The Regressed Princess - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Heartbeat of a Bowstring

“One, two, three… three of them!”

Eleanor cheered. In nearly two hours, she had caught two rabbits and a pheasant. In her previous life, surrounded by a crowd and with Andra at her side, knights would drive small animals right to her feet while Andra joined in the fun. Even with such a massive commotion, she would barely hit a few in an hour; now, she had bagged three in two hours. This was hunting with a bow and arrow not easy at all.

“Your Highness is truly impressive,” Andra applauded, her expression remarkably sincere.

She hid her surprise well: Eleanor’s hunting skills are actually quite good? According to her previous investigation, everyone said the little Princess of Nolanna was weak and sickly, unable even to write well. Yet looking at her today, she was not only lively but also skilled with a bow and horse. Was this Princess a natural hunter, or… was there a hidden truth behind her frailty?

Eleanor knew Andra far too well; one look at her shifting eyes and she knew exactly what the girl was thinking.

Thud.

She picked up a rabbit and lightly tossed it toward her. “Alright, help me pack them up~”

“Yes.” Andra put the rabbit and pheasant back into the game bag.

The little Princess should be guaranteed to win this time, right? They had traveled so long and hadn’t seen a single large piece of prey. To head deeper into the dense forest, horses would be useless. No matter how good the King of Nolanna was at hunting, she couldn’t manage to travel, search, and hunt all within a few hours.

The Imperial Guards trailed silently behind, while the two girls rode leisurely through the forest, relaxed and happy. To be safe, Eleanor didn’t put down her bow. She kept a constant eye on the surrounding trees, hoping to bag a few more birds to bolster her count.

Dada, dada.

Hoofbeats?

Everyone tensed up as the rhythmic sound of galloping hooves approached from the distance. There was only one person besides them who would dare to ride so recklessly during the King’s hunting competition—Eva, the King of Nolanna.

Dada, dada.

Sure enough, just as they thought of Eva’s name, a figure nimbly cut through the trees and appeared before them.

The King reined in her horse and circled Eleanor and Andra once. She looked at the bulging bag on the horse and smiled. “My lovely little rose, when did you learn to use a bow?”

“I—” Eleanor bit her lip, but before she could voice a made-up excuse, she saw Eva press a finger to her lips, signaling her to be quiet.

Eva’s smile was deep. “It’s fine. It’s normal for my daughter to be born with innate knowledge. Did you hit four or five?”

“Three.”

“Haha, that won’t do. You’ll have to work harder if you want that manor.” Eva shook her head with feigned regret.

Didn’t we agree to let me set out early? You’ve only been started for half an hour and you’re already overtaking me?

Eleanor couldn’t help but ask: “Then how many have you hit, Mother?”

“One.” Eva raised a finger. Before Eleanor could speak, the King suddenly gripped her bowstring and drew it back with a reverse pull.

Twang-crack.

In an instant, the bow was like a full moon. A sharp arrow shot out with force, plunging into the grass and eliciting a whimpering cry. Eleanor turned back to see a small fox with flame-colored fur rolling out from the shrubs, coughing blood before falling still.

“Two.” Eva winked and raised a second finger.

Ugh… Eleanor’s heart pounded. She didn’t wait for her mother to count to “three” before flicking the reins and driving her pony away as fast as she could. She had no desire to hunt alongside such a monster!

However, Eva didn’t care whether she wanted to or not; she followed effortlessly, occasionally making feigned drawing motions to scare Eleanor into running forward.

No, stay calm.

Eleanor’s breathing gradually steadied. I don’t have the ability to interfere with Eva’s hunting. The priority is to increase my own tally to widen the gap. The rules she set are in my favor; there are small birds and “farmed” rabbits everywhere. They’re easy hits!

She bolstered her spirit, and behind her, Andra and the guards gradually caught up. The thudding hooves must have startled many small animals; she could intercept the beasts being driven forward or shoot the birds flushed into the air.

Chirp, chirp.

Eleanor heard a bird call and immediately nocked an arrow for a flat shot.

Whoosh.

The arrow sailed weakly through the low air, landing far from the bird.

“Hahahaha, you still need practice.” Eva mocked from behind, her arms crossed, her expression seemingly saying: Is that it? I thought you were a genius.

Uh… Eleanor clenched her teeth, refusing to be provoked by such childish behavior. She continued to spur her horse forward and soon saw a pheasant flapping out of the grass.

Good, this one is perfect.

This time, Eleanor slowed her pace slightly, calming her mind to aim steadily. Three, two, one.

Whoosh Whoosh-whoosh!

Two arrows flew out one after the other. A long, narrow arrow pierced the pheasant’s breast, the feathers sinking deep into its ruffled plumage. The second, smaller arrow didn’t strike the wing until then, hanging weakly from it.

“Eh?!” Eleanor whirled around, looking at Eva with a condemning gaze. Her eyes were full of “Cheater! Foul!”

“Heh~” Eva retracted her bow with a smile. “I didn’t cheat. This pheasant doesn’t count as my prey, and of course it doesn’t count as yours either.”

You… ugh…

Eleanor could only turn her head back in a huff. After all, the rules only said Eva hitting a pheasant didn’t count toward her score; it didn’t say Eva couldn’t strike her prey first.

But it was still infuriating.

Over the next hour, Eva repeated this tactic several times. Whenever Eleanor aimed at a target, Eva would strike first. An hour passed in a flash, and both of them had gained nothing further.

I can’t let this continue.

Although she appeared to be leading by a point on the surface, Eleanor didn’t believe Eva would let her maintain that advantage until the end. She had to change the game. But her horsemanship was no match for her mother’s; even with a slightly better horse, she was still stuck like glue to Eva.

“Tch.” Don’t blame me!

A look of anger appeared on Eleanor’s small face. She suddenly flipped off her horse and ran toward the bushes on foot.

“Danger!” Andra instinctively called out, but upon seeing the determined look in Eleanor’s eyes, she was the first to shut her mouth and follow steadily.

Rustle, rustle.

Eleanor ran through the shrubs. This time, she had bet correctly; Eva wasn’t so shameless as to dismount and chase her on foot.

The wind went quiet. Eleanor slowed her pace, searching slowly through the grass. Her goal this time was very clear: small rodents—specifically, mice. It was Eva who had played with the rules first, so she couldn’t be blamed. No matter how small a mouse was, it was prey, and the best part was they lived in large families. She only needed to find one nest to catch a whole bunch.

Not here… not there either. What does a forest mouse hole even look like?

Eleanor ran around with a headache. She wondered if the rodent extermination efforts of her previous life had been too thorough and angered the mouse gods; now that she wanted to find one, she simply couldn’t.

Clack.

A small pebble suddenly landed in front of her toes. Eleanor turned to see Andra winking at her. They were relatively close, while the guards and attendants were still watching from behind the bushes.

Thud. Another pebble was tossed, this time a bit further away.

Eleanor didn’t make a sound, silently following the pebbles as she ran forward. Soon, she saw a withered tree stump and a slightly raised mound of earth beside it.

A mole burrow… Andra’s eyesight is too good!

She hurriedly asked the attendants for tools to level the mound, then used branches, stones, and the animal sinew she carried in her bag to create a simple trapping device. Andra understood her trapping method and timely stepped on the shifting tunnels to drive the small moles toward the trap.

What? You say I’m helping? I wouldn’t know.

Under the silent approval of the onlookers, Eleanor successfully caught a nest of moles after a busy while. If you counted the smallest ones, there were nine!

“Yes!” She pumped her fist happily. A number like that was practically impossible to beat, right? Adding the three from earlier, that made twelve. Eva couldn’t possibly catch up!

Now it was her turn to worry about Eva cheating.

Eleanor gathered the moles in a bundle and hurried back. The mole-catching had taken up a lot of her time; there was probably only about an hour left in the competition. It was time to check on her mother’s situation.

Eleanor ran back to the original clearing. The horses and some attendants remained, but Eva and the main body of the group were gone.

“Hah!” She hurriedly mounted her horse and urged it toward the direction of broken branches.

Dada-dada.

The steed galloped at full speed. It was indeed a divine steed strictly selected by the royalty; in just a few breaths, it kicked up a gale.

Whoosh.

Andra followed silently behind, staring somewhat blankly at the little Princess’s flowing black hair. But she also heard the howling from the distance, and she believed Eleanor did as well…

“Awooo—”

The long, widespread howling of wolves startled the birds and shook Eleanor’s heart and breath. So that’s it… how can this be?

A sense of realized frustration made her urge her horse faster and faster. Finally, as an arrow broke the wind, she burst out of the forest and saw a bloom of blood explode.

One.

The King stood atop a high hill, drawing her longbow to full extension against the wolf pack below.

Two.

Drawn again three!

Her long arms seemed never to tire. To her, each strike was like picking flowers in a pond leisurely and swaying. Time felt both short and long; her motion of pulling the bowstring possessed a captivating rhythm.

Four, five, six!

“Whimper…” The wolf pack let out uneasy growls.

“Awooo—” A massive gray wolf with silver fur almost stood on its hind legs, letting out a distinct cry. The humans on the cliff were not beings they could provoke!

The wolf pack finally couldn’t withstand the successive losses and began a rapid retreat toward the forest.

“Hmph~” Eva broke into a smile, another arrow released from her fingertips, easily taking another life.

Seven, eight, nine?!

Eleanor’s eyes widened: it was already the ninth wolf. Combined with the two prey Eva had caught earlier, one more and they would be tied! Her hope for victory no longer lay with Eva, but in praying the wolves ran fast enough…

Whizz—whoosh.

The gods seemingly didn’t hear her prayer. The tenth arrow pierced the air, striking hard at the rear of the retreating pack.

“Yelp, awooo—”

The massive white wolf suddenly turned back, perhaps to guard the rear for its companions, or perhaps enraged by the despair this human had brought them. It charged toward the slope!

NO!!!

Eleanor’s heart nearly leaped from her throat. She stared intently at Eva’s fingers, watching the King release the arrow with a cruel grin.

Boom-boom.

The little Princess clasped her hands together, as if she could hear the flame exploding in mid-air. That arrow steadily broke the void, flying toward the white wolf’s eye—

Don’t hit, don’t hit, don’t hit…

Simple prayer was indeed useless. Before Eleanor’s despairing eyes, the golden-flashing arrowhead entered the eye socket piercing through the alpha’s brain.

Whimper.

Eleanor looked up, suddenly noticing… the King wasn’t smiling.

A victorious smile did not appear on Eva’s face. Instead, it was shrouded in a layer of somber fury, her lips pressed tightly together.

Thud-thud!

The giant wolf collapsed to the ground and rolled twice. As it rolled, Eleanor and the others saw it another arrow buried deep in the wolf’s back.

“Your Majesty.” The girl’s long hair emitted a golden-red glow in the sunlight. Andra wore a dashing smile and called out to the King:

“I have arrived late to protect you.”

Support The Regressed Princess