Chapter 9

The next day, a modest party set off for the imperial hunting grounds. Sir Reussen, having volunteered to guide them, led the way, while Cora, the maid assigned to assist Dianne, followed behind with a picnic basket in hand.

Cora looked a little uneasy.

“Are you sure just the three of us will be alright, Miss Dianne? The hunting grounds are quite a distance.”

Even if it was inconvenient, there was no other choice. If they showed up with too many people, the princess might catch wind of it and flee again.

“I’ll be fine, but it’s you I’m worried about. Carrying that basket can’t be easy.”

“It’s not a problem. But you’ll have to carry your own parasol, Miss.”

“I can manage. Honestly, I don’t even need one. And if it comes to it, I’m sure Sir Reussen wouldn’t mind carrying it for me.”

Cora glanced nervously at Sir Reussen beside her. He gave his usual gentle nod in response, and she quickly turned away, blushing.

Dianne clicked her tongue to herself in disapproval. She’d heard there’d been a bit of a fuss among the maids when choosing who would accompany her and Sir Reussen to the hunting grounds. Cora hadn’t been able to hide her excitement when she’d been selected.

Among the maids of Oakhall, Sir Reussen was quite popular. He was a knight favored by the Emperor himself. Handsome, courteous, and well-mannered. More than that, he wasn’t some idle young noble who’d bought his title with a family name. The Reussen family had produced imperial guards for generations, and Marek Reussen himself had seen real combat. He was, in every sense, a true knight.

Dianne couldn’t fault the admiration, but she did hope Cora wasn’t harboring hopes beyond her station. Love between people of different status rarely ended well. Happy endings like in <Princess Oliana and Sir Giles> were almost unheard of in real life.

‘At least Sir Reussen doesn’t seem like the type to toy with a maid’s heart. That much, if nothing else was reassuring.’

Shifting her parasol onto one shoulder, Dianne resumed walking.

The weather was beautiful. If they hadn’t had such a clear purpose, it could’ve easily been a perfect day for a leisurely outing.

It wasn’t until the fresh air filled her lungs that she realized it had been over a week since she’d stepped outside the gardens of Oakhall. Most of that time, she’d spent shut up in the study, waiting endlessly for the princess. The warm late summer sun and the chirping of birds were a welcome change.

The hunting grounds were nestled in the forest that bordered the palace’s northwestern edge. From Oakhall, it took over an hour on foot to reach the entrance. Even someone as physically confident as Dianne felt the fatigue by the time they arrived.

Meanwhile, Cora looked completely unaffected as she carried the picnic basket, and so did Sir Reussen, decked out in full armor. Dianne shook her head in disbelief.

“How are the two of you still so energetic? I wouldn’t say I’m out of shape, but…”

Cora looked confused, while Sir Reussen gave her a faint smile.

“Even so, it wouldn’t do for a maid on duty, or a knight trained in martial arts, to wear out before a lady like yourself, Miss Ortenza.”

The urge to retort, “I work too, you know” surged to her throat, but she swallowed them down.

Dianne took great pride in her skills and her profession, but it wasn’t exactly something most would consider a mark of distinction. For a lady of noble birth, working wasn’t typically something to brag about.

And besides, the maids of Oakhall and Sir Reussen all seemed to regard her as a proper young noblewoman. She figured there was no need to go out of her way to shatter that illusion.

Lifting the parasol—which was beginning to feel more like a burden than an accessory—Dianne pointed toward the entrance of the hunting grounds.

“Well then, shall we find a spot for lunch? Once we’ve cooled down a bit, we can start looking for Her Highness.”

“But… Miss Ortenza, how exactly do you plan to conduct this search?”

Sir Reussen’s question gave her pause. She blinked at him.

“What do you mean, how? I assumed you and I would walk the grounds while Cora stayed to watch over our things. We’d just look around little by little.”

Sir Reussen stroked his chin, clearly troubled.

“Miss Ortenza, this hunting ground spans over two thousand hectares.”

“…How many hectares?”

“Just to walk the perimeter would take no less than five hours.”

Dianne’s mouth fell open in shock.

Even the hunting grounds of House Ervinzel, one of the empire’s grand ducal estates, weren’t remotely that massive. And yet the Imperial Palace, right in the very heart of the capital, has one stretching over two thousand hectares?

Sir Reussen offered a rueful smile.

“It is the Imperial Palace, after all.”

“…Right. Of course. The Palace.”

“His Majesty has attempted to reduce the size multiple times, but the Imperial Council has always pushed back. You know how it is. When foreign visitors arrive, particularly those from Arathos, it becomes a matter of appearances.”

That caught Dianne off guard. After all, monarchs were usually the first to demand the grandest, the finest, the most extravagant of all things. Hunting was one of the most beloved pastimes for noblemen in the Emperor’s age group.

Come to think of it, when she’d met him yesterday, his clothes had been rather plain.

Something about it stirred a strange feeling in her chest.

“His Majesty… he’s not exactly what I imagined.”

Sir Reussen’s smile was faint but sincere.

“He is a master well worth pledging one’s loyalty to.”

There was a quiet conviction in the knight’s voice that felt oddly intimate. Dianne didn’t quite know how to respond to it. Instead, she straightened her back and stepped confidently toward the narrow path that led deeper into the woods.

“Whether this ends in triumph or embarrassment, we’ll give it a try^[1]. And if we don’t find Her Highness… well, let’s just call it a very long walk.”

But still… two thousand hectares. Even if the princess was somewhere inside the hunting grounds, looking for her would be like searching for a single seashell on an endless beach.

‘If I can’t find her today, I’ll just camp out in front of her bedroom door.’

With that grim determination, Dianne pressed forward.