Clyde fired his first shot and then looked at her with indifferent eyes.

“Edith, from now on, you’ll have to come out every morning with me. I don’t think you’ll do anything stupid to protest.”

Even the Crown Prince mentioned extremely strict order. So mean.

After making a decision like this, she couldn’t beg or endure it anymore. She felt like she was caught in the wrong container. When she recalled the time she woke up that was still dark before dawn, her eyes became dark.

In the meantime, the shooting practice continued. Clyde was standing on the base and aiming at the shooting target. Just looking at his tall and lean stature, he was very impeccable. The problem was that he dragged out a person who didn’t want to exercise.

Indeed, what was done couldn’t be undone. Let’s take it positively if possible.

Although a late afternoon walk would have been more beneficial for mental health as well as physical health than a strenuous run in the morning.

Watching a few shots fired, she could even hear Clyde’s hum. He seemed very excited to bring her out. It didn’t seem he liked the dawn for Edith by anyhow. She was sure it was because he didn’t want to wake up alone.

The shooting looked fun, though. While she was at it, she called the shooting range manager.

“Can I also have one?”

Handed over a loaded gun, she revived the memories of what she had learned the last time and set up a pedestal. Clyde stopped firing and began to look at Edith.

She set a target and then took a position.

“Will you be okay by yourself?”

“I remember the safety rules well. As long as I don’t have an accident.”

“Of course, it should be.”

She learned it frantically because she was almost hugged by Clyde before, but she remembered what she needed properly. She looked over the gauge at the target.

As long as she follows the rules well, she will only miss it if she does it wrong. She handled her guns calmly and meticulously because she shouldn’t act sloppy while dealing with dangerous weapons. Especially since Clyde was watching closely, she didn’t want to show her sloppy appearance.

Without anyone’s help, she took advantage of her past experience and headed the first gun to the distantly installed structure.

She breathed naturally and then stopped breathing.

She pulled the trigger right away when she thought it was the right moment.

Taang—

She got it right. A cloth bag full of straw popped open.

The target was fixed to a sturdy pole, it was pierced by bullets and scattered in all directions. The round bag was filled with short straws, so it exploded like a bomb if it was hit. The bag was a device to clearly show that it had been shot.

“Wow… Edith, you’re so good.”

Edith was still short of breath after running into the vacant lot. Her fingertips trembled a little and her sense of balance wasn’t completely normal. But she was glad she got it right.

“It’s fun. Can I shoot one more time?”

“Anytime.”

There were several targets. Clyde’s aim was a piece of paper with concentric circles drawn like an archery target. Since there was a difference in skill levels, he was clearly better at shooting than Edith.

The two took turns practicing shooting. He put down his gun along the way and coached Edith.

“You’ll be a marksman at this rate.”

Edith felt a little proud and raised her chin cheerfully.

“It’s great to have a boss who encourages you. Are you trying to say that?”

“It’s a real appreciation. Sincerely.”

She didn’t know how to take that because it was just too uplifting.

Was he kidding? She thought it was a pretty decent piece of work, but his attitude was overly enthusiastic. It was embarrassing to show off.

Clyde scanned his chin with his fingertips and watched her shooting carefully.

“Maybe because you have great concentration. You’re definitely talented.”

“Am I good at concentrating?”

“If you pretend you don’t know it, Edith is the one who’s so innocent.”

“No! I’ve heard so much about being clumsy.”

“That’s true, but you’re good at concentrating when it’s necessary. It’s also your strength.”

She didn’t know why he kept complimenting her, but he seemed sincere. She bowed her head lightly to express her gratitude.

He instructed the servant who was waiting. From now on, all shots fired by Edith should be recorded. Then he prepared ten new shots.

What on earth was wrong with her? Nine out of ten shots burst the straw bags, and Clyde uttered a deep silence as if determined.

“Edith is really…. Even ten bodies would not be enough.”

“What are you saying all of a sudden?”

“From now on, you must prepare for the shooting competition.”

“… Yes?”

“Shoot ten more shots first.”

Clyde waited patiently until she had finished all the additional shots. Twenty rounds of data have already been accumulated on the recording sheet. His face as he watched the situation with his arms folded grew more serious.

Once she hit nine shots again this time, he scratched his side head with his finger as if in trouble.

“I think Edith is the only one.”

“Are you serious? Do I have to enter the shooting competition?”

“I was originally going to compete by disguising my identity. But there must be a lot of people who know me in the arena. I would be blown away just by showing up in the first round.”

“It’s a bit unreasonable for Your Majesty to come forward yourself.”

“So I was thinking about other measures….”

He stared at Edith. The answer was in his eyes.

Feeling confused, she pointed her finger at the tip of her nose. Her eyes were wide open, and his face was pale with fear.

“So it’s me instead of Your Majesty?”

His shoulders dropped heavily. It was an unspoken pressure to do it inevitably.

In an almost reflexive gesture, she shouted hard.

“I don’t want to!”

She couldn’t believe a novice should participate in a contest. Fight among professional shooters.

The shooting competition was a festival to advocate the Imperial Family’s authority, and it was a process to select the standing army gunmen at the same time.

Of course, a lot of people who prided themselves on shooting applied. Although she had never seen the overall shooting ability of this empire with her eyes, it must be a formidable challenge. Perhaps she could think of international shooting competitions like the Olympics.

Clyde didn’t give up easily as she shook her head and began to persuade her with intense eyes.

“Edith, this shooting competition is very important. I need to take this opportunity to strengthen my position and use it as an opportunity to pressure the authorities who are arguing over the army issues.”

“I know, but–”

Edith knew better than anyone else about the power struggle that revolved around the Crown Prince. That was the document she always read and wrote every day.

So, she couldn’t resist strongly despite Clyde’s ridiculous suggestion about the shooting competition.

“I don’t want Edith to get a good result.”

“Then why do you want me to participate?”

“I need a supervisor to ensure the competition runs smoothly. That’s why I wanted to participate.”

“A supervisor?”

“I once thought about sending one of the guards. But I think it would be better to have someone who knows the overall situation of the competition than those who specialized in security.”

“That’s… Is that me?”

Clyde grabbed her forearms on both sides. He put his face in front of hers and added his words eagerly.

“The result never matters. Can’t you think of me as a host in the audience and Edith in the players’ seat?”

“But I’m not confident.”

“Edith, some people are already working behind the scenes to ruin the competition. We’ve caught the situation. So I can’t stay still.”

In the latest trend report that Edith read, there was also information about the faction reluctant to hold the shooting competition. She was confident that she would even make a list of who was actively trying to ruin the competition.

The problem was she knew too well about Clyde’s situation who was struggling.

The emperor had been ill for several years and his sister had been assassinated, so there was no one in the imperial family to support him. Although there were several close aides to the Crown Prince, he saw Edith had the same political perspective and was reliable.

The counter reply had to creep in.

“But I’m a beginner.”

“I’ll teach you.”

“There’s a lot of work.”

“I won’t receive any reports until the competition.”

“… Really?”

“I guarantee it in the name of the Crown Prince. Don’t even touch the bookshelf in the special room.”

Her ears flashed open. This alone was great news.

To say that she would even exempt paperwork while it was almost over was attractive enough to take on a challenge without confidence. She glanced at him with half a doubt.

“Are you serious?”

“I’m telling you.”

After groaning, she made up her mind.

“Alright. I’ll try.”

He stretched out his hand like a noble of equal rank. It was an unconventional act for a Crown Prince who rarely shook hands.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

After staring at his long, large hand for a moment, she reached out as well.

“I’ll do my best.”

Edith was still unfamiliar with the class society and Clyde’s proposal sounded like an earnest plea. A request for help that couldn’t be brought out of his mouth touched her heart.

While ignoring the events of the world in her novels, she looked down at her hand as if possessed by her goal of protecting only her own lifeline.

❋ ❋ ❋

It has already been a long time since the Emperor of the Lagrand Empire has been vacant.

Since the assassination took place five years ago, Clyde’s proxy cleaning began from that time. At that time,  the palace flipped over after the emperor couldn’t leave the bed.

Still, he showed his face at an important event once or twice a year. He came out for a short time with his ill condition and then went back. Surrounded by a group of doctors and servants, he only reported his survival.

The assassinations were attempted on both the Emperor and the Crown Princess. His sister, the former Crown Princess before Clyde, eventually failed to survive and died. When both of them became like that, the despairing Empress couldn’t withstand the palace life and divorced, leaving far away.

Clyde, who suddenly became the new Crown Prince from the military commander, had to raise the reeling imperial family by himself.

Only at the age of sixteen, he was a freshman in high school in Edith’s eyes.

The Emperor’s palace consisted of only the closest attendants. Clyde personally met and decided it when bringing in a new servant. It was a measure to keep them safe from another assassination threat. This was reflected in the impression that the Crown Prince would do the best he could for the ill Emperor.

Clyde would visit the Emperor’s Palace once a week. This schedule was repeated regularly without change for five years.

Only then, Edith couldn’t keep up. He met the emperor alone.

Lara\'s notes:

I previously translated the competition as hunting competition, because a rofan novel usually have hunting competition. But it was actually shooting competition, like Edith said it was like shooting competition in Olympics.