Luna chose archery for her bet with Tristan for a simple reason: she was confident. Among the things she was better at than Lucy, archery was one of them. Given that Luna could only be active at night, her hobbies were naturally limited. She couldn’t leave the Imperial Palace at night, and after dealing with her backlog of work, she didn’t have much time left. For Luna, archery was like a much-needed refreshment. Though she only practiced briefly in the courtyard during late hours, she had a surprising talent for it. Perhaps it was because she considered archery a fitting hobby for an emperor. The number of missed arrows gradually decreased, and within just a few years, she was hitting bullseyes every time.

With that confidence, Luna could even playfully threaten Tristan by aiming an arrow at him. “Hmph… You act all high and mighty, but you’re just a weak human,” she thought. Tristan, perhaps frightened by the sharp arrowhead pointed at him, stood frozen in place. “Why aren’t you answering? Are you too scared to speak, Count?” Luna chuckled. Seeing the Count too startled to move was satisfaction enough. Just as she was about to lower her bow, Tristan spoke. “Shoot.” “What?” She thought she misheard, but Tristan calmly repeated, “I said shoot.” “Don’t move!” Luna tightened the bowstring, stopping Tristan from approaching. He looked utterly confused. “Why? I thought I was too far, so I was coming closer.” “Hah… Did I say you were too far?” “Well, wouldn’t it be easier to hit me if I’m closer?” “You insolent fool, you dare underestimate my skills…” It was infuriating. This wasn’t just bluster—it was outright recklessness.

But then Luna realized her mistake. She thought Tristan had frozen in fear, but in reality, he had been waiting for her to shoot. “What are you doing? Didn’t you draw the bowstring to shoot?” “Yes. I was just thinking about where to put a hole in you.” It was pure bluster, but Tristan, as if anticipating her reaction, smirked arrogantly. “Is that so? Then hurry up and decide. Those slender arms of yours won’t hold the bowstring for long.” “…Shut up. Who are you calling slender?” Just moments ago, she thought she had the upper hand. No, even now, it was clear she did. So why was Tristan acting like he was in control?

‘Damn it…’ Luna’s arm, holding the bowstring, began to tremble slightly. If this continued, it would go exactly as Tristan said, and that was infuriating. What was worse was that if anyone had seen this, they would’ve thought she was afraid of him. It was almost a blessing that this was a private meeting. “Still can’t decide?” Tristan took a step closer. “I clearly told you not to come closer.” “I’ll help you out.” “What?” “Shoot before I get closer.”

Tristan was getting closer. What was supposed to be a simple threat had escalated into this. Luna’s grip on the bow tightened. “You…” “Are you afraid you’ll miss? Or is it…” Tristan chuckled, just as Luna had done earlier. “Are you scared?” “!” *Thwack!* The arrow embedded itself in the wall behind Tristan. In her anger, Luna had shot without thinking. The arrow barely grazed Tristan’s head, and a few strands of his hair fell to the marble floor.

Tristan calmly looked at the fallen hair and muttered, “Did it miss?” “No.” In truth, Luna knew. She had accidentally released the bowstring too early. The arrow missing was pure luck. But her pride wouldn’t allow her to admit that. “Ahem… Your hair seemed too long, so I trimmed it for you.” Cold sweat dripped down her back.

*

‘I thought I was going to die…’ I patted my chest, calming my startled heart. Seeing Luna suddenly aim her bow at me had made my heart drop. But the reason I could hide my fear wasn’t just because of my ‘arrogance’—it was mostly because I already knew about Luna’s exceptional archery skills. Luna, being the emperor, was a character with sky-high pride. She wouldn’t kill an unarmed man like me in such a cowardly way. Besides, I was confident she wouldn’t hit me, given her perfect accuracy.

But because I had been too ‘arrogant,’ Luna, in her anger, accidentally shot the arrow. Seeing the arrow whiz past me by mere inches made my heart skip a beat. I tried hard not to show my fear, but did I pull it off?

“We’re here.” Luna had brought me to the Imperial Garden I had seen through the window earlier. The place was brightly lit by torches, with a large target set up. Strangely, there were no Imperial Guards around. “Archery requires high concentration. I didn’t want to be disturbed by others.” Of course. She was serious about archery. Knowing Luna, that made sense.

“Besides, I’m not afraid of you, so I don’t need the guards.” “……” Scratch what I said earlier. This was her true intention. She wanted to show me she wasn’t afraid. Luna puffed out her chest as if to say, “What do you think?” Seeing her like this, she had a somewhat cute side.

“The rules are simple. We take turns shooting ten arrows each, and the one with the highest score wins.” “Alright.” As I listened to Luna’s explanation, I thought to myself. Realistically, it would be hard to beat Luna in archery. Her skills were in the top 1%. The only thing I could rely on was ‘jealousy.’ Like when I sparred with Bella, I had to mimic Luna’s archery skills like a mirror. In other words, I was aiming for a draw.

The only reason I was confident I wouldn’t lose to Luna in this bet was because of ‘jealousy.’ Now, all that was left was to watch Luna shoot and copy her. But why hadn’t she shot yet? Just as I was about to ask, Luna spoke. “What are you doing?” “…?” “Shoot already.” Luna’s unexpected words caught me off guard.

“Aren’t you supposed to go first?” “Normally, yes, but today, as my guest, I’ll let you go first.” Wait, hold on… Why are you being generous now of all times? I tried to hide my confusion and said, “You don’t need to be so generous.” “Heh… I’m magnanimous. I can show mercy even to someone as arrogant as you.” I wanted to smack that smug smile off her face.

‘This is driving me crazy…’ To use ‘jealousy,’ I needed to see the opponent’s actions first… but things had gotten completely tangled. It was awkward to drag this out any longer, given our pride. I picked up the bow lying nearby. It was quite heavy. I pulled the bowstring a few times, stalling for time, trying to think of a way out. But… there was no good solution.

“Shoot already. Don’t test my patience.” Luna, preparing to shoot beside me, urged me on. The only silver lining at this point was that Luna had shot an arrow earlier to threaten me. But the downside was that she had accidentally shot it, so I couldn’t properly mimic her with ‘jealousy.’

‘Screw it…’ The best I could do was recreate the scene. I pulled the bowstring, trying to replicate her posture as much as possible. With ‘jealousy’ and ‘arrogance,’ I managed a decent stance. ‘Good…’ I glared at the distant target with a sharp gaze, holding my breath as I had done during military shooting practice. As the night breeze faded, I released the bowstring.

*

Luna thought to herself. Today’s bet wasn’t one she needed to win—it was one she needed to lose. Yet, she chose archery, her best skill, to stage a close defeat. Luna had never lost in archery, even against her most skilled subordinates. If she wanted, she could crush Tristan easily. But she wouldn’t.

She wanted to give Tristan a taste of defeat. She would hand him a hollow victory. She would thoroughly humiliate Tristan, the most arrogant man in the kingdom. She would give him hope of winning, only to slowly torment him. With that in mind, Luna watched the arrow Tristan had shot. It flew in a clean arc and landed in the grass beside the target.

“……” “……” Silence. For a moment, Luna thought she had misseen it and blinked several times, but the target remained untouched. No, that couldn’t be. Tristan hadn’t shot the arrow. He must have just drawn the bowstring and aimed at the target.

But Luna’s rationalization was shattered by Tristan’s next words. “Your turn.” “……” Luna felt dizzy. From what Mondri had told her, Tristan’s swordsmanship was quite impressive. That meant he had some skill in martial arts, so he should at least have basic archery skills.

Yet, the arrow Tristan shot didn’t just miss the target—it landed in the grass. It wasn’t even close. There was no doubt it was a zero. Given the nature of archery, scoring zero on the first shot almost guaranteed Tristan’s defeat.

‘What’s going on?’ Tristan’s posture when shooting had been flawless. His demeanor showed no sign of a mistake… Maybe he was hiding it, but… this was utterly incomprehensible. Especially since this was a game where he had promised to offer his neck if he lost even once.

‘What are you thinking, Count?’ Despite the ridiculous blunder, Tristan was calmly fiddling with his bow. His demeanor suggested he wasn’t a novice. Luna pondered for a moment. Why was he so blatantly trying to lose? She soon found the answer.

Tristan had known all along. Why Luna had dragged out the time until the second bet. Why Luna couldn’t beat him. In other words… he was daring her to kill him.

‘You insolent fool…’ Anger surged within her. For the sake of reclaiming the North, Luna couldn’t kill Tristan, her ally. He was exploiting that fact to provoke her openly. Overwhelmed by an indescribable sense of humiliation, Luna clenched her teeth. Fine, she’d admit it. She couldn’t kill him anyway.

If she killed him, not only would the reclamation of the North be doomed, but a full-scale war between the Imperial Family and the Ruelberta Family would break out. Yet, Tristan, knowing all this, wore an unbearably shameless expression. He even urged her on, despite her trembling with rage.

“Your turn. Shoot already.” “Hehehe… Alright, I got it.” “…?” This despicable man. He’s asking for it. Filled with determination, Luna drew her bowstring.