Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 107

Chapter 107

“Sister Bartholomew…”

Sensing that something was wrong, Susanna turned and saw Bartholomew. She hurriedly waved her hands. “It’s not what it looks like, Sister. Please don’t misunderstand…”

On the other side.

Beili had already realized that her appearance was ill-timed.

She had clearly interrupted a tryst between the original novel’s male and female leads.

Beili couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered.

But on second thought, her timing was actually… perfect!

Since she had just finalized her cooperation with Ashera, showing up like this to stop them from continuing their intimacy could be considered a lucky break.

Beyond that, Beili was also surprised that the progress between Susanna and Cyril was so much faster than in the original storyline.

After all, in the original story, Cyril’s cold personality and Susanna’s weak nature meant their romantic line didn’t see any substantial progress until the latter half of the story.

In the early stages, there was basically no intimate physical contact like hugging.

But if things continued like this, they might start a formal relationship before the Hunting Day was even over.

Wait… or had they already started one?

Judging by Cyril’s character in the book-where he would impatiently start preparing for a wedding the moment a relationship was confirmed-could it be that the timeline hadn’t even reached the point where the Mary Sue story truly unfolded, yet it was already heading toward the grand finale?

Beili immediately realized the gravity of the situation.

“You two…”

Thus, she spoke with a troubled, uncertain tone. “Are you… are you…”

*Are you two together?*

Beili desperately wanted to ask.

However, she had just righteously declared to Lady Constance during the day that she didn’t like Cyril at all, and those words had been overheard by the man himself.

No one likes hearing that someone doesn’t like them.

So, Beili’s hesitant question died halfway in her throat, and she felt too embarrassed to continue.

She could already guess that if she asked, she would only receive a cold reply from Cyril like “What does it have to do with you?” or “Mind your own business.”

“Never mind…”

Beili frowned in distress, pressed a hand to her forehead, and then waved them off.

“Never mind, I’ll… I’m going into the tent now…”

“Wait a moment!”

She heard Cyril’s cold voice.

Wait? She wasn’t going to wait.

She would likely have to interrupt the Prince’s beautiful moonlit trysts many more times in the future.

Beili lowered her head and guiltily rubbed the tip of her nose, forgetting to even spare a moment to curtsy to the Prince.

Quickening her pace, she hurried toward the tent.

The cold moonlight fell upon them.

Cyril instinctively reached out his hand, wanting to stop her as if he wanted to explain something.

But the grey-haired, red-eyed girl walked so fast that by the time his hand was raised, she had already lifted the tent flap and walked inside without looking back.

…

Cyril had come out because he heard the voices of the guards and Bartholomew talking outside the tent.

But she hadn’t returned.

Or rather, she had simply gone to the wrong tent.

His fair hand, with slightly reddened knuckles, froze in the air for a moment before clenching into a fist and dropping down, trembling slightly.

Looking at the Prince’s cold and somber face, Susanna opened her mouth, the flush on her cheeks fading.

“Your Highness… I’m sorry…”

she whispered.

“When Your Highness called out Sister’s name just now, I should have reminded you… I’m sorry for putting you in such an awkward position.”

Uneasy and heartbroken, she said softly, “And Sister, she seems to have misunderstood as well…”

“I didn’t,” he said suddenly.

“What?”

Susanna’s eyes widened.

“I didn’t call your sister’s name. You misheard.”

His purple eyes were cold, and Cyril’s lips thinned into a hard line, the corners turning downward.

“As expected, one shouldn’t drink too much of the royal wine… I’m leaving. Get some rest.”

With that, the Prince turned and walked away into the night.

Susanna watched his figure disappear into the darkness before lowering her head and turning to enter the tent.

…

The darkness gradually receded, and the sky brightened.

The second day of the Royal Hunt.

It was a cloudy day.

A thick layer of grey clouds covered the sky above the hunting grounds, blocking out every ray of sunlight. Fortunately, there were no signs of rain.
The knights had already set out, heading deep into the forest to track down the largest deer in the hunting grounds to present to His Majesty the King.

Today, many nobles in the camp would choose to follow the knights out, but they were in the minority.

The reason for their departure was the promise of good fortune: whoever brought back the largest prey could ask for a favor or a blessing from the King.

It was, without a doubt, a great honor.

However, most of the nobles in the camp merely went along with the atmosphere of Hunting Day. They changed into lightweight hunting gear-still predominantly red but designed for easier movement-and continued to drink and chat in the main tent of the camp.

***

Beili was gently woken from a hazy slumber by Madam Constance.

She had dreamt many dreams the night before and hadn’t slept well, so she was still quite dazed upon waking.

But it didn’t matter.

Madam Constance had already selected a set of practical hunting clothes for her and helped her change into them piece by piece.

Over a loose linen shirt, she wore a black vest; her black trousers were tucked into lace-up tall boots, and a dark red cloak was draped over her shoulders.

The young girl, who usually wore dresses, looked exceptionally valiant in this outfit.

Madam Constance picked up a comb and stepped behind Bartholomew. She braided sections of her long, wavy silver-grey hair, pinning them at the back of her head like flower buds, and then tied a dark red velvet ribbon into a trailing bow.

Aside from the Spatial Necklace on her wrist, which was never removed, Bartholomew wore no jewelry on her hair, earlobes, or neck.

Madam Constance was worried that Bartholomew might trip while chasing rabbits and get scratched by such ornaments.

“Luoluo, who do you want to dance with tonight?” Madam Constance asked suddenly.

“What?”

What? There was a dance tonight too?

Beili was startled.

“Is it mandatory?” she asked hurriedly. “But I’m still not very good at it…”

She wasn’t just “not very good”; she was completely unskilled.

Social dancing wasn’t something one could master in a short time.

Although she had memorized the basic steps through repeated practice, she was far from graceful.

‘Still… very clumsy.’

She still remembered the etiquette teacher’s evaluation on the last day of practice.

To dance clumsily under the watchful eyes of so many nobles would be incredibly embarrassing. The first ones to mock her would surely be those girls from the Bird Family.

“Well… if a child from a certain family brings back the largest prey or the greatest quantity, and he happens to invite you to dance, oh-then you cannot refuse.”

“Oh… then it’s fine,” Beili said.

Because no one would invite her to dance.

As they spoke, Madam Constance tilted a small dark red hat onto Bartholomew’s head.

Seeing Bartholomew’s bewildered expression, she began to stifle a giggle behind her red-painted lips.

After a moment, Madam Constance gave her a subtle reminder: “Luoluo, if you want to dance with Prince Cyril, you’ll have to work hard today and catch more rabbits.”

“The children of other families don’t usually have the chance to interact with the Prince. If they want to dance with him, this is the moment they’ve been waiting for,” Madam Constance explained.

Youths of Bartholomew’s age could also take up bows and arrows and head into the forest to hunt small, harmless game like wild rabbits, pheasants, and squirrels.

Beili seemed to understand. “So, whoever hunts the most has to dance with the Prince?”

“That’s right, Luoluo.”

Madam Constance nodded as she pulled a pair of black leather gloves onto Beili’s hands.

“Only on Hunting Day is the Prince unable to refuse, as doing so would be considered a bad omen.”

“Then Susanna…”

Beili suddenly snapped wide awake. As she spoke, she turned to look around, only to find that Susanna had already left the tent.

“Yes, dear, Susanna set out very early.”

Madam Constance shook her head with a sigh, though she smiled as she spoke: “I promised your father that I would watch from the sidelines and not interfere, especially after what you said before… So, Luoluo, do you plan to grab your bow and arrow and rush into the forest now?”