When the two horse girls' expressions turned subtly strange, Seiun Ryoka frowned, sensing that something suspicious was going on. She bit down on the mouth of her sports drink bottle, then flicked each of the two cute, charming juniors on the forehead.
Then, while the two girls clutched their foreheads and tried to decipher the message behind that blow, Seiun Ryoka looped an arm around each of their slender necks and pulled them both into her embrace, all while making a series of muffled guruguru noises.
Naturally, nobody could understand what she was saying. She still had the bottle in her mouth, after all. Her words were completely garbled; it was only normal that nobody could make sense of them.
If someone actually did understand her… then Seiun Ryoka would have no choice but to admire that person's astonishing imagination.
Hearing the strange noises Ryoka was making, the noblewoman didn't immediately take the bottle from her. Instead, a rather delicate thought rose in her mind:
Lady Seiun is so adorable like this.
Yes—she wasn't upset at all. On the contrary, she thought Ryoka was cute.
A forehead flick? The noblewoman would only think she must have done something wrong and disappointed Seiun Ryoka. It never even crossed her mind that the problem might lie with Ryoka instead.
And then there was another line of thought as well. Ryoka didn't look angry at all, so perhaps this was just her way of making a little joke, a playful gesture of intimacy.
The moment that idea occurred to her, the noblewoman's tail began swishing excitedly.
Being able to get this close to Seiun Ryoka already made her so happy she wanted to shut her eyes and smile. If her second guess was right, then she would be very, very happy indeed.
Ryoka was sweating, and she smelled faintly of perspiration and fresh grass. The noblewoman thought it was the most natural scent in the world—the clearest possible proof that Seiun Ryoka was kind and down-to-earth. In her eyes, Ryoka was incomparably better than those horse girls who endlessly hyped up their own records.
Her clothes were getting damp from Ryoka's sweat, and she'd have to wash them thoroughly later? What sort of true fan would ever think like that? Wasn't this the greatest perk imaginable?
Without drawing attention to herself, the noblewoman leaned just a little closer toward Ryoka and quietly breathed in the warm air lingering around her ear. Strange as it was to admit, she thought the scent was… a little nice.
If she could, she wanted to spend the rest of her life breathing in Seiun Ryoka's scent.
Before she even realized it, a cute flush had spread across her delicate face—exactly like someone who had just imagined a scene she absolutely couldn't tell anyone else about.
Daiwa Scarlet, seated almost directly across from her, caught every bit of those little movements and subtle changes in expression. She thought about it seriously, but wasn't quite sure how to bring it up.
Agnes Tachyon had once talked to her about the idea of a threesome, even telling her to factor in the trainer as well. At the time, Daiwa Scarlet had been completely stunned—but now, she could think about that sort of thing much more calmly.
Setting Britain aside, America had already thrown invitation after invitation at them, and the people extending those offers included descendants of Triple Crown bloodlines and countless prestigious families. Japanese horse girls, meanwhile, obviously didn't have the same international reputation as their American counterparts. If one wanted to come out smiling in a competition this fierce, then the best option was obvious:
Form an alliance.
The noblewoman was also a Japanese horse girl, and unlike Daiwa Scarlet and Agnes Tachyon, she had no direct competitive overlap with them on the track. She might actually make an ideal ally. Besides, she also possessed the kind of generous figure Seiun Ryoka clearly liked very much. No matter how Daiwa Scarlet looked at it, bringing her over to their side would be a net gain.
She thought it through very carefully, then quietly leaned her head against Seiun Ryoka's shoulder and gently took the bottle from her mouth.
"Lady Seiun," she asked softly, "what were you trying to say just now?"
Truth be told, while Daiwa Scarlet had gradually grown far less obedient and a great deal more forceful when dealing with Agnes Tachyon, in front of Seiun Ryoka she was as docile and lovable as a ragdoll cat.
Seeing her like that, the corner of Ryoka's lips curved upward. A hot impulse welled up in her chest. If her other arm hadn't still been slung around the noblewoman's neck, she might have pinched Daiwa Scarlet under the chin and stared down at her with openly predatory eyes.
Instead, she said, "Nothing much. I was just thinking maybe I ought to help optimize your training plans and develop you in a more all-round way. Of course…"
She deliberately lowered her voice and leaned in toward Daiwa Scarlet's ear.
"You can always come talk to me any time. And while you're at it, I can give you a full-body massage too~"
As she said that, she blew a soft puff of warm air against the tip of Daiwa Scarlet's ear.
"Lady Seiun…"
Before her brain could even recall the intense soreness of those massages, her body gave out first. Her breathing grew heavier, a rosy blush spread across her face, and even her voice took on an unexpectedly soft, alluring note.
Was this what people meant by wanting to say something, yet holding it back?
Watching the three girls interact, Heir of the Sanctuary frowned, but failed to detect anything unusual. To her, the two Japanese horse girls simply seemed absurdly delicate. It was only a hug, and yet they'd turned bright red. Honestly, that was a little pathetic.
If it had been her, then if Seiun Ryoka wanted to hug her, she would have answered with a huge bear hug of her own to show her enthusiasm—not blushed like some frail little girl.
That said, she did add a silent caveat in her heart: by horse-girl standards, those two really were still little girls, so maybe it wasn't quite fair to criticize them.
At this point, Heir of the Sanctuary understood absolutely nothing—exactly like Oguri Cap, far away in Tokyo, who was currently devoting herself wholeheartedly to the Autumn Tenno Sho.
And so, amid the steady rhythm of training and daily life, the British St Leger crept ever closer.
Doncaster. Sheffield Airport.
Wearing sunglasses, Sirius Symboli leaned against the rental sports car. She had done virtually nothing, yet she had still collected stack after stack of business cards. The enthusiasm of English ladies was starting to overwhelm even her. This time, three girls had gone so far as to surround her outright, inviting her out for afternoon tea.
At that moment, a faint laugh rose from behind her.
"Sirius, you're as popular with girls as ever."
"Hah? Don't tell me you think I'm enjoying this."
Hearing that, Sirius Symboli nearly lost her composure. True, she was a little pleased—but with the St Leger right around the corner and Seiun Ryoka's overseas campaign approaching its climax, she didn't have a shred of romantic frivolity in her heart. Even if someone threw herself at her right now, she'd stay as unmoved as Liu Xiahui.
Because right now, the only thing that mattered more than the results of the tour itself was Seiun Ryoka's future—where she would stay, and where she would go. That problem had already stressed her badly enough that she'd lost hair over it. How could this person possibly have the nerve to joke with her about something like this?
Grinding her teeth, Sirius Symboli enunciated each syllable:
"Ru. Do. Lf."
join here to read ahead.
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