"Kahyasi?"
Nijinsky also felt that a certain vice president's idea had been rather dubious. But what was done was done. As student council president, there was no way she could expose the true culprit now. If she did that, no one would ever dare make suggestions again.
More importantly, the idea had not even been the vice president's to begin with. It had come from that person.
Since Vice President Miss had merely been acting under orders, Nijinsky naturally had to shield the poor scapegoat, even if she herself had now become the newest one.
Turning to her junior, Nijinsky asked, "What exactly are you referring to?"
Even when faced with Kahyasi's direct question, Nijinsky still refused to reveal the horse girl behind that crooked little scheme. Instead, she answered a question with a question, making it look as though she were feeling guilty and did not dare confront her junior openly.
Anyone unaware of the truth would probably assume that this bizarre plan had really been Nijinsky's idea.
In reality, that person's original proposal had indeed been to make the clothes turn transparent when wet. She had even had the vice president produce a sample outfit. Although the proposer's status was rather special, Nijinsky had rejected that plan on the spot. Then the vice president stepped in as peacemaker and came up with a new alternative.
That was how the outfit had become what it was now.
It was not that Nijinsky had never suspected the two of them of working in tandem. But honestly—someone capable of thinking up a design that painted Britain's mountains and rivers across the fabric, complete with the slogan I Love England, might not be far from the gods, but she was certainly very far from ordinary people—or horse girls.
Yes, that was the final result: I Love England, a silent signal to the outside world that Xingyun Liuge might very well transfer to Britain.
Whenever she recalled how Xingyun Liuge had nearly blackened her face in fury on the first day, Nijinsky could only smile bitterly. If the vice president had not stepped in with that compromise, that person might really have gone through with replacing every last training outfit with those "special" garments that turned half-transparent on contact with water.
When choosing between two evils, you went with the lesser one.
So she could only treat it as one more thing to irritate Xingyun Liuge with—one more spur to urge her to deliver a fine performance in the Epsom Derby.
"It's nothing," Kahyasi said with a faint laugh, waving her hand after looking at Nijinsky for a moment. "I don't have any questions anymore, so there's nothing more to say."
Kahyasi knew Nijinsky well. There was no way the woman who might well be Britain's last Triple Crown winner would ever come up with something so embarrassing on her own—unless some great figure had leaned on her.
That was exactly why Kahyasi had come to her before the race: to verify that possibility. Now that she had her answer, there was no point asking any further.
She merely sighed, "The royal family can be pretty embarrassing sometimes."
Her tone was made up of three parts flippancy, three parts mockery, and four parts helpless resignation. Even a Triple Crown winner still had to bow to the royal household. There was nothing amusing about that.
Nijinsky's voice abruptly turned stern. "Kahyasi, do not speak disrespectfully of Her Majesty!"
"Yes, yes," Kahyasi said, waving her hand again, though without the slightest trace of sincerity. "All I'm saying is that this probably has nothing to do with the Queen herself—maybe not even with this line. It was probably some prince or earl. I get it."
But in her eyes, royal blood was royal blood. Honor and disgrace were shared alike. Even if the Queen truly knew nothing, then negligence in governing her own people was still a fault, was it not?
Nijinsky had no answer for Kahyasi. This girl would only throw back something like, "Actually, I'm practically an Irish horse girl already," and choke off the conversation. So she suppressed her displeasure and asked instead,
"Do you have confidence in tomorrow's race? That is the American Triple Crown champion. She stormed through the 2000 Guineas and overwhelmed everyone with that unrestrained late charge. You must be careful."
A sharp light shone in Nijinsky's eyes, as though she were saying: You're acting awfully breezy. Surely that means you're confident?
Kahyasi was nearly at the end of her patience with this student council president who was so utterly devoted to the Queen. It was only one remark about the royal family, she thought. Did she really have to react like this?
At times like this, whether or not one truly had confidence, one had to answer with absolute conviction. When two brave souls met on a narrow road, victory belonged to the one with courage. Even if uncertainty gnawed at her, she still had to believe in herself.
"Oh?" Kahyasi turned around and flashed a proud, defiant smile. "That girl is the queen of middle-distance dirt, right? Then here, I'll prove who the true queen of middle-distance turf really is!"
Filled with towering ambition, the girl awaited the coming dawn.
The next day, at Epsom Racecourse—
The stands, capable of seating tens of thousands, were packed to bursting. At the furious insistence of the fans, the organizers had even sold a great number of standing-room tickets, then called in officers from Scotland Yard to maintain order.
Today's Epsom Racecourse was shoulder to shoulder, sweat upon sweat. Attendance had reached an all-time high.
Because today's Epsom Derby had welcomed an extraordinarily special entrant.
The guest commentator introduced her like this:
"Stepping onto the stage first is the mare who raced in from the distant East—who subdued the muddy, swamp-like extreme tracks with thunderous force, who trampled North America beneath her hooves and seized the Triple Crown, forging an entirely new legend... oh, good heavens, is there anyone in the crowd who isn't her fan? Honestly, I'm beginning to doubt whether my voice can even be heard over an audience that has already burst into flames, and that's after the organizers hastily installed even more speakers around the track!"
"So without further ado, let us cry out her name—the immovable top favorite: Xingyun Liuge!"
The guest commentator spoke at astonishing speed while remaining perfectly clear, tossing out long, winding sentences as though they were nothing. One might have suspected he was some retired civil servant dragged back into service.
He enunciated Xingyun Liuge's name syllable by syllable, deliberately drawing the crowd's excitement to a fever pitch.
And just as he had said, the roar of the audience felt as though it could split clouds and stone alike. Even the clouds drifting across the sky seemed to scatter before them.
Countless spectators waved their hats at the cameras, displaying their support and admiration for this world-class queen.
Of course, winning the Epsom Derby alone would not prove someone to be the queen of middle-distance turf. There were still the other Derby races across the world, as well as the King George, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and many more Group 1 contests awaiting horse girls from every nation.
But if it were Xingyun Liuge... perhaps she really could prove it. After all, she was already the American Triple Crown champion.
Listening to the thunderous uproar around her, Kahyasi's smile did not change. Turning to her companions, she patted each of them on the shoulder in turn, encouraging them one after another.
"That girl really is incredible. She might well be the strongest horse girl of our generation. If it were a straight one-on-one contest, there may truly be nobody who could outrun her. But we are a team."
Watching her companions lift their heads proudly under her encouragement, the girl clenched her fist and curled her lips upward.
"Let's show her what we can do."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
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Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
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The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
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Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
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Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
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A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
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Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
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I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
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I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
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