The Villainess Enjoys Her Seventh Life as a Free-Spirited Bride (hostage) in a Former Enemy Country

As he spoke, he looked down at the hunting grounds a little further

on.

[I’ve heard that in the eastern part of the country where the former chief, Ji-san, lived, people like us are called “bird watchers.”]

[Bird watchers…]

Rishe blinked.

[Is that different from being a ‘ninja’?]

[Well, aren’t they similar? I heard that they usually pretend to be farmers or merchants over there. We’re basically “hunters” too, and we usually live peacefully in the forest, as you know.]

Rishe slowly looked back at Raul, who stated everything as easy as if he were singing.

She was on a narrow tree, but thanks to Raul, she had learned how to carry herself in such situations. Therefore, she would not lose her balance there.

[But you do these missions in case of emergency.]

[――Well, that’s quite right in the sense of hunting prey.]

Narrowing his red eyes, Raul smiled as if taking aim, and looked at the man in front of him.

[You’ll have to wait a bit, Rishe. I’ve been told not to kill him, so hunt carefully.]

Although he said so in words, there was no tension in his gesture as he stretched his bow.

Raul held up the arrow and aimed at his target without disturbing the tree branch he was on.

(Raul taught me everything about how to get rid of tracks and how to read them. Thanks to that kind of life, I think I can move reasonably well as a hunter…)

Rishe regarded Raul in front of her and remembered “Curtis” from this morning.

(Raul is something else. He is the only one I know who can disguise himself as someone else and change his behavior and even his voice into someone else.)

She wondered how Raul perceived the gaze she directed at him while thinking this.

“Why are you pretending to be His Highness Curtis?”

“Mm…”

Raul pretended to think about it, and peered closely into Rishe’s face.

He has an air of friendliness about him, but in reality he cared nothing about anyone.

This kind of gaze he was pouring on Rishe made her feel inwardly astounded.

(To his fellow hunters, he acted like everyone’s big brother…To strangers, he’d take quite such a frivolous interest in them.)

This was why all the women who fell in love with him were brought to tears.

This was probably even more of a problem since Raul’s face was striking, and he was ostensibly kind and charming.

“There’s no change in your expression at all even when I’m this close. But when the Crown Prince touched you, you immediately turned red.”

“…At any rate, I know you’re not interested in answering my questions.”

“If I tell you, will you reward me with something?”

“No, I can’t give you anything.”

Raul chuckled as she answered in the tone of her hunter’s life.

“Forgive me, if I’m being creepy. But you’re just as creepy as I am, since you didn’t say anything when you found out about Curtis, you know?”

“…”

“Never mind. I’d better get going. I’ll be quiet this afternoon, it looks like it’s going to rain.”

He looked down the hill and saw Harriet joining the maids.

“If you like, you can make friends with Harriet, too.”

(Speaking of which…)

Despite being a royal servant, Raul certainly continued to refer to her as “Harriet”.

(I’ve heard rumors that Harriet-sama may have been in love with Raul.)

But the truth remained unknown.

Rishe, who had been staring at Harriet in the distance, quietly turned her gaze back to Raul.

But there was no one there anymore, only the swaying trees that lined the cape.

In the bright summer sun, the sound of cicadas echoed around the area, but there was no sign of animals outside.

(…Indeed, it looks like we’re going to get some rain.)

She’d better tell the maids to collect the laundry.

Rishe took a brief breath, untied the reins from the branch, and led the horse back to the castle.

***

About an hour later, it started to rain.

It was probably just a passing shower and would stop soon after a short wait.

The rain fell heavily, however, that white droplets of water rose from the ground, making the maids busy.

The short rain, typical of summer, has a fierce vitality.

Rishe was listening to the soothing raindrops hitting the window when she received news that Arnold had returned from the city.

“Welcome back…Whoa.”

“…”

When Rishe opened the door, her eyes widened when she saw Arnold.

There stood Arnold, soaking wet all over and with a somewhat sullen expression on his face.