Chapter 53

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Zanobi the Human Scum
-----------------------------------------------------------------

An explosive tension filled the tent where the leaders had gathered. Everyone held their breath, cautiously watching one another.

“Hahaha, marrying off a son is quite the ordeal.”

Leo III boomed with a hearty laugh, seizing control of the room.

“Language and what-not—let’s leave such complicated matters to the experts and start with a grand, statesmanlike drink. We must understand each other to negotiate, after all! Let’s share some amusing stories!”

The nobles of San Carlo followed Leo III’s lead and burst into laughter. With the king himself stepping in to lighten the mood, the envoys from the Kingdom of Gallico no longer put up a fight and obediently joined in. They all raised their glasses of Gallican champagne for a toast and wet their lips, but their palms and armpits were already drenched. It was clear the negotiations would not be easy.

* * *

Unaware of Prince Alfonso’s predicament, Ariadne, in her gloomy mood, aimlessly rode her horse along a path on the outskirts of the hunting grounds. While she was a decent rider, she was neither particularly skilled at hunting nor fond of it, so she had no intention of venturing deep into the woods. She was simply circling the area to avoid having to go inside the tent and sit with Lucrezia, Isabella, and Zanobi.

“I’d rather die than suffer.”

Ariadne was just about to turn her horse back toward the tent. But it seemed one piece of trash she thought was safely contained in its bin had escaped.

“Hey, let’s talk.”

It was Zanobi. He looked as if he had been chasing her for some time, covered in dust. He approached on a small, muscular horse much like himself. Ariadne frowned and took a step back.

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“If I say we do, we do!”

He came on strong from the start, trying to assert dominance with his aggressive demeanor. Ariadne pulled on her reins, increasing the distance between them.

“Compose yourself. There are many eyes on us at the hunting competition. Surely you don’t wish to cause a scene in a public place, especially when it’s not even within the confines of our home this time?”

Zanobi’s face turned red, thinking Ariadne was digging up his past mistake. She was referring to the time he had whistled upon seeing her wardrobe malfunction at her débutante ball. He had been endlessly ashamed of being eyed by the capital’s nobles as some country bumpkin, and he resented Ariadne for reminding him of the incident. In his anger, he pressed her even harder.

“Who’s here to see? I could bury you right now, and no one would ever know.”

Zanobi menacingly spurred his horse closer to Ariadne. Though Ariadne’s horse backed away, Zanobi’s pony overlapped with her bay horse as if they were passing each other.

“I hear you’ve got a filthy mouth. Threatening to ‘take someone out’? Is that any way for a lady to speak?”

*Ah, so Isabella must have been whispering in Zanobi’s ear,* Ariadne thought, lifting her chin to stare haughtily at him. She decided to play dumb for the time being.

“What are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean.”

“Ha! Look at this wench. Lying through her teeth with a mouth like a sewer!”

Zanobi’s voice grew louder until he was outright yelling at Ariadne. He seemed to feel a sense of superiority and thrill from shouting. There was a reason for this display of aggression. Zanobi felt like a knight in shining armor, standing up for the poor, pitiful Isabella.

“If you keep acting up without knowing your place, you could disappear without a trace! If you torment poor Isabella one more time, your big brother Zanobi won’t let you get away with it!”

“Hmph!”

Ariadne snorted loudly. With every word Zanobi spoke, she understood more clearly why he was puffing out his chest like this. It was all for Isabella—or more accurately, to impress Isabella. There was no way Zanobi and Isabella could share a genuine friendship; there was only one reason he would be fawning over her. The realization made Zanobi seem even more disgusting.

“Look, let’s be honest here, even if your mouth is crooked.”

Having grasped the situation, Ariadne changed her tone toward Zanobi. After a quick calculation, she concluded that he could do her no real harm. Ariadne had power, and she decided not to hide it and grovel. Her habit of being kind and polite to everyone was a remnant from her past life that she hadn’t yet managed to shed. But it wasn’t a superior strategy. Sometimes, you had to stomp on vermin to make them realize they were vermin and stop challenging you. A look of utter disbelief mixed with an icy glare appeared on Ariadne’s face—a glimpse of her true self that she rarely showed to the world. As she revealed her true colors, she pulled on the reins and turned her horse. She had no intention of remaining alone with Zanobi on this narrow path.

“You seem desperate to impress Isabella, but it’s all meaningless. Even if you give her your heart and soul, do you think she’d even glance at a penniless bum like you?”

She intended to break free from him and gallop back to the tent at once. Zanobi’s horse was a pony meant for long-distance walking, while Ariadne’s was a swift steed. He wouldn’t be able to keep up with her speed.

“And I know why you’re acting like this, but she’s your real cousin. You filthy bastard.”

Ariadne’s horse broke through the gap blocked by Zanobi’s pony and emerged on the other side of the path. Her horse was a powerful steed, easily capable of overpowering Zanobi’s pony in both strength and speed. All she had to do now was spur it on and ride. Feeling safe, Ariadne turned back and looked at Zanobi as if he were something utterly repulsive. After sizing him up from head to toe, Ariadne added one more comment.

“Before you meddle in others’ affairs, why don’t you get your own life in order? You bloodsucking leech. Don’t you even feel sorry for Aunt Lucrezia?”

This time, the barb truly hit a nerve. Zanobi was so incensed he practically snorted. His incompetence, along with the fact that he was unattractive, were the two biggest weaknesses he tried so desperately to ignore.

“You fucking bitch! Shut your mouth!”

But Ariadne’s tirade, fueled by the fresh anger of being cursed out by such trash, didn’t stop there.

“Have you ever earned a single ducat with your own two hands? You useless piece of human trash!”

That one hurt. Zanobi had always dreamed of a life where he was wildly successful, where the world’s gold flowed to him like iron to a magnet, and where he was admired and respected by all. But reality was a gutter. Of course, it was the world’s fault, and those knights who failed to recognize his brilliant talent, but the fact remained that he wasn’t earning any money. The longer this went on, the more terrified Zanobi became that he might not be the great hero he imagined himself to be, and his temper grew proportionally fouler. Greatly agitated, Zanobi wheezed as he approached her. Seeing his face turn completely red, Ariadne quickly pulled her reins, turned her horse, and spurred it to gallop toward the tent. Normally, she would have succeeded without a problem. If Zanobi followed her back to the tent and lost his temper, he was merely a guest of the de Mare family and couldn’t act insolently toward her. And if he whined to Lucrezia, it would be pointless; Ariadne was now largely free from Lucrezia’s influence, ever since she began receiving her expenses directly from Cardinal de Mare. Zanobi had no connections in the capital, so no one would believe his word. Her reputation was safe. In short, if she could just get away from this spot, there was nothing Zanobi could do to her. A man with nothing to his name was acting arrogant, relying only on what hung between his legs. He was the type of person she hated most in the world. But there was one thing she hadn’t predicted. Zanobi took out the hunting crossbow slung across his back. Seeing the gleaming blue arrowhead loaded onto it, Ariadne cried out in shock.

“What are you doing! Are you crazy? Are you going to shoot a person with a crossbow?!”

If she turned and fled now, she would be offering her back to Zanobi as a target. Ariadne spurred her horse into the bushes at the side of the path, seeking cover. But Zanobi was too close. He took careful aim and fired at Ariadne’s retreating figure.

“Take this, you wretched bitch!”

Zanobi had aimed somewhere between the horse’s rump and Ariadne’s back—closer to the rump, if he had to choose—but he figured it couldn’t be helped if it hit her back. *Thwack!* Fired from a laughably close range for a crossbow, the bolt flew swiftly and thankfully embedded itself deep into the flank of Ariadne’s horse. *Neeeigh!* But the horse, startled, let out a long cry and, with Ariadne still on its back, bolted off the path and deep into the hunting grounds. Left alone, Zanobi spat a glob of phlegm onto the ground, a mixture of triumph and unease swirling within him.

“Ptooey!”

It was that bitch’s fault for talking back to the great Zanobi. His anger at her for exposing his weaknesses overwhelmingly overshadowed any guilt he felt for shooting a deadly crossbow at a person. *I did nothing wrong. That’s right. What if I get caught? It’ll be fine. It hit the horse’s rump anyway. I didn’t even shoot a person.*

* * *

In the dark forest, Cesare’s eyes were wide open, carefully scanning his surroundings for animal tracks. The beasts of the forest were hidden so deep that one had to pay close attention to every sound—the rustle of leaves in the wind, the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot. *Rustle!* *Neeeigh!* In that sense, the bay horse that came charging through the forest at a mad speed immediately stole everyone’s attention.

“What is that, my lord?”

A subordinate, who had aimed his loaded hunting bow at the approaching horse, asked Cesare. Seeing the aimed arrow, Cesare was horrified and stopped him.

“That’s a person, you idiot! Don’t shoot!”

Indeed, atop the bay horse, a black-haired girl clung on for dear life, gripping the reins tightly, too stunned even to scream. Her hair, which seemed to have been neatly braided, was now a tangled mess, flying through the air with every leap the horse made. Ariadne looked as if her strength was beginning to fail.

“If we leave her like that, she’s going to fall.”

Cesare looked in Ariadne’s direction. It seemed to be a battle of who would tire first, the horse or the rider, and it looked like the rider was about to lose.

“Came here to hunt game, and it looks like I’ll be catching a person instead.”

After a moment’s thought, Cesare spurred his own horse forward.

“You lot! If you see the ‘Golden Deer,’ don’t catch it! Just wait! Absolutely do not catch it! And don’t let anyone else get it either!”

He still couldn’t let go of his obsession with the ‘Golden Deer.’

* * *

Ariadne was using every last ounce of strength to hold onto the reins, desperately trying not to fall from the horse’s back. The blasted animal continued to buck wildly, even though the arrow in its flank must have been causing it pain with every movement. After each leap, she hoped it would finally calm down, but the horse would invariably launch into another jump. Ariadne was starting to feel nauseous. She was gripping the reins so tightly that the blood had drained from her hands, and they were digging into her palms, causing a sharp pain with every jolt.

*Ah, I can’t hold on anymore.*

Just as she was contemplating whether letting go and falling would cause a serious injury, a familiar tenor voice rang in her ears.

“Miss, relax! You can’t try to overpower the horse!”

It was Cesare.

“Loosen your legs! The pressure from your thighs is scaring it even more!”

She followed his instructions, relaxing her legs and trying to support herself with the strength of her feet in the stirrups.

“That’s it, you’re doing great! Lean forward! Your center of gravity is too far back!”

Though her mind was a complete blur, she tried her best to lean forward and follow Cesare’s commands. But Ariadne, a skinny teenage girl, lacked the core strength to support her body weight using only the stirrups while relaxing her thighs. Cesare, thinking from his own perspective, naturally assumed she could manage it, but the physical condition of a twenty-something nobleman, for whom training for war was a virtue, and a teenage girl on a strict diet were entirely different. As Ariadne relaxed her thighs and tried to support herself with just her feet as instructed, she instinctively tightened her grip on the reins. The bit pulled even tighter in the horse’s mouth, causing it discomfort and making it thrash once more. *Neeeeigh!* The horse was now bucking in a small clearing deep within the hunting grounds. The area was littered with naturally fallen trees and protruding rocks and stones. The horse spun in circles, thrashing about, then began to leap wildly toward a fallen log. Cesare’s eyes widened. The horse was about to trip on a rock next to the log.

“Watch out!”

As if on cue with his words, Ariadne’s horse stumbled badly.