IRTP 10

Chapter 10

The Bet (2)

Selina drooped her eyebrows and put on a pitiful expression.

“Ouch. I simply can’t walk, Your Highness.”

Good grief, unbelievable.

Blair felt her blood boil at the sight of Selina putting on every possible display of exaggeration the moment Kalinz appeared. This time, she couldn’t just laugh off her fox-like antics as cute.

“Selina, right now, because of you, Tilda’s—”

“Selina Valenberg. You are severely failing to grasp the situation.”

Before Blair could even finish speaking, a chillingly cold voice spread low through the air.

“Y-yes? No, I was just…….”

Selina stammered in confusion at Kalinz’s ice-cold voice.

“You say it wasn’t intentional, but because of you, two innocent people nearly died. And where exactly are you hurt?”

“I-it wasn’t two! And I didn’t know Tilda’s horse would end up like that—”

“No one can be guaranteed safety next to a horse running wild like that. In the first place, Tilda’s horse was agitated because of your horse. And there was no guarantee Blair’s horse wouldn’t have done the same.”

He continued to press Selina relentlessly, his jaw muscles taut. Eventually, Selina’s face turned bright red, and tears welled up in her eyes.

“Well, maybe if someone hadn’t worn such cumbersome clothes—”

“Your Highness. The bet is not yet over.”

Blair impulsively cut off Kalinz.

Of course, Blair also felt like cursing at Selina’s behavior, but that didn’t mean the girl deserved to be criticized for her choice of clothing by the prince. After all, why would she have worn such uncomfortable clothes in the first place?

‘Does he really not know she wore that to look good for him, or what.’

“…….”

Kalinz looked at her with raised eyebrows, as if her words were quite interesting. His expression, which had seemed cold enough to freeze, had softened somewhat before she knew it.

“There’s another cart for the injured coming from over there, so wait and ride that one.”

Ernst, who had been watching the situation, let out a sigh and informed Selina. Then he hurriedly departed with the cart carrying Tilda.

Selina seemed rather shocked; despite Ernst’s words, she stood silently staring at the ground.

“So, what did you mean by the bet not being over?”

Kalinz asked Blair in a considerably softened voice.

“Oh, that’s…… I mean literally that it’s not over yet. Haha.”

Blair continued speaking, thinking to herself that she had no idea what she was saying.

“Your bet with me has nothing to do with other people, does it? Whoever passes the finish line first between the two of us wins.”

“……So you’re saying let’s start the race again now?”

“It’s not impossible.”

Kalinz stared at her intently before bursting into a soft laugh.

“I felt this earlier when I went back for Miss Tilda, but. You really are fearlessly brave, Miss Blair.”

Unable to tell whether he was being sarcastic or not, Blair didn’t know how to respond and simply stroked Fitz’s face.

“Very well. Let’s start again from here. A bet is a bet, after all. However, no handicaps this time.”

Blair turned to look at him with a surprised expression.

Of course, she had also been about to suggest starting without any handicap this time. Going back for Tilda had been her own choice, so she hadn’t felt comfortable asking him for another handicap.

But she hadn’t expected him to bring it up first.

“You look like you’re not pleased.”

“……Let’s just say it’s because I think too highly of Your Highness’s chivalry.”

Blair muttered sulkily as she climbed back onto Fitz’s back. Then Kalinz, mounting his saddle as well, said,

“Ah, I’ve really come to want to win this bet.”

His golden eyes, melted with warm spring sunlight, openly collided with hers. Under that gaze, Blair’s face flushed hot for some reason.

“Besides, seeing your riding skills, I don’t think a handicap is even necessary.”

He added with an interested smile. That smile made Blair embarrassed, and she cleared her throat several times for no reason.

“Then when I count to three, we depart simultaneously.”

Blair nodded slightly without a word.

“One.”

His smooth voice rang in her ears.

“Two.”

The sound of her deep breath stirred in the air.

“Three—!”

With the sound of the two of them kicking off powerfully, a refreshing breeze swept across the vast meadow.

For the first stretch, the two riders’ speeds were about even. Knox and Fitz seemed delighted to be running side by side after so long, galloping joyfully.

But the difference in the two horses’ builds was considerable, and Fitz had lost his energy earlier from being next to the agitated Tilda’s horse, so he couldn’t perform at his full condition.

Eventually, Blair began falling behind Kalinz, and her mouth ran dry.

‘Ah, I should have just accepted the handicap instead of being stubborn.’

She was sighing as she watched his receding figure when a signpost with faint lettering caught her eye in the distance.

“Hunting… grounds entrance?”

In that moment, a brilliant idea flashed through her mind like lightning.

The route to Reden Lake, where the finish line was, was designed to go around the forest containing the hunting grounds. Which meant that if she went through the forest with the hunting grounds, she could go straight to the finish line.

If she could just go that way, overtaking Kalinz would be no trouble at all. No—if she was lucky, it even seemed possible to catch up to Olivia, who had gone far ahead.

Blair didn’t deliberate long and immediately turned the reins.

As she quickly veered onto the path toward the hunting grounds, she failed to see the faint, small text written at the bottom of the signpost.

[No Entry. Dangerous Wildlife Habitat]

***

Kalinz crossed the meadow, enjoying the pleasant breeze on Knox’s back. And he recalled the sight of Blair earlier, rushing back along the path at full speed.

‘She probably didn’t have much contact with Tilda Royce either.’

No, in the first place, Blair Merbis wasn’t close with anyone in the royal castle. During her time as a Fronse, she looked utterly unmotivated, like someone just counting down the days until she could leave.

‘The more I see her, the more interesting she is.’

Of course, he hadn’t been interested in Blair from the start.

Even on the day she first entered the royal castle, Blair had been wearing nothing but forced smiles with an expression that said she was bored to death.

If she was going to be like that, why become a Fronse at all? Was she planning to walk away with the prestige of being a Fronse alumna or something?

That was the entirety of his first impression of her.

It had only been recently that he learned the woman who had overheard his and Erne’s argument about the “wig” in the garden that day was Blair—that was how little interest Kalinz had had in her.

Then, not long ago, while sneaking out of the royal castle as usual on his way to his hideout, he happened to see Blair.

She was bundled up tightly in a black cloak, but there was no woman in the royal castle with such red, curly hair other than Blair Merbis.

‘Where is she going at this hour, dressed like that?’

Fronse couldn’t leave the castle without special permission during their stay.

But with the black hooded cloak pulled down low and those cautious footsteps, this was absolutely not someone who had received permission to go out.

Kalinz felt intrigued for the first time in a long while. His curiosity thoroughly piqued, he forgot his original destination and followed her.

How far had they walked? The place she arrived at was a quiet lake deep in the forest. Even though it was deep enough that no one would ever set foot there, she navigated the path perfectly—clearly not her first or second time doing this.

He had thought he was second to none at sneaking out of the royal castle past the guards’ eyes, but there was an unexpected rival.

Blair approached a tree near the lake. The tree had only its stump remaining—ugly and bare, as if someone had deliberately cut it down.

She plopped down in front of it and rummaged through her clothes, pulling something out and setting it down. It glinted faintly—looked like jewelry, a necklace or bracelet.

“Allen, I’m here. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Blair muttered to the empty air.

“The hole I used last time got blocked up. I don’t know who made it, but I was using it so well.”

‘A hole? Don’t tell me she means that hole in the wall next to the north gate.’

Kalinz recalled the passage he himself had been caught at by the guard captain while sneaking out of the castle, which had ended up being sealed off.

“So I had a bit of trouble finding a new hole. The security feels like it gets tighter every time.”

She kept chattering on even though there was no one to listen.

She rattled off trivial stories—how there was a dessert last week she’d never tried before that was so delicious she nearly fainted, how a piece of cheese went missing from the kitchen every single day, and how the culprit was actually the butler’s cat.

Like someone lamenting at a grave.

But there was no grave, no tombstone, not even a memorial tablet.

As Kalinz wondered at this, Blair’s topic shifted to “how suffocating life in the royal castle is.”

“Seriously, it’s nothing but stiff, close-minded people!”

She pounded her chest as if venting her frustration.

“Phew. But in two days, this whole prince’s bride selection thing or whatever will finally be over! Then I’m free, Allen!”

“Pfft.”

At the crude words that burst out alongside her bright laughter, Kalinz couldn’t help but let out a small, unintended laugh.

“W-what? Who’s there!?”

Blair shot to her feet and cried out sharply.