The feathers on its head shimmered with a delicate silver sheen, as if catching the sunlight, and its eyes were a mystical color, like molten silver. Despite everyone staring at it, the eagle remained aloof, merely glancing around before looking away.
The sight of the mysterious eagle and Theodore was reminiscent of Artes, the god of the hunt who eradicated the world's evils with righteous fury, and Dux, his divine beast guardian and guide.
"Goodness...!"
"It really is an eagle...!"
"An eagle? The rumors were true...!"
Even those who would normally have been hesitant to speak freely, mindful of the Empress's gaze, were now excitedly whispering among themselves.
"Wait, if this is the case..."
"The First Prince..."
"Even the neutral faction nobles seem flustered."
Cutting through the voices flying in from all directions, Theodore stopped in front of Ricardo. Ricardo's skin, weakened by suppressing the raging fire energy, was usually pale, but today it looked especially wan. His gaze, fixed on Shuian, explained why.
"Brother, how have you been?"
"...Theodore."
"My family has grown by one while we were apart."
Theodore deliberately stroked Shuian's chin. The sight of the eagle accepting the affectionate touch and the absence of any restraints convinced everyone that he had completely tamed the bird. It was, in a sense, the first success.
Ricardo stared intently at the matching accessories on the eagle's ankle and Theodore's wrist.
"You don't look well. Don't overexert yourself. I'd hate for you to collapse like last time."
Theodore had always won the hunting contest, but Ricardo's game was not far behind. Of course, there was a difference. Theodore won first place by hunting entirely on his own, while Ricardo's game was mostly provided by nobles who supported him, especially Raymond Islan, the head of the First Prince's faction and the Empress's brother.
Years ago, driven by childish spite, Ricardo had tried to win the contest by hunting on his own, like Theodore, but he had overexerted himself, coughing up blood and collapsing.
Despite the First Prince's collapse, the hunting contest continued by order of the Emperor, and Theodore naturally became the winner that day. Having spent the end of the hunting contest in bed for the first time, Ricardo never acted stubbornly again.
In other words, Theodore's words were a subtle jab at the fact that, despite it being a hunting contest, less than half of Ricardo's game was hunted by himself. Ricardo couldn't respond, because it was the truth.
"...It really is an eagle."
"I was helped by this one when I had an unfortunate incident recently. It's a very lovely and clever child."
Theodore turned his gaze to the Empress, who stood behind Ricardo, her face as pale as his.
"Your Majesty... you don't look well. I'll take my leave so you can rest."
Felsia, who had been standing stiffly until Theodore turned and entered his tent, let out a shallow breath. Raymond approached to support her as she squeezed her eyes shut, but the Empress turned away and entered her tent. Then, she swept everything off the table with her arm.
Crash-!
Teacups and plates rolled pathetically across the floor, shattering with sharp cracks and scattering everywhere.
"Your Majesty!"
"I should have killed it sooner...! That damned thing...!"
Instead of stopping Felsia, who was muttering hysterically, Raymond hastily cleared away the dangerous shards scattered around.
"Please calm down."
"Calm down? How can I calm down right now?! Didn't you hear the nobles whispering?!"
She tried to calm herself by taking shallow, trembling breaths, but it wasn't easy. It was just a bird. She had intended to cut it down as soon as she saw it, but she couldn't. She couldn't do it. She closed her eyes and said in a lower voice,
"Brother, my Prince must win this hunting contest."
"What are you saying...? Everyone knows that the nobles offer their game to His Highness... Are you planning to make a laughingstock of the Prince?!"
"Isn't there any other way! All eyes are on that cursed thing. We need to cut it off first. I'll take care of the aftermath, so gather the nobles and have them offer the most game to our Prince. And bring all the spirit stones we've prepared beforehand."
"Your Majesty, using too many spirit stones will strain the Prince's body...!"
The Empress turned her cold eyes to Raymond.
"It's just today. It's only today. Do you understand me?"
She straightened her posture again and neatly smoothed back her disheveled hair, looking no different from the Empress she usually was, but Raymond knew that the madness-like rage in her dark green eyes was only crouching for a moment.
'Brother, look at this. I won again today! Didn't I tell you? The day you can beat me with your archery skills will never come.'
The former Duke, their father, had broken that clear and innocent child so pathetically, but in the end, he was an accomplice too. The day Raymond refused Felsia's request would never come.
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The hunting contest was perhaps the most nerve-wracking day of my life, both past and present. I was so nervous that my whole body tensed up, and I was even worried that my claws would come out and scratch Theo's arm. That's how out of it I was.
The moment I felt everyone's eyes on us as we faced the nobles for the first time, I almost fainted, but I forced myself to turn my head and take a deep breath.
It felt like a lie that I had been breathing properly until then. It was only when Theo chuckled, trying to suppress his laughter at realizing I was shaking my wings, that I finally felt like I could breathe again.
That's right, what's there to be afraid of when I'm with the final boss! He'll wipe them all out if necessary! I tried to shake off my nervousness with ridiculous thoughts. Then, when Theo approached a man, I had to clench my beak shut.
I expected the male lead to boast a destructive beauty no less than Theo's, but Ricardo was truly a different kind of handsome. Standing in front of Theo made me feel a primal tension, like facing a black panther hunting its prey, but looking at Ricardo made me feel guilty, as if I had committed a heinous crime, even though I had done nothing wrong, and I felt like confessing even if I had no sins to confess.
Perhaps the readers who wrote comments after seeing the illustrations had actually seen Ricardo's real face. That's why they chose the appropriate metaphor of 'angel.' I've never actually seen an angel, but if I were to embody holiness and goodness, it would be Ricardo.
He even bit his lip with a pale face when he looked at me, and his expression was so pathetic that I reflexively wiped my eyes, wondering if tears had welled up out of pity.
These two men... are destructive.... I forced myself to turn my head away from the attack of the two handsome faces and met the eyes of a glamorous beauty. It was Felsia Artes, the Empress, Theodore's greatest rival, whom I had also seen in illustrations.
She was also frozen stiff, glaring at Theodore with a venomous gaze, and if she could, she probably would have ground Theodore into a health juice with her eyes.
"You don't look well. Don't overexert yourself. I'd hate for you to collapse like last time."
Ricardo didn't particularly refute Theo's sarcasm.
In this way, the hunting contest was an episode that showed Theodore's outstanding strength and Ricardo's incompetence at the same time. It was a device to show the female lead's abilities and role that would appear later.
In this hunting contest, Ricardo always had to lose, be compared, and be ridiculed. That was the reason for this episode's existence. Apart from the development of the story, it was an endless misfortune for the character of Ricardo.
"Your Majesty also... you don't look well. I'll take my leave so you can rest."
Having good hearing isn't always a good thing. Even after I turned around and returned to the tent without regret, I could clearly hear the sharp cracking sounds and the Empress's voice filled with resentment.
It was the first time I had heard such a voice filled with anger and malice, so I was a little scared, but I felt reassured because Theo was there.
The Empress always threatened Theo's safety with vile and petty methods. She would do anything to put Ricardo on the throne, even choosing methods that a normal person would never consider.
In other words, she could never harm Theo in a fair way. That was an absolute proposition, and the Empress knew that fact better than anyone.
I stretched my neck for no reason. I felt a surge of confidence that I would always be safe with Theo. And sorry, but we can't give up on winning the hunting contest either!
Orca, who had been waiting in the tent, saying that Theodore and I should be the center of attention, handed a teacup to Theo, who sat down with a delighted expression.
"The Empress's expression was quite a sight to behold."
"You said you'd stay in the tent, but you saw that too?"
"It's a good show, of course I had to watch."
It was mentioned in the original story that Orca also had a grudge against the Empress, but the details were not covered. But seeing how delighted he was, it must have been no small matter.
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