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4. Engagement – Ainar Tribe

With neatly folded underwear and a whetstone beside a sword, Lena burst out of her room, where tidiness and chaos jostled for space, with leather armor hanging on the dressing table.

“Oh no, I overslept!”

The cool air felt refreshing, as if the alcohol buzz had finally worn off.

Last night, Lena had sipped beer with Leo until she fell asleep late.

Thanks to her dad’s excitement after a long hunt, she could sneak some alcohol for the first time in ages.

Mom had chased the kids inside to go to sleep, and Lena had convinced Leo to help her finish the hidden stash.

But it wasn’t just the alcohol that made her oversleep. This was all Leo’s fault.

Leo had started acting strangely since the day before. He swung his sword erratically, not speaking about whatever was troubling him.

It wasn’t that he was mishandling the sword; he exerted strength and balanced his swings, each movement reminiscent of the usual Leo, yet his swordplay had become unusual.

Previously, he mirrored Uncle Noel, fighting steadily, pressing the opponent gradually without revealing weaknesses, and assuredly immobilizing them.

But these days, Leo had become overly aggressive. His movements signaled a reckless abandon, wanting both himself and his opponent to perish, forcing them into defense.

At first glance, it seemed his swordsmanship had regressed. Such a tactic would have severe backlash if it failed.

Due to Leo’s inherent sense of balance, that backlash was significantly reduced. If he faced a weaker opponent, he could win quickly, but against someone of similar skill, he’d suffer cumulative losses and fall easily.

For days, Lena had faced him in practice matches, but he couldn’t last even a single round against his father, the knight.

Uncle Noel was furious at such changes, and last night, in a drunken stupor, Lena’s father, Dehorman, had laughed, saying Leo was finally starting to act like a man.

Lena thought the same.

It seemed Leo was trying to change. Not just in swordsmanship but in his personality too. The polite knight who was always courteous had become rough and curt.

Last night, Lena had whined to drink more beer, something she normally did.

Usual Leo used to refuse her pleas, even if he acted reluctantly. He was kind yet not overly entertaining, the perfect polite knight. She liked that Leo.

Yet yesterday, Leo had said, “Stop eating and go to sleep,” grabbed her arm, and tossed her onto the bed before leaving. Lena felt strangely fluttery and couldn’t sleep, so it was entirely Leo’s fault that she was now late.

Remembering Leo from last night, Lena dashed to the village square, unknowingly smiling.

The village square was bustling with the catches from the hunting team and the tribe’s warriors. As usual, the hunting team was exempt from butchering duties, and those who hadn’t participated in the hunt were hurriedly taking care of the butchering.

The great warriors certainly didn’t engage in such tasks. Lena had seen her father and other great warriors drinking heavily the night before when she had left home.

The warriors of the Ainar Tribe formed teams led by the great warriors. That team used to be the basic combat unit during wartime. However, with most of the tribe integrated into the kingdom, individual wars between tribes had disappeared, so now they only formed teams for hunting.

The warriors in the square waved at Lena upon seeing her.

“Hey, Lena! You’re so relaxed even being late!”

“What do you want me to do about oversleeping?”

Lena actually didn’t need to participate in the butchering process. Butchering was the warriors’ job, and the Ainar Tribe only recognized someone as a warrior if they participated in the hunt, yet she hadn’t hunted yet.

However, Lena was determined to become a warrior someday, so she always participated in their work to gain experience. The warriors of the Ainar Tribe genuinely adored Lena.

How could they not when the daughter of their pampered great warrior voluntarily joined in their work, claiming she too would become a warrior?

So when Lena was teased about being late, it was merely playful banter, and instead, she happily waved back at others, making her way to where her young companions were working.

The butchering involved removing the innards of the catch, draining the blood, cutting off the head, feet, and tail, and then skinning the animal.

The innards had already been consumed by the hunting team. Eating the innards was a privilege for the warriors who went out hunting.

‘They say innards are a delicacy… Hmm.’

She licked her lips while gripping a thick cleaver. Young warriors with little experience like Lena removed the feet and tails of the catch.

The heads of the animals piled up in the square had already been removed, just like the innards.

The most crucial blood-draining step was handled immediately in the hunting grounds, usually by quickly cutting the neck and hanging the carcass upside down from a tree while only taking the drained body on the sled.

Removing the feet and tails was also the job of young warriors, parboiling them in hot water (not boiling) as a preliminary step to skinning. Lena and her companions were sweating buckets as they put heavy game into the hot pot.

“Hmm? Leo! What are you doing here?”

Just as they were finishing up the work, Leo appeared.

The tasks for the young warriors were already complete, and Lena was learning other butchering processes. The most experienced warriors quickly skinned the animals with their knives, while intermediate warriors divided the meat by sections.

Leo smiled bitterly and said, “I felt like I’d die if I got hit anymore, so I ran out.”

As Leo stood next to Lena, the keen eyes of the young warriors pierced them. It was a cute little territorial display, but it wasn’t a fierce young warrior’s attempt to protect the lady of the tribe.

That was to be expected… in this scenario, Lena and Leo were engaged. Leo was baffled when he realized this. Was this really a game designed to break them apart?

This scenario was just as awkward as before. In Demos village, Lena wanted to be a ‘forbidden’ priest who couldn’t marry; now, she had to become a princess who was ‘promised to marry’!

If nothing changed, Lena Ainar would eventually marry as planned, and they’d witness that meaningless ending again.

‘It’ll keep repeating until Lena becomes a princess… I can’t keep living like this! I have to go back!’

He desperately thought of Chaehwa.

It hadn’t even been a few days since the scenario started, yet Minseo’s spirit was already fading. Unless he concentrated hard, he couldn’t recall anything related to the modern world.

If it continued to loop like this, he felt like he would… melt away. To avoid continuing a short, meaningless life that was neither Leo nor Minseo, he had to find a way to turn Lena into a princess.

‘Let’s treat Lena badly and call off the engagement.’

Sorry, but this was the only way.

I shouldn’t have treated her poorly from the start. I had to maintain a relationship that would allow me to manipulate Lena into doing as I wished.

And though I hadn’t figured out how yet, I had to somehow get Lena to meet a prince so they could rely on each other before calling off the engagement; this was the only solution.

He stole a glance at Lena watching the butchering work.

Maybe it was the influence of Leo Dexter, but he felt a strong fondness for Lena Ainar.

Lena was a beautiful swordswoman whose short hair matched her lively personality perfectly. How could he resist when she adorably whined the night before, “You’ve been acting strange lately; let’s just drink beer!”?

How could he even think about breaking up with such a Lena? All just to marry her off to another prince to make her a princess?

The madman who made this game surely had the traits of a sociopath and was mentally unhinged!

He wanted to hold her hand standing next to him. Leo secretly reached out towards Lena but pulled his hand back with the other one.

After all, they had to part ways. No need to do something reckless.

As Leo was engulfed in such thoughts, the butchering finished.

“Hey guys! I’m going with my husband~”

“…I can’t live with no partner; it’s just too sad.”

“Ugh! Just trip and fall on the road!”

Lena playfully teased the warriors and nestled up next to Leo. Leo’s eyes flickered with intensity.

*

A few weeks later, the hunting team led by Dehorman went out again.

This time Lena and Leo also participated. They had recently turned of age as the sun set a few days back.

Upon turning of age, they could join the hunt, and Lena didn’t miss the chance.

Though Leo wasn’t an Ainar tribe member and thus didn’t qualify to join the tribe’s hunt, he was engaged to Lena and had Dehorman’s permission to join the hunting team.

The hunting team set up camp on the mountain and split into groups to scatter. Lena climbed the mountain excitedly but soon became downcast. Hunting was far more challenging than she had anticipated.

Pouting, she asked, “Leo, when did you go hunting? Why are you so good at it?”

As a first-time hunter, Lena had a mountain of things to learn. Yet Leo, equally a first-timer, was performing splendidly compared to the other warriors.

Hunting wasn’t just about swinging a sword well.

It had nothing to do with that; the key to hunting lay in surveying the terrain, tracking the prey’s movements, and either setting traps or pursuing fleeing game.

Lena had imagined clashing with a large carnivore, but such encounters were rare.

If they failed to subdue their prey with traps or bows, great warriors led the others in striking.

“I’m just mimicking what I see.”

Leo shrugged knowingly in response to her question.

Having learned hunting from his father in the previous scenario certainly helped.

He couldn’t compare himself to the father of the past, but he had grasped the basics of hunting, plus perhaps he gained experience in the last ending that improved his skills.

He efficiently set traps, skillfully tying the knots, all while setting them in strategic places. Once, he even surprised everyone by tracking the prey’s movements faster than the others.

“Haha, I made a good choice in a husband! Noel’s friend is terrible at hunting, but his son has a good eye.”

Dehorman laughed heartily, and the other warriors stopped disregarding Leo.

While Lena was determined to work hard so as not to lose to him, it seemed she was still far from getting used to hunting.

And over the following weeks, seeing Lena, he realized she had many clumsy aspects.

She often fumbled around misplacing things, panicking over them, and confused the birthdays of her two friends, giving a surprise gift to the wrong person.

The trap she had placed on the ground was also facing the wrong way. Was she trying to catch the hunter instead of the prey?

Leo chuckled to himself as he secretly adjusted the trap. If something were caught there, she’d likely forget how it was set up and claim she captured it all on her own.

On the way back, Leo bundled some snow and tossed it at the back of Lena’s head, but he regretted that act.

Lena was amazing at snowball fights.

One morning, while hunting continued, Lena and Leo had a hearty soup made from innards and went out to check the traps. Leo was already gaining recognition enough to be paired solo with Lena for trap-checking.

“Hmm? I think I see something down there.”

“Lena, wait! Don’t go yet.”

Lena spotted the traces of prey. Large footprints were imprinted below.

“Wow! I found this! Shouldn’t we go down and check it out?”

Leo stopped the excited Lena.

The tracks Lena discovered led downward but showed no sign of yielding. This animal was either too small for its size or potentially very dangerous.

If they carelessly went down to confirm, they could be in significant trouble, so Leo reported to the hunting team.

Sure enough, that was a good call.

It turned out to be a giant fox, known as the ‘Old Phantom Fox,’ which was closer to a monster than an animal.

The Old Phantom Fox was nimble for its size, making it difficult to deduce its strength from the traces discovered by Lena. If they had gone down, they would have died.

Leo thought this was some kind of {event}.

At the time, he wondered why such {events} existed, but he eventually learned the reason as winter drew to a close.

The war had begun.