"Your Imperial Majesty."
Inside the student council room, Pilsudski slipped through the door and greeted Shirayuki. Then, the moment she spotted Air Groove, her eyes lit up.
"Oh my. Both of Her Imperial Majesties are here? It seems luck truly favors me today."
"Pilsudski…"
Shirayuki rubbed her forehead.
Now she understood exactly why Air Groove had made that face when she mentioned Pilsudski.
This girl was a piece of chewing gum stuck to your shoe.
Before the Japan Cup, Pilsudski had treated Shirayuki like a romantic rival. Every time they met, she was either throwing down threats or rolling her eyes, as if she wanted to erase Shirayuki from the face of the earth.
After the Japan Cup, Pilsudski treated her like a lover.
Every sentence began with "Your Majesty" and ended with "Your Majesty." If Shirayuki had friends beside her, Pilsudski would even puff up her cheeks in jealousy.
Sure, uma musume were creatures who connected heart-to-heart through racing.
But your heart seems to be wired a little differently from mine.
How did you switch crushes that fast?!
"I have prepared desserts for both of Your Imperial Majesties. They were brought all the way from England."
Pilsudski clapped her hands. Two uma musume in black suits walked in from outside, placed several obviously expensive desserts on the table, bowed, and left.
Air Groove pressed a hand to the corner of her brow, which was twitching at an alarming speed.
"If I remember correctly, did you not return to England?"
"That is correct. But now I have returned."
Pilsudski patted her chest, her platinum-colored outfit flashing brightly enough to hurt the eyes.
"Whenever I thought of how foolishly I had wasted the precious time I could have spent with Her Imperial Majesty, my regret became unbearable. Back at school, I could neither eat nor drink tea. Seeing me in such a state, Mother decided to send me back to Tracen, so that my lovesickness might finally be cured."
"…Were you not like this before as well?"
"Before, I had only one object of yearning. Now, I have two."
She looked at Shirayuki and winked.
"Two objects of yearning means twice the feelings. I simply cannot endure the loneliness."
Shirayuki's face went flat.
Eh. Whatever.
Let her do what she wants.
"President, this is the budget plan for the warm-up event."
Symboli Rudolf took the document, skimmed through it, and signed her name.
"Shirayuki. Air Groove. You two should return to training later. You still have the Arima Kinen coming up, so I will not keep you here any longer."
"I do not mind, President Rudolf," Air Groove said.
"Same here. I was already planning to lower my training load a little before the race."
"You two…"
Rudolf opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, she swallowed the words back down.
Rather than classmates or a president and her council members, Rudolf felt her relationship with everyone was closer to that of comrades. Comrades who shared the same ideals and the same goals. Comrades fighting together for the sake of all uma musume.
Saying thank you would only make them feel distant.
"The end of the year is almost here. Is there anything you would like to do?"
"A shrine visit, perhaps…" Air Groove said, pinching her chin.
"I want to eat New Year's Eve dinner."
"In that case, how about the student council organizes a private event? We can all go out together when the time comes."
"That sounds good."
After receiving everyone's unanimous approval, Rudolf added it to the New Year's plan.
"Before I knew it, another year had passed."
"Yes. Time really does fly, President Rudolf."
"It does. But the year that has passed will never return. That is why, in the final days before the New Year, you should not leave yourself with any regrets, Shirayuki."
"Yes."
Soon, the day of the warm-up event arrived.
Tens of thousands of spectators poured into Tracen. The whole academy was livelier than an actual racecourse, and even people from Central showed up.
That day, Shirayuki did some calculations.
Chiya's total smiling time reached six hours.
As for Shirayuki, she hit an astonishing nine hours!
She spent the day shaking hands, taking photos, and occasionally listening to a few discouraged little girls pour their hearts out before helping them untangle their worries. By the time the event ended, Shirayuki felt like she had slimmed down from sheer exhaustion.
Thankfully, everything concluded perfectly.
At the end, a reporter asked Shirayuki one final question.
"Miss Snow Dancer, may I ask which race left the deepest impression on you this year?"
Special Week and the others stood nearby, waiting for Shirayuki's answer.
All of them hoped Shirayuki would say the race she had run against them.
The Japan Cup.
The Keisei Hai.
The Oka Sho.
The Tulip Sho.
And so on, all the way down to even the ordinary event races.
Still, they all felt Shirayuki's most likely answer would be the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. That race had transformed Shirayuki completely. It was the race that had carried her to the top of Japan.
But contrary to everyone's expectations, Shirayuki said, "Every race."
"Every race?"
"Yes. Whether it was my debut race, the Triple Tiara races, or even ordinary event races, all of them taught me what it means to be an uma musume. Every single race is something I could not have done without."
Hearing that, everyone let out a quiet breath of relief.
They had all been acknowledged in Shirayuki's heart.
Of course, there were also people who were not satisfied.
At a time like this, you should say it was the races against me, Trainer! We ran three whole times together!
Mejiro Dober secretly puffed up her cheeks.
"Then, for the upcoming Arima Kinen, is there anything Miss Snow Dancer would like to say to her opponents?"
"Let me think…"
Shirayuki looked back at Grass Wonder and the others.
"Thank you. Because all of you were there, I became who I am now. So let's give it everything we have and fight one more time!"
Everyone crowded around Shirayuki and hugged her tightly.
The reporter, quick as lightning, captured that photo.
That day's warm-up event was a tremendous success.
The excitement for the Arima Kinen even surpassed the Japan Cup. People in every street and alley were talking about Snow Dancer, and Central officially called this Arima Kinen a once-in-a-century showdown at the summit.
The participants included Snow Dancer, Air Groove, El Condor Pasa, Grass Wonder, Special Week, Seiun Sky, Rice Shower, Mejiro Dober, Gold Ship, Meisho Doto, T.M. Opera O, Twin Turbo, and more than ten other uma musume who had won GⅠ races.
It was very likely a top-class lineup that could not be surpassed for several years, perhaps even several decades.
On race day, inside the competitors' lounge, Fujiwara Chiya adjusted Shirayuki's clothes as usual.
He smoothed out the creases in the hem of Shirayuki's skirt.
Two thousand five hundred meters.
For the old Shirayuki, that distance would have exceeded her stamina limit.
But for the Shirayuki of today, she had more than enough confidence to handle it.
He had changed.
Shirayuki had changed too.
And that change was not only in their bodies.
It was in their hearts as well.
Shirayuki stood up. Her long skirt swayed, and she lifted her head, her clear blue eyes gazing at the man before her.
Then she rose onto her tiptoes, wrapped her arms around Chiya's neck, and lightly kissed the corner of his lips.
On the final day of the year, do not leave yourself with any regrets.
A warm, sunlit happiness filled Shirayuki's chest. Her mood soared, and her condition was better than ever.
She still wanted a little more.
But good things were meant to be enjoyed slowly.
She was not in a hurry.
"It's time to go," Fujiwara Chiya said to himself.
Outside the door, more than ten uma musume stood in a row.
T.M. Opera O, dressed in a pink, conqueror-like racing outfit, stepped forward and held out her hand to Shirayuki.
"Yo, White Wolf," she said.
"Everyone's waiting for you."
Shirayuki looked at the comrades who had once fought against her.
Grass Wonder, wearing her racing outfit.
Seiun Sky.
Gold Ship, standing there with her usual careless grin.
Rice Shower, looking a little nervous.
Twin Turbo, baring her teeth and loudly declaring that she had come for revenge.
A smile bloomed on Shirayuki's face.
"Yeah. Sorry to keep you waiting."
The final race of the year.
Let it end with the Empress's victory.