I Will Disappear, Grand Duke

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Sponsored by Tanseobang ? (⅔)

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 Around noon, Julia returned first to the barracks where the shelters were located.

 On one side of the barracks, the knights diligently carried their belongings to the warehouse where the prey was kept.

 There were a total of five prey caught.

 Melissa, who was standing next to Julia, watched the scene with her mouth wide open.

"Oh my God …. Did you catch all of them, Your Grace?”

 Seeing Melissa's face that seemed to send applause, Julia smiled and shook her head.

 “I only hunted one roe deer on my own, and the rest was His Highness’s.”

 For safety, women could only go in and out at the beginning of the mountain. Deep in the mountain, wild animals inhabited, so anyone unfamiliar with hunting and fighting could not enter.

After taking her to the barracks, Fernan went back to the hill alone, saying he would be back before the end of her day.

 “Ah, what His Highness caught is what Your Grace caught! You two are one!"

 Melissa gave a thumb up.

 "I've been watching, and out of all the ladies, Your Grace brought the most prey! Won't you win at this rate?"

 Seeing Melissa all excited, Julia smiled happily while waving her hand.

 The winner of the hunting festival was selected from 1st to 3rd place, and it was decided by considering both the quality and quantity of the prey.

 It was a competition in which all the leading knights of the empire participated. So, Julia with only small animals, the victory wouldn’t be hers. So the noblewomen and ladies were only participating for fun.

 However, the winner was given a chance to give glory to only one woman.

The woman will become the queen of the hunting festival and be honored, and become the main character of tomorrow's ball.

 Social circles said that this honor was worth more than wealth and power.

 In fact, it was the honor that women really sought at this hunting festival.

 Julia took off her thick leather gloves and returned to her barracks.

 Then Adrian, who had stood guarding her entrance, greeted her quietly.

 “Your Grace, you are back. Did you get hurt?”

 “No, I’m fine.”

Not only was she fine, but she was clean without any dirt. Because she rarely used her hands except for swinging the crossbow a few times.

 Even with that, Fernan helped her control it, so she didn't put any effort into it.

 “I’ll bring tea. Do you want to drink the black tea you like?”

 Melissa asked while Adrian opened the door to the barracks.

 "Yes. Please."

 "Yes!”

 Melissa disappeared to get the tea, and Julia beckoned to Adrian.

 “Adrian also comes in and rests. You must have been very bored without even hunting.”

 Adrian had to protect Julia, so he did not participate in the hunting festival.

 All the other men ran to the mountain with their flashy shotguns, so it must have been very frustrating to keep this place alone.

“Don't mind me.  After all, the victory must belong to His Majesty, but if I even win, I will hear that the Grand Duke family will dominate the championship.”

 Adrian was rambling. At the same time, he refused to go inside. So Julia suggested once more. 

 Then, pretending not to win, Adrian came in.

 Moments later, Melissa brought the tea, and the three drank together at the tea table.

 When the atmosphere became comfortable, Adrian, engulfed in a faintly relaxed aura, opened his mouth.

 “Actually, I was a little surprised this time. His Highness has never attended an event like this before.”

 "Really?"

 Julia's eyes widened at the fact that she only knew it now.

 Adrian nodded his head and continued.

 “Yes, as you know, there were many enemies long ago. In large-scale events, there were a lot of people who prevented His Highness from being able to perform even a small activity.”

 It wasn't just that.  There were even frequent assassination attempts. Adrian shook his head in disgust.

 “Maybe that's why. After that, it seems that he completely hated these events.  The same goes for banquets.”

 “…”

 Yulia looked down with a complex and subtle face.  That was something she had never known before.

 She didn't know everything about Fernan’s past.  He always listened to her, but didn’t talk much about himself.

 However, the more she knew about his past, the more she realized that he was similar to her.

 So she seemed to have a vague understanding of his feelings that Fernan must have felt at the time.  Alone, he must have been very lonely.

 “Did His Highness force himself to participate in today’s hunting festival?”

 When Julia asked with a heavy expression on her face, Adrian was surprised and shook his  head.

 “Absolutely not!  Oh my, I shouldn’t have said that…. I’m sorry!"

 Adrian bowed his head.  The recoil caused the teacup to sway. Meanwhile, Adrian reflexively grabbed the teacup.

 "It’s okay."

 As Julia struggled to warmly encourage him, Adrian raised his eyes slightly, hesitated, and slowly opened his mouth.

 “Well, this is really a secret…I made a mistake, so I will be honest.”

 "What is it?"

 Julia tilted her head.  Adrian looked around and opened his mouth in a very quiet voice.

 “Actually, His Highness asked me a serious question yesterday.  What would it be like to be the Queen of the Hunting Festival, and if that happens, then will the Grand Duchess like it?”

“…”

“Well, that was the part that surprised me.  It's very strange that His Majesty asks such a thing… …  Ah, anyway, I wanted to tell you that he didn’t force himself to go to the hunting festival, but because he wanted to please Your Grace.”

 Julia's eyes twinkled softly.  Her quiet heart this time tightened.

 She was happy. She felt loved. 

“I see.”

 Julia lowered her gaze and smiled faintly.  In fact, she didn't even have to win anything.

 She was just happy that Fernan came back early and stayed with her.

 “Your Grace, what I said a little while ago…Can you keep it a secret?”

 Adrian asked timidly as he noticed that Julia’s complexion was improving.

 Julia, holding the teacup, shrugged her shoulders without answering. Then Adrian made a statue of death. Seeing him like that, she and Melissa laughed at the same time.

 ****

 “I don’t know it well, but I know that becoming the Queen of the Hunting Festival increases the reputation in the social world.  It seems that such an honor is highly valued among noble women, so the Grand Duchess will surely be pleased.”

 bang!

 Gunshots echoed through the forest to the extent that the eardrums were overwhelmed.

 With his long shotgun down, Fernan checked his prey. It was a wolf twice the size of a man.

 He walked along the fallen leaves to retrieve his prey. Already behind him, the animals he had hunted were piled up like a mountain.

 He didn’t know the criteria for winning, but if it was that much, there wouldn’t be any difficulties.

 Fernan brushed off his blood-stained gloves and tightened his shotgun.

He was supposed to go back before the sun went down, so it was time to clean up.

 As he left the forest with his prey, the eyes of the knights who were guarding nearby grew as if they were about to pop out.

 “My, this much in such a short time…  ”

"Your Highness, please give it to us. We’ll split it up and carry it."

 So Fernan arrived at the barracks when the sun was just beginning to set.

 The knight loudly announced his return.  He took off his blood-stained gloves and overcoat.

Hearing the news of Fernan’s return, Floyd ran out and took the coat from him.

 "As expected, there is no one who can match Your Highness on the hunt. Oh, it is said that the award ceremony will be held at the banquet tomorrow evening."

 Fernan nodded his head.  The winner of the hunting contest was supposed to receive a bracelet made of rare jewels and a certificate owned by the imperial family.

  The bracelet would not be owned by the winner, but it was said that there was a custom that the winner would give the honor to a Lady of their choice.

 And the woman would be crowned ‘Queen of the Hunt', and that she would be the star of the ball.

 He had heard from Adrian just yesterday that it had special meaning among women.

 “Where is Julia?”

 “Oh, she’s in her barracks.”

 Nodding his head, Fernan headed first to the knights' barracks to change his clothes.

 The smell of animal blood permeated the hunting clothes. He couldn’t meet Julia like this.

 After cleaning himself with the water provided in the barracks and changing into new clothes, he went to see Julia.

 “Your Highness, you have returned safely.”

 Adrian, who was waiting in front of the entrance, bowed in silence.  And he said right away.

 “Her Grace is resting for a moment, she asked me to wake her up when Your Highness comes…”

 With those words, Fernan lifted the curtain slightly. He saw Julia with her eyes closed as she sat on the bed made for her rest.

“It seems that she was very nervous before the hunting festival. She prepared so hard that she asked me to train her using bow and arrows every day, so she must have been under a lot of pressure.”

 “…  .”

 “Still, she worked hard to put up with drowsiness the whole time, but it must have been that she couldn’t overcome her tiredness.”

 Fernan, who had listened to Adrian's words quietly, motioned for him to wait and went inside.

 Julia, waiting for him, was leaning against the wall without even lying down comfortably.

 Fernan approached and sat down next to her, then reached out and ran his hand across her white, round forehead.

 Even though she was in an uncomfortable position, she slept soundly, not moving.  As he watched her like that, he felt his heart pounding for some reason. One day Fernan had told her.

 He didn't ask her to come back to give her the duties as Grand Duchess. She didn't have to do anything she didn't want to.  However, Julia answered him with a firm voice that he had never heard before.

 “I want to try something.”

 “…”

 “I don’t want to hide and be timid like before… I didn't come back to Your Highness to live like that.”

 Fernan remembered the determined expression on her face as she said that.

 Since then, he knew that Julia was working hard.

 So he wanted to give that too.  Whether she was the main character of the ball or the queen of the hunt, she deserved a name that could make her hard work shine and be proud.

 So, if he could give Julia even a little bit of happiness, he would be very happy too.