With a crushing lead of seven lengths, Orfevre claimed victory in the "Japanese Derby."
It was an absolute, uncontested stomp.
The race once called "a race only the luckiest uma musume can win" knelt helplessly before overwhelming strength. Compared to Orfevre, the other runners looked like foals who had barely learned how to gallop, left far, far behind in her dust.
And seven lengths was already absurd enough, but the gap between second and third was a full six lengths as well. The difference between the top finishers was so exaggerated it almost looked fake. This was supposed to be a two-girl showdown, yet Orfevre had brute-forced the whole thing into her own solo performance.
Afterward, Orfevre even gave her opponent some praise.
"She was quite the formidable one. She kept biting at my heels the whole way. Were it not for her, I could have run even faster."
Fujiwara Chiya only smiled at that.
"The line between 'strong' and 'very strong' is pretty blurry, Orfevre. You don't need to split hairs over it."
And so Orfevre stopped worrying about it.
Instead, she ordered Fujiwara Chiya to keep praising her. Not only that, she demanded he do everything he had ever done for other uma musume to her as well, only gentler, more considerate, and with even more reverence.
Rather than praising an uma musume, Fujiwara Chiya felt more like he was coaxing a tsundere girlfriend. In the end, he spent half an hour serving as her pillow.
Without question, this "Japanese Derby" had been a huge success.
Orfevre's popularity skyrocketed until it stood shoulder to shoulder with the Empress herself. Naturally, Fujiwara Chiya was dragged into interviews by the reporters.
One Uma Musume of the Year.
One undefeated double-crown uma musume.
Several graded-stakes winners.
In the Trainer feature columns, Fujiwara Chiya's name was ranked right near the top.
"Chiya, get ready and head over with Orfevre," Akikawa Yayoi informed him.
Fujiwara Chiya straightened his jacket. A moment later, Orfevre stepped into the room, her blue-violet eyes landing on him.
"What are you doing?"
"There's an interview with the reporters soon, right?"
"I know that. I am asking about your jacket." Orfevre folded her arms. "How unsightly. Come here."
She reached out and fixed his collar, smoothed the creases on his back, then fiddled with his hair a couple of times. After inspecting him for a good while, Orfevre finally nodded in satisfaction.
"Now that is more acceptable. You are my Trainer. You are not like those common rabble."
Oh-ho?
Was Orfevre… taking care of someone?
Nice.
Fujiwara Chiya had always believed that what made a girl charming, aside from appearance, was personality. And among those traits, maternal warmth was one of the most important.
Right now, Orfevre had a faint trace of that warmth.
It was still thin, barely there, but compared to before, it was already a massive improvement.
Back when they first met, who could have imagined that the stubborn Orfevre would one day personally fix his clothes for him?
"Trainer, what are you smiling about?" Orfevre asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing. I was just thinking that our relationship has gotten much better than before."
Orfevre's hands paused for a second.
"You are my Trainer. Of course you are a special existence. Even if you are my vassal, you are an important one, not some random worshipper picked up from the roadside."
"That's true."
Orfevre gave a small, proud snort.
"Let us go, Trainer. The reporters are already waiting outside."
With the "Japanese Derby" over, Orfevre's domestic races had come to a pause for now. Once June arrived, Fujiwara Chiya would take his uma musume to Europe. By then, Orfevre would need to adapt to the heavy turf over there.
Before that, Shirayuki still had one final race.
June's "Takarazuka Kinen."
Once Shirayuki finished her race, everyone could set off. There was less than a month left.
Time really does fly, Fujiwara Chiya thought as he arrived at the training grounds. The reporters had been waiting for a while already. They asked him about Orfevre's future race plans, and he answered each question smoothly.
He had grown very used to performing in front of cameras.
In truth, reporters had tried to approach Fujiwara Chiya a long time ago, but Akikawa Yayoi had blocked them all. She knew he was bad at that sort of thing, so she let him focus on training his uma musume in peace.
Only after he became truly famous did Akikawa Yayoi stop restricting the media and leave everything for him to handle himself.
Toward this older sister of his, Fujiwara Chiya felt a gratitude he could not quite put into words.
He hoped that after the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was over, he could talk with her through the night. Whether about the past or the present, Fujiwara Chiya wanted to tell her everything.
Once they finished discussing the races, the reporters started asking more personal questions.
"Some fans would like to ask Trainer Chiya, do you have a girlfriend?" asked a young reporter with an innocent, pure-looking style.
Orfevre's head snapped toward him.
"Well…" Fujiwara Chiya hesitated for a moment.
There were quite a few people he had an intimate relationship with, but there was no one officially recognized as his girlfriend. Even his friends still thought he was single.
The fact that he had gone this far without being exposed was honestly kind of impressive.
Considering his position as a trainer, Fujiwara Chiya answered tactfully.
"Not anyone… that clearly defined yet."
"Then, Trainer, is there someone you care about?" the reporter pressed on.
The moment trainers were involved, the thing fans cared about most was not ability.
It was gossip.
Shaking. Crying. Freezing.
Since when did trainers become idols?
Looking at the reporters' sparkling eyes, Fujiwara Chiya coughed a few times.
"If you ask whether there is someone, then yes…"
"Really? Could Trainer Chiya please tell us who that person is?"
As if they had caught the scent of a hot scoop, the reporters hurried closer.
"The person I care about is right here. All right, that is all I can tell you."
Right here?
The reporters looked at each other in confusion.
Orfevre's ears shot upright.
Trainer has someone he cares about?
Who?
First, exclude Trainer himself.
Then, exclude this group of reporters he had only just met.
Then, exclude the little foals gathered nearby to watch curiously.
Which meant that at this exact moment, there was only one person left.
Me…!
Orfevre's heart gave a loud thump.
So the one Trainer cares about was me?!
As if struck by lightning, Orfevre's whole body gave a tiny shudder. Blood rushed straight to her head.
W-Well… as her Trainer, of course he would care about her. That was only natural. After all, how many uma musume could reach her heights? Admiration, affection, adoration. Surely Trainer carried some amount of those feelings for her. Calm down. Calm down…
Orfevre's heart kept pounding like crazy.
For the first time, she was this flustered.
After that, she could not hear a single word the reporters said. Her whole mind sank deep into fantasy.
"Orfevre… Orfevre?"
Fujiwara Chiya shook her arm. Orfevre blinked, waking as if from a dream.
"What are you doing, Orfevre? The reporters already left," Fujiwara Chiya said to her as she stood there blankly.
"Trainer…"
Orfevre looked at his hand holding hers, and heat rushed up her face with a whoosh.
"You insolent man! Insolent… insolent man…"
"?"
"At least allow me some mental preparation first."
What the heck?
"In any case, we shall begin little by little. You impatient man."
Huh?
What was going on?
Fujiwara Chiya could not understand a single thing Orfevre was saying.