I Became the Villain of a Romance Fantasy

59 – The prince has no friends (6)

The day after the meeting at the banquet hall.

Damian led Noel and Orcus to a small shooting range at the corner of Krause’s castle.

The shooting range was so simple that it seemed empty to say that it belonged to one of the leading samurai families in the empire.

“How far is it to me?”

“About 80 steps.”

“It’s far.”

“It’s not that far.”

“No. It’s far.”

Orcus immediately denies Damian’s answer.

For him, an excellent wizard, it was easy to hit a target from a long distance, but that was only when he used magic to a certain extent. He had tried holding a bow once before learning magic, but according to his memories, the bow was not a weapon that could be easily handled.

Leaving behind Orcus, who was looking at his target and measuring the distance, Damian silently picked up a wooden stick and lightly swung his arm toward the ground in front of him.

Gagagak-

It was a very simple motion, but with that one movement, a long boundary line was drawn on the ground. Even though he was standing right behind him, Orcus, unable to detect any movement of mana, looked carefully at the scars carved into the ground and spoke to Damian.

“I think I did a good job asking you.”

“It’s too much praise.”

Arthur, the owner of the place they are now, was not here.

He was also as busy as the emperor in Sarham, so even if it was for the education of the prince and princess, the time he could afford was very limited. There was also a story from the emperor, and as a result, Damian, who had relatively little time, led Orcus and Noel’s training.

Although Noel, who was praised as a genius even in the imperial castle where all kinds of equipment were gathered, told him about Damian’s skills, there was a big difference between hearing it in words and seeing it with his own eyes.

Orcus hadn’t met his peers in his age, so he wasn’t sure what position he stood in compared to the others, but as someone who had seen Noel and Kromel’s sparring battle before, what Damian just showed me was never two. It was clear that he was not being pushed back.

He erased any doubts about Damien’s ability that remained in his mind.

Orcus took up the bow he had prepared in advance and stood behind the line Damian had created.

Looking at the target once again in a straight line from my seat, it seemed that the distance was farther than before. Although it is a vague old memory, he still picked up an arrow and put it on the string, holding a posture he had taken before.

After keeping an eye on what you need to adjust, you start calculating the distance to yourself. The direction and speed of the blowing wind. Even when shooting bullets created with magic, there was no difficulty in that, as it had been calculated many times.

However, it was difficult to give an accurate value for the power that he had to give to the last person who had to go in. Since he did not move his body often, it was unclear how much force he would have to pull.

Eventually, he pulled the string as far as he could, and when the wind stopped blowing towards him, he immediately let go of the string.

Is it because the basic musculature is good though? Orcus’ arrow shot through the air more powerfully than he had expected.

“Five.”

Contrary to his fear of falling to the ground in the middle, Orcus let out a small exclamation at the sight of the arrow flying forward. To the arrow that flies straight and well, he wondered, ‘Isn’t it possible to hit the center with the first shot?’ I thought about it, but as a result, the arrow passed over the target and flew beyond it.

“ah…”

It wasn’t unexpected, but as if it couldn’t be helped, Orcus’s mouth leaked a small voice mixed with regret. Damian, who was watching him from the side, handed him an arrow and asked.

“Have you ever shot a bow before?”

“Just once. As expected, it doesn’t work as well as I thought. If it was magic, I think it would be easy.”

“The posture needs some correction, but overall, it wasn’t bad. My hands were shaking a lot because I was in an unfamiliar posture. This is a problem that can be solved with repeated practice, so you’ll be able to hit the target in no time.”

“is it?”

“And when you hold the bow, you don’t need to raise it too high. Your Highness is stronger than you think. If you want to be strong, just slightly lifting it will be enough.”

“Thanks for the advice.”

An arc was drawn at the corner of Orcus’s mouth at the evaluation that was better than expected. Orcus grabbed the arrow Damian had handed him, put it back on the string, and straightened his posture. As before, the force was given as much as possible, and the focus was lower than before.

Once again an arrow cuts through the air.

Pak!

The sound was very low due to the distance, but Orcus heard the sound of an arrow hitting a target. He couldn’t hit the center of the target, but the fact that the arrow hit the target was enough to make him excited.

“Good job.”

“It’s a pity. If I had lowered it a little more, it would have been in the center. Certainly, as you said, it seems like my body isn’t moving the way I want it to be because I’m not used to it yet.”

“Originally, that’s how it is at first. Repetition is important for anything. But since you hit the target twice, it doesn’t mean that Your Highness doesn’t have talent.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you. Um, Noel? Are you going to try this time?”

“Yes?”

“Shooting. Is it okay if I don’t practice?”

“No. I will.”

Noel, who must have been thinking of something else, hurriedly stood up from his seat with a bewildered face as his gaze gathered at Orcus’s words. If it was her usual, she should have screamed when Orcus hit the target, but it was normal for Noel to be so calm.

But Orcus didn’t notice anything strange about Noel’s behavior, or maybe he knew what the cause of her behavior was, so he handed her a bow and didn’t say anything more.

Before Noel received the bow from Orcus and stood down, her and Damian’s eyes met.

However, unlike yesterday’s sparring, as if she was deliberately trying to keep her distance from him, Noel hurriedly took her eyes off her. Damian was suspicious of Noel’s changed behavior, but he did not dare to reveal it.

He took an arrow from the barrel and handed it to Noel, who accepted it silently.

After being handed an arrow by Damien, she took one look at the target and immediately set the arrow on the string. As Orcus did before, it seemed that preparation time was unnecessary.

Pulling the protest at once, she fired the arrow without hesitation.

The arrow flew towards the target at a higher speed than when Orcus had shot it, and it hit the center of the target exactly. When Orcus saw it, he gave a small sigh and smiled and said to Damian.

“Wouldn’t talent be called talent? By the way, what about Noel?”

“It’s perfect. His stance is unwavering and his senses are sharp, so he knows exactly how to shoot to hit the target. Her Highness would rather go into the forest and gain experience while hunting instead of here.”

“…”

At Damian’s praise, Noel didn’t cheer as much as before, but anyone could see that she was delighted with the praise from the twinkling eyes. Orcus smiled a little at Noel’s appearance and then asked Damian again.

“It looks like we both showed off our skills like this. Wouldn’t it be okay if we wanted to take a look at the skills of the teacher who will teach us?”

“If you want.”

At Orcus’s words, Damian received the bow from Noel, took out an arrow, and set it on fire.

As he raises his bow, Noel’s eyes start to twinkle again toward Damian. Noel had been averting his eyes just a moment ago, but Orcus just laughed softly at her behavior that changed in an instant.

But after a while, Orcus also turned his head to Damian again.

Like Noel, he was also curious about Damian’s skills. I know it’s unusual, but this was not due to doubts about my previous abilities, but out of curiosity.

Damian’s hand moved very lightly.

It was impossible to ascertain how much power was given just by looking at it. His hand pulling the taut string, which required considerable force just by pulling it, moved so lightly and so quickly that he did not know if he had given it strength, and the arrow had already left his hand as he put the arrow on the bow.

Kwajik-!

The only thing Orcus and Noel could confirm was that the arrow he fired pierced the target, splitting the arrow Noel had hit the target in two.

“Then I’ll tell you what to do now.”

***

Noel left the shooting range and walked towards Isilia Pavilion.

Neither Damian nor Orcus were by her side. Now she was walking alone.

Unlike Orcus, who received a bundle of arrows from Damian as an assignment, she received nothing from Damian.

“Me?”

“There is nothing I can tell you to do, Your Highness. If you insist on looking for it, what you need now is an experience close to real life.

“What does that mean?”

“You’re free. It doesn’t matter if you sharpen your sword as usual or practice your bow next to His Highness Orcus. Do you need a bow, by any chance?”

Unexpectedly, I found freedom.

Normally, she might have practiced shooting arrows there, but she had a place to go. At Damian’s offer to bring me a bow, I shook my head and refused, leaving the shooting range.

Although she hadn’t memorized all the routes to the lord’s castle yet, if it were a building with a beautiful flower garden next to it, it wasn’t too difficult for Noel to remember it because Isilia Pavilion was the only one here.

Even if you just walk along the scent of flowers in full bloom, the Icilia Pavilion will quickly appear.

The closer she got to Isilia’s coffin, the more beautiful the colors of the flowers embroidered in the world naturally caught her attention. But there was one thing that struck those flowers and filled her eyes.

Pure white hair that reflects sunlight and shines like stars.

Elena Edelweiss.

She was sitting on a chair in the garden waiting for someone.

Elena’s appearance was so beautiful that even Noel, the same woman, saw it. Seeing her closed eyes and quietly basking in the sunlight, Noel suddenly remembered the first time he met her in Merohim.

A timid girl who rarely opens her mouth.

And a girl who loves flowers.

That was the Elena Noel remembered.

Elena had changed a lot from what had happened, but seeing her sitting among the flowers reminded me that some things hadn’t changed.

Noel knew he wasn’t what she was waiting for.

She had only come after hearing that Elena was living in the Icilia coffin, so the person she was waiting for must be her fiancé, who is now guiding Orcus at the shooting range.

And that fact was the reason why Noel couldn’t open his mouth to Elena easily.

Noel pinched his cheeks, remembering what happened yesterday. When she first found Elena here, she only thought she had found a familiar face in a foreign land called Sarham. He forgot how he got here and why.

Even though Orcus had clearly told him that it was because of Krause and Edelweiss’s engagement, he was intoxicated with the fact that he was going to Krause and forgot the most important thing.

When Elena and I met eyes for the first time, even though we saw her, she only greeted us with eyes, and she passed us by and went to Demian.

Why couldn’t I focus on it while talking to myself, but I couldn’t help but be concerned when my fiancé was holding another woman’s hand in front of me. And after realizing that he was the one who did such a thing, there was nothing more embarrassing than this.

The thought persists that maybe Elena will think badly of herself because of what happened yesterday.

Noel didn’t know anything about love between a man and a woman, but somehow he thought that it was Damian who made Elena change now.

Even if it wasn’t like that, they could see that they had a long-standing relationship unlike themselves. Having touched the relationship between the two made Noel feel quite uneasy.

Even if we only met one day, Elena. She was Noel’s first friend since he was born.

Over the past few months, Elena has changed a lot from what she knew. Since the meeting was so short, Noel was worried that he might have changed from Elena to a relationship he had already passed by along with her change. In addition to that, thinking about what happened yesterday made my anxiety about such worries grow even more.

“Ugh…”

In the end, Noel couldn’t even speak and was just rolling his feet while making a sound of pain. But someone slowly approached her.

“Majesty?”

“oh!”

Elena’s face suddenly appeared in front of him, and Noel lost his balance and began to fall backwards. Elena grabbed Noel’s hand and pulled him back to his side.

“Why did you keep watching?”

Elena’s words made Noel realize that she had been feeling his gaze for a long time. His face seemed to heat up once more at those words, but Noel recalled Elena’s hand holding his own, squeezed her hand tightly, and spoke loudly.

“Eh, Elena!! Long time no see!”

Why did this greeting come out instead of other words?

Noel himself couldn’t figure out why, but soon after seeing Elena’s bright smile in his eyes, his worries melted away like snow.

“It’s been a while. Noel.”