Chapter 99: The Hunt

“W-What a coincidence, isn’t it, Prince Raphael?”

“Y-Yes, it is, Princess Clarisse! Ahaha… S-Shouldn’t you be resting for tomorrow’s hunt?”

“Y-You see, after seeing the pieces of Brentarion’s history and traditions you showed me at the art gallery, I suddenly had the urge to come to the city to experience the living, breathing Brentarion!”

“I-I see! I-If you had told me, I would’ve escorted you!”

“…”

“…”

As the pair exchanged exaggerated pleasantries like that, Isaac and Del only watched them in silence.

After all that acting practice…

Isaac could only sigh as he watched Clarisse failing to use her skills properly when it mattered, but…

No matter how unsightly the scene was, as a noble and a subject, he had to go along with the flow to maintain her dignity here.

“Since both of you are here already, why don’t you two spend some time together?”

Hearing those words, all three of them turned to him in surprise.

While yes, he had just sympathized with Del, right now, he had to maintain the image of an escort trying to ensure that those two’s marriage go through.

“Ah…”

Clarisse was flustered to see Isaac trying to use this situation as an opportunity, but…

“I’m sorry, but…”

Raphael clenched his fist and slowly took a step forward.

There was a strong determination to protect his woman in his eyes.

“I came here to talk to Del. If anything, I’m curious why you were talking to her in the first place.”

“Are you really going to make me say it with my own mouth?”

“…”

“I doubt there’s anyone here who doesn’t know the reason, but you should know that if I were to put it into words, the weight of the matter is going to change.”

Isaac was trying to remind Raphael that he was in the middle of a marriage proceeding with a princess from another country.

And yet, here he was, messing around with another woman.

“Are you really going to spend time with this woman and ignore everything else?”

As Isaac asked, pressuring him, Raphael closed his eyes tightly, then grabbed Del’s wrist and ran away.

“This way, Del!”

“Y-Your Highness, wait—!”

The fleeing couple probably thought that a grand chase scene would follow, but…

In reality, Isaac just stood there, watching them leave.

After the two’s figures disappeared from his sight…

“What a romanticist.”

Clarisse shrugged her shoulders sarcastically.

“Does he even know that he just committed a great diplomatic faux?”

“Of course he does, he isn’t such an incompetent person.”

Isaac never expected her to be able to sway Raphael’s heart at this stage, so he just let this go.

Besides, there was a more important matter than that.

“So, why did you even come out?”

He asked with a sigh. To that, Clarisse flinched before answering while grumbling.

“I-I wanted to go out and look around too.”

“If so, then why did you tail us?”

“…I’ve never met this Del woman in person. I wanted to see her.”

Her voice grew stronger as she spoke. Meaning that she was also trying to convince herself with such an excuse.

“I was curious about how amazing this woman must be for Prince Raphael to not be swayed even after I’ve put in all those efforts into seducing him!”

She grumbled as she ruffled her hair with her hands.

“How does she look to you, Isaac?”

“She’s a good woman. I can understand why Prince Raphael fell for her.”

“Is that sooo?”

Clarisse pouted, clearly displeased with the answer.

“But you don’t need to worry. Considering the short time you’ve known him, you’re making deep progress with him.”

“…”

Since that wasn’t the kind of consolation she wanted to hear, her reaction didn’t change.

“If you had to choose between me and Del, who would you pick?”

“Is that important?”

“I need your perspective as a man!”

“Let me ask you in return.”

Isaac calmly asked back.

“What do you think of Prince Raphael, Princess Clarisse?”

“…An idiot?”

That’s actually a more favorable answer than I expected.

Isaac sighed and reminded her of their purpose.

“Princess, you haven’t forgotten why we’re going through all this hassle, have you?”

“To win his heart and make this political marriage work, right?”

“That’s part of it, but didn’t you say you wanted to show Princess Adeline and Heyrad that you’re gonna live a happy life with this choice?”

“Ah.”

She had forgotten.

“You need to try to love Prince Raphael yourself, Princess. Remember, the more sincere you become, the higher our chances of success become.”

Clarisse stuck out her lower lip and nodded, saying she understood as she turned away.

She didn’t say a single word the entire way back.

About 30 minutes after returning to the palace.

“Inferno Surge!”

Sharen, who had been abandoned at the bakery, charged at Isaac and unleashed her Inferno Surge on him.

The next day.

Clarisse was sitting on a chair placed in a nearby field.

Today’s schedule included horseback riding and a hunt prepared by the Brentarion Kingdom.

As Isaac had said, all she needed to do was appropriately applaud Prince Raphael’s exploits, so she didn’t need to think too hard about it.

If she were to try hard at hunting, it would only take away the spotlight the prince was meant to receive.

Tch, they could at least hide it better.

Still, it was hard for her to pretend not to notice all the escort knights and hunters intentionally leading the prey towards Prince Raphael.

Of course, due to that, he managed to hit every target without fail.

“As expected of the prince!”

“You’re amazing!”

“Truly a master of the bow!”

A shower of praise poured in from his surroundings.

Clarisse maintained her smile and applauded him, but her mind was filled with other thoughts.

I need to like him too.

As Isaac had said, she needed to try to love Raphael, but…

Even though she knew that he was a good person, strangely enough, she felt more resistance towards the idea compared to back when she didn’t know him.

His appearance isn’t bad…

Even setting aside his title as a prince of a country, Raphael was undeniably handsome.

In fact, he was a fine example of Brentarion’s distinctive, sharp-featured beauty?

But, he isn’t as good looking as Isaac…

Unfortunately, the standard of her comparison was a little too high.

Of course, if he were to compare his looks to Isaac’s, the prince had to take a step back.

He knew that too, and that was probably why he was especially wary of Isaac when he caught him talking to Del the other day.

His personality isn’t that bad either.

He tended to be faithful to his emotions, but that could actually complement her own nature, since she was the complete opposite of hi,.

That was an advantage, if anything.

…But, he isn’t as good as Isaac…

Isaac was someone she was close enough to share even trivial conversations with without any reservations.

After being entangled in various incidents caused by Helmont and the Transcendent Race, they had developed this sense of comradeship between them.

“…”

Clarisse slowly turned her head to the side.

At the end of her gaze was Isaac, wearing an unreadable expression.

Currently, he was accompanying her as an escort knight in place of Heyrad.

Thwack!

“Oof?!”

Suddenly hit in the side, Isaac threw a bewildered expression at Clarisse.

“What is this about?”

“This is all your fault.”

“What…?”

“My standards on men are way too high now.”

She couldn’t continue further.

Because Prince Raphael had ridden over to find her.

“Princess, would you like to enjoy the hunt with me?”

He extended his hand from atop the horse.

Isaac quickly moved between them,  kneeling on one knee to act as a footstool.

With that, Clarisse ended up on the same horse with Prince Raphael.

As he rode, the prince whispered softly to her.

“Please forgive me about yesterday… For prioritizing Del instead of you, Princess Clarisse…”

“Ah, it’s alright… I understand.”

“Actually, I brought you here to make up for that.”

Isaac had advised her to not hide any hint of fondness for the prince while praising him.

Remembering that advice, she immediately voiced the thoughts that came to her mind.

“You’re quite a devoted man, aren’t you? As a woman, I think that’s quite an admirable trait in a man.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes…”

Her hair fluttering in the wind, Clarisse turned her head back for a moment.

Then, her gaze caught a certain escort knight that was following them on a horseback.

Isaac, riding at the very front.

“Devoting yourself to a single person is wonderful…”

Slowly turning her gaze forward again, Clarisse whispered, hoping her words would disappear in the wind.

“Yes. I think it’s really charming that you could do that.”

“…I didn’t expect you to see it so positively.”

Prince Raphael had never once thought that Clarisse’s words towards him were an act.

But her words just now carried a unique sincerity that momentarily flustered him.

Perhaps because of that, he thought that the atmosphere was fitting.

He tightened his grip on the reins and carefully opened his mouth.

“Princess Clarisse, actually, yesterday Del made a suggestion to me—“

“Your Highness—!”

At that moment, urgent voices of the escort knights echoed from behind.

Maybe because he was distracted by the princess’ sincerity, before he realized it, the horse they rode reared up on its hind legs.

Neigh!

There was a rock ahead, and he should’ve pulled the reins to turn, but he didn’t, so the horse stopped abruptly, raising its front legs.

“Ah!”

Because of this, Clarisse and Raphael tilted backward and fell.

As the world suddenly spun around her, Clarisse thought she would hit the ground.

But that wasn’t the case at all. At that moment, she felt a warm, familiar sensation enveloping her.

Isaac, who was faintly emitting demonic energy, had jumped off his own horse to catch Clarisse.

Fortunately, Clarisse wasn’t hurt from that, but she was so shocked that her legs gave out, so she was now being piggybacked by Isaac.

“That was my mistake. I should be the one who carries her.”

Prince Raphael offered apologetically.

Isaac thought it could create a good atmosphere and was about to quickly hand Clarisse over, but…

“Today…”

On his back, Clarisse suddenly whispered to him.

“I can’t anymore…today…”

“…”

He glanced back at her briefly, then politely bowed his head, saying that he’d carry her himself.