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.Chapter 5.
I pulled with all my strength on the twisted carriage door.
Just then, someone wrapped a hand around my arm.
“Careful. You’ll hurt your hand.”
It was Young Master Glentino.
With astonishing ease, he tore the carriage door clean off.
For a brief moment I was stunned by his strength, but I quickly leaned into the carriage to look inside.
There was no one there.
Why is it empty?
My mind went blank.
Perhaps I had exhausted all my strength on the way here, because my thoughts simply refused to work.
Meanwhile, Owen casually tossed the broken carriage door aside.
Then he produced a handkerchief from somewhere.
…Since when was this man so considerate?
Even in my dazed state, I found myself surprised.
Taking hold of my wrist, he gently wiped the dirt from my hands before saying,
“So your sister knew there would be an assassination attempt.”
“Huh?”
Even to my own ears, my voice sounded incredibly foolish.
He explained patiently.
“She knew the ambush would be somewhere around this stretch of road.”
“So she sent an empty carriage disguised as if she were inside.”
“By now, she has probably taken another route to the Imperial Palace.”
“Ah…”
I let out a hollow laugh and nodded.
Then, after taking only a few steps, my legs gave out beneath me, and I collapsed onto the ground.
I couldn’t even describe what I was feeling.
Most likely, before my regression, Leoni had escaped the assassination in exactly the same way.
As though she’d already known precisely when and where it would happen.
Which also meant…
She hadn’t believed me.
Even after hearing my confession at dinner…
She’d chosen to believe her aides, who insisted an assassination attempt—clearly ordered by me—was coming, and had avoided this road.
Did Leoni hesitate at all?
Did she say…
“I still trust my sister.”
“She’s changed.”
“…”
Of course she hadn’t.
What hurt even more…
Was that Leoni had made the correct decision.
Now I’d become a lying older sister whose sincerity itself looked like another deception.
I’m such an idiot.
At least before my regression…
I had never lied to my sister.
We never hid our hostility.
Whenever we met, we fought.
We snarled.
We poisoned one another.
We sent assassins after each other.
But…
We never lied.
I had always believed that was our own twisted version of honor.
Our own way of dueling.
So I murmured absentmindedly,
“I’ve become…”
“A coward, Young Master.”
“Coward or not, if you’re finished here, let’s go home.”
The tears I’d been holding back disappeared instantly.
“Huh?!”
Still sitting on the ground, I whipped my head around.
No one was there.
Then, before I realized what was happening…
My body lifted into the air.
At some point he’d walked behind me and simply picked me up.
A moment later my feet touched the ground.
Immediately, a sharp sting shot through one foot.
It lasted only an instant, but apparently he’d noticed my expression tighten.
He clicked his tongue.
“I knew this would happen.”
“Who sprints across a mountain wearing indoor slippers?”
Before I could answer…
He picked me up again.
Seriously…
Did he think people were puppies?
Instead of boasting about his strength, he just casually carried me over to the horse he’d ridden here.
The horse resembled a racehorse.
Large.
Jet black.
Its sleek coat gleamed under the moonlight.
And unlike Thunderroot…
It actually had a saddle.
He placed the reins in my hands.
My slippers—apparently he’d already taken them off me again—were dangling from his other hand.
“This one has a terrible temperament.”
“He causes quite a scene whenever anyone else tries to ride him.”
I realized he was talking about the horse I was now sitting on.
But…
“He seems perfectly calm?”
If anything, he looked remarkably gentle.
Even before my regression I’d learned that horses often tested their riders.
The moment I’d climbed aboard, I’d known.
This horse is incredibly docile.
To prove it, I leaned against his neck, stroked his mane with one hand, and rubbed his nose.
The horse immediately stretched out his tongue and licked my hand.
“Hah… Look at that traitor…”
Ignoring Owen’s muttered complaint of betrayal, I sat up straight and continued petting the horse.
“Take good care of me, Clippety-Clop.”
“What sort of bizarre name is that?”
“It’s what my heart decided.”
Just as I took hold of the reins, preparing to set off—
Without making a sound, Owen climbed onto the horse behind me.
“Let’s go.”
“What?”
“We’re riding together?!”
His chest rested directly against my back.
Every time he spoke, I could feel the vibrations through his body.
For someone with such a crooked personality…
He had an incredibly pleasant voice.
As if nothing were unusual, he wrapped one arm around me and took the reins with both hands.
“What?”
“You expect the lady to ride while I walk?”
“You can ride Thunderbolt!”
“You mean Thunderroot.”
“And riding without a saddle isn’t easy for me either.”
“You’ve stolen my horse, and now you’re complaining?”
You’re the one who put me on your horse!
Glancing back, I saw Thunderroot standing there looking oddly pitiful.
It almost seemed as though he was accusing me of abandoning him after he’d faithfully carried me all this way.
“Thunderroot…”
“Will he be able to follow us?”
“If he wants to live, he’ll follow.”
“Well…”
That was true.
“We’ll go slowly.”
His voice softened slightly, almost as though he were reassuring me.
The speed didn’t really matter.
Oddly enough…
I found myself enjoying this little excursion.
So I quietly nodded.
* * *
Clippety-Clop really did walk at a leisurely pace.
Behind us, Thunderroot followed obediently.
I could feel Owen’s warm breath above the crown of my head.
When my fiancé Arnold merely held my hand, I felt an inexplicable sense of disgust.
Yet here I was, pressed against Arnold’s older brother…
And somehow…
I didn’t mind at all.
If anything…
My heart beat at just the right pace.
With his chest against my back, I felt strangely secure.
Since we were both holding the reins, every sway of the horse caused us to bump lightly against one another.
It wasn’t unpleasant.
Except…
There was one thing that became increasingly impossible to ignore.
The long, pepper-grinder-like object pressing against my backside.
Arnold barely showed anything even in tight trousers…
But this man…
Does that thing go all the way down his thigh?!
I fought the overwhelming urge to fan my burning face.
The more I thought about it, the worse it’d get.
So instead I distracted myself by examining the black horse beneath us.
A paper shopping bag with handles hung from the saddle.
Inside were my slippers…
The extinguished torch…
A cube puzzle that looked like a children’s toy…
A fountain pen made for children…
And a brightly colored notebook.
Something occurred to me.
“By the way…”
“Where were you headed this late at night?”
“Don’t tell me you have a secret lover?”
“I do not.”
A handsome man like this has no lover?
What a loss for the Empire.
Still…
He stubbornly refused to explain where he’d been.
So I began making deductions on my own.
That sort of paper bag came from the shopping district in the capital.
Why would the eldest son of a ducal family personally run errands instead of sending servants?
Especially this late at night.
Pretending not to care, I subtly shifted, trying to peek inside the bag.
I was immediately stopped.
“Moving around on horseback is dangerous.”
Tch.
Still…
I’d already seen enough.
My slippers.
The torch.
The children’s cube puzzle.
The fountain pen.
The colorful notebook.
…Huh?
Those were all things meant for children.
But as far as I knew, House Glentino only had three fully grown sons.
Judging by those supplies, they were meant for a child under ten.
Yet…
The eldest son was unmarried.
The second son was my fiancé.
The youngest had only recently married.
There shouldn’t have been any child in the ducal household who needed such things.
Forget it.
It’s none of my business.
Especially considering…
Before my regression…
I’d never had anything to do with this man.
I quickly abandoned the thought.
* * *
Soon we emerged from the mountain path.
The familiar streets I’d known all my life finally came into view.
Only then did I begin to relax.
Nothing had really been resolved…
But looking at it another way…
Things weren’t entirely bad.
My sister might now feel even more betrayed by me than she had before my regression…
But she was alive.
I’d returned young and healthy.
I’d been given another chance.
I’d get to see Popo again.
And somehow…
I was riding home on the horse of the eldest son of House Glentino—a man I’d barely known in my previous life.
“This is nice.”
The words slipped out before I realized it.
“Hm?”
“Being alive.”
“That surprises me.”
“You don’t seem to value your own life very much.”
Still just as sarcastic as ever.
There went my sentimental moment.
Still…
Even I knew riding bareback over a mountain with an untrained body had been reckless.
Maybe I’d simply become too excited after regressing.
I mumbled an excuse.
“It was… an emergency.”
“My sister almost died.”
“…”
If he knew…
If he knew how many assassins I’d already sent after Leoni…
He’d probably think I was ridiculous.
He’d probably accuse me of pretending.
But somehow…
I no longer cared.
And for some reason…
I had a feeling he wouldn’t care much either.
For a long time…
He said nothing.
Sleepiness gradually washed over me.
Come to think of it…
I’d overdone things today.
My thigh muscles ached from riding with an untrained body.
My backside hurt.
The night air was cold.
My eyelids drooped.
Again…
And again.
I forced my eyes open each time my head started to nod.
Then…
A low voice sounded behind me.
“Instead of worrying about a sister surrounded by layers of bodyguards…”
“Perhaps you should worry about yourself.”
“I have…”
“I have a bodyguard too.”
Ah.
I shouldn’t have said that.
But my sleepy brain betrayed my better judgment.
“Who?”
