Susie felt that she should pretend to faint right now, just like Audrey did every time she didn't want to deal with people. She always used this move, and it worked extremely well.
After observing it several times, she felt she had also learned this skill of pretending to faint, only that she had never had the chance to use it.
Now was a perfect opportunity.
Hence under the gaze of Audrey, Hastur, and Glaint.
Susie first took small steps out of the shadows and into the area lit by sunlight. Then she broke into a light trot that gradually slowed, finally struggling forward for two steps before her front legs went limp.
Her whole body pitched forward and collapsed. Her eyelids drooped weakly, and with a feeble gaze she looked at Audrey one last time before closing her eyes.
She had observed Audrey many times. Every time, Audrey would first pretend to feel unwell, then act as if she were about to faint in front of everyone.
Whenever she did that, she would always cause a round of startled cries from the people around her. Afraid that something might happen to Audrey, they would immediately have her stop what she was doing and return to her room to rest.
"Susie doesn't look right at all." The one who exclaimed was Glaint.
"..." The one with a speechless expression, trying to hide her embarrassment, was Audrey.
"..." The one whose lips twitched slightly as he struggled not to laugh was Hastur.
Susie believed its performance had no issues, perfect, even.
But Audrey, a true master of the art of pretending to faint, had already read Susie's intentions from her eyes alone.
As for Hastur, by observing the details, Susie's clumsy acting, full of obvious imitation, could not fool him at all.
This was something Susie had learned from Audrey and put to use, wasn't it?
Hastur turned his gaze toward Audrey. Audrey slightly turned her body, avoiding Hastur's view so he wouldn't see the embarrassment written all over her face.
She also hadn't expected Susie to use the tactic of pretending to faint, and to act it so poorly. She might fool Glaint, but not the other two.
"Susie really is clever. Its learning ability is indeed very fast."
Hearing the pointed meaning in Hastur's words, Audrey felt her cheeks burning hot. She didn't dare stay alone with Hastur and followed Glaint toward where Susie had fainted.
When she reached Susie's side, Audrey silently ground her teeth. If no one else were here, she would absolutely kick Susie in the butt, what nonsense was it pretending to faint for nothing!
Sensing someone approaching, Susie went back into acting mode. It twitched all over a few times, white foam dribbling from the corner of its mouth.
Then it opened its eyes weakly, looked at Audrey with lingering reluctance, closed its eyes again, and wore an expression of peaceful repose.
"Susie…" Seeing this drama-queen golden retriever still acting, Audrey felt secondhand embarrassment for it.
When Glaint wasn't paying attention, she quietly stretched out her right foot and kicked Susie lightly, signaling it not to take things too far.
Unexpectedly, Susie got even more into it. Not only did it continue pretending to faint, it even deliberately let out suppressed, sorrowful whimpers.
"..." Audrey covered her face with one hand, feeling as if she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
She felt that after today's incident, her image in Mr. Hastur's heart would definitely change yet again.
"Eh, Susie's condition doesn't actually look that bad." Glaint squatted down and took a closer look, quickly figuring out Susie's real condition.
Very healthy. Not sick at all.
Audrey suggested, "Glaint, Susie is already done for. Let's throw her into the water and leave her here forever."
"Better to bury her in the ground," Hastur added as he walked over. "If she stays in the water, the body will swell. That kind of death would look too ugly, too disgusting."
"How can you say that? Susie hasn't gone that far-"
Before Glaint could finish speaking, he saw Susie spring up at lightning speed, shake her body, and wag her tail ingratiatingly at Audrey.
"Susie, you actually know how to play dead!"
Glaint exclaimed. He had just been talking with Audrey about letting Hogg compete with Susie, and Susie had immediately given him a show of force.
That superb acting had even fooled him. This was far too clever!
"Woof woof." Susie ignored Glaint. Right now, she was focused on appeasing Audrey, who wasn't in a very good mood.
"As long as you're fine." Audrey shot Susie a look that clearly said I'll deal with you properly when we get back.
"Woof…" Susie drooped her head and followed behind Audrey, unable to understand why, despite her flawless acting, she still couldn't fool Audrey.
After this little episode, Glaint also temporarily gave up the idea of competing with Susie.
...
The three of them rested for a while by the pool of water. Earl Hall also arrived, his steps light and his mood cheerful.
Presumably, while the three of them were resting, he had made quite a few more gains.
With everyone present, Hastur had the attendants following behind bring tea and snacks, and they enjoyed a simple afternoon tea.
"It's a pity the trees here are too dense to ride at full gallop. If this were a plain or a place with sparse woods, then hunting would truly be interesting." Earl Hall spoke with some emotion, then explained to Hastur and Glaint what real aristocratic hunting scenes were like.
If it were a hunt organized by the royal family, there could be hundreds of hunting dogs moving in packs. The nobles would ride on horseback, driving groups of hounds to chase prey, with hunting rifles in hand as the tools for competing with one another.
Each hunting event would last several days. At night, they would camp outdoors, grilling the prey captured during the day.
Noble ladies and young misses would sing and dance around bonfires. Wine and guns, those were all that made up a hunting event.
As he got more animated, Earl Hall also shared some of his heroic exploits from his youth, such as how much prey he had caught or how accurate his marksmanship had been.
Hastur thought to himself that if Audrey weren't here, and if Earl Hall were given a bit more wine, he might even bring up his youthful romantic escapades as conversation material.
Audrey simply listened with a smile and didn't stop Earl Hall from reminiscing about his younger days.
Naturally, Hastur and Glaint wouldn't interrupt either. They listened quietly.
Fortunately, Earl Hall had a good sense of measure. Each time, he would deliberately skip certain topics, enough to pique Hastur and Glaint's interest without drawing Audrey's displeasure.
After resting for about an hour, Earl Hall stood up, blew a whistle, and led three hunting dogs deeper into the forest.
Seeing this, Glaint hurriedly followed. He had to make good use of the latter half of the time, he absolutely couldn't end up empty-handed again.
Audrey glanced at Susie, who showed no fighting spirit or interest, and gave up on continuing the hunt. She planned to stay here and stroll around nearby instead.
Hastur and the little hound headed in Earl Hall's direction. Since he intended to give the little hound away, he naturally needed to let Earl Hall see its potential.
"Susie, let's just walk around casually."
"Woof."
Seeing that Audrey was no longer angry, Susie quickly followed her footsteps.
"Susie, do you think we might meet a witch living atop a tall tower in a forest like this?"
"Woof?"
"Susie, how about we go explore somewhere without any people?"
"Woof."
"It's rare for you to be interested too. Let's go."
Audrey chose a direction where the trees were relatively tall and walked off, Susie wagging its little tail as it followed behind.
After walking for about twenty minutes, a faint mist seemed to rise around them.
At first, Audrey didn't pay it much attention. But when she noticed that the attendants and her personal maid behind her had vanished at some point, with only Susie by her side, she finally felt a sense of danger.
Inside the forest, thick fog would occasionally rise. As long as one didn't wander around randomly and stayed in place for a while, the mist would disperse.
If one moved about carelessly, it was easy to stray deeper into the forest.
"Susie, it seems we've run into some trouble." Audrey looked at the increasingly dense fog and frowned slightly.
"Susie, what if we get trapped here and can't get back?"
"Could some mysterious creature suddenly appear and attack us?"
"Is it possible we might encounter elves who live deep in the forest?"
Audrey said many things. She looked worried about the situation in front of her, yet also seemed to be expecting something to happen.
Susie came to Audrey's feet, fell silent for a moment, then softly said, "Audrey, I still remember the way we came."
"..." Audrey's beautiful brows knitted slightly.
"You shouldn't invest too much imagination into such an obvious situation."
"..."
"And it's also impossible for elves to appear here."
"..."
Seeing that Susie was about to continue, Audrey interrupted it, "Susie, you're just a dog. You can't casually open your mouth and speak."
"Woof." Susie tactfully barked once, while the expression on Audrey's face grew even more complicated.
After about five minutes, the attendants and her personal maid found them again, and the fog surrounding them gradually dispersed.
The so-called misty environment gave way to reality at that moment.
Looking at the increasingly clear scenery, Audrey sighed in disappointment.
She still hadn't encountered the adventure she longed for, nor had she seen the legendary elves.
....
That night, Hastur and the others regrouped at the forest entrance.
Earl Hall had the greatest hunting gains. Hastur still ranked second. Glaint tied for third with Audrey, thanks to a single foolish roe deer.
"This little hound of yours is indeed quite good."
Earl Hall gave the little hound high praise. Taking the opportunity, Hastur presented the little hound to Earl Hall, completing this act of bribery.