"I see... this situation is truly rare. It's almost enough for me to start a new research project, maybe even publish a top-tier journal article."
"Because of excessive pressure, when her body and mind were in a weakened state upon waking, her thought process regressed to a childhood stage? This is truly worth investigating."
In the hospital room, Agnes Tachyon and Manhattan Cafe, once again summoned from Tracen Academy by Kitano and the others, learned the details of the situation. They now stared with great interest at the figure on the bed, Rudolf, who seemed a bit uneasy and was clinging tightly to Kitano's arm.
Compared to Tachyon's curiosity, Manhattan Cafe's unique golden eyes were fixed on Rudolf's action of holding his arm. She looked at his slightly embarrassed expression under everyone's gaze, then at Rudolf's undisguised, childlike dependence on him, and finally couldn't help but ask:
"So... has the President been like this since she woke up yesterday?"
"More or less," Kitano replied. After yesterday's experience, he was clearly mentally prepared for her current state, but he still couldn't hide the wavering in his heart at seeing her like this. His tone was complicated. "At first, I just thought she was being a little clingy, but she fell asleep again quickly, so I didn't pay much attention... But when I woke up, and Rudolf woke up for the second time, I found she had become like this."
"—Well, about what the President said about her childhood and all that, don't you have anything to explain?"
However, just as Kitano was feeling a little uneasy, a voice from Invincible, who was watching from the side, suddenly plunged his mood into an icy abyss. And with her question, whether intentional or not, the issue that everyone was about to ignore was immediately brought back into the spotlight.
And the first to raise a question was Ardan, who had not yet recovered her memories but vaguely sensed some connection with him. This young lady, who knew his secret and also knew that she might have a past-life connection with him, also cautiously probed, "Trainer Kitano... did you know the President before? And when you were very young?"
Ardan's heart was a little worried, a little sad. Although her grandmother supported her in pursuing her own happiness and did not necessarily require her to set her sights on him, which made her very happy, when she thought that he and Rudolf might also have a connection, her heart couldn't help but become nervous.
She knew this feeling was not good... if she wasn't sure she liked him, she shouldn't stop others from liking him. But when she thought that that person was Rudolf, especially when they had "known each other since childhood," she felt a tightness in her chest, a very uncomfortable feeling...
After all, she was very clear about Symboli Rudolf's great name. She was the only one who was stronger and more powerful than her own sister in terms of aura, strength, and fame. In terms of status, she was also the same as her sister, the designated next head of one of the two major horse girl families in Japan.
If such a person had feelings for him from early on... then I probably have no chance, right?
Even with the support of her grandmother and even the Mejiro family, Ardan, whose heart was not yet so firm, couldn't help but start to retreat. And all of her emotions were also seen by Invincible, who had asked the question on the side, making her also silently sigh in her heart.
But fortunately, at this time, Tamamo, who had a similar feeling as Ardan but had no intention of backing down at all, immediately spoke up and retorted:
"What are you talking about? How old is he? That Rudolf person is a few years older than him, right? How did they know each other since they were little? I can't even imagine it."
Saying this, Tamamo's gaze turned to the spoiled-looking Rudolf, and her expression turned into the helpless expression she used to have when complaining about Oguri Cap's outlandish behavior as she smiled easily. "Maybe our President's brain is fried, and some non-existent memories have appeared. After all, her usual pressure is astonishingly high. Who knows what problems her brain will have after being sick this time?"
"—That's a possibility."
And at this time, even Agnes Tachyon, after observing Rudolf for a while, joined the topic with great interest. After attracting everyone's attention, Tachyon explained:
"Everyone should know that when a chick is born, it often treats the first object it sees as its mother. I think the President's current state is probably similar."
"After all, the first person she saw after she woke up was him. Perhaps in her current subconscious, he is the first object of affection she has ever known."
"So... that's why the President is so clingy to him?"
And Tachyon's explanation seemed to have some truth to it, but it also made the horse girls feel that she must be making it up. However, after looking at each other, they really couldn't think of any reason for her to deceive them.
But even so, Rudolf's current appearance was indeed hard to accept, especially for Tokai Teio, who had always regarded her as an idol. When she saw her snuggling up to his arm, her jaw almost dropped. No matter how she looked at her and him being so close, she couldn't help but feel a sense of shame from the bottom of her heart.
"Haha, it probably won't be like this. I think that after a few days, the President's mental state should return to normal."
And Tachyon also waved her hand and assured everyone. However, under everyone's gaze, a faint, mysterious smile appeared on her face. She turned her gaze to the person on the hospital bed behind her who had not spoken and was just tightly gripping his hand, looking as if she had no sense of security. In her louver-like eyes, a hint of jealousy that even she herself did not notice flashed, and she smiled. "And even if she doesn't return to normal, it doesn't matter. It just so happens that this is the first time I've encountered this situation, and I'd really like to experiment a bit."
"I have several already-prepared potions for treating mental trauma. There should be a potion that can cure her condition."
"And if there isn't... hehe, in my hands, there is no incurable disease. I will always use this test subject, the President, to test my new drugs... of course, I can't guarantee whether my new drugs will cause any other damage to her, can I? Hehehehe..."
As she spoke, her words, rather than being a monologue, had reached the point of being a threat. Paired with her unique sneer, it made the horse girls on the side can't help but get goosebumps all over their bodies, their faces quite nervous as they stared at her.
And only Mejiro Palmer on the side, who knew his secret, and Manhattan Cafe, who was with her, vaguely guessed her purpose after hearing her words. They all turned their gazes to Rudolf on the hospital bed, looking forward to her reaction.
However, what none of them had expected was that Rudolf, who had been threatened by her, actually did not, as in the past, almost reflexively unfold her own aura. On the contrary, the moment she was stared at by her, she almost hugged his arm even tighter, and her eyes began to well up with crystal-clear luster.
Oh no, this is a precursor to— Kitano, who was closest to her, had a premonition that something bad was about to happen. From his understanding of the childhood Rudolf, what was about to happen was probably a big scene.
"What, what do you want to do?! Do you want to snatch my Kitano away from me?"
However, her gaze seemed to have made Rudolf misunderstand something. He only felt his arm being buried in her cleavage, which he had never touched in his several lifetimes. And she even more vigilantly glared at her, her horse ears immediately flattened back, and her whole person showed an exceptionally fierce expression, like an angry lion.
"You strange doctor—do you want to use the excuse of treatment to separate me from him?! Or do you want to force me to drink some strange medicine so that I forget him?"
"Absolutely! I will absolutely not let you succeed! I will never forget him! Absolutely not!"
"It hurts, it hurts—it's going to break! It's about to break!"
And unlike her bluffing anger, he, whose arm was being held tightly by her, was already in so much pain that his whole face was twisted. But before C.B. and Special Week could come forward to help, his remaining hand immediately waved, and he said, enduring the pain:
"Don't come forward! You'll only provoke her more! No matter what, Rudo—ah! Luna! Luna is a patient! It wouldn't be good if she was provoked to the point of fainting again."
"Everyone, go out first. Let her calm down first. This is the best way to help me and her get out of danger! Before she returns to normal, absolutely do not provoke her!"
And he, in pain, also anxiously said all his words at once, and even for the first time began to drive away his own charges—he was afraid that if he was a little slower, his fragile arm might really not be saved.
Fortunately, her strength was always well-controlled. It only made him feel pain, but would not really hurt him. And the horse girls were also very understanding. They did not want him to suffer any more pain, so before he had to urge them a second time, they all left the hospital room at the fastest speed and even closed the door.
And with only him and her left in the room, he also felt the pressure on his arm lessen a lot. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he felt her petulantly bury her head in his chest, her arms in turn tightly hugging his waist.
A moment later, he felt the trembling of the slightly sobbing girl in his arms. And faced with this Rudolf, who had been giving him a headache ever since her mind had regressed, he also habitually and gently stroked her beautiful hair, helping her to soothe her emotions, and in the tone of his childhood self, comforted her:
"Alright, alright, the Luna I know is not such a fragile person. You're a genius of the Symboli family, aren't you? Don't always throw a tantrum over such small things, okay?"
"No." However, Rudolf, in his arms, said in a willful tone that was exactly the same as in his childhood memories, rejecting his proposal. To be honest, if it weren't for the change in her tone, he would not be able to tell whether the Rudolf in front of him was an adult or the child he had met.
But perhaps... this was her true nature. After shedding all the disguise of being strong, deep down in her heart, she was still the girl who longed to be willful, who could be arrogant, who could be率性而为, who could not be bound by any labels. That was the time she wanted to return to most.
Perhaps, only at this time, would that "Emperor" shed this halo and become the horse girl he was familiar with, named "Symboli Rudolf."
"Kitano is my playmate, my only friend... I won't let anyone take him away."
"If I lose you... I won't have any friends. You are my friend, and my only trainer in the future. I will absolutely not allow you to be separated from me."
Is her memory also returning to her childhood? And he, who had already guessed that she had recovered her past memories, was also hearing her so frankly express so many feelings for the first time. His originally helpless expression also had a hint of nostalgia... nostalgia for the Rudolf he had first met.
He also had many words, many guilts that he had not said to her. And faced with the regressed her in front of him, his thousands of words were also condensed down to a single, gentle sentence as if just coaxing a child. He, taking advantage of this emotion, spoke his heart's words:
"This time, we won't be separated. I won't leave you to bear it alone again. Don't worry."
"Mm..."
And Rudolf, whose face was buried in his chest, also answered悶悶. Her hand, which was holding him, also had one hand turn to rest on his chest. In a place where his vision could not reach, the face of this "regressed" horse girl slowly showed a smile, and she said, word by word:
"You have to be with Luna forever, forever, okay?"
"...Mm."
Her words, at this moment, received his response. The trembling of her body began to stop, and her tears also finally stopped falling. What replaced it was the slightly widening smile that he could not see.
That smile seemed to have a little less of a child's sincerity, and faintly, there was a hint of... the pride and shyness that belonged only to the "Emperor" Symboli Rudolf.
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