* * *
He couldn’t even finish his sentence as he looked at the mountain of game piled in the area marked with the Freedit family crest.
Had it been the opposite situation, maybe he wouldn’t have been this shocked—but this? He never saw it coming.
“How… how did this happen?”
It was far too much for one man to have hunted, especially considering Ashard had been injured early on.
Just hours ago, the competition had been neck-and-neck between the Freedit and Hessen families.
But now, there was a clear, overwhelming gap.
Even at a glance, it looked to be at least twice—no, maybe three times—as much.
As they got closer, the wounds on the carcasses became clearer.
Someone who didn’t know swordsmanship might not have noticed, but Eren did.
There were three distinct types of wounds: ones that looked like they came from a hatchet, others that cut cleanly through vital points, and finally, short, stabbing wounds like from a dagger.
They were too varied to have come from just one person—but Eren could tell.
This wasn’t all Ashard’s doing.
“No way…”
Examining more closely, Eren looked up at Ashard with suspicious eyes.
The wounds were unmistakably familiar—just like those he’d seen from Kalyle’s blade.
They carried the same wild and violent personality as their owner.
Ashard said nothing, but Eren was certain.
Helid Yulta.
There was no doubt Helid had hunted those animals.
But they were branded with the Freedit family crest and presented as their game.
Eren quickly looked around, scanning for the Yulta family’s stand.
“…….”
Unlike the other families’ seating areas, piled with hunting trophies, the Yulta family’s space was completely empty.
As if they hadn’t participated at all.
“Mind explaining this, Ashard?”
“……You wanted the winner’s prize so desperately.”
“So you asked Helid Yulta?”
“Yes, so I asked— Wait, what?”
Ashard blinked in surprise, as if he didn’t understand what he’d just heard.
‘Helid Yulta?’
Why was that guy’s name being mentioned here?
Eren was just as taken aback.
He could only gape at Ashard, whose wide eyes clearly showed he had no idea.
But that was unmistakably Helid’s work.
Eren had never seen Helid’s swordsmanship in person—unlike Julius or Carlyle—but the style matched perfectly with what had been described in the novel.
“Helid Yulta? But the ones I asked were Melody and Elyrion…!”
Ashard’s sentence trailed off as it stopped making sense.
He had made a request—if they helped direct game toward Eren, he’d make sure both of them got lessons.
But in that case, Eren would’ve been left alone, so he’d told Melody in advance not to participate.
It was clear she had stayed near Eren the entire time—just accompanying him to the tent was proof enough—so there had never been reason to doubt.
“You asked the Princess and the Prince?”
“Are you sure it was Helid?”
The two of them were shocked for entirely different reasons.
As Eren and Ashard exchanged baffled looks, an awkward silence settled between them.
Just as the noisy sounds of the hunting ground filled the gap, Melody and Elyrion appeared naturally, as if on cue.
“What are you two standing around for?”
Melody asked casually, blinking at their stares, clueless as to why they were looking at her like that.
“Explain yourself, Melody.”
When Ashard pointed toward the heap of dead prey, her expression shifted slightly in understanding and she nodded.
“My uncle said that if I stayed by the Count’s side during the tournament, he’d make sure I could learn the magical formulas. But my brother would’ve gone ballistic, saying it was unfair.”
“What—so you didn’t participate at all, Melody?”
“So I borrowed the Count Yulta’s help. Just like Uncle suggested, I stayed near the Count the whole time, and even made sure the prey was driven to him. So the lesson should go to me, right?”
“You used a proxy?! That’s cheating!”
“There was no rule saying we couldn’t do that, Brother.”
As the two siblings bickered, Ashard rubbed his temple.
He had said he’d make sure both of them got lessons.
But apparently, Melody and Elyrion had never once considered the possibility of sharing.
Only one of them had ever planned to win.
Even after listening to their conversation, Eren still didn’t fully understand.
He looked up at Ashard, dazed.
He was the one who promised to teach whoever won.
Yet somehow, this strange backdoor deal had completely left him out of the equation.
It was ridiculous, but the corners of his lips lifted instinctively.
Thanks to Melody, all of Helid’s trophies had ended up credited to the Fridit family.
Which meant he had no chance of winning.
‘Thank god. Really, thank god.’
Rather than watch him get hurt, Eren would’ve offered up his own body instead.
It was the better choice.
But whenever he was with him, he couldn’t help but feel greedy.
He wanted to hold onto this happiness just a little longer.
“Thank you. All three of you.”
Talks of what was fair or unfair, accusations of reckless scheming—all of it froze at Eren’s quiet words.
The three turned to look at him, their eyes shaking violently, as if questioning whether they had just misheard that almost-tearful tone.
“W-why are you crying…?”
“Did I offend you by involving Count Yulta without your permission? If so, I apologize, Count…”
Elyrion and Melody floundered, unsure what to do.
Ashard stepped in front of them, shielding Eren behind his back, and whispered softly.
“I wish you’d only show that face to me. Why are you always crying?”
“This is all your fault… sniff…”
The other two couldn’t tell, but this was a deeply emotional moment for Eren.
He knew he’d be seen as odd if people realized he was crying not out of anger, but from joy.
But he couldn’t stop the tears.
“If you don’t stop crying, you’ll regret it.”
“Huh…?”
Before he could fix his expression, a wet sensation brushed his cheek.
“Eep—!”
Eren quickly cupped his cheek with his hand.
Ashard, who had just licked away the tear like candy, traced his lips with his tongue, as if savoring it.
‘Not even in the mansion—right here, out in the open!’
Panicking, Eren looked around to make sure no one had seen.
The two royals were clearly pretending not to have noticed, heads turned awkwardly to the side, which only made Eren’s pale face flush scarlet.
“W-we’ll take our leave now, Count.”
Melody gave a completely misplaced farewell and dragged Elyrion away in haste.
What kind of spectacle had they just witnessed?
The flood of tears had dried up before he knew it, and Eren wiped the corners of his eyes.
He shot a resentful look at Ashard and walked past him without a word.
But Ashard grabbed his wrist in a hurry.
“Where are you going? The awards ceremony is about to start.”
“……Where do you think? I need to return to my seat. I can’t just abandon the one His Grace the Archduke personally prepared for me.”
He pointed toward the empty seat left conspicuously among the royals and shook off Ashard’s hand.
Without a glance back, he marched toward the seat Ashard had once guided him to.
Ashard let out a quiet chuckle.
“You really are a master at keeping people on their toes.”
Eren didn’t even glance back as he collapsed into his seat.
It was supposed to be payback for Ashard’s spontaneous show of affection outside—but Eren quickly regretted it.
“…I should’ve just stayed by his side.”
With Elyrion participating and the emperor, empress, and princess all heading down for the ceremony, Eren was left as the sole person seated in the place of highest honor.
Ashard and Carlyle, both from ducal houses, had also vacated their seats as participants, leaving Eren in an impossible-to-miss spot.
As noble gazes turned his way, Eren awkwardly stood up and retraced his steps back down the path he’d taken.
Then, acting like nothing had happened, he quietly approached Ashard and stared off into the distance.
“What happened to not abandoning the seat I prepared for you? Changed your mind already?”
“…….”
“I’m starting to wonder if those feelings of yours—saying you like me—might change just as easily someday.”
“Of course not! That would nev—mmph?!”
Just as Eren turned his head, seemingly to protest, Ashard’s lips met his.
They brushed together gently before parting.
The faintest smile curled Ashard’s lips.
“So stay by my side. Because of you, my heart drops dozens of times a day.”
* * *
