episode_0015

Still, the horses pulling the carriage were not surprised when Amelia visited, so I thought they would be like that this time too.

When I asked just in case, I got the answer yes.

However, the horses of the north and the horses of the royal capital seemed to have different accidents and habits.

“Awww!”

As usual, I imitated the sound of a wolf howling and called the group.

The wolves that were hiding between the trees in the inner table emerged one by one from the trees.

These were wolves I had always seen, but honestly, they were too big.

Horses, like herbivores, have long necks and their heads are raised upward, so the height from the floor to the crown of the head makes the horses taller than the wolves, but the shoulder height of the wolves is slightly lower than that of the horses.

Even a gray, not an adult, was that big. An adult northern wolf was even bigger than that. In the northern part of the country, you can’t hunt a deer like a moose if it isn’t that big, because your teeth won’t get stuck in the skin.

And perhaps that was why the horses the prince was riding did not stay still.

“Heeee!”

The wolves didn’t even jump out. They just wandered out as if they were bothered as usual, but the horses were very scared.

“Whoa, whoa!”

At that moment, the horse the prince was riding raised its front foot, and I thought the prince was falling.

I tensed my body, wondering if I should run and catch him right away, but fortunately the prince did not fall. Still, perhaps because warhorses are warhorses, after being startled once, they turned their heads here and there as if they were nervous, but did not run wild.

But apart from that, the people riding on those nervous horses also had very nervous faces.

“Prince!”

While the prince was talking to me, the knights behind him came straight forward.

“Stop!”

The knights hesitated when Prince Evan shouted like that. No, in fact, the knights tried to drive the horses forward, but the horses refused to get any closer to the wolf.

… … If that’s the case, how can it be used in war?

The formation made to deal with the horses must have something like a spear. Are war horses afraid of wolves but not of spears?

Have we lived in such a peaceful era that both animals and humans have become tainted by peace?

“Did the lady call those wolves?”

“Yes.”

I tilted my head and answered the prince who asked in disbelief even though he had seen me howl just a moment ago.

“Those wolves… … Are these the colleagues the young lady was talking about?”

“Yes, it helps a lot when hunting.”

Since he was a wolf and not a human, his deer hunting skills were very good. To be honest, it was difficult to catch a deer with just my personal skills.

I thought about using the druid’s powers to catch deer, but since I led the wolves whenever I went out hunting, the deer would vehemently refuse to come near me.

No matter how big they are, a deer is a deer and a herbivore is a herbivore. Basically, they are prey for wolves.

“Um.”

Now that I think about it, it makes sense. It’s funny to think that the horses won’t be surprised when the big deer are.

While I was alone in understanding this, the prince spoke to me again.

“Then… … Are there wolves that are going to ride?”

“Yes.”

Ah, now that I think about it, this might be a bit unfamiliar.

In fact, hunters used the deer that were scattered in the forest whenever they needed to. If you fix the heads of deer that run in a straight line when startled, they can jump out in the direction you want.

They say it’s most convenient for males when they have horns, but honestly, I was dumbfounded when I heard that. And I was also dumbfounded that that was actually what happened.

So, contrary to appearances, it was actually more normal for me to ride a wolf. At least Gray found his way around on his own.

“… … .”

The prince seems to be at a loss for words as he looks at me.

“Then… … Would you like me to guide you?”

When I carefully said that to the prince, who was frozen with his mouth open, he only then trembled and answered.

“Yes, yes. Please do me a favor.”

After hearing the prince’s words, Yana got on Gray’s back.

*

After introducing the still-bewildered prince and the knights who followed him to my father, I returned to my room.

I put some firewood into the bonfire, made it a little bigger, and sat down in the armchair next to it to warm myself.

“Phew.”

Although I unintentionally ran into the prince and showed him around, I won’t be meeting him for a while. Hosting the prince is the job of my father or older brother.

It would be enough to say hello every time we see each other.

By the way, the prince—I mean, why did the future crown prince come to such a remote area?

There was no such story at all in the novel I read. If Evan, one of the male protagonists, had come this far, there was no way Amelia wouldn’t have mentioned it.

But that doesn’t mean the future has already changed. I haven’t done anything that could have a significant impact on my work, right?

Or maybe Cia Mallia did something?

After thinking to myself for a moment, I shook my head.

Probably not.

Because Amelia had no reason to do such a thing.

Since Amelia and I had just become familiar with each other, there was no reason to tell the prince about me, and above all, Amelia never said in the novel that she had ever been close to him before.

There wasn’t much description, but in the novel, the two had a close relationship. If they had been friends before, there couldn’t be no mention of it.

So is it really just a coincidence?

After racking my brain and not being able to come to a proper conclusion, I decided to put that thought away for now.

Well, thanks to you, tonight’s dinner will be a little richer.

*

“Prince Alwen Gadelkissi?”

It didn’t take that long for the news to reach me.

My father, the Grand Duke of Grattonmount, had already told me a bit about how things worked, so I was also informed about some of the important things that were happening in the estate.

Of course, I’m still seven years old, so I can’t hear anything that can really affect policy. The information I can know is at a level that I don’t care if I know.

And the information that Prince Alwen had visited Delki City was that kind of information.

Normally I would have just ignored it.

I had never read about the prince’s visit to Delkisi in the original, but it seemed plausible. In the original, the arrogant and arrogant Princess Amelia Grattenmount hoped for the crown prince’s attention.

But that doesn’t mean I stood out enough to receive this information at a young age. This situation is special to me after all.

The prince did not visit the Grand Duchy in person, so the first time we met was at a ball later.

… … It was like that though.

“… … There is Elsie in the Delki city territory.”

I’ve never called someone by their name in front of me, but honestly, I found it inconvenient to use a title while referring to a character I had seen in a novel.

“… … .”

Thinking about the existence of El Cide del Quiche, I felt a little uneasy.

If she was just a character called ‘Elsie Del Kissy’ that I knew, I wouldn’t have cared much. If that was the case, the story would have continued as the original anyway, and the prince wouldn’t have had any special interest in Elsie either. The purpose of the visit was training or making achievements. I don’t know if it was true, but it must have fulfilled its purpose and returned.

The Delki City territory is probably not an environment you want to stay in for a long time.

However, although this is still just my guess, there is a very high possibility that Elsie del Kissi is a reincarnated person like me.

No, on the contrary, it would have been strange.

If she meets the prince… …

I can’t imagine it at all.

It would have been better if it seemed like there was some purpose. Then, I could have imagined where I would end up. But the person I met named Elsie was a person who had no idea where she would end up.

He seemed kind by nature, but he was an unusual person who paid a high price just to eat potatoes dipped in sugar.

“… … Is there perhaps an envoy heading to the Delki city territory?”

When I asked that question, the vassal who came to see me looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.

“Are you planning to go to the Delki city territory?”

“Yes, I happen to have something to give to the lady there.”

“Then how about just delivering that item? Delkisi must be very busy right now with His Royal Highness’s visit—”

“No.”

I said.

To be honest, I didn’t want to get into trouble like this. If I wanted to escape from being a ‘villain girl’, I couldn’t show any signs of that.

But this is an emergency situation. An emergency situation where we don’t know where the story will go.

“I have to go.Definitely.”

In that case, I needed to figure out the situation myself, even if it meant being a little stubborn like a villain.

The retainer looked at me as if he was embarrassed by my unusually strong tone.