Chapter 151

unedited

“Um, it must be here…… ?”

I muttered to myself as I carefully walked through the bushes with my hands.

But again, it was in vain. Only the overgrown grass greeted me, not the shiny silk pouch.

Even though it was in the Imperial Palace, there was an escort knight behind me for the sake of safety.

So, I wondered if the knight knew something, so I looked back and sent a dazzling look in my eyes, but to no avail.

“Lady, I don’t know anything.”

It was a knight who secretly avoided my gaze with a troubled face.

“Alright, huh…….”

I sighed deeply and shook my head to signify regret.

It’s been 10 minutes since the treasure hunt started.

But I haven’t found a single pocket yet.

‘Why does it seem like I’m the only one who can’t find it?’

It wasn’t just a matter of feeling. From all over the garden, shouts of other children such as ‘I found it!’ and ‘I found it too!’ could be heard one after another.

‘Me too! I want to find it too! The treasure!’

But sadly I haven’t been given a chance to say those words yet.

Feeling a little depressed, I walked in a different direction.

Near the fountain I was about to search, I met Cedric with as many as three gold pockets hanging on his forearm.

“Hey, have you already found three?”

I asked in amazement. Come to think of it, it seemed that I heard Cedric’s cry a lot.

“Yes. I found three! You? No way…….”

Cedric answered with a triumphant look on his face, then looked at my empty hands and said, ‘Oh? You couldn’t find any?’

I replied helplessly.

“Yeah, as you can see, I didn’t find any.”

“Hmm, poor thing.”

“Please don’t sympathize…….”

It’s sad though. I pretended to sniffle.

Then, somehow, as if Cedric had made a big mistake, he was surprised and apologised.

“No, sorry for teasing you.”

“…….”

“I, I’ll go. To find the rest.”

With those words, Cedric disappeared.

Well, I was just trying to tease him a little, did he misunderstand that I was really sad?

‘But it’s really sad.’

I trudged away.

Suddenly, something caught my eye.

‘That’s it!’

Something glistening in gold was among the rose bushes.

I quickly sprinted towards the target.

But just as I grabbed the pocket with my hand, at the same time, I felt someone from the other side putting their hand on it.

“Oh! Alice?”

“Miss Emir?”

The identity of the competitor(?) was Alice.

We both recognized each other through the bushes and were happy to see each other, then cautiously asked questions.

“How many did Miss Emir find?”

“Ah…… that is…….”

I didn’t want to say 0.

But at that moment, Alice’s gaze quickly scanned my empty hands.

Immediately after, Alice said.

“Emir, I will yield.”

“What? You can’t do that…….”

“No. Actually, I already have five. And Miss Emir picked it up about a second faster.”

Saying that, Alice raised the pockets on her left hand and showed them.

“Then I’ll go find another pocket!”

“Wa, wait a minute, Alice!”

Shortly thereafter, Alice disappeared from beyond the bushes.

I shouted Alice’s name a little late, but she was already gone.

‘Ummm……. I feel sorry for Alice somehow.’

Of course, I thank her. It was a pity that I couldn’t even say thanks.

I carefully picked up the pocket that was caught in the bush.

“Aww!”

Then I accidentally pricked my finger with a rose thorn.

Frowning my eyes at the stinging moment, I saw small drops of blood dripping down my fingers.

“Ugh…… I’ll be careful.”

It happened when I looked into my pocket.

I pulled out a handkerchief, wrapped my fingers around it, and turned around.

By the way,

“Jake?”

As soon as I turned around, I saw Jake running towards me from nearby.

What?

Even my escort knight, who was far away, had a puzzled look.

“Gasp, gasp. Mir. Are you okay? Where are you hurt?”

“…… how did you know?”

Did you come because you heard me scream?

But it wasn’t too loud.

I tried to hide my handkerchief wrapepd finger behind me, but Jake took my hand one step faster than that.

Then he looked at me with very worried eyes.

“You bleed. Why are you like this?”

It was Jake who asked after he had healed the wound with healing magic even before asking, and when the flesh had healed to its original state.

“I was stabbed by a rose thorn. Thanks for treating me, Jake.”

Jake sighed in relief at my answer.

“I’m glad I learned healing magic.”

“…… !”

“I can make Mir not get sick like this.”

* * *

Finally after 30 minutes.

“Come on, everyone, gather around! How many did you find?”

Everyone gathered in front of Nicholas, who was sitting leisurely on the bench alone.

“Let’s see.”

Everyone proudly reached out and showed them their pockets.

Alice has 8, Cedric has 5, Jake has 3, and Nina has 2.

And I was still one.

Nicholas, who was counting, decided the winner of the treasure hunt.

“Well, Lady Alice. All the treasures that Lady finds belong to her.”

“Thank you!”

It was Alice who proudly took the first place despite yielding one to me with her tremendous search power.