Chapter 48: Chapter 48 Don’t come to the hunting contest in the forest (10)
“Did the emperor return to the palace?”
“Yes, he did. It seems he is still worried about me even though he knows I’ve retired from the music world. He came as far as here to give me a lecture!” The prince shook his head several times. Then, he changed his expression and said, looking at Wendy, “I watched you shooting arrows. You are very good at it! I heard from Lard about your riding skills. It looks like you’re talented in archery, too. When did you learn?”
Although the prince often made silly expressions that caught others off guard, his sparkling eyes showed he was a shrewd man.
Looking down slightly, she greeted him formally, “I’m honored to see you, Crown Prince.”
“Oh, you don’t have to greet me again! By the way, as you are so good, I think you will win the archery competition a little later!”
“I don’t deserve your praise. I’m just trying to shoot arrows by imitating others here. I hit the mark by chance, so I won’t keep counting on pure luck.”
“Really? Hmm…Altarin, come here for a second!”
The prince suddenly shouted at Altarin as she was pulling her bow.. Surprised by his call, she walked toward him with a perplexed expression. However, as soon as she saw Wendy standing by the prince, Altarin kept a straight face with a hostile gleam in her eye. Wendy smiled sardonically.
“I think these two ladies are the best in archery. What do you think? Are you confident of winning the contest, Altarin? This lady here says she hit the mark by sheer luck. She is very humble.”
Actually, Wendy was aware that Altarin claimed somebody’s credit by insisting she hit the mark, which she didn’t at all.
‘How can the prince compare her phony skills to mine?’
Wendy felt intense anger at the moment, but Altarin was still in high spirits.
Altarin said, “Your Majesty, as I understand, archery has a long tradition and history in our empire as one of its basic martial arts. Although I have never learned martial arts as a woman, it is needless to say that I have the dignity suitable for archery as one of the prominent families, my family has been with the Benayhan Empire for a long time. I think one hardly learns archery by luck. I won’t disappoint you today.”
‘What the hell is this lady talking about? What kind of fucking dignity is suitable for archery?’
Wendy thought that Altarin obviously chose the sarcastic words to rub her the wrong way on purpose when she emphasized ‘prominent family.’ As she did not know about Wendy’s identity and she had never seen her in social circles, Altarin guessed that she was not from a prominent family like hers. Of course, her guess was not wrong.
Wendy could understand when Altarin suggested in her remarks that she was not from a prominent family, but she couldn’t stand it when Altarin looked down on her archery skills.
‘What is the basis for her logic that anyone from a prominent family has good archery skills? By the extension of her logic, can she state that anyone not from a prominent family isn’t good at archery?’ Wendy smiled scornfully at her.
“Oh, are you?” Prince Isaac looked at Altarin with an interesting expression. “It looks like you have a daring attitude, Altarin. I’m pretty much satisfied with your confident attitude. Okay, go back to your place and do well. Let me watch how you’re doing.”
At his praise, Altarin said goodbye with grace and returned to her place. Before leaving, she did not forget to cast an ardent gaze at Lard as if it were her routine ritual. Her gaze further fueled Wendy’s anger. It wasn’t something like jealousy. Wendy noticed her contempt for her behind her persistent gaze at Lard, which was proportional to her affection for Lard.
“Wendy, I’m afraid you can’t win. To quote Altarin’s words, a woman from a prominent family is supposed to win. Wouldn’t it be hard for you?”The prince, standing close to Wendy, whispered into her ear. It was a clear provocation. Wendy tightened her grip on her bow tight enough to leave nail marks on her palm. She became furious. “But let me watch who wins, though.”
Wendy knew the prince made the remark to provoke her. There was a big difference between knowing and feeling. Wendy couldn’t stand her surging anger. She couldn’t stay calm any longer. It was because the prince and Altarin’s words and deeds resembled those of Countess Hazlet and her daughter, Francis Hazlet. Their faces flashed through her mind. She thought she had forgotten them. It made the situation more unbearable.
“Okay, let’s start the game now. Come on, stand in your places. You are expected to shoot three times before one of you is chosen as the winner.”
When the prince signalled to them with eyes, several servants holding blue flags lifted the flags at the same time. It was a signal for them to shoot the first arrow.
Wendy took a deep breath. As she came to be in the contest, she decided that she would do her best. Her eyes were burning up with determination.
She adjusted the veil several times to have a clear view then gently raised the bow. When she focused on the center of the target board without even blinking once, the red target, which seemed small, began to appear big. As Lard taught her, she strung the arrow, holding her breath. As soon as she aimed at the red target, narrowing her eyes, she shot the arrow, which shot off the wind as if on cue. Thanks to the good quality of the bow, she felt she shot it with a good force.
Puck!
She felt the arrow hitting the mark on the target. Watching the movement of the servant who stuck out from behind the target to check if the arrow was hit, she sighed as she saw him raising the red flag. The first foot was a hit.
“Wow!”
Shouts of amazement and excitement came out here and there. Looking at Altarin, she saw the servant in charge of her target board raising the red flag
‘You hit the mark by luck!’ Wendy murmured, staring at her sharply.
A little later the attendants signaled for them to shoot the second arrow. Wendy again aimed at the target, full of concentration. Was it because she was too excited? Even before she shot the arrow, she lost control of her breathing momentarily. Oops! There was no way to stop the arrow that had already left the bow.
Swallowing dry saliva, she watched the servant holding the flag. Red on the target board meant that the arrow was hit in the center of the target, green in the margin of the target, and yellow off the target.
Fortunately the servant raised the red flag. Wendy clenched her two fists. If she stayed the course and hit the mark one more time, she could humble her pride.
When she inadvertently looked at Altarin, she did not yet shoot the second arrow.
Wendy saw her trembling hard as if she was extremely tense. In no time, she took a deep breath and took her position again. She shot the second arrow.
The servant, who came out to check the target board as soon as the arrow was shot, moved two flags in his hands. In his hands, he was fidgeting red and green flags alternately. Wendy shouted green in her heart.
“Wow!”
Right at that moment Altarin exclaimed in excitement. A red flag was fluttering above the servant’s head.
‘Hit! You are lucky again!’ Wendy once again opened her eyes wide.
Shooting the third arrow was even more difficult. Wendy tried not to care about their cheering, but she was more distracted by her obsession with winning. She pulled and released the bow several times. She sighed deeply.
On the other hand, Altarin pulled the bow without hesitation. It was definitely a different try from her second one. While the servant was trying to check her target board, Wendy could now pull the bow properly. The arrow was shot while she was holding her breath, and it flew into the target instantly.
At the same time, the servant in charge of Altarin’s target board lifted the flag above his head.
“Ah…!” It was green. Green flag! Altarin sighed sadly.
Wendy swung her head several times in that short time, looking at Altarin’s and her own target board. After seeing Altarin’s green flag, she smiled sinisterly for a moment.
When the servant raised the flag showing Wendy’s score, she had to calm down her trembling heart.
Shouts of amazement broke out on both sides. Melissa hurriedly came to Wendy and congratulated her.
“Wow! Hit all three shots! So cool! ”
“Congratulations.”
Lard also briefly congratulated her. Wendy struggled to hold back laughter. Hiding joy was harder than hiding anger.
“Wow! I can’t hide my amazement at your wonderful shooting skills! You are the winner of this archery contest. Let me give the bow of my violin to you as the championship prize. Hahaha.”
The prince gave her the bow and laughed. He might have thought his provocation paid off, she thought. Wendy reluctantly accepted the worrisome violin bow with two hands and reluctantly celebrated her win by spinning the bow over her head. But her excitement quickly subsided. The prince had the odd ability to put a damper on her joy.
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