"Miss Frankel! You've only just finished the St James's Palace Stakes. You need proper rest!"
"It's fine, really Mm… Trainer, you should rest too I'm off to pick up some friends. They're coming to spend a long, long summer holiday in Britain~ They're good friends of little Zhuofu's, you know?"
Frankel had only just finished the winner's ceremony for the St James's Palace Stakes. She had not even changed out of her sea-green victory outfit before she was already preparing to hop into the car and head for the airport to meet the friends who were about to land.
Her trainer really was worried about her, but after a full year with her, he still had not managed to correct Frankel's carefree, willful nature. Then again, what could he do? He was, in the end, a trainer whose livelihood depended on Frankel's family. If he did anything to upset the young lady, he would probably be swept out the door and replaced with someone more obedient. To Frankel, a trainer was likely nothing more than a convenient tool for handling race entries.
Still, neither Frankel nor the Juddmonte family had treated him badly. They had given him a separate monthly salary of one hundred thousand euros outside the academy—about the same as the winner's purse for some G1s. At that point, serving her like this felt only natural.
"Very well. In that case… Miss Frankel, please stay safe on the road. If you feel any discomfort, go straight to a doctor. I'll decline the post-race interview for the St James's Palace Stakes, and I'll contact you by phone regarding your future schedule."
Having said all that, Yoshi Giiri left the lounge. Frankel hummed cheerfully to herself as she slipped out of her racing outfit and into a camel-colored coat, then perched a pair of sunglasses on her nose.
Perhaps because she had grown up in luxury, surrounded by people who treated her with deference, Frankel had never found her trainer's attitude strange. Most of the time, she simply pushed all her work onto Yoshi Giiri. As a racehorse girl, all she needed to do was win. Wasn't training something one did in order to win? And if Frankel could win easily already, why bother training?
Only mediocrities needed hard work. Geniuses were born standing beyond the finish line.
Her phone rang from the pocket of her coat. When she answered, it was her driver, already waiting outside Ascot Racecourse in the car.
"Okay Just give me a few minutes, mister. Ascot's packed right now—I'll need a little time to squeeze my way out. Zhuofu's here too, right?"
After setting her sunglasses in place, Frankel slipped against the flow of people and made her way out of Ascot. It was as though the world had some kind of ridiculous built-in correction patch: as long as a horse girl wore a pair of sunglasses or held up two twigs in front of her face, she became perfectly disguised. Even the world's number one racehorse girl could walk through a crowd without being recognized.
Frankel had found that absolutely baffling. She had no idea why it worked, but since it did, she kept using it. Results didn't lie.
Ascot Racecourse had a circuit of about 2800 meters, its shape close to triangular. The final straight measured 502 meters, and the track itself sloped from south to north.
What Frankel disliked most, however, was the uphill start in races that began on the straight course. From the jump, runners had to climb until the turn, only then transitioning into a downhill stretch. Those dramatic rises and falls were absolute torture on a racehorse girl's body. A lightly built one could easily lose control on the downhill and injure her legs.
Fortunately, even if Frankel had grown up pampered, her body was genuinely tough. She had taken one look at Ascot's quirks before the race and handled them with ease, winning the St James's Palace Stakes by three-quarters of a length and claiming her third G1 without a single defeat.
"Honestly, why did they even make me run those handicaps and G2s and G3s? They should've just replaced them with more G1s. Ugh."
Thinking back on the lower-level races cluttering up her record, Frankel sighed a little. In the end, though, as long as she stayed unbeaten, it did not matter. A few more G1s in her Classic and older seasons would smooth that out soon enough. She truly could not imagine any horse girl in the world capable of threatening her dominance in this category.
After all, even her elder sister Galileo had said it—Frankel was invincible over a mile. And beyond that, she had another elder sister, Sea the Stars, the acknowledged queen of the middle distances. Even if she eventually stretched out to two thousand meters, Frankel had no fear. The blood of kings flowed in her veins. She had been born to rule the world.
"Ah… there it is!"
Frankel quickly spotted her car in the Ascot parking area. She yanked open the back door, leapt inside, and immediately wrapped her arms around the pink-haired girl within, pressing their cheeks together.
"Hehe, little Zhuofu~ How's life in Britain? Eating well? Sleeping well?"
The driver said nothing. Once he was sure Frankel had shut the door properly, he started the engine and drove for the airport. Whatever the young ladies chose to do in the backseat was none of his business. His job was to get them to the airport, nothing more. So he deliberately tuned out the sounds coming from behind him.
"Uwah—! Little Frankel sis, you're gonna suffocate me…!"
Everyone knew Frankel was strong—and very, very well-endowed. The moment she wrapped an arm around Zhuofu's neck, she also mashed Zhuofu straight into that overwhelming softness. Zhuofu had already exhaled just before that, leaving almost no air in her lungs. Her face flushed red at once. Frankel, meanwhile, mistook the reaction for embarrassment and laughed.
"Oh my~ Aren't the French even more affectionate when they greet each other? How come you're blushing already from just this?"
Only after finally letting go did Frankel say that. Zhuofu slapped both cheeks to regain her bearings, then looked into Frankel's pale yellow eyes—only for her thoughts to drift toward Dyna's warmth instead, flattening Frankel's natural advantages in the comparison.
"In France, nobody just shoves someone into their chest like that! We just brush cheeks, that's all!"
Pouting, Zhuofu said it outright. Frankel absolutely did not feel as good as Dyna. Though to be fair, she had definitely taken advantage of Frankel there. Still… Frankel wasn't Dyna! Reassuring herself of that fact once more, Zhuofu decided there was nothing to dwell on.
Frankel sat back down in her seat and, noticing Zhuofu's serious expression, grinned.
"Fufu~ Got it. I won't do that again next time. What I'm really curious about is your friend, though. I heard… she's currently unbeaten with two crowns in Japan? Sounds like quite the racehorse girl."
For the briefest instant, Frankel's expression turned serious, but then she relaxed again. Japan's Classic Triple Crown was run at 2000, 2400, and 3000 meters—distances that really had little to do with her. No matter how dominant that girl was there, she could not possibly clash with Frankel in Frankel's own field.
Even so, meeting such a horse girl sounded fun, and Frankel was full of anticipation.
Zhuofu noticed the flicker in her expression and mischievously added, "But before that, she also won the Prix Marcel Boussac in France. Turf mile. Won it with no suspense at all. Whoosh—just like that—she blew past all the other girls on Longchamp's home straight by several lengths!"
Hm?
A mile on turf. Whoosh. Several lengths clear.
Frankel might not have caught everything, but she heard those keywords just fine.
Wasn't that exactly the kind of opponent she dreamed of? That meant Zhuofu's friend was a horse girl with excellent versatility across distances—a truly formidable one.
"So that means I can race her too, right?!"
Frankel's question came out bright and eager. Zhuofu's answer, however, was simply that she did not know.
After all, she could not decide for Dyna. At most, maybe if the two met, they could make some promise to settle things the following year or something. If Dyna did not want that, then that was that. Though if the two of them ever wanted to compete for the title of world number one, they would probably have to fight it out somehow. Otherwise, it would be hard to say who was truly better.
That part had nothing to do with Zhuofu, though.
Most likely Frankel would not grow too attached to Luminous Dyna anyway. Once Dyna had sorted out her luggage, Zhuofu could finally go and cuddle her properly! It had already been seven or eight months since Zhuofu last got to snuggle Dyna. She missed that floral scent on her so badly…
Staring out the car window, Zhuofu smiled dreamily to herself. That, in turn, caught Frankel's attention.
Just what kind of friend could make her wear a look like that…?
"Oh my… don't tell me she's your 'girlfriend'?"
Frankel had plenty of gossip-loving instincts hidden beneath her regal exterior. The thought amused her. Still, she decided she would wait until they met to find out for herself. Mmhmm~
Frankel's mood brightened further.
When the flight finally landed, Dyna emerged looking rather dizzy, supported by Wada.
"Uwah… even after doing this once, I still can't get used to it… cough…"
Dyna was prone to motion sickness. Last time, flying to France with Nakayama Festa had not been this bad, so why was the reaction so much stronger now, just because they had flown a bit farther to Britain? She could not make sense of it at all.
"Wahaha! The air of England, truly—"
Opera O took one grand breath and immediately got choked by the cool, damp air, breaking into a coughing fit.
"Cough, cough… I see. Different latitude, different climate."
That one coughing fit somehow summoned back her geography knowledge. It nearly made Dyna laugh.
The British travelers passing by cast slightly odd looks at the chattering group speaking Japanese. But a cluster of horse girls surrounding a single man obviously looked like some kind of team, so nobody paid them much attention. Britain hosted plenty of international G1s, after all. Foreign horse girls coming here in search of glory was hardly unusual.
Kiichi Steed, meanwhile, looked every bit the country girl visiting the big city for the first time. She had not said a word, but her eyes were constantly darting around, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. With her own ability, she would never have had the chance to travel abroad under normal circumstances. Maybe not even after retiring, marrying, and settling down… Yet now, she had gotten to see the world.
"Let me check… Zhuofu says they'll be here soon. She told us to wait where we are…? Someone's coming to lead us to her?"
Looking at the new message on her phone now that the signal had returned, Dyna was baffled. Did the airport staff know who they were? Zhuofu could not possibly have the power to hire some whole service team, could she?
Dyna was right—Zhuofu did not have that kind of power.
Frankel, however, did.
For someone who could sway things in both Britain and Dubai, finding a distinctive group of horse girls in an airport was trivial. So Dyna's party soon witnessed something unforgettable: travelers were respectfully diverted aside, and under the guidance of attendants bearing the insignia of British royalty, they were escorted into a special airport lounge. Inside, refreshments and entertainment had already been prepared for them.
"This was arranged for you by Miss Frankel. Should you require anything further, simply call for us. We are at your service at any time."
After the attendant left, only a small bell remained on the table.
Dyna went blank.
Whose name had he just said…?
The man had pronounced it in impeccable Japanese, even saying it in katakana. For a moment Dyna thought she must have misheard.
Frankel?
That Frankel? No—not quite the all-time legend yet, but close enough. Even now she was already terrifyingly famous.
"Sea the Stars, I didn't hear wrong, right?" Dyna asked inwardly.
"You heard correctly. She's my sister Galileo's younger sister, which makes her my younger sister too. An extraordinary racehorse girl. She's on a seventeen-race winning streak by now, isn't she? And at her age she's already a special baroness in Britain, while also being part of the royal family in Dubai."
Sea the Stars reeled off Frankel's titles in one go, and Dyna's brain nearly crashed on the spot. Any one of those titles alone would have been enough to flatten her.
How on earth had Zhuofu ended up connected to someone like that? Dyna had thought Zhuofu might just use Hopeful's connections to secure a suitable training site. But where had Frankel come from?
This summer training trip had suddenly become a horror game.
Sea the Stars added, "Mm… since you're in Britain now, you could also go see what my real-life self is doing these days. And whether Galileo's still off charming other horse girls somewhere."
"With time, I guess I can…?"
Dyna almost forgot that Sea the Stars herself was still alive and well in this world. With the real one living out there while a version of her resided in Dyna's head, it felt almost like she were dead. The thought sent a chill down Dyna's spine.
To Dyna, this whole British summer camp trip had instantly transformed into a full-blown horror adventure.
A ghost taking someone to meet the living version of herself? That was the kind of thing that only happened in supernatural films…!
It also occurred to Dyna, belatedly and with mounting dread, that the Sea the Stars in her head might really count as a spirit anyway.
Eek.
Coo-coo. Gah-gah.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 142)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter181)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter103)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter192)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 173
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 166
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 110
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 190
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 165
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 156
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 81
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 102
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 120
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 80
Uma Musume: I Want All 95
I Can Copy Unique Skills 84
Summoning an Evil God, but the 66
Supernatural Multiverse 83
My Harem Is Indescribable 75
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 81
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 75
Still playing traditional Honk 55
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 60
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 55
Checking In in Demon Slayer 60
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 65
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 35
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 35
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 39
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 58
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 42
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