...
Broye borrowed Tracen's track for training, so she spent the entire afternoon on the turf.
After the scene that had just occurred, there was a faint tension between her and the "Dream" members—the air itself carried a subtle, taut feeling.
Every sprint they made carried obsessive focus, and beneath that focus, undercurrents surged.
But everyone held their composure. No one privately challenged her to a race.
Of course, Lucian would never allow such a thing to happen.
...
Afternoon training ended, but the "trial" in the "Dream" lounge had only just begun.
"Bring in the criminal Trainer." Urara's voice broke the silence in the room.
She sat in the judge's seat, chin resting on the back of her overlapped hands. The other horse girls sat on either side of her.
At Urara's command, the lounge door was immediately pushed open.
Twin Turbo and Matikane Tannhauser stood on either side of Lucian like guards escorting a major criminal. As they entered, they pressed him down into the seat opposite Urara.
Lucian made a token struggle, but his hands were already bound to the chair—he couldn't break free.
He sighed helplessly. "You're all skipping dinner to do this?"
The three goddesses' blessings only gave physical fitness. If they had also given strength... then since strength was given, speed, stamina, and explosiveness might as well be given too... then why race as horse girls at all? He could just compete himself as Trainer.
"Criminal, please correct your attitude. Don't try to change the subject with irrelevant remarks." Urara tapped the table a few times with the blackboard eraser.
Watching the light dust rise, Lucian spoke again. "You'd better stay behind and wipe the table clean later."
"Hmph ╯^╰, today is my cleaning duty anyway." Urara lifted her chin proudly.
But the next second she immediately realized and raised her voice eight degrees. "No! Trainer is still changing the subject!"
Matikane Tannhauser showed a gentle smile and patted Lucian's shoulder soothingly. "Trainer, be good~"
Lucian felt an inexplicable sense of absurdity. "Tantan, why are you listening to Urara..."
"Because it's fun!" Matikane Tannhauser tilted her head naturally.
This was also her first time tying someone up with rope. But she had no real malice—unlike Seiun Sky, Silence Suzuka, Dextrous Bailey, and the others.
"Ahem!" Urara cleared her throat twice, deliberately lowering her voice to sound grave. "Trainer, explain yourself. What else haven't you told us about you and Broye!"
"I've already said everything that needs to be said."
"I've already said everything that needs to be said~" Seiun Sky rested her head on her folded arms, mimicking Lucian's tone in a nasal, sarcastic drawl. "Then how come she came here acting like an abandoned resentful woman, making that inexplicable wager with Spe-chan?"
"Resentful woman..." Lucian's mouth twitched. The term was so abstract he couldn't refute it for a moment.
But her words undeniably hit the nail on the head—because every horse girl's gaze now focused on him.
"Fine. Before I left France, she repeatedly invited me to become her dedicated Trainer." Under everyone's scrutiny, Lucian chose honesty. "But I refused every time. Otherwise, how could you all have met me at Tracen?"
"Was it really just about wanting you to be her dedicated Trainer?" Ines Fujin's voice wasn't loud, yet it was like a breeze rippling across still water—enough to crease the entire lake.
Lucian's gaze instinctively drifted aside. "What else could it be..."
"Trainer, don't interrupt. Let Senior Ines continue." Judge Urara once again tapped the table with the eraser.
But this time she hit too hard. Dust exploded outward like shockwaves, choking Rice Shower and Mejiro McQueen—who were closest—into retreating repeatedly.
"Urara-chan, don't get too excited." Rice Shower pinched her nose and advised.
"Sorry, Rice-chan, McQueen." Urara immediately dropped her judge's dignity. Her small face flushed, and she sincerely apologized.
But the next moment, when she turned back to Lucian, her cute little face hardened again—like he owed her a fortune.
Lucian was genuinely charmed by her cuteness and couldn't help laughing.
"Criminal Trainer, be serious! You're still laughing."
"Okay, okay~ Sorry, Judge Urara."
"That's more like it." Seeing Lucian yield, Urara nodded in satisfaction. Then she looked toward Ines Fujin, her tone turning sweet again. "Senior Ines, go on with what you were saying."
"Little Ines... don't talk nonsense."
"How dare you interrupt court order!" Urara rebuked dramatically. "Twin Turbo!"
"Smack—" A sound rang out. Twin Turbo somehow produced a strip of tape and slammed it on the table.
Lucian: "..."
Ines Fujin secretly laughed, cleared her throat, and continued. "I think Broye doesn't just want Trainer to be her dedicated Trainer. She also wants Trainer to be her lover..."
She counted on her slender fingers, analyzing logically. "First of all, what horse girl demands a 'personal Trainer' like that? And that cheek kiss just now—Broye only did it to Trainer. It's hard not to suspect..."
At Tracen, matters of romance were usually private palpitations and fantasies kept deep in the heart. Now they had been dragged out into the open so bluntly...
For a moment, all the horse girls' expressions became strange—some curious and probing, some suddenly enlightened, some quietly tinged with jealousy and irritation... various emotions wove into a complex, delicate web.
Lucian was about to refute, but memories of his time in France surfaced—Broye's open admiration, frequent invitations, unusually focused gaze during training, or how she always walked right beside him...
Perhaps it really was unrequited feelings? But back then he had been fully focused on studying, determined to go to Tracen.
And back then he was still a sunny, cheerful, innocent young man... now he was more like a positive, upwardly mobile mature man.
But he still braced himself and said, "Ines, that's all speculation. You have no evidence..."
"I do." Silence Suzuka, silent for a long time, suddenly spoke. Clearly, she was quite angry today.
That cold gaze she cast seemed to declare the verdict of a future second trial: Tonight, you're dead.
...