"Miss! Where are you going? Did you know that everyone is only talking about how you became the Queen of the Hunting Festival? It's so exciting!"
In the carriage heading back to the duke's mansion, Emily was making a fuss.
"Is it that good?"
"Of course! We really flattened the noses of the Kelin family's kids."
It seemed she had quite a bit of pent-up frustration, as Emily clenched her fists and shouted.
"I'll make sure they fail miserably! Our young lady didn't receive any hunting game as charity like some pitiful person; she hunted a bear herself and proudly took first place!"
"Take the maids from the mansion with you, don't go alone."
"Of course I will!"
Emily nodded with a determined, battle-ready look in her eyes.
Seeing her more excited and fired up than I was, a smile slipped out.
In truth, I was disappointed that the reward for becoming the 'Queen of the Hunting Festival' wasn't as great as I had hoped.
I didn't want to, but after all that hard work, the final reward was just money and fame.
'At least I should get a 10% boost in affection, right?'
But seeing Emily's joy, my mood improved a bit.
'Well, it wasn't too bad.'
I had surpassed the 40% affection threshold with all the male leads except one.
The time spent was worth it, as the results were quite good.
Especially the Crown Prince. I had raised his affection from a mere 2% to an impressive 45%, and I even surpassed Bütter by just 1%.
Now I was even considering who to keep as a backup.
But I shook my head immediately.
'No. No matter what, not the Crown Prince.'
I had barely managed to escape before he found me.
If he heard about the harsh words I spouted in the courtroom, his affection might drop.
As I was thinking this, I felt the carriage gradually come to a stop.
When it finally stopped, Emily got up first, opened the door, and stepped out.
"It looks like the baggage carriage has already arrived!"
As Emily said, it seemed they had just barely arrived first, as the workers sent from the palace were unloading numerous hunting game in front of the duke's mansion.
"What... what is this...!"
The butler and the staff, who seemed to have come out to greet us, all stood with their mouths agape, dumbfounded.
Fortunately, the duke and my two older brothers had already arrived and gone inside, so they weren't visible.
Unlike them, who had left straight from the hunting grounds, I had a late lunch at the palace, which made me a bit late.
"That's all mine."
I said softly as Emily helped me down from the carriage.
"Miss! Miss!"
The butler approached me with a flustered look.
"Miss Penelope, what... what is all this money for?"
"And what are these animals? The duke and the young masters' hunting game arrived a little while ago..."
"These are my hunting game, butler."
"Huh? What...?"
"Didn't you hear the news yet?"
I looked around at the butler, who was unusually slow to grasp the situation, and all the staff of the duke's mansion, and kindly informed them.
"I'm the Queen of this year's Hunting Festival."
* * *
I instructed to tan all the skins of the hunting game.
I planned to use them to make a lot of winter clothes for the male lead I was focusing on.
'I thought I'd only be able to make a scarf... but this is on a much larger scale. I'll just have to think positively.'
I told the staff to prepare the meat that could be used for food and send it to the kitchen.
At first, the butler was flustered, but soon he became enthusiastic and moved quickly.
I had to work hard to stop him from using the bear's gallbladder to make my medicine.
After giving the instructions, I went up to my room and sprawled out on the bed.
'Sigh... still, there's nothing like being home.'
The sound of creaking followed my rolling movements.
This clear and pleasant sound was, indeed, because...
I pretended not to, but I was secretly overjoyed by the 100 million gold prize money.
I had even instructed Emily to cover the bed with gold coins to fully enjoy my newfound wealth.
'Hehe! I'm rich now! I can sleep on a bed of gold coins!'
I grinned and gathered a handful of gold coins, then tossed them into the air.
They sparkled beautifully in the light, reflecting the golden color.
It was something I had never even dreamed of when I used to sleep under a thin blanket in a moldy basement room.
Feeling elated, I gathered another handful of gold coins and tossed them up again.
Clatter!
That's when it happened.
"Damn. Is it that good?"
A grating voice intruded amidst the pleasant sounds.
I glanced to the side to see where the voice came from.
Renald was leaning against the open door with his arms crossed.
It seemed Emily hadn't properly closed the door while busy with the luggage.
I frowned and asked, "What? Why are you here?"
"You're really up to all sorts of antics. Why don't you just ask for them to fill your bathtub with gold?"
The bastard sneered, looking exasperated.
'Oh, that's a good idea. A gold coin shower would be great!'
I was in such a good mood that I even found his sarcasm amusing.
"I'm busy, so if you have nothing to say, talk to me later."
Without answering, he turned his attention to the gold coins and walked into the room.
He sat at the edge of my bed.
"Playing with gold coins is your busy work?"
"Yeah."
"Tsk, you brat. When are you going to grow up?"
I was taken aback by his reprimand.
'What, this bastard is saying this to me?'
I froze for a moment, then finally snapped and glared at him.
He raised his chin arrogantly.
"What."
"Why are you here?"
I asked irritably.
Renald hesitated, not immediately giving a reason.
Just as I was about to speak, he finally said reluctantly.
"...Father wants us all to have dinner together."
"What?!"
I was so surprised that I sat up abruptly.
"Why?"
"The hunting festival is over, and he seems to have something to say. How should I know?"
Renald shrugged and answered calmly.
I was speechless.
The campsite at the hunting grounds, no matter how luxurious, couldn't compare to the grand mansion.
To save time, we all had breakfast together in the duke's cabin, and I had to frequently encounter the duke's family members.
I thought I could endure it before the assassination attempt, but it became increasingly uncomfortable after the trial.
So I sought refuge in the palace.
Now that I was back at the duke's mansion, I thought I could just stay in and avoid everyone as before...
'Why is he tormenting me again? Just leave me alone!'
I shuddered at the harsh ordeal I had to face right after returning and said,
"I don't feel well. I'm about to throw up what I ate this morning."
"It's almost evening. Are you saying you're feeling sick now?"
I bit my tongue at Renald's sarcastic reply.
'I should have said lunch.'
I was too flustered to speak clearly.
"Just say I've been feeling sick since four days ago."
"I'll tell him that."
"Hey, stop joking around..."
Renald frowned and turned to look at me sharply.
His open mouth closed again when he saw my expressionless face.
He seemed to realize I wasn't joking.
He messed up his pink hair with one hand and shouted,
"...Fine! I told him, so you decide whether to come or not."
"..."
I didn't respond, as I had no intention of going.
A moment of chilly silence filled the room.
"...Hey. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to misunderstand."
It was Renald who couldn't bear the awkward silence and broke it first.
"We couldn't give you our hunting game, even if we wanted to. You know that, right?"
"...What?"
"To prevent ranking manipulation, family members can't give each other hunting game. It's a rule."
I was taken aback by his sudden explanation.
Why was he explaining the rules of a finished hunting festival?
'And what does he mean by "we wanted to but couldn't"?'
As I pondered, I suddenly realized.
Now I understood why Renald was telling me this.
He thought I was angry because they didn't give me their hunting game.
I was speechless for a moment, then blurted out,
"I know."
Actually, I didn't.
Renald asked immediately,
"If you know, why do you look like that?"
"What do you mean?"
"You look like you're about to throw a tantrum."
"It's not that, so don't worry."
"Miss, we didn't give it to other girls, so don't misunderstand!"
He got excited, even though that wasn't the case.
"Do you know how hard it is to catch small animals alive? Because of someone, I had to give up on hunting predators and just went to the small animal area to chase them around..."
He suddenly shut his mouth and started coughing, his face turning red.
"Ahem, ahem! Don't be upset. If you want something, just say it. I'll give it to you."
I couldn't keep up with his emotional swings.
'I said I'm fine, so why is he making such a fuss?'
I felt sufficiently wealthy just from the gold coins under me.
But if I didn't answer what I wanted right away, he wouldn't leave.
'I remember what he caught...'
I had no choice but to recall what Renald had caught.
Squirrels, pheasants, hares, deer, and...
"...Rabbits."
As I said it, a scene flashed through my mind.
A rabbit made from a white handkerchief.
I had forgotten about it after giving the rabbit that no longer moved to Emily after parting ways with Bütter.
"Rabbits?"
"Yeah, rabbits. I want to see them running around."
It turned out Renald had caught eight rabbits.
"Alright. I'll tell the butler to release them in the forest."
He nodded and finally got up from the bed, looking somewhat pleased.
"Happy now? Stop being upset."
"I'm not upset."
"Try to come down for dinner."
"..."
I had no intention of going, so I didn't answer.
But ultimately, I didn't participate in the dinner with the duke, not out of choice but due to an unavoidable situation.
After Renald left, I hugged a pile of gold coins and fell into a deep sleep.