/
It’s an emotional moment.
My eyes were filling with tears.
Cheshire smiled at my expression as I tried to keep my mouth closed.
“Zephyr
”
Cheshire put on the reins, carefully checked even the stirrups attached to the saddle, and slowly led Zephyr.
“Hold tight. Slowly. Don’t crouch down and stand up straight.”
“I, I won’t fall, right?”
“It’s all right. I’ll be by your side.”
“Ung.”
Contrary to my worries, riding was easy.
Zephyr walked very slowly and stably to my breathing.
“Uh. I’m touched.”
Feeling emotional, I swallowed my tears and stroked Zephyr’s soft mane.
“Z, Zephyr
 Sniff, thank you so so much for the ride
.”
Cheshire, who had been walking slowly beside me, smiled when he saw me crying.
“
Congratulations.”
“Ung!”
* * *
That day, Zephyr took Lilith and walked around the riding arena for about half a day.
Lilith’s skills were terrible.
Her body was small, and she had a hard time keeping his balance, even if he tried to speed up a bit.
In the end, Zephyr couldn’t run vigorously because he worried Lilith might fall.
[Did you finally give up your pride?]
Walter sneered at him from the side.
[Are you going to the tournament tomorrow?]
[
.]
[Answer me humanly, no, verbally, bastard!]
Zephyr ignored Walter, who was angry and screaming.
The tournament—.
“Zephyr, could you go with me tomorrow? We’re not going to compete with other horses. We
 let’s go see the flowers and take a walk. Ung?”
Lilith smiled shyly and stayed in the stable for a while before returning.
Zephyr smiled slightly as he recalled Lilith’s face, who had been excited for a long time even though she pretended not to be.
[
What are you doing? What weird sound are you making? Did you laugh?]
[Shut up]
The night in the stable was over.
* * *
The next day, the day of the horse riding competition.
The Zart Hill outside the Capital, where the game was held, was crowded with participants and spectators from early morning.
There were only seven participants, including myself.
Since everyone is obsessed with prizes, the participation rate is low for events where the winner is obvious.
‘Why are you scared of Damon Martini? They say that this is why they didn’t come out.’
I looked around the waiting area.
I saw aristocratic children checking their horses along with the teacher, and reporters huddled together with notebooks to pick up news stories.
“I’m worried about my daughter
.”
Dad got on his knees in front of me, put my riding cap on, and tightened the belt around my chin.
I glanced around and whispered.
“No, Dad. What are you worried about? Because of the anti-falling magic, even the buttocks stick together and they don’t fall off.”
“Still
”
“Everything you do here will be in the newspaper. There are a lot of reporters, but there will be articles cursing Duke Rubinstein. Go quickly, please.”
Can’t you feel these hot gazes?
The other children’s parents would be waiting at the prize ceremony across the finish line, but only Dad came here, and it was a mess.
“You rode the Zephyr for the first time yesterday.”
“Yeah, and I practiced for about five hours.”
“Yes, only five hours. So how Dad didn’t feel nervous?”
“Dad, I’m sorry, but I don’t intend to win anyway. I didn’t even practice the obstacle course. I’ll just go on a scenic hill outing with Zephyr slowly.”
I hugged Zephyr, who was proudly standing and rubbed my cheek against the nape of his neck.
Zephyr was very gentle. I liked it again, so I rubbed my lips on it like giving a kiss.
“Are you that happy?”
“Ung, I’m so happy. Have you ever seen a horse as pretty as Zephyr, Dad?”
“No, I never see it.”
Dad laughed like he couldn’t stop me.
At that time.
“Ah, Cheshire
Whoa?”
Cheshire, who had changed into a riding suit, was entering the waiting room.
“Oh, boy. You’re handsome.”
“T, that’s right.”
The splendid beauty of the boy jockey, who appeared alongside the majestic dark horse Walter, caught everyone’s attention.
‘S, stop. I know you’re the main character, so stop
 . Stop hitting the extras!’
I had to raise my hand to cover my eyes in the illusion of a halo.
Like Dad and Cheshire, at times like this, they must say, ‘Come on, look! You lowly extras! I am the main character!’ as if shouting loudly.
“
Are you really okay? Try practicing an obstacle course.”
Cheshire was worried about me as soon as he arrived.
“No. It was so hard just practicing walking five hours earlier yesterday. I promised Zephyr that I wouldn’t participate in the competition, but it’s amazing that he practiced this much with me. I won’t go over an obstacle; instead, I’ll turn around and go around it, well. You will win.”
I succeeded in riding on Zephyr’s back, but my plan to watch and enjoy it remained the same.
Then.
“Oh, he’s here.”
“Finally, a strong candidate for the championship has arrived.”
The reporters groaned, and their eyes lit up.
It was Damon Martini.
He was dressed in the finest riding suit and pulled a well-maintained brown horse.
Damon, who had come in with a cheeky expression, noticed me and was startled.
To be precise, he saw Zephyr standing next to me.
“Z, Z, Zephyr?”
He soon found Cheshire and Walter, who showed off their tremendous presence, and his face turned red.
‘Ung, the spotlight isn’t yours.’
Before the main character, who gets attention even when he just breathes, a villain or something else gets a wrinkle.
I grinned.
“Hello, Duke Rubinstein. It’s my first time seeing you. I am Damon Martini, the third son of the Count Martini family.”
Damon said hello to Dad first, even with a face that couldn’t manage his expression well.
“Nice to meet you, Young Master Martini. Let’s look forward to a good game.”
“Y, yes
”
Damon swallowed his saliva and immediately glanced at Zephyr and me.
“I was surprised to see a princess on the list of participants
 Y, you brought a pretty horse?”
“Hello, Young Master Martini? His name is Zephyr.”
I said it out loud on purpose.
At the same time, reporters held up their notebooks in unison.
‘I’ve been waiting for this time, you bad-tempered guy.’
When I first entered the waiting area, all the reporters who recognized Zephyr were puzzled.
They must have wondered why Damon’s horse, a strong contender for the championship, was in the hands of Princess Rubinstein.
“Zephyr was an injured horse, but the story was so pitiful that I wanted to bring him. Just how can the previous owner sell it back to stable because he was injured?”
“Hiik–!”
“Wow, that was
.”
“Oh my goodness.”
The hand movements of the reporters who caught the exclusive news became quicker.
I continued to speak, raising my voice as if it were a speech contest.
“I don’t know who the former owner is, but isn’t he really a bad person? I heard that horses with injured legs are sent to the slaughterhouse. How can you make your friend
.”
I pouted as if I was about to cry and hugged Zephyr.
The reporters covered their mouths and scribbled pens over their notebooks.
“W, w, what are you writing?”
Seeing that, Damon became pale.
‘Phew.’
I started halfway through acting, but when I was holding Zephyr, I felt bad.
As if recognizing the owner, Zephyr was staring at Damon.
“T, then, l, let’s have a good game!”
Soon, Damon left us as if running away.
* * *
“My daughter, you should really be careful, okay? Zephyr, don’t hurt our princess. Okay? Be careful?”
Dad worried about me even though I told him to stop until 30 minutes before the game started when he finally went to the prize ceremony.
After the tournament, there was no doubt that articles with headlines such as <Duke Rubinstein, beyond a daughter fool?!> would appear.
“Zephyr, let’s take a slow walk. Take a look at the surrounding scenery
 Ah! If you go into course C, there is a lake. If you are thirsty, shall we go and drink some water?”
I last scanned the map drawn from course A to course E and climbed on Zephyr’s back.
Of course, I didn’t need to know the race course because I only did light running practice at the horseback riding course at home.
Damon’s explosive personality has gotten a lot of attention, and Cheshire is going to win the championship, so my job is already done.
“Participants, please stand in front of the starting line. There is a judge at the starting point of each course, so you can ask for help if you have any issues such as withdrawal. When the salute bursts, please start.”
Seven horses stood side by side at the starting line.
I glanced at Cheshire and Damon’s faces. Contrary to Damon’s venomous expression, Cheshire seemed indifferent.
‘Whoo, it’s worth seeing.’
I will soon hear the regular comment from the villainous extras shouting, ‘Ugh, that’s annoying!’
Paan—!
The salute rang to mark the start of the game.
“
.?”
I.
“Kyaaaaaaagh!”
I screamed in surprise at Zephyr’s speed, who jumped out like a bullet as if he had been waiting.
“Wha!!! Whaaaaa!”
I was so surprised that I lost the reins.
If it wasn’t for the saddle with the magic of preventing falls, I would have rolled down earlier.
“Waa, whoaaaa!”
The wind made it hard for me to open my eyes, so I turned them around.
I stammered, barely grabbing hold of the reins that I had missed.
‘W, what is this! What! What’s going on!’
Did I come out of the wrong contest?
Wasn’t it a horse riding competition where you interact with the horse and step on the course step by step?
Is this a racetrack?
Did anyone bet on Zephyr and Princess Rubinstein?
‘What’s really going on here? Aren’t we supposed to take a walk, Zephyr?’
I guess it was my own idea.
Against my will, Zephyr was running at a tremendous speed.
The landscape passed quickly into my sight.
I glanced back, trying to ignore the rumbling insides.
I feel like it’s been less than 3 minutes since we started.
But I couldn’t even see the other horses—.