...
The next day.
During class break, a stranger stopped at the classroom door.
"Excuse me, is Seiun Sky here? There's a package for her."
"Yes, I'll take it in for you."
...
At that moment, Seiun Sky was resting with her head on the desk.
Her ears were sharp, though—the moment she heard her name, both perked up.
"Seiun Sky, someone just asked me to give this to you." The horse girl placed the bag on the desk.
"Thanks." Looking at the turquoise gift box in front of her, Seiun Sky instantly became much more awake.
She knew Lucian's gift would arrive today, so she hadn't slept during the first two classes, patiently waiting instead.
But she hadn't expected it to arrive only by the third class.
"Seiun, is this a gift for you?" Special Week, Grass Wonder, El Condor Pasa, and the others gathered around.
It was the same unboxing scene, except the person opening the box had changed.
"Yeah, it just arrived."
"What could it be? Hurry and open it!" Special Week now understood the joy of watching someone else open a mystery box.
Seiun Sky took a deep breath to steady herself and slowly unwrapped the box.
"Wow—"
Seiun Sky's mouth fell open, but the sound came from the onlookers around her.
"Th-this is amazing!"
For a moment, Special Week couldn't help but compare Seiun Sky's gift to her own.
She wanted both so badly!
"Cool! 'Dream' is better than 'Rigil'!" El Condor Pasa blurted out in English, only to feel a sharp pinch at her waist—Grass Wonder was the culprit.
Seiun Sky quietly studied the gift inside the box through the plastic film.
There, another "Seiun Sky" stood, dressed in school uniform, looking as if she had just been woken up, with both ears perked.
Yes, this time Lucian had sent a custom-made sculpture, medium-sized.
"Seiun, stop spacing out—read the letter already, hurry!" Special Week urged.
Haru Urara, the usual enthusiast for such things, wasn't here, so Special Week had taken on her role instead.
"Geez, Spe-chan, why are you in such a rush?"
Seiun Sky had originally planned to read it alone in her dorm. But now, surrounded by everyone, a tiny sense of vanity swelled in her heart.
Fine, she'd open it now... It wasn't like it was some love letter or anything.
As she unfolded the letter, a crowd of heads quickly piled up behind her.
"You cannot ask for an ocean without storms—that wouldn't be the sea, but a swamp."
...
Special Week read it aloud, realizing that the letters Lucian wrote to everyone only differed in the first few lines.
She was still pondering the meaning when Seiun Sky abruptly put the letter away.
"Seiun, why did Trainer write that to you?"
"Who knows?"
"You don't know either?"
"It's a secret." Seiun Sky carefully placed the gift box back into her desk drawer.
After everyone dispersed, she no longer felt sleepy. Instead, she propped her chin on her hand and gazed out the window at the sunny sky.
It was a clear blue—not the deep blue of the classroom curtains, but the turquoise hue that came to mind when someone said "Seiun Sky."
"Such a lecture, huh..."
The deeper meaning behind Lucian's words was something only Seiun Sky truly understood.
Sometimes, if you pretend to be lazy for too long, even as an act, it starts to change you.
Lucian was subtly reminding her not to let laziness become her nature, not to grow indifferent or take things for granted.
...
By afternoon, the school newspaper covering yesterday's debut race had been published.
The article took up a large section.
Special Week's debut race, of course, couldn't make the front page—but the photo the journalist had taken caught many people's attention.
In it, Special Week stood at the center of the stage, looking utterly defeated.
To make it even funnier, the photo was in black and white.
...
In the lounge,
Lucian held the newspaper, laughing shamelessly in his seat.
"Pfft—HAHAHAHA... No, I can't—every time I see it, I just lose it."
And the star of the photo, Special Week, was right there.
"Trainer-san, this isn't funny!" Special Week clenched her fists, her face burning with embarrassment, wishing she could vanish into the floor.
"This seems like Lucian-kun's fault, doesn't it? And yet he has the nerve to laugh at Spe-chan." Silence Suzuka spoke up in Special Week's defense.
Seiun Sky chimed in, "Yeah, what happened to 'Spe-chan just focus on running, leave the rest to your Trainer'?"
"Trainer, stop bullying Spe-chan!" Haru Urara also crossed her arms and scolded.
Lucian hadn't expected Seiun Sky and Silence Suzuka to team up against him.
"You're not wrong... but Urara, didn't you laugh even louder than me yesterday?"
Haru Urara flinched, her voice shrinking. "I-I... I didn't laugh today!"
"So you admit you laughed the loudest yesterday, then?"
"N-no, I didn't!"
A small fry like Haru Urara was easily cornered by Lucian's tactics in just a few exchanges.
Silence Suzuka had seen enough. "Lucian-kun, stop changing the subject. Victory podium training should also be arranged by the Trainer, you know?"
"Fine." Lucian pressed his lips together. "Suzuka, didn't I say before that I can't dance?"
"Did you? I don't remember."
"Come on, why don't you teach Spe-chan instead?" When gentle persuasion didn't work on Silence Suzuka, Lucian turned to Seiun Sky for help. "Little Seiun, you're in the same class as Spe-chan—how about you take care of it?"
"No way~ You asked Suzuka first, and only thought of me after."
"So neither of you will teach her? You really want me to do it?" Lucian leaned back in his chair. "Spe-chan, you wouldn't want to embarrass yourself on the victory podium again, would you?"
"Trainer-san, not only are you bullying me, you're... blackmailing me now?!"
"So?" Lucian spread his hands, looking entirely unbothered as he stared at Special Week.
"Alright, alright, we'll teach Spe-chan. But Lucian-kun, as her Trainer, you have to be there too." Silence Suzuka stepped in to mediate.
"No problem." Lucian was more than happy to agree.
"Trainer, why hasn't today's training started yet?" Haru Urara suddenly asked.
"Looks like Urara's getting used to things—so eager. In that case, I'll prepare a special training package just for you."
"Huh? A gift?"
"That's right."
"Yay!"
Haru Urara might have forgotten, but the others hadn't.
The reason training hadn't started was because Lucian was waiting for one particular horse girl.