Chapter 266: Winter Hunting

“Dear Mr . Peter,

“It is so nice to hear that we have a Vladimir family member here in Ural . Now, the storm has stopped and the weather has cleared up, therefore, in order to celebrate the upcoming spring and welcome our distinguished guest from afar, I would like to invite all the nobles in town to join together for a winter hunting in the forest belonging to my manor . May I have the honor?

“Baroness Carleena Lottnico . “

That was a fancy invitation, made of fine cardboard and printed with sunflower patterns, with her elegant and beautiful handwriting in Schachran language . The invitation also had the unique feminine scent, left by the mature and beautiful noble lady who wrote the invitation .

“Baroness Carleena Lottnico…” Lucien just heard the name from Sergey, who he suspected to be a swindler, so he was now feeling a little hesitant .

The caravan members saw that Lucien did not say a word after reading the invitation, so they asked out of curiosity, “Mr . Peter, which is this noble inviting you?”

It was not Lucien’s first time receiving invitations like that . Many suzerains had invited him before because of the family name, Vladimir . Out of a noble’s courtesy, Lucien had accepted many invites and attended many parties .

Although after when the suzerains knew that Peter was only the son of a lord who failed to inherit the title, they became quite cold to Lucien, those invitations still brought the caravan good convenience in the empire .

“It’s from Baroness Carleena,” answered Lucien straightforwardly . Schachran Empire had a vast territory and countless important and small nobles . Lucien really did not know them well, except Count Witte, and he was expecting that the caravan members could provide him with more information .

After having some good wine with his lunch, Berdychiv’s face looked flushed, and his red nose looked even brighter, “Baroness Carleena! Haha… A real beauty from Ural! A widow! She has all the wealth left by the baron, and Mr . Peter, you’ve got no idea how many young nobles are longing for winning her affection . The beauty, the manor, and the wealth… Think about it . “

Berdychiv was still a bit drunk . He looked at Lucien trying to give him hints, as this had always been the traditional topic among men .

“Baroness Carleena is called Black Widow and the Vain Fox,” added a blonde and green-eyed girl, a bit unhappily . “She was born in a noble family, and she’s also the niece of the count’s second wife . But years ago, she rejected all the young nobles who were pursuing her and married Baron Lotnikov, a widower with no offsprings, who was at that time forty-six years older than her for the sake of wealth and his title . Baron Lotnikov’s health condition was quite good when they first got married, but five years later, the baron aged a lot and got really sick . Soon, he passed away . “

“Irina, don’t spread rumors,” said a gentleman in the caravan . “Look around, we’re in a fancy hotel in Ural, not in the middle of nowhere . What if some nobles heard it?”

Berdychiv waved his hands, “Relax . Trust me, those nobles want people to spread Baroness Carleena’s bad name . So they can have less competitors . Those nobles don’t care about the baroness’s reputation . They want the title, the money and the beautiful body . “

“She does have a bad reputation . She started inviting young nobles to her manor and having those extravagant parties only half year after the baron passed away . “

“Anyway,” Lucien smiled, “the baroness has invited me, and we’re not in any hurry to leave . I should be polite and not let the hostess down . “

Lucien had to play and maintain his noble reputation well . As he was not the only noble invited, the winter hunting should not be risky . And as long as he refused to be greedy, Lucien was confident that he would not be swindled .

After all, at that moment, Lucien himself was, in fact, a swindler as well .

Hearing that, the several caravan members had mixed feelings . Some started playing jokes, while some did not look too happy .

Lucien stood up and slightly nodded to them with a smile, “Then, see you tomorrow, everyone . “

After he said that, he closed the book Работаактёранадсобой (An Actor Prepares) in his spirit library .

. . .

The land was covered with a thick layer of snow . Tall and big pines, from time to time, shook off the snow to get rid of the heavy burden . Several big, black Ural dogs shot out as fast as arrows, chasing after the rabbits .

Suddenly, an arrow shot from afar penetrated a gray hare very precisely .

Applause followed . A young noble tried to please the noble lady, “Impressive! Carleena, your archery has improved even further!”

Carleena lifted her bow in a triumphant way, then she turned around and said to Lucien, “Mr . Peter, now it’s your turn . Vladimirs are all good archers . “

Baroness was around twenty seven or twenty eight . Her soft blond hair was tied back, and there was always a smile matching her big blue eyes . Her slightly pouty red lips were like flower petals . The black hunting jacket outfit showed the beauty of her figure lines . Seeing that, many young nobles could not even remove their eyes from the baroness .

Lucien had seen women more beautiful than her, so he just took a polite glance at her and replied, “Thank you, Lady Carleena . The glory all goes to the family . But, honestly speaking, I’m more of a close combat person than an archer . “

Lucien pointed at the two swords on his waist . Then, although he was being polite saying this, Lucien still quickly shot an arrow and it directly got a hare in the snow .

The key point of archery was stability and good vision, and they were no problem for Lucien .

“Umm… Clearly, you’re really being humble, Mr . Peter . Your archery is close to knight level . You should teach me when you have time . ” Carleena stared at Lucien with her big blue eyes out of admiration .

This made other young nobles quite unhappy . A black-haired noble picked up his bow and said, “He’s close to knight level . But let me show you what real knight-level archery is!”

After saying that, he shoot an arrow so fiercely that it was almost covered by fire . The arrow directly shot through a huge tree and went right into the eye socket of the animal behind it, leaving its fur totally undamaged .

He turned around and put on a complacent smile, “Peter, you see that? Of course, I wouldn’t mind practicing sword with you either . “

Before Lucien said anything, Carleena smiled sweetly, “Nice extraordinary bow, Barshac . “

The implication of her words were clear . Then, Carleena turned to talk to other nobles . Her great social skills made this whole evening warm and cheerful .

. . .

In the forest some distance away from the nobles, two guys in black cloak were staring in Carleena’s direction . When the young nobles started to scatter in the forest in order to find the best gift for Carleena, one man said to the other, “Mianka, you turn yourself into a winter bear later and attack Carleena . Make sure that the first round of attack miss the target . Then, you attack the blond noble guy beside her . After injuring him, you run away pretending that you were beaten by him . “

“No problem, Niake . ” As the tall guy was saying, his body was covered by a layer of gray light . When the light disappeared, the guy had turned himself into a big, white bear .

Winter bear was a common magic creature in Schachran Empire . A fully grown one could have the power of a knight .

Niake grinned and said, “Mianka, control yourself a bit, so you won’t directly beat him by accident . And be a good actor when you retreat . Don’t make him suspicious . “

“Relax . I got this,” responded the white bear .

After a couple of minutes, a huge winter bear popped out and directly rushed toward Carleena . Screaming, Carleena barely dodged the bear’s attack and then she hurriedly sought for Lucien’s help .

Then, the huge winter bear raised its giant paw in front of Lucien . Seeing that, Niake put on a smile . Everything went exactly how they planned . Now, the next step would be Mianka hurting the noble mand and then running away .

All of a sudden, after a flash of light, the winter bear fell over in front of Lucien’s horse with a bang!

Lucien, on the horse, was holding a long, blue sword, with his back straightened . As he stared at the bear, it burst out gray light again and revealed its real look—the black-coated guy .

Seeing that, Niake almost dropped his jaw, “What’s going on here?”