They didn't stay in the port city any longer. Before the afternoon arrived, they were already a few kilometers away from Temacia.
Leading the way was Ser Liam and some of his retinue, while the rest were behind—Henry and the three carriages riding in the middle. Polynesia and Too-Too didn't like cramped spaces so they decided to follow by flight. Their reason is pretty reasonable considering they're birds and their species are the embodiment of freedom.
Meanwhile, on one of the carriages sat a huge barrel, bigger than normal. Inside this particular barrel was a certain ocean friend.
"Are we there yet?" Ariel hugged him from behind, her chin resting on his shoulder as she asked in boredom.
"Not yet," Henry answered for the umpteenth time. He lost count of it but he felt like he already replied like this more than ten times.
"Riding a horse is so boring. In the ocean, I can race someone and win every time!" She proudly said, unknowingly hurting the feelings of Boy.
Boy, the horse smirked in pride as he asked for clarification, "Oh, you said you want a race?"
The rest of the horses around them suddenly grew agitated at his words. While Ariel perked up at it, "You mean, you're fast enough to race other horses?"
"Wrong." Boy snorted, "I'm fast enough to beat anyone who dares to race me." The arrogance made everyone curious about the horse's words. Could the horse truly be fast enough to beat any horses?
Even Henry decided to join in. He's never been in a horse race before, royal status restrains him from participating in one. But now, an opportunity was presented to him.
"Let's do it. Ser Liam?" Henry turned to the knight captain, whose lips thinned as his eyes darted from his horse to Henry's.
"Alright, my prince…" The knight reluctantly nodded. Though he has some confidence in winning considering that Henry has never shown a skill or talent in horse riding while he, on the other hand, has been riding a horse for years.
A few moments later, the two of them were positioned on the road, the rest of the crew and the carriage were staying behind, looking at the bizarre situation they found themselves in.
One moment their prince is talking to the horse and then all of a sudden, he wants a horse race? Things are just not adding up!
"Do you think Prince Henry will win? I've never seen him ride a horse for competition."
"Bah! Just trust in the prince, I bet he'll leave Captain to dust in no time!"
"…At least have some trust in our captain."
"Say, how about we all bet on who would win? Wouldn't it be interesting?" One of the retinue greedily rubbed his palm as his colleagues looked at him weirdly.
"John, didn't the captain just tell you recently not to bring your gambling habits on duty?"
"Tsk!"
Back on the road, Ariel excitedly shook Henry's arm, "Henry! Henry! Are we about to race!"
"Yes, yes. Now, buckle up and make sure you don't let go of me, understood? I don't want to lose my first horse racing because you fell." Hearing his words, Ariel turned serious as she nodded her head. She definitely wouldn't fall no matter what!
Feeling her delicate and thin arms wrapping around his waist, Henry felt disturbingly comfortable. Not to the point that it made him horny or something but it's just weird to be this close with another woman when he himself already has a lover.
'Doesn't matter. Not like we're doing anything perverted. I'll just make it up to Elsa once I get back.' He whispered to himself as he tightened his hold over the leather reins.
"Are you ready boy?" Henry leaned forward and whispered, caressing the horse's mane. It seems like the horse's previous owner found it strangely fitting to call a horse Boy.
"As ready as the day I was born, yeehaw!" Boy huffed while scratching his hoof on the ground—forming a single line of wound on the dirt. A signature move of a horse when preparing to burst forward at full speed.
One of the knights took the opportunity to serve as the competition's Race Starter. A race that will probably go down in Lioncrest's history as their future King's first horse racing.
"Ready!" He raised his hand, standing in the middle between the two horses, the gap between them was large enough so they wouldn't accidentally bump into him.
There was a few-second delay before announcing the start of the race. In moments like this, making the atmosphere tense is one of the ways to make a successful horse race.
"Start!" The moment he brought down his arms, the two horses immediately galloped forward, heavy grunts could be heard from the two horses as their riders wildly snapped their reins to make them run faster.
While Liam was focused on winning the race, Henry allowed himself to immerse in the feeling of being a cowboy, "Hyah!" If only he had a cowboy hat, a revolver, and a gruff southern-style drawl, he might've fit as a classic western outlaw.
At first, the pace between the two horses was tied, neither gaining an advantage over the other. Henry could tell that Boy is faster than Ser Liam's horse, it's just that his lack of horse riding skill and an added weight in the form of Ariel made it harder for Boy to gain distance.
When Ser Liam saw this, he almost laughed. As expected of his horse riding experience, no amount of talent and skill can beat tens of years in experience of horse riding!
'Finally! Finally, I'm going to win!' Ser Liam could already imagine the defeat on his prince's face and the admiration of his retinue.
Just as the knight captain was busy relinquishing in his predetermined victory, Henry's posture suddenly shifted, his arms became more relaxed, his body leaning forward—dragging Ariel to also lean with him.
His god-sent talent finally kicked in as Boy was slowly gaining distance thanks to the sudden change in his rider. Meanwhile, there was a look of enlightenment colouring Henry's face as he murmured to himself.
"I understand it now."
In front of his eyes, the sight was slowly turning into a blur of gray and green. The wind smashing against his face was slowly getting stronger. Not only that, the stubborn figure of Ser Liam that had been sticking in his peripheral vision since the start of the race was finally gone.
Henry has entered what seemed to be similar to adrenaline, a state of a man where his mind and body have joined as one and ignored the surroundings, their focus going on a hundred percent just for the sake of reaching their goal to the point of removing the body's limiters.
Behind him, Ser Liam has already brought his horse to a skidding halt, staring at the distant figure of Henry and Ariel on horseback slowly fading away, being obscured by the trees and mist.
"What in the mother of…" The knight captain could only dumbfoundedly slump on his horse, disbelief flashing across his eyes.
A few minutes later, the three carriages and the rest of the crew arrived, "Captain! Did you win? Where's Prince Henry?" When they arrived, they saw Liam still sitting on the back of his horse, both remained unmoving like a sturdy boulder. Liam had his arms crossed as he kept staring in a straight line in front of him.
After a brief moment, his lips parted to answer, "…I seemed to have lost from the prince…"
There were gasps among the retinue. Their knight captain, a person who has spent more than half of his life dedicated to training with the sword and horse riding—the two most important parts to master when one becomes a knight.
"…Should we…follow them?" No one knew who asked the question but they all collectively sighed in defeat and agreed. Though it would take them a while to find the lost Prince.
———
"…nry! Henry!" As soon as Ariel's familiar words snapped him out of his thoughts, Henry quickly pulled the reins back, making Boy skid on the grassy ground.
"W-What?" He blinked several times, snapping his head left and right and realizing that they're now lost in the middle of a forest with no one but themselves in sight.
Seeing his reaction, Ariel finally sighed in relief. She thought something bad happened to Henry that made him unresponsive to her calls for the past few minutes.
Meanwhile, Boy was stomping his hooves on the ground, constantly huffing and puffing hot mist from his nostrils. Galloping as fast as he can for half an hour has turned his body into a heat dispenser.
When Ariel explained what happened. Henry rubbed his forehead and sighed. He didn't expect him to do it again. This already happened a few years back when he first discovered his talent.
Immersing himself in learning and mastering a certain skill would sometimes put him in The Zone where he would unconsciously ignore his surroundings until he reached his goal—which is to master the skill that he initially focused on.
Henry was not expecting this rare trait of his to emerge all of a sudden just for the sake of mastering horseback riding. He doesn't know what kind of conditions are required to enter this state but even if he did know, he would still refrain from using this.
Being in The Zone would basically make him brain-dead, where his body would be guided by his instincts instead of his mind.
Henry lowered his gaze on the horse below him, watching Boy puffing hot mist out of his mouth and nostrils as the horse kept uttering out loud, "Wooh! I can't believe I just did that. I think I just broke my previous record!"
'Is it because of him?' Henry asked himself, curious whether it was caused by external factors to enter The Zone state.
But Boy is just a simple horse. Faster and sturdier than average sure but not supernatural enough to trigger the Zone.
Henry turned back to Ariel and had the same thought, 'Her being the possibility is higher. A few minutes ago, I was focused on winning to impress her with my skills, and to do that, I had to master horseback riding…'
Thinking of this, Henry rubbed his chin and asked himself, 'So I basically need an inspiration? Someone to anchor myself in when I want to master a certain skill faster than even my talent can give.'
"How fascinating…" There was a gleam of excitement in his eyes before being crushed down by cautiousness.
'No. Now's not the time. The Zone is too risky to learn. Who knows what kinds of effect it will give me when I keep spamming something that makes me go beyond my limits.' Henry shook his head off the thought and just made a note about it before eventually tucking it in the back of his mind.
"Let's go back." Boy resumed the stride the moment Henry took control over his reins again, swiftly turning around to go back to the same way they arrived here.
"Henry, are you sure you're okay? I'm sorry if this is my fault." Ariel nervously fiddled with her fingers, thinking that they became lost all because she wanted to expel her boredom through racing.
Henry's head shook and he reached out to pay Ariel's head, "It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. Just call it unexpected circumstances, alright?"
Once she understood and nodded her head, Henry shifted his focus back on the road.
Thankfully, Boy accidentally left some hoof marks on the ground, so they instantly knew where they came from.
Just as they're in the middle of silence, Ariel's eyes suddenly took notice of someone and quickly informed Henry, "Henry! Henry! Look over there! I saw someone come out from a huge stone!"
Following where she was pointing, Henry indeed saw a cloaked figure sneakily running out of the place while a cluster of vines behind it dangled side by side, indicating it had been recently moved sideways.
"Boy, stay here." Henry felt like the scene was a bit familiar and when he scouted the area and saw no sign of the cloaked figure from earlier, Henry descended from his horse, while Ariel also came down and followed suit.
Pushing the dangling vines revealed a dark passage inside, where only a single source of light was at what seemed to be the far end of the dark cave.
"This is so scary." Ariel shivered at the scene. She hates dark places.
Fortunately for her, Henry's fireballs served as their flashlight as they crossed inside the passage. The internal appearance of the cave was filled with either several puddles of water accumulating inside small potholes, or a few crickets and wild creatures that instantly jumped out in fright upon seeing and feeling the fireballs.
As the light grew closer and closer, Ariel chose to grab Henry's hand and tightened her grip as she tangled her fingers with his.
*Rustle!*
The moment Henry pushed another set of vines aside, it was finally the green scenery inside.
The place looked beautiful and yet suffocating at the same time due to the tall walls made by the mountains surrounding the place. In the middle was a tall run-down tower, there was no ground entrance and only an open window from the topmost part of the tower.
"A wizard tower? No, wizard towers aren't supposed to look like it was neglected for hundreds of years." Henry scanned his memories to try to see if he could recall any reference that contained an old wizard tower in the middle of a small forest that was surrounded by the walls of the mountains.
It didn't take long for Henry to reach an answer to his own question.
'…This must be Tangled!'