Chapter 24: Chapter 24 Can I come to Debita Street? (5)
He was briefly speechless at her conceited attitude, but he was also curious about her horse-riding skills, who boasted about it while comparing her skills with the imperial knights.
He mounted behind her and carefully held the reins. With a slight bow, he saw her red and thin earlobes between the strands of her yellow hair up close. He stretched his legs into the long stirrups, looking into the distance.
Only then did she began to realize her and his strange postures. As she, relatively small, sat in front of him, it looked like she was wrapped in his large arms. She curled into herself, trying to make herself smaller as she felt her hair was shaken by his breath. While he settled on the saddle, she gripped the reins hard enough to mark them with her nails.
“Keep that position…” Seeing her awkward posture, he asked with a suspicious voice, “Are you okay? ”
She quickly straightened her shoulders and said in a sulkily manner, “…Let me start, so be careful not to bite your tongue. ”
Checking her direction and twitching her nose and mouth, she held the reins of the horse as if she was familiar with it. As she lightly nudged the horse with her heels, Balos began to move slowly. As they turned the corner of the alley where the restaurant was located, the sound of the horse’s hooves resonated breezily on the ground.
A little later the white buildings on Devita Boulevard appeared, but Wendy did not slow down the horse from leaning into a full gallop because horse riding after such a long time heightened her mood.
As if it read her mind, Balos was galloping in the middle of the street, cutting through the wind. It was an exciting horse riding for her.
But as the imperial knight who mastered horse-riding skills, Lard quickly put the brakes on Balos’s full galloping. He pulled the horse reins with a firm gesture, shouting, “Whoa, whoa!.”
When its master shouted, Balos quickly calmed down and slowed down.
“Wendy, what are you doing? It’s dangerous if you suddenly speed up on this crowded street!”
He raised his voice for the first time. Of course, its pitch was still low, much like changing from ‘Do’ to ‘Mi’ in the notes, but even that raised voice was rare for him. Not daunted at all by his raised voice, she pouted.
“Why are you making such a fuss? I drove it away from the sidewalk. It looks like you are too worried. I’m not that poor horse rider. ”
As she was playing innocent, Lard knitted his brows. Obviously, she thought she didn’t do anything wrong.
“If you’re really worried, why don’t we ride in a remote place? The Essenturung field is quite close to here. ”
As she was more excited and offered to even change the place, he tightened his grip on the reins again. Sitting in front of him, she couldn’t see his face, but he was probably frowning. Right after he accompanied this naughty lady who tested his patience, he was now in for a rough horse-riding.
“Okay. Let me ride out to the Essenturung field. You can rest easy as I will run slowly until we reach there.”
Having said that, she tried to impress him with her generosity. He looked down on her head as if her attitude was ridiculous. Her hair was neatly parted in the middle.
The parting of her hair that led to the crown was straight, contrary to what he assumed of her personality.
Her thin hair along the straight part was a shining yellow while she rode along. He was on edge as her hair fluttered with Balos’s galloping kept touching his chest. Her waving hair was like an enemy’s flag trying to occupy his heart very aggressively, but he did not think of stopping its access.
As the captain of the Imperial Knights, his response like that was questionable, but he couldn’t afford to pay attention to it. It was too tough for him to do two things at the same time, namely being captivated by her shining hair while holding the reins of Balos galloping like the wind. He felt that it couldn’t be more tough, no matter how fast the horse was galloping, or no matter how strong of a blow an enemy dealt to him. In fact, it was the toughest job he had to do in his entire life.
“Whoa, whoa!”
When they got out of the streets and passed through several small hills, there arrived at a large open field. The Essenturung field was covered with light green grass, clusters of grass swayed in the wind. The fragrant scent of the wind swept over Wendy’s face and Lard’s cheeks.
He was a bit embarrassed by the scent of her skin mixed in the wind. Her hands, gathering her tousled hair and twisting it over her shoulder, caught his eye. He quickly turned his eyes to Balos’s mane when he saw her white neck which seemed to have never been exposed to the sunlight before. As if he thought his behavior was not chivalrous, he rebuked himself for a moment.
“It seems that spring has already passed here. It’s quite hot! As I’m going to drive Balos in earnest from now on, please don’t stop me this time. This guy also seems to be very excited about galloping. So, let me serve your beloved horse today. ”
She spoke cheerfully and laughed. As he was not familiar with her cheerful mood like this, he was a bit embarrassed.
“Giddy up!”
At Wendy’s signal, Balos began to gallop across the field. The brown horse galloped forward at full speed. It kept galloping as if this would be its last freedom. Light green blades of grass scattered behind its hooves, and her yellow hair was scattered over his chest.
It wasn’t until Balos was panting that the ride was over. She felt her face was glowing with a blush. She was even more conscious of Lard’s body temperature behind her. She felt overwhelmed by his body heat, not knowing whether a man’s body temperature was inherently hotter than a woman’s. In the end, she couldn’t stand it and jumped off the horse.
“I saw a stream nearby. Let’s go there to quench our thirst. I think Balos is also thirsty. ”
Getting off Balos after her, he briefly checked Balos’s condition. He seemed a bit tired.
“Good. You go first.”
When Lard agreed, she led Balos and walked without hesitation. Balos trotted very tenderly at her lead. When Balos, notorious for its wild temperament among the imperial knights, was very obedient to her, even Lard felt somehow betrayed. Didn’t it take a long time for Balos to get along with his master Lard, after all? He seemed to crave her attention.
“Here it is.”
A brook of crisp clear water came into view.
The silver stream flowing through large and small rocky crevices seemed to be still cold.
Due to the rain the day before, the water in the stream was high. Pulling Balos under a tall ash tree, she settled under its shade and let the horse drink. As if it was very thirsty, he gulped water without any delay.
As Balos was done, they dipped their hands in the flowing stream and drank palmfuls of water. The stream that flowed from the forest was cold enough for her hands to feel freezing.
“Wendy, I recognize your horse-riding skills. When I watched Balos obeying you, I can see how good you are at handling the horse. Where did you learn horse riding? I think you’ve been riding for a long time.”
Normally, she would have felt conceited at such compliment, but she didn’t reply. While keeping silent for a moment, she was only staring at his hands. She fixed her gaze at the wound on his hand.
He had only gauze on the palm of his right hand instead of wrapping it in a bandage. Although it had been covered by the long sleeves, his uncomfortable movement, using only his left hand while drinking water, caught her eye.
“Wendy?”
She raised her head suddenly at his strange voice, and stared into his gray eyes.
No matter how strange a man was, there was no chance his wound would be healed in one day. She blamed her insensitivity for not having checked his wounds so far. Confirming his wounds, she felt a growing sense of guilt that made her decide to accompany him to the concert of Jerus Orchestra.
“…How does the wound on you hand feel? ”
“… Oh, it’s not bad enough for you to worry. It’s going to heal soon as I’ve had lots them before.”
Wendy felt grateful to him for the first time when he reassured her like that.
As a knight who had to live with a sword, he must value his hand more than anything else.
He could have easily blamed her, even if his blame was not intentional, because she was no more than a commoner woman from the standpoint of the noblemen.
Besides, she kept making a series of poor excuses to evade her responsibility for the wound on his right hand.