Like Shirayuki, Treve was also going to participate in a prep race for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Shirayuki would run in the Prix Niel.
Treve would run in the Prix Vermeille.
Both races were middle-distance races over 2,400 metres, the same distance as the Arc. The difference was that the Prix Niel was a GII race, while the Prix Vermeille was a GI.
In terms of race difficulty alone, the Prix Vermeille was definitely higher.
The two races were held very close together, basically across the same weekend.
And during those days, Shirayuki would have enough time to watch Treve race.
This was a good opportunity.
Recently, her relationship with Treve had changed somewhat. Ever since they had played that rather dangerous game in Rice Shower's room, the distance between the two of them had closed at a terrifying speed, almost like riding a train.
Holding hands had already become the most basic thing. Treve would even occasionally kiss her cheek.
Clearly, Treve's current relationship with her had already reached the same level as Special Week and Grass Wonder.
And Shirayuki had been in Paris for less than two months.
In fact, some of Treve's bolder actions had already surpassed Grass Wonder's and were now closer to Mejiro Dober after her confession.
The price of forming this relationship was that Shirayuki had spent almost all her time on Treve.
She had no way to get closer to Rice Shower. Even the few times she finally managed to stay beside Rice Shower did not go smoothly. Every time, Rice Shower would go to the bathroom and somehow bring Treve over, turning time with Rice Shower into time with Treve.
Meanwhile, Rice Shower would take that opportunity to run over to Fujiwara Chiya.
The final result was that Rice Shower went to Chiya to ask for head pats, while Shirayuki stayed here and patted Treve.
This completely disrupted all of Shirayuki's plans.
She had neither cured Rice Shower's addiction nor uncovered Treve's real strength.
She had lost one of her trump cards for the final race.
Just like with Mejiro Dober back then, as long as she knew her opponent's running style and trained specifically against it, she could create extremely strong pressure.
Even if the opponent's overall ability was higher, she could still change the course of the race through rhythm.
For uma musume, rhythm was a blade. Whoever used it better had the higher chance of winning. Even top-level uma musume could lose badly if their rhythm was disrupted.
Unfortunately, Shirayuki had missed her chances again and again.
Her only progress was that she had become increasingly familiar with Treve's body.
She knew that touching the outer edge of Treve's ears felt best for her. The sides of her stomach were the most sensitive. If touched even slightly, Treve would make an enticing sound. Treve also liked having her palms touched. Whenever Shirayuki did so, Treve's body would relax.
She certainly understood Treve more and more.
But on a completely different level.
Other than making Treve sound cuter, what use did any of that have?
It did not help the race at all!
Moreover, Shirayuki discovered that Treve only acted this way toward her.
Once, Shirayuki secretly followed Treve to see what she did every day. She found that after training, Treve spent her free time studying Japanese, and the rest of the time chatting with her friends.
When Treve talked with those girls, her attitude was clearly different from when she was with Shirayuki. They would pinch each other's cheeks and tease one another, but they all maintained a certain distance. They did not stick together.
Let alone hug or sit on each other's lap.
Their levels of closeness were completely different.
Treve was clearly much more intimate with Shirayuki than with anyone else.
This was both a good thing and a bad thing.
Shirayuki had said before that the more obsessed an uma musume was with her, the stronger they became in a race.
If she and Treve did not know each other, Treve might be able to use one hundred percent of her strength. But if their relationship became especially close, to the point of hugging or even kissing, then when Treve raced against her, she might be able to use one hundred and twenty percent.
Maybe even more.
So for Shirayuki, having a good relationship with Treve was a debuff.
It would greatly increase the race's difficulty.
That might sound a little mystical, but Shirayuki's experience over this long period had taught her one thing.
Uma musume themselves were mystical.
Treve had already been strengthened.
She had originally been a hell-difficulty boss, but after absorbing Shirayuki's attention, she had been powered up again. Wasn't this just making the race even harder for Shirayuki?
Shirayuki had reasonable suspicion that Treve had approached her precisely to gain this buff. Otherwise, why would Treve suddenly become so intimate after Shirayuki made that suggestion, only to keep dragging things out and not give her an answer about serious training?
There was less than half a month until the Prix Niel and Prix Vermeille.
Even if neither of them wanted to reveal their strength now, they would definitely watch each other's races by then, and their abilities would still be exposed during competition.
But if she could learn about Treve now, Shirayuki would have half a month to adjust her training plan in advance.
More time meant a greater chance of winning.
That was true for her.
And it was true for Treve too.
Since Treve had already received her buff, it would not be too much for Shirayuki to gain something from Treve in return, right?
After training ended, Shirayuki pulled Treve into a small grove and asked her:
"How have you thought about that matter?"
Even without a translation app, Treve could now understand simple conversations.
"That matter?"
"The thing we talked about that day. Our matter."
Shirayuki wanted to know Treve's thoughts and secure these final two weeks of training time.
That day…
Hearing those words, Treve's face instantly turned red.
That day meant the weekend when Shirayuki had confessed to her and said the two of them should do that kind of thing together.
Treve remembered every word.
Shirayuki wanted her answer.
In fact, Treve had been thinking all this time about how she should get along with Shirayuki. After several days of intense closeness, Treve felt that being beside Shirayuki made her happy and comfortable.
She could fully accept her.
Gender did not matter.
In Treve's eyes, men and women had both originally belonged to the category of strangers.
For Treve, the world had only two broad categories: racing and everything outside racing.
People were divided into four groups: family, friends, master, and strangers.
Shirayuki's appearance disrupted that entire structure.
She became a special existence independent from all those categories.
Treve was willing to add a place in her classification of people that belonged only to Shirayuki.
Not a broad concept like man or woman.
Shirayuki was simply Shirayuki.
Treve had already accepted her.
However, she still needed some mental preparation.
Even though she had already rehearsed it in her dreams, reality was still different.
Real closeness was far more stimulating than dreaming. Shirayuki had only rubbed her ears, yet Treve's heart had already become unbearably restless. If they did anything else, Treve worried she might be overwhelmed completely.
She needed to get used to it little by little.
But Shirayuki seemed unable to wait any longer.
In that case, Treve decided to comfort her for now.
She had no real experience, nor did she know much about these things. Everything had to be learned as she went. Her friends said that partners needed compatibility and had to learn how to match each other.
Now was the time for her and Shirayuki to adjust to one another.
"Come to my room tonight. I'll give you my answer."
Treve stood on tiptoe, leaned close to Shirayuki's ear, and whispered softly.