Possessing The Obsessive Maniac’s Cotton Doll - Chapter 47

The day of the hunting competition had dawned. It was exactly two days after the large-scale fireworks display. Since it was a hunting competition held by the imperial family, most of the noble families in the empire participated.

Even among the many participating aristocrats, those who received people’s attention could be counted on one hand.

One was Emperor Andrei, at the pinnacle of power, who held the hunting competitions, and the other was Mikael, who won the competitions almost every year. And another was Marina, the only female contestant.

“Hello, it is an honor to meet you, Archduke.”

Marina Wilson came up to Mikael and greeted him in a friendly voice. Mikael looked at the woman who greeted him with indifferent eyes.

“I wish you luck.”

After giving a brief, contextless greeting, Mikael immediately turned around. Yul, who was hiding in his inner pocket, burst out laughing in astonishment.

Saying ‘I wish you luck’ to the other person’s greeting that it was an honor to meet them. What kind of bottomless greeting was this? It was a tone that clearly indicated that he did not want any further conversation.

After Mikael turned around, Marina stared at him as he walked away. No, it would be a little more appropriate to call it glaring.

Marina, with her blonde hair and green eyes, was a beauty recognized in the empire.

She was not particularly interested in Mikael. It wasn’t even that she was trying to win his favor simply because of her father’s orders. It was just that there was no aristocratic family as influential as the Orlov family, so she wanted to establish a relationship with him as much as possible.

She didn’t expect much because she knew that the Archduke Orlov was indifferent to women, but she didn’t expect that he would treat her like this. To be honest, her pride was hurt as well.

Marina followed him with a cold gaze, then turned around.

“Hello, Lady Wilson. You are also beautiful today.”

“Oh, pleasure to meet you. Edwin. I never thought we would meet like this.”

The well-groomed man who greeted her was the esteemed son of Baron Ackerman. Even though his face blushed shyly, he had quite the courage to greet her first, so she smiled kindly. Then, Edwin Ackerman’s earlobes turned red.

To be honest, Marina preferred Edwin, who gave off a soft and cute feeling, rather than Mikael, who had a cold and stiff image.

Men should always have a soft taste, but Mikael was far from that.

Unfortunately, however, Marina’s personal preference was not important. She had a goal to bring her mother, who was no different than being in an imprisoned state. In addition to that, she wanted to get away from her father, who was trying to mold her to his liking.

To do so, she needed a man who was wealthy financially and had a higher status than her father, who was a Count. Unfortunately, Edwin was not the kind of man who could cater to Marina’s ambitions.

“Well, then.”

Marina gave a brief greeting and walked past Edwin. She heard him calling out to her, ‘W- wait a minute,’ but she pretended not to hear.

“I am glad that you participated in many hunting competitions this year. I hope everyone will be safe and have a good time. Then I wish you all luck.”

Andrei gave an overly simple greeting to be called an opening speech.

The handsome steeds, each carrying their master, snorted and stamped their front hooves as if they were ready to run at any moment.

Then a dapper-looking young man stepped forward with a loudspeaker made of a giant conch shell. He had been hosting a hunting tournament for several years.

“Ah ah, allow me to guide you. As everyone knows, some of you may be new to the game, so I will briefly explain the rules of the hunting competition. First, the hunting grounds extend all the way to Mount Epoli and its plains. Please do not accidentally take the wrong road and cross over to another place. Second, there are various monsters in the arena. Points are awarded differently based on the ‘Monster Risk Rating Table’ set by the Imperial Family, so please be aware of this while participating in the hunt. Each of your arrowheads is painted a different color. We are going to proceed with the scoring. You probably will not be able to, but don’t even think about taking the arrows of someone else’s game and replacing it with your own. Each arrow has a device that detects the impact, so if you use an expedient, you will be disqualified immediately. Third, when the set end time is reached, the bell will be struck three times. When the bell has rung three times, stop hunting immediately and gather here.”

The moderator poured out his words like a rapid-fire gun, then took a moment to catch his breath. Then he spoke again.

“Fourth, the most important thing. Any injuries that occur during hunting competitions are the responsibility of the individual, and the Imperial Family is not responsible. Therefore, we earnestly ask you to be mindful of your safety and participate in the competition. In the event of an emergency, please visit the safety personnel stationed throughout the venue. That is all.”

As soon as the moderator finished speaking, one of the moderators struck a bell hanging from a high pole.

Ddaengg~

The delicate sound of bells resounded in all directions. With that as a signal, dozens of nobles drove their horses and scattered into the woods.

It was the same with Mikael and Andrei.

Mikael drove his horse, the black horse Brocken, wildly. Then, Andrei, riding a white horse, Lloyd, followed.

“Why are you following me?”

“I am not following you. It just happened that the roads overlapped.”

Judging by the shameless expression on his face, it was clear that he was lying. Mikael let out an annoyed sigh.

“I don’t see your little friend today? Did you leave him behind?”

“He’s in here.”

Andrei asked, keeping his voice as low as possible in case someone heard. Then Mikael also responded in a low voice and pointed his hand at his chest.

“Aha. So he’s there. By the way, do you think you will win again this year?”

“Well. I don’t know. I have no intention of winning in the first place.”

Mikael replied plainly. It seemed that he didn’t know that he sounded haughty.

Yul quietly stuck out his tongue in Mikael’s arms.

“Hmm, how haughty. Take care of yourself.”

Andrei, who agreed with Yul for the first time in a long time, said. Mikael replied with a light nod.

“The little friend too.”

At the words clearly referring to him, Yul stuck out one arm from Mikael’s inner pocket.

“”

It shouldn’t look suspicious to others, but anyone who saw one of the doll’s arms would think that Mikael was a crazy geek, and he wouldn’t have anything to do with black magic.

From Yul’s point of view, Mikael’s image had already been ruined at the banquet hosted by the Duke Esirene. So, he figured it wouldn’t matter if anyone found out that he was a lunatic bringing a doll to a hunting competition.

The clatter faded away. Thinking that maybe Andrei had left, Yul breathed heavily from being in his inner pocket the whole time.

“You can take out your face. Instead, don’t say anything.”

“Yes! Of course!”

As if aware of Yul who was feeling stuffy, Mikael allowed Yul to pop outside.

Yul got excited and pulled the round head out of his pocket. Thanks to that, Mikael had a doll’s head attached to his chest, but well, again, Mikael’s image was none of Yul’s business.

Just in time, a shadow moved quickly through the grass. Startled, Yul widened his eyes, but Mikael pulled out his bow as if he had been waiting.

After carefully aiming his target, he fired his arrow, and the sharp arrowhead flew into the grass at breakneck speed.

[Keeek!]

He heard the monster’s cry of pain. Yul, who has only heard Lucky’s ‘bii’ as the only ‘monster’ cry before, froze in surprise.

Mikael slowly gripped Brocken’s reins and approached the grass where the sound came from. He didn’t know what kind of monster it was, but he didn’t relax because he knew that the monster couldn’t be knocked down by a single arrow.

“”

[Kkua, kuarrr]

With a grotesque sound, a huge, furry creature quickly jumped out. Mikael drew the bowstring one after another without delay.

No matter how big the monster was, it looked like it took a considerable amount of damage from being hit by sharp arrows in quick succession. The guy staggered backwards.

It was then.

“Gasp, Mikael! Careful!”

Disobeying Mikael’s request that he never say anything, Yul exclaimed urgently.