Vincent Hunter was a royal guard knight of Saint Rubifalist. His archery skills were exceptional, and his horsemanship was superb as well. Among the hundreds of thousands of knights in Saint Ruby, the number of people who could defeat him could be counted on one hand. Vincent Hunter was undoubtedly the foremost knight in Saint Ruby.
Such a capable knight was a talent that no prince vying for the throne would overlook. Vincent received invitations from various princes. However, he chose not to follow any of them, which led the princes to either view him as arrogant or think he was waiting for the highest bidder. Vincent soon became a guard knight with a title but no backing.
The emperor of Saint Ruby did not want to widen the rift between the princes and Vincent, lest he push Vincent to make the most extreme choice, so he dispatched Vincent to Marinfield’s side.
Perhaps because Marinfield had also been shunned by the princes, these two, who were a decade apart in age, quickly developed a subtle bond. This bond resembled that of lord and vassal, like siblings, mingled with the empathy of fellow sufferers, yet carried an absolute boundary that neither would cross.
The princes had originally agreed to let Vincent go to Marinfield’s side to endure some hardship and toil. They thought that as long as Vincent lived a few days in poverty, he would cherish the opportunity for promotion and seize the olive branch extended by one of them.
Little did they know that Vincent not only did not find his days as the princess’s attendant miserable but instead got along very well with Marinfield.
Vincent Hunter harbored no grand ambitions; he was just a good-for-nothing willing to follow behind a little girl, trailing her backside while playing house—and with such thoughts in mind, the princes one by one withdrew the olive branches they had offered to Vincent.
Thus, when Marinfield left Saint Ruby at the age of twenty to marry into Castellion, Vincent took on the role of the princess’s guard knight captain—a position no other knight was willing to accept. After escorting the princess to Castellion, the princess’s guard knight captain could not return home; he had to remain in the princess’s married nation to continue protecting her. If the princess died in a foreign land, her guard knight also had to stay at the place of her death, becoming her tomb guardian.
Compared to Saint Ruby, Castellion was both cold and small. Accompanying the princess to marry into such a country was certainly no plum assignment. Vincent’s accompaniment of Marinfield to Castellion was tantamount to being exiled abroad.
Marinfield was filled with gratitude toward Vincent. This gratitude transformed in her heart into trust in him.
However, as soon as Marinfield arrived in Castellion, she suffered cold treatment. As the queen, she had only seen Osborne I once, during the wedding ceremony on the day of their marriage.
Afterward, Marinfield was cast into the bedchamber that Osborne I had assigned her, and for five days, she did not see Osborne I again.
At first, Marinfield could still console herself that Osborne I did not come to see her because he was very busy. After all, unlike Saint Ruby, which enjoyed the elves’ protection with its warm climate and fertile lands, Castellion was different.
After another three days, Marinfield began gazing out from her window at the castle courtyard, and she soon discovered that no matter how busy Osborne I was, he always made time to accompany his daughter Snow White, playing with her or listening to her prattle on about trivial matters.
Marinfield looked toward the castle courtyard every day, and of course, Osborne I noticed her spying. That night, Marinfield was forcibly removed from her original bedchamber by the servants and sent to an even smaller one from whose window the castle courtyard could not be seen.
Marinfield had the illusion that she had been placed under house arrest. She desperately wanted to break free from this predicament but did not know where to start. It was at this moment that she discovered that Magic Mirror in her dowry…
What happened afterward was known to all. Marinfield fell victim to Diesel’s brainwashing hypnosis, and the hypnotic effects strengthened day by day.
Before long, Marinfield’s world consisted only of herself and Snow White. She became mired in an obsession with appearances, gradually descending into madness out of jealousy…
Marinfield did not know, nor did she have the chance to know, that her guard knight captain had been dismissed by Osborne I on the very day of her wedding.
After the wedding, as Marinfield’s status shifted from princess of Saint Ruby to queen of Osborne I, she was escorted by maids to the bedchamber amid their surrounding. There, she needed to await her wedding night.
The servants Marinfield had brought, now servants of the queen, also had to obey the commands of Osborne I, the king.
“—You’re called ‘Hunter’?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Vincent knelt on one knee before Osborne I. Osborne I glanced at the face hidden beneath his tricorn hat and revealed a contemptuous smile. “Then from now on, go be a hunter.”
“This castle already has enough knights, but the forest outside lacks a hunter. You can sell the birds and beasts you hunt to the castle—that will be your reward for your unwavering loyalty to Marinfield.”
And so, the illustrious royal guard knight captain fell to become an obscure little hunter.
The forests of Saint Ruby came with their own soft light filter. Wild beasts were rare there, but beautiful, serene, and mysteriously sacred creatures were common, such as nightingales, white deer, and unicorns.
In contrast, the forests of Castellion were filled with a sense of barbarism, coldness, and darkness. Even warhorses trained by knights would paw the ground and refuse to advance before the dark forest.
Ye Tang’s group could only dismount and lead their horses forward.
“Your Majesty—”
Eric wanted to remind Ye Tang not to venture deep into the forest; there might still be magical beasts within.
Yetis, giant apes, goblin orcs, slimes, bloodsucking flowers… In Castellion, where night was long and human forces had not covered every corner of the nation, it was a prime settling spot for magical beasts. Forests, places where humans could easily become separated, were especially prone to attracting them.
“Shh—”
Ye Tang placed a finger to her lips. She listened to the surroundings for a moment, then silently picked up her bow and arrow.
A figure stood atop a giant tree hundreds of meters tall. Wearing a tricorn hat and a green cloak, he had come to investigate because he heard unfamiliar sounds—he had excellent hearing and was very familiar with the hoofbeats and footsteps of those who frequently entered and exited the forest. But the group entering the forest today was not the usual ones.
Seeing Ye Tang, clad in a red velvet cloak, at the head of the group, the figure’s pupils contracted slightly. For a moment, he truly could not believe his eyes.
The next second, he silently unslung the bow from his back and nocked a handmade arrow from his quiver.
At this moment, the forest fell utterly silent. All that remained was the chill wind rustling snowflakes, the horses pawing in place, and their snorts.
Closing her golden eyes, Ye Tang soon raised her bow an inch higher. The figure on the tree had his pupils change color slightly; his emerald green eyes flashed gold for an instant, and he lowered his bow by two centimeters.
Whoosh—!
Three arrows shot out simultaneously. Hearing the air-splitting sound, Kay swung his greatsword and lunged toward Ye Tang.
“Who goes there!?”
Kay sliced in half the arrow aimed at Ye Tang.
His Majesty’s order was for him to protect the queen without leaving her side, so he absolutely could not allow her to lose even a single hair!
Protected in Kay’s embrace, her face squished by his armor, Ye Tang was somewhat surprised. But she quickly patted Kay’s chest, signaling him to release her.
Thinking she would pat empty metal, Ye Tang instead felt warmth. She immediately realized that Kay was not the type of knight who relied on armor to appear heroic; his armor looked bulky because his chest muscles were genuinely massive.
“My apologies, Your Highness.”
Though Kay said it was rude, his large hand showed no intention of releasing Ye Tang—the archer who had shot at her had yet to reveal himself, so how could he let Ye Tang, who wore not even soft armor, leave his side?
Once again squished fully against the metal barrel, Ye Tang this time clenched her right fist—not patting, but hammering it into Kay’s waist.
“The archer is one of us!”
Before Ye Tang finished speaking, someone had already landed on the ground like a breeze, chuckling softly. He held the fletching of the arrow Ye Tang had shot, and impaled on that arrow was a giant bat.
“Princess… no, my queen, Hunter greets you.”
Vincent knelt on one knee behind Ye Tang, right hand over his chest. His gentle brows and eyes made him look not thirty-two but twenty-three.
While Kay was still stunned, Ye Tang had already slipped from his embrace and picked up another arrow Vincent had shot—Vincent had fired two arrows at once. One was within Kay’s blocking range, while the other directly struck a giant scorpion lurking under fallen leaves, nearly clamping a horse’s leg.
The giant scorpion was non-venomous, but its massive pincers could bisect a person, and its iron-like shell was harder than stone. Vincent’s arrow had pierced precisely at the joint between its head and body—a godlike shot.
When Ye Tang pulled out the arrow, the giant scorpion was still alive. Eric was about to warn her of the danger when he saw Ye Tang ruthlessly shove the arrow back in, stabbing repeatedly until the scorpion’s purple-green bodily fluids splattered, and its entire… oh, not shrimp head, but scorpion head fell off its bloated body.
Diesel in the mirror couldn’t help but shiver.
“This should make a good lunch, right?”
Ye Tang returned Vincent’s custom iron arrow to him, took the giant bat from Vincent’s hand, tossed it to Kay, and ordered, “Start a fire and roast this too.”
In Marinfield’s memories, magical beast bats and magical beast scorpions were edible. Dancing mushrooms and mandrake seemed to taste like regular shiitake and radishes too.
That meant lunch was sorted for today.
The maids had already fainted seven or eight out of ten upon seeing the giant bat in Vincent’s hand. Facing the queen splattered with scorpion juice, the knights exchanged glances, unsure how to react for a moment.
“…”
Eric was momentarily speechless as well. Steady Kay was the first to act; he commanded the knights, “Do as the queen orders.”
“Y-yes… yes!”
The knights scattered—some to build a fire, others to gather wood.
Pulling down the hood over her head, Ye Tang told Vincent to rise. Ignoring Eric and Kay, she asked directly, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you, Vincent?”