who? El—what?”
My lips trembled like leaves in the wind, yet my eyes remained clear and innocently fixed on him.
At this moment, I was nothing more than the cherished youngest daughter of the Lucerne ducal house.
The servant ‘Elian,’ who had spent a month scrubbing every corner of the palace like a forced labor camp inmate, had absolutely nothing to do with me.
Yes, exactly. I remembered nothing.
Therefore, I knew nothing!
“Your Majesty, what did you just say…? Elian? Even though I may not participate in social activities…
Hoho, my name is Elinor Lucerne. El. I. Nor.”
I doubled down, maintaining the most guileless expression possible.
“Could it be… the name of a dog Your Majesty cherishes dearly?”
“D. O. G.?”
For a fleeting moment, Kaelus’s eyebrow twitched dangerously.
He stepped even closer and slowly waved the artifact fragment right in front of my nose.
“Well, there was indeed one dog that dropped this and ran away. A fellow who diligently scrubbed every nook and cranny of the Sun Palace.
I thought it was quite loyal, yet one day it tucked its tail between its legs and disappeared without even greeting its master.
A very rude dog, indeed.”
“Good heavens! How lax has imperial discipline become that a dog would dare think of fleeing Your Majesty’s side?
You must have been terribly heartbroken, Your Majesty.
If you need a new dog, I shall speak to my eldest brother Carlyle and have the cleverest one in the empire delivered to you.”
I knew exactly what he was saying down to my bones, yet I stubbornly played dumb and countered with more dog talk.
I even put on the most pitiful expression in the world.
Kaelus remained silent for a long time.
He simply scanned every inch of my face with those burning crimson eyes.
In the taut silence where even the sound of a sweat droplet falling might have been audible,
he let out a low, amused chuckle.
“Elinor, your acting is quite impressive.
If you had entered the academy’s drama festival, you might have become the empire’s greatest actress.”
“Acting, Your Majesty?
I merely wished to humbly understand Your Majesty’s wounded heart.
After all, there is ab-so-lute-ly no reason to tell lies to Your Majesty, whom I am meeting for the first time.”
Even as I spoke, my chest stung.
The part about meeting for the first time was a lie.
Everything I was saying now was a lie.
The future me would have to deal with the consequences…? For now, survival came first.
“Meeting for the first time?”
He gently yet irresistibly lifted my chin.
Kaelus stared at me in silence for a moment.
It was a gaze that seemed determined to drag out every hidden truth inside my head.
Meanwhile, Isabella—who had been watching the entire scene—turned an ashen color.
She couldn’t understand the content of their conversation, but never before had the emperor touched any young lady with such tender intimacy.
“Y-Your Majesty! This Lady Lucerne just grabbed my wrist and acted with utter disrespect—!”
Blinded by jealousy, Isabella tried to shatter the strange atmosphere, but before she could finish, Kaelus cut her off with ice-cold finality.
“Lady Belua. What are you doing here?”
“I-I was just—!”
“Leave.”
At the clear order of dismissal, Isabella’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly.
With a face twisted in a mixture of resentment and fury, she stormed out of the reception room with her head maid in tow.
Bang—!
The door slammed shut, and an oppressive silence descended once more.
Kaelus turned back toward me.
“Now that the nuisance is gone, let me ask again. Lady Lucerne.”
He dropped the shattered artifact fragment into my palm with a light clink.
“Do you truly not know me?”
I swallowed dryly at the cold metallic sensation against my palm.
And I instinctively knew.
If I told one more lie here, that chilling touch might not be felt in my palm—but perhaps around my neck instead.
Isabella Belua