Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: White Horse (3)
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Fierce hoofbeats.
Along with that sound, Irina raced side by side with Entree.
“Haa….”
Her green eyes flashed.
She swallowed deeply and steadily pursued the knight.
After circling the grassland for about half a lap.
The white horse carrying the princess began to breathe more roughly.
“Prrr!”
The two women eyed each other warily.
But soon, Irina started falling behind bit by bit.
“…!”
And that was because…
The white horse she rode was veering off the track.
Heading into the forest.
Seeing that, my eyes sharpened.
“Damn…!”
I hurriedly looked toward the coachman.
Then, grabbing his shoulder, I asked.
“Why is the horse suddenly acting up like that?”
“Ah, well… This one tends to seek out water when it gets thirsty during a run.”
The coachman said with a flustered expression.
“Why didn’t you mention that earlier?”
I shot him a fierce glare.
At that, the coachman averted his gaze.
“Well… The Western Princess said she’d explain it herself…”
The moment I heard “Western Princess.”
I turned a cold gaze toward her.
As Irina and the white horse disappeared into the forest, she slowed her horse.
Stopping at the track, she stared steadily at me.
As if asking whether I wasn’t going to chase after them.
“…”
With no choice, I channeled mana into my legs.
First priority was rescuing the princess.
Questioning Entree’s rider could wait.
“Does it have a usual watering spot?”
“Ah… If you go straight into the forest, there’s a stream. It probably headed there.”
Following his words, I dashed into the woods.
This race was rigged for her to lose from the start.
That’s why Entree’s rider had accepted the challenge so readily.
‘As expected of Lea’s confidante—her head for strategy is impeccable!’
Thinking that, I pushed through the thick underbrush.
Then, suddenly, a torn piece of white shirt caught my eye.
Following it, the sound of a babbling brook soon reached my ears.
I chased the sound out of the forest.
Before me stretched a gentle stream.
And there…
The problematic white horse was leisurely lapping at the water.
“Irina…!”
Catching my breath, I scanned the streambank.
Then, my eyes fell on a silver-haired woman slumped on the gravel.
“Veil…”
She was drenched.
Her white shirt was soaked through, faintly revealing her white undergarments.
Her leggings were torn in places.
Thanks to that, her soft, pale skin was visible.
“Are you alright…?”
I approached her.
Up close, fortunately, her skin didn’t seem cut or scraped.
“Ah…!”
She hurriedly turned away.
Realizing her wet clothes were showing everything.
“Yeah, I’m fine…. But I lost the race.”
The princess muttered in a dejected voice.
“Who cares about the race. I’m just glad you’re safe.”
After confirming Irina was okay, I turned to the horse.
It flinched as I emanated a menacing mana.
“Prrr…”
Sensing fear instinctively, it bowed its head.
‘Should’ve scared it sooner.’
“Did you fall off?”
I looked down at her thoroughly soaked form and asked.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t the horse’s fault.”
She brushed her matted hair to the side.
Smiling faintly, she looked up at me.
“I slipped getting down from the saddle…”
Was it because all her silver hair was wet?
The way she swept her bangs aside looked more feminine than usual.
“Let’s head back. I’ll help you up.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
The princess tried to rise with my hand.
But the moment she moved her legs.
“Hng…!”
Irina let out a pained whimper and slumped back down.
“Are you hurt?”
“Not exactly, but my leg cramped up.”
I slowly approached and knelt beside her.
Then, I closely examined Irina’s leg.
“Wait just a moment.”
Her taut white leggings were torn here and there.
Through the gaps, bits of her skin peeked out.
“Looks like you need a massage to loosen it.”
“Yeah…”
Irina responded reflexively.
Then, her green eyes flashed at the word “massage.”
“Huh…? Massage?”
“Yes, if you’ll excuse me.”
I spread both hands.
And carefully placed them on her leg.
A trick I learned on the northern front.
I used to loosen the legs of tense warhorses this way.
I gently caressed her calf with both hands.
The rigid flesh.
I pressed firmly, slowly working out the tension.
“V-Veil. Hold on…. I’m not a racehorse or anything, a massage…”
Unlike usual, Irina’s face flushed red.
She muttered while covering her chest with her arms.
“Ah, sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
For her sake, I took off my suit jacket.
And draped it over the princess’s wet shirt.
However, that wasn’t the issue for Irina; her face stayed red.
“…”
As I touched her, she let out shallow breaths.
Occasional soft moans escaped her body.
“Hnng…”
Was it her first time being touched by another?
Her skin twitched with every contact.
“Just bear with it a bit. It hurts at first.”
The princess’s lips quivered.
Then, she buried her face in my jacket and bowed her head deeply.
Thanks to covering her face, I could massage more comfortably.
“So, why’d you suddenly want a riding contest?”
I smiled and stroked her leg like an instrument.
Gradually, I moved my hands up to her thigh.
As I pressed her skin with both hands, she pressed her legs together.
Huddled, she allowed my touch.
“Are you okay? I’ll stop if it’s uncomfortable.”
Her face buried in my jacket.
Seeming not to mind, she quietly murmured.
“N-No…. It feels like it’s loosening…”
I pressed firmly on her leggings.
Then, slowly looked at her other leg.
“Shall I do the other one?”
At my question, the princess shook her head vigorously.
“No, it’s all better now!”
Irina pulled both legs together.
Then, slowly tried to stand.
But.
“…!”
Clearly the cramp was gone, yet she slumped back onto the gravel.
“It’s not fully better yet, is it?”
I looked up at her with a worried expression.
However, Irina with my jacket over her mouth.
Mumbled with an intensely embarrassed look.
“It’s just… my strength seems to have drained away…”
Strange.
A massage shouldn’t sap her strength like that.
I tilted my head at the odd phenomenon.
“Just in case, I’ll fetch a doctor.”
I started to stand.
But at that moment.
“I’m fine, Veil.”
The princess lightly tugged my jacket collar.
“If you just stay with me a little, I think it’ll pass soon.”
Irina looked straight up at me.
Drenched, she looked even more ethereal.
Was it because she’d become an adult?
Her voice and aura both seemed more mature.
“Understood.”
We sat side by side on the gravel.
And waited under the warm sunlight until her body recovered.
￣￣￣
“How’s knight life these days?”
Irina broke the silence first.
Disliking the awkward atmosphere, she cautiously asked.
“I’m doing well enough. Wardens don’t have much to do anyway.”
I picked up a pebble and replied.
But as I was about to toss it into the water.
I paused at the princess’s words.
“I heard about the east. You beat Captain Hammus, right?”
Did the Black Moon tell her?
“I didn’t beat him alone. We all fought together and won.”
I chuckled and threw the stone.
“Hmm…. Is that so?”
With my suit jacket over her shoulders.
Hand on chin, she sank into thought.
“By the way, been having any strange dreams lately?”
“Dreams?”
“Yeah, like prophetic ones. Or memories you never had popping up…”
I hadn’t expected that question.
“Well, I don’t really dream when I sleep.”
“I see…”
The princess nodded.
Then, gazing at the light rippling on the stream together, she said.
“You said your goal was to live peacefully without incident, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
At my answer, the princess glanced up at me.
The water’s light reflected in her eyes.
“So, the empire’s safety comes second to your own.”
Was it the light?
It looked like tears shimmered in the princess’s eyes.
“Not anymore. I have a territory and subordinates now.”
I met her gaze steadily.
Raising the corner of my mouth, I replied.
“My immediate goal is for the empire to remain stable even after His Majesty the Emperor passes.”
Hearing my answer, the princess wore a faint smile.
Brushing back the hair on her cheek, she asked.
“So if you rise through the ranks in that process, you’ll stay in the empire?”
“Maybe.”
I grinned and cracked my knuckles.
Stretching my neck, I said.
“To make that day come, I guess I’ll have to start working harder.”
Hearing me, the princess drew her knees together.
Leaning her face lightly, she said.
“Then you’ll become a noble soon.”
Noble.
Nice. After a lifetime on the front lines, how happy would a title make me?
“After developing the territory, stacking up more achievements, it could happen.”
I closed my eyes gently.
Imagining a comfortable future.
But at that moment.
Irina’s small voice made me open them again.
“I hear nobles can even marry into the imperial family…”
I glanced at the Second Princess.
With the halo from the water’s reflection.
Hugging her knees, perhaps.
The tear in her leggings gaped wider.
“I’ll have to handle you well for that day to come?”
I couldn’t respond to her words for a moment.
“Yes…?”
Unlike her past life, her eyes had the gaze of a mature woman.
She lifted the corner of her mouth in a smile.
“No—I was just talking to myself.”
The princess tilted her head back.
And breathed deeply while looking at the sky.
“But what now that I lost the contest…”
I gazed steadily at Irina’s profile.
Her face tilted back.
Her pale nape came into view.
“I wanted to show you a cool side of me, Veil.”
The princess’s eyes were filled with emptiness.
As if everything was ruined now.
I remembered that look.
The anxious gaze from her past life, competing with other royals.
Only then did I recognize Irina as the same person from my past life.
Raising the corner of my mouth, I replied.
“You don’t need to show me a cool side.”
She was handling things far better than back then.
“Huh…?”
Hearing me, the princess blinked her green eyes.
In response, I quietly said.
“Your current efforts for the empire are beautiful enough.”
In the past, Irina would have blushed shyly at those words.
But not this time.
“You mean that…?”
“How could I lie?”
I bowed my head in affirmation.
But the princess didn’t care.
“I don’t think so.”
Lifting my head at her unexpected words.
And at that moment.
“You always look at me like I’m just a kid.”
The princess’s face came right up to my nose.
Her silver hair brushed my face, and I held my breath.
Her hot breath touched the tip of my nose.
With the halo shining on her, she smiled with her eyes and replied.
“Get ready, Veil.”
Because she leaned in, the jacket I’d draped over her slipped off.
Thanks to that, her figure visible through the shirt came into full view.
“From now on, I’ll come at you even bolder.”
But.
Her composure vanished in an instant.
“I look forward to it.”
Even as she drew close, I didn’t flinch at all.
Instead, I calmly leaned in until our noses touched.
“How bold will you be?”
Our breaths mingled from our lips.
“Uh…?”
Flustered, the princess hurriedly pulled her face back.
And whipped her head away.
“Are you alright?”
I looked at her glancing side to side.
However, Irina gave no reply.
Her body flushed hot; even her soaked shirt had dried from her body heat.
“Ugh…”
In her past life, nothing went her way.
In this life, things were going well, boosting her confidence.
So she thought she could tame me like the white horse.
But the princess soon realized.
Throughout today, the one being tamed wasn’t me—it was her.
From letting me touch her legs and moaning embarrassedly.
To blushing at her own bold provocation.
She was no different from the single white horse she’d been tamed like.