"Trainer, when does my race begin?"
That day, Orfevre came by again, bringing up the matter of her next race with Fujiwara Chiya.
"At the earliest, next month."
Orfevre's condition was better than he had expected. High-intensity training had not put much strain on her body. At her own request, Fujiwara Chiya had added several more training items to her schedule.
Still, just to be safe, Fujiwara Chiya required her to undergo a physical check once a week. If any problems appeared, they would adjust immediately.
Completely unsurprisingly, the moment Fujiwara Chiya finished explaining, Orfevre said,
"To do that sort of thing to me every week… How greedy you are, Trainer."
Then, after a pause, she added,
"Very well. I shall allow it. Consider it a reward from me, Trainer. I permit you to vent those pitiful desires of yours upon my body."
Fujiwara Chiya got the distinct feeling that Orfevre was always looking at him through heavily tinted glasses.
And yet she was the very definition of all bark, no bite. She complained nonstop, but whatever Fujiwara Chiya asked of her, she obediently did.
Honestly, Fujiwara Chiya thought Orfevre like this was pretty good. Much better than those people who smiled to your face and disobeyed behind your back.
Orfevre was the opposite.
She disobeyed to your face and obeyed behind your back.
"Tch. Next month, then."
Orfevre folded her arms, clearly dissatisfied. She sat down on the sofa, crossed her legs, and stared at the man working at his desk.
"Trainer."
"Mm?"
"I made a few inquiries about your relationship with the Empress. It seems the two of you are not merely an ordinary trainer and uma musume."
"Who did you ask?"
Fujiwara Chiya's heart gave a nasty little jump.
The secret between him and Shirayuki absolutely could not be revealed to Orfevre right now. If she found out the Empress was him, she would definitely explode. All the things she usually said to insult Shirayuki would probably be redirected at him, and she would only get even worse.
"Some lower-year students. They said you and Shirayuki are siblings?"
"Ah… mm. Well, not exactly."
Fujiwara Chiya quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"So the Empress's name is Fujiwara Shirayuki."
"…"
No, wait.
You only just found that out now?
The people who called Shirayuki by name only called her Shirayuki. Or they called her the Empress. Nobody called her "Fujiwara." That sounded far too distant.
At Tracen, the students treated Shirayuki almost like a motherly figure. So they either called her Shirayuki-senpai, or they called her Empress-sama. The two characters "Fujiwara" had basically been erased from how people addressed her.
But once someone knew her full name included "Fujiwara," and then looked at her trainer, Fujiwara Chiya, they could understand the connection in an instant.
And yet Orfevre had only now learned Shirayuki's full name.
"No wonder the two of you look so alike. So you are related by blood."
No.
Actually, we're not.
"If you were siblings, you should have told me sooner."
Fujiwara Chiya had not expected Orfevre to only find out now. Wasn't this common knowledge in Tracen?
"If I had known the Empress and the Empress's Scepter were not bound merely by contract, I would not have been so harsh toward her."
What does that mean?
Are you saying you could have reconciled with Shirayuki out of consideration for me?
Although, technically, the two of you never had any real conflict in the first place.
Orfevre simply disliked Shirayuki on principle. But she had never said anything directly to Shirayuki's face. At most, she occasionally ran her mouth a little. Aside from that, Orfevre was actually quite restrained.
On the other hand, Orfevre often ended up racing other people because of Shirayuki.
Some were Shirayuki's fans. Some were students who disliked Shirayuki. Orfevre's arrogant attitude toward Shirayuki made the girls who adored Shirayuki rather unhappy, so they wanted to use their strength to shut her up.
As for the ones who hated Shirayuki, Orfevre believed those third-rate runners had no right to speak about the Empress at all. So she took the initiative, struck first, and taught them a brutal lesson.
In short, because of Shirayuki, Orfevre had raced no small number of people.
And without exception, Orfevre had utterly crushed them.
Among uma musume of her generation, there were already no opponents left who could match her. Even the upperclassmen could not outrun her.
While Fujiwara Chiya was happy for her, he still could not understand one thing.
Was Orfevre Shirayuki's fan, or was she her hater?
She beat up both sides.
On one hand, she said the Empress was incredible. On the other, she said that if Shirayuki was so incredible yet still could not win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, then she was someone who could never become truly great.
In short, Orfevre's evaluation of Shirayuki was a complete contradiction.
But there was one thing Fujiwara Chiya was certain of.
Orfevre considered Shirayuki her greatest rival.
The opponent she absolutely had to surpass.
"Now that I know the relationship between Trainer and the Empress, this becomes much simpler. Once I surpass Trainer, the Empress will naturally become my vassal as well. Hmph. How convenient."
What is this girl even saying now?
"Tell the Empress this. In the future, she will be proud of me, not the other way around. Make sure she understands that relationship."
Fujiwara Chiya took out a box of small cookies.
"Want some?"
"I do."
…
Meanwhile, Shirayuki and Rice Shower had gone outside together.
Back in Paris, Shirayuki had been planning to tell Rice Shower about herself. But because Treve had cut in line, the whole matter had fallen apart.
After returning to Japan, there had been races, interviews, and all kinds of other things. Shirayuki had not managed to find much time.
Now that things had finally settled down, Shirayuki felt it was time to explain her identity to Rice Shower.
"By the way, Shirayuki-san, are you still keeping in touch with Treve?"
"We call each other often. We also train together in VR."
"I see. That's good."
Rice Shower smiled.
Going out with Shirayuki had been entirely Onii-sama's suggestion. Otherwise, if she had this much free time, she would have preferred to go out and have fun with Onii-sama instead.
She might even have been able to spend the night outside with him.
For some reason, Hayakawa Tazuna had loosened her restrictions on Onii-sama. Rice Shower had found it surprisingly easy to invite him out.
She felt certain Hayakawa Tazuna had ulterior motives.
But if it meant she could go out with Onii-sama, Rice Shower did not care what kind of motives the other woman had. Even if it was a trap, she would happily jump right into it!
Unfortunately, when she had asked him to go out today, Fujiwara Chiya had told her to go with Shirayuki instead.
As Onii-sama's precious, considerate little jacket, Rice Shower had naturally agreed on the spot.
Even if she did not really want to.
Once they came outside, Rice Shower asked about Treve. After hearing Shirayuki's affirmative answer, Rice Shower's smile grew brighter.
With Treve around, Shirayuki should be putting her attention on her, right?
Rice Shower did not want Shirayuki clinging to her Onii-sama. Shirayuki was already so dazzling. There was no need for her to obsess over one person, was there?
Wouldn't it be better for a flower on the high peak to be with another flower on the high peak?
In short, Rice Shower had been doing everything she could to pair Shirayuki and Treve together.
When they left Paris, Rice Shower had even added Treve's contact information. She often sent Treve videos of Shirayuki training, feeding Treve's enthusiasm for Shirayuki.
Treve growing more and more passionate about Shirayuki was, in part, Rice Shower's achievement.
Hearing that the two of them were close, the worry hanging over Rice Shower's heart finally settled.
"Is there anywhere you want to go, Shirayuki-san?"
"Let's walk around the park," Shirayuki said. "Also, Rice Shower… can I hold your hand?"