Chapter 103
Chapter 103
Translation: godsn
"Wolves! Wolves have appeared!"
The forest was filled with screams and chaos.
The sudden appearance of ferocious beasts in what should have been the perfectly safe Royal Hunting Grounds sent the entire gathering into an uproar.
"Kyaaah!"
"Get away! Run!"
The Royal Knights hastily drew their swords and nocked arrows, aiming at the wolves.
Any pretense of a hunting competition was forgotten as people stumbled out of the forest in panic, gasping for breath.
Their faces were pale with shock, completely drained of color.
It was only thanks to Valdina's knights—strong and swift in their execution—that the situation was contained. Had they been any slower, the casualties would have been catastrophic.
Meanwhile, the knights emerged carrying the slain wolves.
"G-Grand Duke, Your Highness... Forgive my impertinence, but may I cling to your arm for a moment? I'm so terrified I can't take another step."
Virna trembled violently, her shoulders shaking as if gripped by terror.
The sight of massive beasts, each the size of a carriage, being dragged out one by one sent chills down everyone's spines.
Even the Queen Dowager's expression darkened severely as she frowned.
"What in the world is the meaning of this! Why have these wolves appeared in these hunting grounds? Weren't we assured of complete safety beforehand?!"
"Kill them all. The breeding season has clearly passed, so how could they have turned into such a pack...?"
The head gamekeeper of the forest could only bow his head in shame.
"The wolves have all been dealt with, so please remain calm. However, can we confirm that all participants of the hunt have safely exited?"
The knights urgently inquired.
"Is there anyone still in the forest? If you notice anyone missing, inform me immediately!"
If there were people still trapped inside or attacked by the wolves, it would spell disaster.
The crowd began looking around, checking for any missing faces.
Then, someone suddenly realized and shouted.
"Her Highness the Princess and Duke Claudio are missing!"
"Duke Claudio has been found!"
Samon was discovered beneath a towering, isolated tree far from the main gathering, unconscious.
Near him lay a horse, gruesomely mauled to death—as if it had been the target of a concentrated attack by multiple wolves.
"It's Her Highness the Princess's horse!"
Someone cried out upon spotting the saddle and reins.
"Samon!"
Catherine shrieked and lunged forward.
Why was her son lying there? Samon getting injured today was never part of their plan.
"Are you alright?! Come to your senses! My son, I'm here!"
She shook his body violently, her voice bordering on hysterical.
Perhaps moved by her ferocity, Samon's eyes fluttered open.
"M... Mother...?"
He was utterly bewildered. Upon waking, he found his mother wailing while knights surrounded him in a semicircle.
Where was he? What had happened?
"Oh, he's awake! Thank the gods. Samon, I almost thought I'd lost you."
Still clutching him, Catherine barked orders at the knights to fetch a physician.
"I thought the wolves had gotten to you..."
"Wolves...?"
Samon looked utterly confused, as if he had no idea what she was talking about. Catherine whirled around and screamed.
"Why are you all just standing there?! Call for a physician! My son is in this state, and you're just idly watching?!"
The refined noblewoman had vanished, replaced by a woman throwing an unreasonable tantrum, leaving the knights momentarily taken aback.
At that moment, Iason sensed something amiss.
The wolves the princess had unleashed. The young duke found alone.
Then, where in the world—
"Where is Her Highness the Princess?"
At the Grand Duke's pointed question, the knights—who had been distracted by Catherine—snapped back to attention. The princess was nowhere to be seen.
'Medeia is missing?'
Samon, too, jolted fully awake. His last memory was of turning his head to look back at Medeia.
"Lord Claudio, where is Her Highness the Princess?"
The knight captain's question was only natural.
As the princess's hunting partner, he had seen her enter the forest with Samon just moments ago.
"Th-that is..."
Samon had no idea what to say. The plan had gone so utterly awry from his expectations.
Who attacked me?
Where did Medeia go?
Their gazes slowly lowered.
Samon's body was splattered with blood. Still fresh, the crimson stains gleamed brightly. Even Samon himself was startled.
"Th-this isn't my blood..."
The words stumbled out of his mouth unbidden.
"Lord Claudio, is this your sword?"
A knight picked up the blade lying at Samon's feet.
The steel was smeared with thick, congealed blood. Nearby, the corpse of a horse—torn apart by wolves—still lay where it had fallen.
"Lord Claudio. What have you done to Her Highness?"
A bloodstained sword belonging to the young lord.
The dead horse of the princess.
The knight voiced the single hypothesis forming in everyone's minds.
Samon's face turned deathly pale. He threw up his hands in frantic denial.
"N-no, it wasn't me! Someone attacked me—I lost consciousness!"
Yet despite being drenched in blood, he bore not a single wound.
Then whose blood stained Samon's body?
"I didn't do anything to Medeia!"
But in the face of such damning circumstances, no one was inclined to believe him.
The princess had vanished from the hunting grounds.
Her horse had been found dead, mauled by a pack of wolves, while her partner Samon had been discovered unconscious, covered in blood.
A situation riddled with suspicion from every angle.
Though unsteady on her feet upon hearing news of her granddaughter, the Queen Dowager issued precise orders.
"Siseo, assemble a search party immediately and find Medeia. As for the rest of you—investigate everything she ate, wore, and everyone she met or accompanied today. We must uncover who targeted the princess."
Her instincts, honed from decades at the pinnacle of royal power, insisted this was no accident.
They were after Medeia... Could it be the Kazen diplomatic mission? Still holding a grudge over that duel...
Her glare turned toward the Kazen envoys.
Medeia was a thorn in their side, so they sought to remove her. I should have realized when they insisted on this hunting competition. How foolish of me.
Even the Fourth Imperial Princess couldn't meet her gaze, flustered.
Yet while suspicions were clear, concrete evidence remained absent.
"Your Majesty! We found this on Her Highness's horse!"
A knight investigating the scene brought forth a blood-soaked sachet and opened it.
Dried herbs tumbled out. After sniffing the contents, the knight reported:
"It's a lure for beasts. The wolves must have been drawn to Her Highness's horse because of this."
With clear evidence of the princess being targeted, the person who could best answer who had plotted against Medeia was the one last seen with her—Samon.
Every eye in the gathering turned toward him. He gaped in stunned silence.
"I—I don't know! I don't know why that was on Medeia's horse! Someone attacked me—everything went black, and when I woke up, I was here! Please, Grandmother, you have to believe me!"
"Claudio! You wouldn't dare lie after killing her?!"
The Queen Dowager's roar was raw, like the howl of a beast.
Samon dropped to his knees as if wronged.
"Grandmother, I swear on my life! I would never harm Medeia—Her Highness the Princess!"
But drenched in blood as he was, no words could sound like anything but excuses.