"Tokai Teio has won the Japanese Derby and has become an undefeated two-crown horse girl. Her performance in the upcoming Kikuka Sho will determine whether she can become the second undefeated Triple Crown horse girl after Rudolf, a great honor..."
"Should I say, as expected of someone taught by that Emperor herself? She had invited this little one to the Symboli family for training several times. It seems she hasn't wasted all that effort."
On the night of their return from the racecourse, in Nakayama Festa's dormitory, her roommate and Rudolf's sister, Sirius Symboli, was watching the tablet in her hand with great interest. Although she had not been at the scene, she could feel the intensity of the race at that time from the recording.
"Or should I say, I should be surprised that you could push her to this point? It was really close. The achievement of an undefeated Triple Crown horse girl was almost cut short by you."
Sirius also praised her roommate's performance in an extremely unique way. However, Nakayama Festa, who had just come out of the bathroom with her wet chestnut hair scattered casually, answered in a tone that was devoid of any extra fluctuations, "It's not that I've become stronger. It's all his credit. He helped me correct my mistakes, so that my strength can be truly brought out."
"But... it's still not enough. I can still become stronger."
She wiped her hair with a dry towel, but her hand holding the towel couldn't help but clench a little tighter, so much so that a trickle of water dripped from the towel, which was only wet on the surface. Clearly, after losing to Teio in the Derby this time, she was not as carefree as she had appeared in front of him.
"I promised him that I would bring him a real victory, a victory that is blood-boiling and can turn the tables... I will definitely do it."
"You have that potential. I believe you will be the one who makes people's jaws drop." And Sirius, seeing her strong wish, couldn't help but feel a bit of empathy with her.
In a way, Sirius actually envied her. At least she knew very well for whose ideal she was running... while she herself had never had an ideal of her own from beginning to end.
Her only goal was to surpass her sister, who, after showing her potential as a horse girl, had become the most watched new star in the family, and from then on, had made all the horse girls in the Symboli family, including herself, pale in comparison—Symboli Rudolf.
Her own talent and ability were very outstanding. It could be said that in the Symboli family, she was considered an outstanding existence. But from a young age, as long as she was compared with Rudolf, everything would seem bleak... The family had also invested most of its resources and attention in her alone. She and the other horse girls of the family had all become characters who divided the leftover soup from Rudolf.
And this differential treatment eventually led to a major family split. Similarly, the family members who had bet all their stakes on her, who was equally talented, had an internal conflict with the other members of the family. In the end, the members who supported her were forced to split from the family and became a branch family that was wandering outside.
However, in the end, the cruel facts told her... she might really not be as good as her sister. Whether it was an internal or external war, she seemed to have failed to achieve the goal of surpassing her.
And because of this experience, when she saw Nakayama Festa, who had a similar experience of not being favored and whose talent had been surpassed by her sisters all along, she would hope that she could realize her revenge.
After all... she had something she didn't have, that trainer who supported her with all his heart... Sirius had a pretty good impression of him.
"I remember, his name is Kitano Ryuichi, right?" Sirius once again said this name that made her feel a little familiar, but she also suppressed her inner curiosity and turned to the side to look at her, who had noticed something and was looking cold. She said with a teasing smile, "You have good taste, or should I say, your Gold Family has good taste. You'd better hold on to this trainer and not let him be snatched away by others."
"...You don't need to worry about that."
Although they had only been together for less than a year, the two horse girls, who had similar interests and even often had gambling games in their dormitory, were now quite familiar with each other's affairs. Even if they would not specifically mention their own affairs to others, the bits and pieces of their daily conversation had given them a basic understanding of each other's situation.
Therefore, Sirius knew very well that she had a certain obsession with him, so she basically had nothing to hide—she believed that she was not the kind of gossip who would spread her little thoughts...
Knock, knock, knock.
"Huh? Who is it?" A sudden knock on the door made both of them turn their heads at the same time. They were very surprised that someone would take the initiative to visit their "outcast" dormitory at Tracen?
But soon, with the opening of the dormitory door, an unexpected figure appeared in front of them. The ash-haired horse girl in her racing silks was looking at Nakayama Festa with a blank expression and immediately said:
"Nakayama-san, can you come to the training ground with me? There's a special training arrangement."
"Special training? Did he ask you to come along?"
And she was also a little surprised by Oguri Cap's attire. Her appearance in her racing silks did not look like she was going to train at all, but more like she was planning to have an all-out duel with her. This also quietly made her understand something.
"...I see. I'll go with you. Let me change my clothes first."
...
At night, at Tracen Academy, just before the dormitory was about to be closed, the figures of Oguri Cap and Nakayama Festa, dressed in their racing silks and heading towards the training ground, were particularly conspicuous. The two horse girls, even when walking together, still maintained a silence, as if there was no other interaction between them besides being under the same trainer.
And finally, the two, against the slightly warm wind, came to the now-empty training ground. And to this, she did not feel the slightest surprise, but just stopped and looked straight at her back and asked, word by word:
"So, you tricked me out here. What do you want to tell me?"
"You're wearing your racing silks, and you have a very strong fighting spirit... don't think I can't smell it."
"Our Gold Family, we may not have other abilities, but when it comes to sensing malice, we are very accurate."
As she said this, her beautiful eyes also narrowed slightly. As a member of the Gold Family, although she was not the best fighter in the family, if anyone provoked her, she would not mind giving them an unforgettable memory.
Although now, she was not sure where she had provoked Oguri, but her undisguised malice towards her, the feeling of a fierce beast as if it wanted to tear her to pieces, was absolutely not wrong!
And under a moment of silence, Oguri turned around silently without saying a word. Under the dark night, Festa looked straight at her, which was different from the usual... dark black eyes.
"...Nakayama Festa, do you think you are worthy of the position of Kitano's first contracted horse girl now?"
"...What do you mean?"
However, faced with her abrupt words, Nakayama Festa, who had been mentally prepared for a fight, suddenly lost most of her anger because of her own guilt.
In fact, she had also questioned herself many times in her heart. If not for his constant companionship and guidance in this one month, which made her feel that he paid more attention to her than to anyone else, this question would probably still be lingering in her mind.
She knew that her current record might be considered a leader among the horse girls of the same period, but compared to his concern for her, his expectations for her... she had not been able to respond to his expectations, not even once.
She had become his first contracted horse girl entirely because, in this time and space, she had met him earlier than others, and at that time, there were no other candidates in the family... all of this was just her good luck. Any other horse girl, under the same circumstances, could have done this.
But even so, she was not willing to be so belittled. Perhaps because she had been with him for a long time these days, she also said to her without hesitation:
"If you don't like me and want to kick me out of the team, I can tell you that you have no right to decide my stay or departure—only that guy can kick me out. No one else, no matter who, can control me."
"If you can persuade him to give this first charge position to someone else, I have no objection. As long as this guy opens his mouth, I will definitely obey."
"I can't." And she also very frankly denied this matter. She knew very well that he would not agree to such a proposal. This was his absolute bottom line.
She could not tolerate anyone slandering him, and he would absolutely not tolerate anyone slandering his charge. She knew that the moment she brought this up with him, even if he had past memories of her, he would definitely fall out with her.
Moreover, she had no such intention... she had come to find her this time to let her know how important this position, which had once belonged to her, was.
"Have you ever thought about what the position of the first charge represents? You are his first charge, and also the one with the highest status among the charges of this team. You are equivalent to his face and reputation."
"But in this period of time, have you really won for him an honor worthy of his dedication and effort?"
Oguri, who was not good at beating around the bush, every sentence seemed so aggressive. Every step she took towards her, she couldn't help but retreat... not because she was suppressed by her aura, but because she knew very well that every word she said was a fact she did not dare to face.
He had paid so much for her, and what had she given him in return?
"—Nothing."
Her words broke the last line of defense in her heart. Her dark eyes stared straight at this latecomer who had taken her place but made her extremely dissatisfied. In her pupils, there was an unconcealable jealousy and a malice mixed with countless negative emotions.
"But even so, he is still willing to pay for you... he wants you to trust him, to stimulate all your potential. He lets you run according to your own tactics and rhythm, and never adds any extra burden to you..."
"Clearly, he has so many charges, and each one has a close relationship and deep affection with him. But he still desperately conveys his concern to you. He still wants you to feel at all times... that he is most concerned about you."
"And you, you actually repay him with such results? You can't even fight for a little more time for him to stay in this world?"
Speaking of which, she also couldn't help but click her tongue. Her tone was still plain, but there was a hint of resentment as she said to her, word by word:
"Nakayama Festa, I have to say... I am very jealous of you. Sometimes so jealous that I want to eat you up."
"..."
Her words also made the silent Nakayama Festa feel a chill down her spine. Because she realized that the "eat you up" she said was probably literal. She really might eat her up, physically making her disappear.
And it was precisely because of this sentence that she realized—the mind of the "ash-haired monster" standing in front of her was definitely not that of a normal person.
The obsession revealed from the depths of her soul had even reached the point of a life creed... it was a strong desire that would absolutely not be born without experiencing heart-wrenching pain.
"You... did you know him a long time ago?"
She realized this and, holding back the wavering in her heart, finally asked the question that she had vaguely guessed the answer to but was asking for the first time.
"I'm not a fool. I can see your inexplicable closeness and affection for him, and your secret that you deduced earlier than me!"
"You and Suzuka are the same. You knew him earlier than me, right?!"
"What on earth happened to him in your world? Tell me. What happened to him?"
"...Do you really want to know?"
However, faced with her series of questions, her eyes only flickered slightly and asked back like this. And a moment later, seeing the hesitant her finally nod with determination, she finally slowly closed her eyes.
Her thoughts began to drift far away, to the era that belonged to her and him... that past that made her believe that everything was the arrangement of fate...
That fledgling, unfavored ash-haired horse girl, from beginning to end, only he had always been by her side...
-------
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