I was an otaku. One day I just woke up in the world of Black Butler / Kuroshitsuji for some reason. What would I do? Would I find this life more interesting then the normal life and want to stay in that world? Or would I miss my old life and try to...
I settled on the sidesaddle of my horse with the help of a palace stableman. It was the private hunt that the prince arranged, another event that was considered elite. It only consisted of his close friends, and some of the ladies were invited to watch.
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At the front of the company, Charles and Prince George were chatting on their horses, waiting for the rest to be ready. The prince was on his beautiful golden horse, whose coat gleamed under the sunlight. Charles mounted a pure white one that looked strong and prideful carrying its rider.
"What a sight to be witnessed." The lady who were also at the 'inner circle' of the Queen commented. She was the daughter of the eldest son of the current Duke of Northumberland, Lady Louisa Elizabeth Percy.
"Indeed, Louisa." I said.
The company soon set off, taking a casual stroll through the woods of the palace to the hunting site. It was a beautiful day as the sun illuminated the grassy fields and running streams.
With a signal, all the hunting hounds were let loose to find their targets. The men all kicked their horses and accelerated in different directions. I saw that some of the ladies were eagerly pulling their horses, and may I add, unsuccessfully, at the direction the prince went. They were causing quite the cluster along with the chaperones that accompanied us, trying to follow their assigned lady.
"Let us take a stroll away from the clustered mess, shall we?" Louisa asked.
"We very much shall." I agreed heartily.
We quietly rode our horses away from the horror that was the chaos, with our chaperones trailing behind us.
"All those silly girls with their dream of one day becoming a princess." Louisa said with a heavy sigh.
I raised an eyebrow, "Do you not dream of marrying the most eligible bachelor in the country and becoming a royal?"
She sighed again, "In all honesty, no. I never wanted to attend the Season anyway. My father, Earl Percy, forced me to come in hope of linking our lineage with the royals."
"Is that so?"
She nodded, "What about you? Are you here in hope of marrying the prince?"
"I never even had that thought, actually." I now realized that it never even seemed like a probability to me.
She laughed, "Us who are in the so called 'inner circle' don't want to be here, whereas those that aren't are determined to be. What a funny world."
I nodded, deeply agreeing with her, "I'm here only because Earl Grey had recommended it to me."
"Are you two acquainted?"
"Yes, we met through Her Majesty in a ball." I said.
Speaking of the devil, a flash of silver flew passed us. It was the Earl positioning for a shot. He gracefully maneuvered his horse to a higher ground. Then raising his rifle, and took a shot without hesitation. His hound quickly ran to fetch it, returning with a dead fox in its mouth.
"Nice shot, Charles." I praised.
"Clare, you are here. And thank you." He jogged his horse to in front of us. "This is..."
"May I introduce. Lady Louisa Elizabeth Percy, granddaughter of the Duke of Northumberland. Earl Charles Grey."
They greeted each other. A sudden sound of a horn rang through the woods.
"It's time for us to regroup." Charles said. We followed with our horses behind him, until we came into a clearing an rejoined the rest.
Charles added his portion onto the pile of dead animal on the ground. It was a pretty good hunt, with many types of animals there. We joined the other women to the side.
"Time for the exciting bout!" The energetic prince shouted. "Pheasant shooting!"
The men slid off their horses and raised their rifles. All held their breaths as the men spread out with their hunting dogs around the knee-length grassland looking for any sign of the bird.
Suddenly, flapping of wings were heard and a pheasant jumped out in a startle. Within milliseconds the prince aimed and took shot. The pheasant fell back to the ground in a mess of feathers.
"Haha, first again!" He shouted with a fist in the air.
"You've always had a knack for shooting since you were little." Charles said.
"You always did beat me in fencing though." Prince George said.
"You were pretty bad at fencing." Charles said with a straight face.
"Hey now!" The prince laughed.
The men were competing with each other, seeing who could shoot the most pheasants. The prince, who was a self-acclaimed best shooter, was in the lead. Some of the ladies squealed, clapped and tried to get his attention every time he shot one.
A pheasant suddenly flew up by a tree. Charles tried to shoot it but completely missed.
I slow clapped. "Wow, such a good shooter." I said with sarcasm dripping in my voice.
"Ha, who are you to speak of my shooting? Can you shoot?" Charles asked with a smirk.
"Are you challenging me right now?" I straightened my back, trying to look not intimidated.
"Yes I am." Charles held out his rifle, looking at me smugly.
"Is something interesting going on here?" The prince's asked as his attention shifted onto us two, who were having a mini staring contest.
"Baroness Clarette mocked my shooting skill earlier, and I just wanted her to prove her ground on the mocking." Charles said.
Another man, Lord Montgomery, came to us and said, "Charles, I don't think it is a good idea letting a delicate lady handle such weapon."
"Let it be." Prince George held up a hand and said.
I slid off my horse, and took hold of Charles' rifle. As I walked pass him I whisper, "Don't forget that I saved your life with a shot when we gate-crashed the slave trading company."
Without checking for his reaction, I positioned myself and looked for the slightest movement. I realized now that all eyes were on me, I cannot afford to make a fool of myself. I was really hoping that all those shooting lessons I had been having paid off.
There was a growl from one of the hounds and a pheasant flew up from a bush not too far from me. I instantaneously aimed the rifle, and within the two seconds possible gap of shooting it down, I pressed the trigger. The pheasant came down with a cry.
The hound came back with the body, and turned out I had shot it right in the heart.
"I am thoroughly impressed, Lady Clarette." The prince clapped.
"Why thank you, Your Highness." I handed the rifle back to Charles with a triumphant smile on my face.
"Charles, I believe you were just made a total jest by the lady over there." Prince George said giving Charles a pat on the back.
"Hn." He looked away in a disdainful manner jokingly.
The hunt soon ended with the prince being in the lead, which he made sure to flaunt in front of the swooning ladies.
The next morning, while breakfast was being served to my room, a palace staff also appeared at the door.
