Forever & Ever (Showki fanfic) [Discontinued]

Ch. 24: The Royal Hunt (Part 3)

Hyunwoo

I laid there until I started to breathe evenly and my heartbeat wasn't racing. It must have past an hour or two as the sun wasn't in the same position as it was earlier. I groaned loudly as I sat up and immediately backed up when I saw one of the faces of the three headed monster. "Ah, forgot about that," I laughed at myself before getting up onto my feet with some more effort than what one would normally use to get off the ground. 

"Hmm, how do I even bring this back to the arena," I asked myself out loud after putting the pearl into my pocket and as I walked around the body to see what stood out about it in order to prove that I hunted this kind of a monster down.  I settled with taking the reverse scales and fangs and burned the rest of the body using magic. 

Why because rotting corpses often leads to plagues or something similar. I walked over to my horse and put my loot into the bag before getting on top of my horse. I gritted my teeth as I did so. I clicked my heels to make the horse move before flicking the reins and pulling a bit on the left side of the reins to make it go that way.

Once I was back inside the forest again, I can hear people either shouting out of frustration or joy and the sound of an arrow whistling through the air amongst other things. I kept my eyes and ears peeled for something to hunt but I didn't find any over the course of two hours. Perhaps, all of the prey has been hunted already. 

~at the arena~

~after the announcement of who won the hunt~

"Warriors, please present your kills to your person of choice,"  the chief eunuch announces. Everyone who participates dispersed and went to the person they liked or the master they served. I walked over  to where Kihyun was. 

He smiled shyly when he saw me cover and then came over to the edge. "Hey, Ki...er...your highness the fourth prince, I offer my prey to you," I trailed off as I wondered how to give him the pearl. 

"I accept...Hyung," he chuckles before I took out said prey and placed it in front of him. 

"Do you like it," I asked without thinking. 

"Of course...Oh my god! Is that a bunny? I always wanted to have a pet bunny. Thank you, Hyung," he says cheerfully. He gestures to one of his servants to take the bunny and the other things away. When he looks back at me, he notices that something is off about me, tilts his head to the side, and asks, "Is something wrong?"

"Hold out your hand," I said as I put my hand into the pocket containing the pearl.

"You're not going to put a bug on my hand like you did last time, are you," he asks hesitantly as he looks at me suspiciously. 

"Huh? It's not that. Come on. Hold out your hand," I snorted.

"Better not be," he pouts before holding out his hand. 

"Here. I- uh- picked it up on the way here ," I said after putting the pearl in his hand and as I looked away while rubbing my nape with the other hand. In the next second, I can feel my cheeks reddening and my heartbeat beating a bit faster. Are these feelings really those feelings?

"Hyung, you -," he pauses before saying after giggling for no apparent reason, "Wah, it is so pretty. Thank you."