Evan Hilcheonâs horse, which he simply called the black horse, snorted at her as if he were mocking her words.
Although it might have been Julianaâs misinterpretation, the raspy snorts that were coming out of his nostrils were definitely unusual.
Juliana, who had mounted the cheeky horse, moved her stiff arms and grabbed the reins.
Then she gasped for breath. The tiredness and dizziness of wanting to dig into the blanket immediately covered her.
However, right now she only wanted to lead Ereina to a brighter future. So that instead of becoming a villainess, she would win the emperorâs heart and be with him for a hundred years.
âThen, Yeoju and EvanâŚâŚ?â
Juliana suppressed the faintly wriggling question.
ââŚâŚno.â
She didnât want to think about it now. Instead of interfering with the original novel and changing the course of its story, she just wanted to escape from the novelâs plot and live a different life.
So she didnât want to worry or think about it. But Evan changed it. Evan Hilcheon changed the lazy Juliana Auburn.
She has never been more aware of this fact than she was now. And so Juliana, in a melancholy mood, settled herself on the black horse.
Firstly, she was afraid because her eyesight was higher than usual. And as if he knew that the owner on his back wasnât his usual one, the black horse tossed his head.
âYou, stay still if you donât want to end up as horse meat. It wouldnât be bad if I did what I said.â
Juliana grumbled at the stubborn black horse.
Meanwhile, there was a great silence shortly after the crowd had stopped roaring. Then again, the horn sounded in the stadium, marking the beginning of the golden match.
Pow-wow-!
âGiddy up!â
âHeehee-ee-ee-ing!â
The powerful black horse galloped through the stadium.
People stared at Juliana Auburn with their breaths held, because the appearance of the famous sorceress on horseback was beyond their imagination.
As was the case with the empressâs game, the ten stone statues were evenly spaced out along the road for the horse.
Juliana fell flat on her back as if she were barely hanging on top of a speeding black horse. People screamed at the dangerous figure.
âOh, my God!â
âYouâll get hurt!â
Both aristocrats and commoners gazed anxiously at the Duchess hanging on the galloping horse, while her previously bound hair had now loosened.
âGiddy up!â
On the other hand, Juliana kicked the sides of the black horse to speed up even more.
Then the black horse thundered violently. He raised his front legs and stood up as if against his fiery owner. Ereina jumped at the dangerous appearance of a deliberately angered horse.
âY-you have to stop!â
Everyone rose to their feet at the sound of the empressâs scream.
However, the black horse galloped even faster, and Juliana, clutching the reins tightly, did not even budge.
In the meantime, the horse galloped straight, not minding the stone statues. As he passed them, the sculptures fell down on the ground with the ârumblingâ sound. The statues collapsed as soon as the horseâs hooves beat the ground with an audible sound.
It was strange.
Even with the power of a giant stallion, the heavy stone statues could not be easily knocked down with only this kind of force.
However, the statues were scattered like scarecrows. Not only that, but soon after, strange light flowed from the entire body of the black horse.
It was armor.
The armor worn by Julianaâs horse appeared in an explosion of the bright light.
The nobility bent over at the sight. The woman, who wanted to get a closer look at it, was pulled by the crowd into the section shared by the lower nobility and the common people and then asked the man who was sitting behind her.
âWhat is that?â
âMagic?â
âThatâs magic?â
âNo matter how stable a wizard is, he wouldnât be able to release a large amount of magic.â
The man said in amazement. When they heard it, even a small number of nobles, who were sitting in their chairs in a relaxed manner, rose from their seats.
Wizards were a powerful, yet vulnerable race. They memorized a spell formula, which demanded concentration, and it soon became a weakness on the battlefield. For this reason, the archers and swordsmen who protected wizards during the battles had to be with them all the time.
Even a small number of wizards were able to change the situation with their witty skills and abilities in urgent crises.
Despite the reaction of admiration from the aristocrats, an angry black horse was still galloping around and destroying everything in sight.
Juliana, who had put armor all over the giant black horse body, struggled to keep herself from falling off a raging horse.
It was like a staged picture, thatâs how it looked. Full of wild charm, like a painted figure, Juliana was swaying on the horse.
Of course, it was only from the perspective of others, and Juliana herself felt like dying.
ââŚ..I used a lot of magic after a long time. Iâm exhausted. Former me. No matter how much you liked to play in the past, you should have practiced your magic more.â
Regretting the days of eating grapes like the dissolute nobles of the fallen kingdom, Juliana tried to calm the black horse.
However, no matter how hard she tried, the black horse didnât calm down. The problem seemed to be the ability to attack combined with defensive magic. It was a mistake that occurred because it was the first time she had ever cast a protection spell on a living creature.
Juliana quickly unraveled her protection spell, fearing that the excited black horse would destroy even the smallest stone statue that shivered the farthest.
âYihehehehe!â
The black horse, which was galloping like crazy, suddenly slowed down. His gasping breath also calmed down a bit, but the speed of cantering was not reduced any more as there was still some excitement left.
Juliana, who managed to turn her horse around, did not return to the audience seats, but found Ereina, pale and worried, on the edge of the stadium.
Juliana shouted painfully as she pressed herself against the black horseâs back.
âThe Empress!â
Ereina was startled.
Her voice was very firm, though weary. The fierce hawk-like eyes stretched out toward Ereinaâs lance.
Ereina judged in a flash.
Then, finally, she threw her lance at the last, remaining stone statue, which was placed next to the cantering black horse.
Juliana didnât know what kind of power had risen within her, but she let go of the reins and jumped on the cantering horseâs back at once.
In a short moment, standing unshakable on the horseâs back, Juliana grasped the lance that passed quickly over the horse.
âWow!â
People gasped in surprise. Then Juliana threw the grasped lance in a standing position.
Stroke-!
A terrifying lance pierced the statueâs neck. Then the stone sculpture fell to the ground and disappeared behind a cloud of dust.
As soon as she realized she had succeeded, Juliana smiled faintly. And right away, she lost all her strength and fell off the black horse.