"So... we're just supposed to wait here for the Triple Crown to start and do nothing?"
"There was never anything we could do." Facing Mr. C.B.'s undisguised despair, even Rudolf was in no mood to argue. On this issue, anyone would feel powerless. The opponent they all faced was a genius horse girl named Tokai Teio.
If it were just an ordinary genius, they might not be so nervous. After all, Gold Ship and Nakayama Festa were considered geniuses among horse girls.
But there are levels to genius. Once you reach a certain point, talent determines the ceiling. And Tokai Teio just happened to be on a level where her talent was undeniably supreme.
Both Mr. C.B. and Rudolf had witnessed it. In their past life, Tokai Teio had steamrolled her way to an undefeated Triple Crown. Her innate talent and ability during her peak were so formidable that even Rudolf wouldn't dare say she was stronger than her "daughter" at the same age. What chance did anyone else have?
"...However, the only good news is that this time, Teio hasn't experienced everything with Kitano. She doesn't have those memories, and she wasn't trained by him from a young age."
Feeling the atmosphere become overwhelmingly heavy, to the point of her own despair, Rudolf offered a piece of comforting news with a wry smile.
"So, Teio's foundation in this life isn't as strong as her last. Her conviction to win the Triple Crown isn't as intense either. Overall, her strength should be somewhat weaker than in her past life."
"If that's the case... Gold Ship and Nakayama Festa have been training under Kitano this whole time. Based on our own examples, living with him for so long should make them fight with all their might for him on the track."
"Our only bet now is to hope Gold Ship and Nakayama Festa can create a miracle. That was Kitano's own plan. Since he chose to believe in them, we just need to do the same."
"...It seems that's all we can do."
Rudolf's words made the despondent Mr. C.B. nod silently. It seemed their only hope was that Nakayama Festa and Gold Ship could unleash power beyond their limits. After all, Mr. C.B. knew Kitano had a way of inspiring that, and... they had no other options.
"Trainer-san would never agree to us telling Tokai Teio about his situation... If Teio, without her memories, were to give up her future for him, he would definitely figure it out."
"He'd guess that only we could have convinced her, right? But even if he knew we had recovered our memories, he would just yell at us... That's not the outcome he wants."
Mr. C.B. knew her trainer well. In the past, she had been shaken by his determination to help her achieve her dreams, even at the cost of his own life. Now, knowing the truth, she understood one thing—her trainer wasn't fearless; he simply believed he had his priorities straight and had cast aside his own life and death.
He probably thought that since he could be reborn and his memories would carry over, it was fine. But the horse girls of each lifetime only had one chance. If his own life failed, he could try again, but if the lives of his charges failed, that would be a true failure.
After all... it was a burden for him too. In the end, he was the only one who remembered everything, including all the painful memories. Everyone else could forget the past in their second life, but he alone would remember...
Was the ability to be reborn a gift, or a curse?
Regardless, Mr. C.B. understood one thing. Even if she and Rudolf couldn't convince Tokai Teio to join Kitano's team, they couldn't tell her about his condition. If it affected Teio's future, then even if Kitano's life was extended, he would only feel more pain.
After all, he had cared for Tokai Teio like a daughter... If a dying father's only chance at life was the cost of his daughter's future, that father would most likely choose to give up... especially a father who could be reborn.
"...It would be better if he were a little more selfish," Mr. C.B. sighed, a sense of helplessness in her voice. "But then again, if he were, I wouldn't have been lost in that warm spring."
"Hey, don't talk as if you know him so well."
Just as Mr. C.B. was lost in memories of the past, her perception of Kitano changing yet again with the truth, Rudolf noticed the shift in her expression. Seeing the uncharacteristic gentleness in her smile, the annoyance that had subsided in Rudolf's heart surged once more.
Perhaps it was because they had finished discussing the most important matter—Kitano—that Rudolf's anger towards Mr. C.B. flared up again. She hadn't forgotten that this was the woman who had stolen the childhood friend that should have been hers!
"The dream of an undefeated Triple Crown was something he and I promised together. I held on all that time just for that day. By what right did you steal our dream?"
"My... but Rudolf, have you ever considered that if Trainer-san hadn't signed with me back then, he might not have even lived to see that day? Would you rather he died to keep a promise, only for you to see his grave?"
"That..."
Pulled from her warm memories, Mr. C.B. sharply detected Rudolf's "declaration of war." While she had chosen to listen to Rudolf on the matter of Kitano's survival, it didn't mean she accepted Rudolf's earlier claim that "I know him better than you."
Rudolf was someone who held grudges. Unfortunately for her, though it might not seem like it, Mr. C.B. held grudges too, especially when it came to Rudolf. She was determined to "get her back."
As expected, Mr. C.B.'s retort left Rudolf speechless. Seeing her falter, Mr. C.B. gave a relaxed but slightly provocative smile and pressed her advantage.
"So, Rudolf, I don't accept your claim that you know him better than I do."
"I admit, during the time you were childhood friends, I didn't have the chance to know him. But all the time after he entered Tracen Academy was spent with me."
"I don't know your past, but I know his present. I was with him during his most difficult and confusing times. Trainer-san and I saved each other."
"And you, Rudolf... did you have any understanding of his helplessness and plight back then? Can you truly say you knew the man he had become?"
"...You stole him from me. Naturally, I had no chance to know him."
On this point, Rudolf had no choice but to concede. In her past life, when she learned that her promise with him had been snatched away by Mr. C.B., she was almost instantly consumed by rage.
At that time, she no longer cared whether Kitano remembered her or not. Her spiritual pillar had collapsed, and she had fallen into a hysterical state of vengeance. She truly hadn't tried to learn the details of what was happening with Kitano and Mr. C.B.; just hearing their names would send her into a near-breakdown.
This was all because Kitano meant too much to her. The beautiful memories of their childhood had sustained her time and time again. The future they had imagined gave her the strength to overcome any obstacle. Unconsciously, Kitano's significance in her heart had surpassed friendship, becoming her unilateral spiritual support.
Perhaps even if Mr. C.B. hadn't been involved, and Kitano had really lived to see the day he met Rudolf again, the sheer force of Rudolf's pent-up emotions would have caught him completely off guard...
"I stole him, but Trainer-san was always giving you chances, wasn't he, Rudolf? You were the one who never chose to reconcile with him."
Seeing Rudolf's guilt, Mr. C.B. couldn't help but smile. "Even during that long period when I left Japan, you made no progress with him. Honestly, it's surprising to think about now."
"And you call that knowing him? Rudolf, I don't want to be too blunt, but it seems you never even tried to understand the man he is now."
"What do you know?!"
Mr. C.B.'s calm words set off alarm bells in Rudolf's mind. The anger that had subsided was instantly reignited by this jab at her sore spot. She shot up, roaring:
"My relationship with Kitano—how could you possibly understand?! You say you saved each other, but I was the one who saved him first!"
"I was the first person he saved! My promise with him, I—"
"—Stop living in the past, Rudolf. It's time to move forward. After everything he's been through, do you really think he would give up everything else just for you?"
Finally, even Mr. C.B. couldn't stand to hear about Rudolf's past anymore. She had heard it all, and she understood most of it. But Rudolf's tireless emphasis on their "past" and their "firsts" finally pushed Mr. C.B., a "late-comer" who refused to lose to Rudolf, to speak up.
"Do you still think you can monopolize Kitano with those memories? Do you still think it was I who stole him?"
"If that's the case, I can tell you clearly, I wasn't the only one who stole him. Your Kitano has been stolen countless times already."
"What?!" Mr. C.B.'s words made Rudolf's pupils constrict. She cried out, almost losing her voice. The next moment, a dazed Rudolf shook her head in denial.
"No, that can't be... I, he and I, we..."
"Stop fantasizing, Rudolf. Do you still think you're special to him? Do you still think you're the one and only? Do you still believe that his feelings for everyone else are not as deep as his feelings for you?"
"It was Kitano who saved us! We never saved him! The 'mutual salvation' you speak of was never realized!"
"—He still wears my pendant!"
In the next moment, pushed to the edge by Mr. C.B.'s relentless attacks, Rudolf unleashed her final trump card. But this, the supposed proof of her and Kitano's bond, now felt as feeble as a lifeline she was desperately clinging to.
"He still... he still wears my pendant... He wouldn't, he... the person he could never let go of... it's still me!"
"...And what if I told you that he once gave me a ring and was planning to propose to me? What then, Rudolf?"
Staring at the almost crazed Rudolf before her, Mr. C.B., with a gaze mixed with pity and sorrow, quietly revealed her own "token." The softly spoken words made Rudolf freeze on the spot, unable to react.
For a moment, a dead silence fell over the student council room. Mr. C.B. watched Rudolf's dazed expression. After years of rivalry, she felt a slight twinge of pity and finally spoke slowly:
"Rudolf, it's time to wake up. If you keep thinking you're the one and only, that you can save Kitano all by yourself, we will never be able to save him."
"Actually, everything you said before was right. You do understand Kitano's true nature. This is the cycle where we have the best chance to save him. If we piece together the side of Kitano that each of us knows, we can truly save him."
"Not just his body, but his scarred heart... a heart that can find the courage to love again."
"And when that time comes, no matter who he chooses, at least his fate will be changed. Rudolf, isn't that what we truly want—"
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a gust of wind flew past Mr. C.B.'s ear. A book, thrown with immense force by Rudolf, slammed against the wall. The next moment, Rudolf's nearly hysterical voice echoed through the student council room:
"GET OUT!!!"
For a moment, Rudolf's piercing scream reverberated throughout the building... After that heart-wrenching shout, it was as if all her strength had been drained. She collapsed bonelessly into her chair, her head hanging low, her body trembling.
Faintly, Mr. C.B. noticed the tear stains on Rudolf's cheeks. With a broken, sobbing voice, Rudolf pleaded:
"Go... please... just let me be alone..."
"..."
In the end, Mr. C.B. said no more. With a long, silent sigh, she left the student council room to Rudolf and walked out alone.
Inside, only one "Emperor" remained. And this lonely emperor, having lost her one and only spiritual pillar, fell into a seemingly endless emotional collapse. This emperor who just wanted to "be loved," stripped of her strong facade, seemed so fragile... so easily broken...
-------
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