“Threatening me?”
While Xia De was chatting with Angelina, the middle-aged noble wearing a cowboy hat, who was actually a Count and had been running in the leading position of the second group, suddenly slowed down. He and his female companion then kissed while turning onto a slope beside the road, even beginning to touch indescribable parts of each other.
Xia De didn't know what they would do next, because he had already overtaken them, inexplicably moving up another position.
“I know, my sister must have also caught you by your weakness, that’s why she’s threatening you, right? Like—”
The little princess sitting in front of Xia De continued, then pinched her voice to change it:
“Knight, you wouldn’t want your cat to suddenly disappear, would you?”
She tried hard to imitate Leia’s voice, and Xia De was no longer sure which matter shocked him more.
He only heard laughter and teasing from others behind him, then the Count’s curses from down the slope, growing fainter as the distance increased:
“Compared to this damn race, aren’t the ladies more interesting? Go ride your horses! Don’t send anyone to look for me later!”
Perhaps his view would be agreed upon by most people.
Seeing that Xia De didn’t speak, Angelina continued:
“How could a gentleman as upright, kind, honest, and brave as you suddenly fall for Leia? She doesn’t have that kind of charm.”
She probably underestimated Leia’s charm, and since she certainly didn’t know the secret between Leia and Dorothy, she couldn’t guess that the story between Xia De and Leia was far more than what she saw. Plus, every time she saw Xia De and Leia together, Leia was always relatively “stronger,” which led to this misconception.
Xia De wanted to clarify this misunderstanding, but the dirt road ahead was quite difficult to navigate. The ground was bumpy and uneven, unlike the smooth roads directly in front of Lakeview Manor, so he had to concentrate on riding his horse:
“Angelina, actually, I…”
“I know, you actually have a good impression of Sister Leia.”
She finally got that right. As she spoke, she looked up at Xia De’s face. Xia De nervously gripped the reins, not daring to look around, for fear of a “traffic” accident.
“Mr. Hamilton, don’t you think your situation and mine are very similar? My sister is also using the promise of my freedom to control me, but she also genuinely treats me well, and I like my sister very much, but I always want to gain true, unfettered freedom.”
By this point, more than half of the race was over. On the bumpy horseback, Xia De held Angelina tightly with his arms to prevent her from falling. But Angelina’s riding skills were clearly far superior to Xia De’s; this level of bumping was no problem for her at all.
“I know Sister Leia’s ambition. She needs me, and I need her. But I really want to… Mr. Hamilton, actually, we are the ones who stand together.”
The little princess was trying to articulate her point of view.
“Hmm… What do you want to do?”
Xia De hesitated for a moment before asking, suspecting that this sixteen-year-old princess had the thought of “I can replace her.”
A look of joy appeared on Angelina Cavendish’s face:
“Let’s help each other in the future, keeping it from Sister Leia. If we have things we don’t want her to know, we can communicate around her.”
She said in a low voice, as if worried that Leia, far away in the manor, might hear. Xia De breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although most of the Cavendish Family’s descendants were ambitious, a sixteen-year-old would indeed not think too much:
“No problem.”
He nodded and agreed. Angelina Cavendish just didn’t want marriage to become a bargaining chip in the King’s hand. Helping her was a righteous act, and the Outsider was happy to lend a hand. As for private communication, Xia De didn’t think Angelina could truly get around Leia; she probably had no idea how many tricks Leia really had.
Seeing that Xia De actually agreed, the little princess seemed very happy. She reached out and grabbed the reins that Xia De was holding, turning sideways to say:
“Knight, it seems that your claim of not being good at riding is truly not a lie.”
There was a light tone in her voice:
“Let go, I’ll take control. We’ve only run half a lap, there’s still a chance.”
Saying that, she slightly spread her arms, actually forcing Xia De to release the reins.
Under the setting sun, the female knight’s red long hair also appeared so lustrous. The position where Xia De and Angelina were already was the first in the second group. Now, with Xia De letting go and the sudden acceleration, they quickly caught up to Brady Baron, who was in first place.
The Baron’s Miracle was quite exquisite. His only weakness was that every time he reached out to pluck a strip of paper from a wooden pole, he would subconsciously slow down. But this was no problem for Angelina at all; she didn’t even need Xia De to reach out. She could easily snatch the paper strip herself as they sped past the servants.
The latter half of the horse race concluded with Brady Baron gradually slowing down and Xia De and Angelina slowly catching up.
When they returned to the straight road in front of Lakeview Manor again, and could see the people waiting at the finish line in the distance, Angelina let go of the reins again, allowing Xia De to regain control of the riding rhythm.
Because Xia De and Angelina were in second place from beginning to end, no one noticed that the rider had changed midway. And on the final accelerating straightaway, this racehorse, carefully selected from Leimer Racecourse, demonstrated extremely excellent straight-line acceleration technique.
At the start of the straight-line acceleration, it was still a full horse-length behind Brady Baron in front, but when it finally crossed the finish line, it was actually a horse-head’s distance faster than the Baron.
As Xia De pulled the reins to slow down, cheers already erupted from behind him. While Xia De was flustered trying to get the excited horse to stop, Brady Baron easily stopped behind Xia De:
“Knight, I didn’t expect you to be not only good at rhode cards, but also so excellent at riding.”
Although the Baron lost the race, he still spoke gracefully. Of course, he received a kiss when he helped his wife dismount, which was probably also why the middle-aged noble was in a good mood:
“The final straight-line acceleration was excellent.”
He took off his glove, extended his hand, and shook Xia De’s hand, who was a bit embarrassed.
“Yes, Hamilton of Thunder Jeed’s riding skills are quite good.”
Angelina, who had already dismounted, said with a smile. Once she stood steady on the ground, mimicking the actions of the female companions of other riders who were arriving, she also stood on her tiptoes and kissed Xia De on the cheek.
Although Xia De was rumored to be Miss Jialinna’s lover, it was normal to give the winning knight a kiss after a horse race at a wedding banquet. So, although Xia De felt even more embarrassed, everyone else thought it was quite normal.
The people who returned one after another congratulated Xia De, and the spectators also praised Xia De’s final straight-line acceleration as quite professional. His horse racing experience at Leimer Racecourse in the autumn seemed to have been spread by Queen Diana. Therefore, people assumed that Xia De was indeed very good at riding, and were not surprised by this result at all.
Only Xia De himself knew that his victory had little to do with him; it was mainly because the horse’s bloodline was truly outstanding.
But no matter what, amidst the praises of the crowd, he did indeed win the first major game of the evening’s banquet.
The manor’s middle-aged butler very politely brought over the prize. Under the onlookers’ gaze, Xia De put away the gilded silver brooch and then handed the small mirror to Angelina.
Xia De hugged his cat, and the little princess held the mirror without giving it to her maid for safekeeping. Just as the butler had said when they set off, the sun had now completely disappeared, and the starry sky twinkled overhead. Princess Angelina’s face was slightly flushed, and she waved goodbye to Xia De with her free hand:
“Knight, enjoy tonight’s banquet. I’m going to change back into a dress. This outfit, while convenient for riding, is really too ugly… I had a lot of fun.”
She said the latter half of the sentence as if a bit shy, then took her maid and walked back into the manor, quickly disappearing into the brightly lit courtyard crowd.
Xia De looked at the silver brooch in his hand, accepting people’s congratulations while pinning it to his chest:
“Does this count as a demonstration of strength?”
“Riding a horse? What kind of strength does that demonstrate? No, this is far from enough.”
Xia De gazed at the bustling and lively courtyard in front of him, listening to the music and laughter, a smile curving on his lips:
“Yes, that didn’t count. Next, I want to win a round myself!”
There was still a long night ahead, and Xia De still had many things to do.
After the horse race ended, the news of Xia De’s victory somehow became widely known in a very short time. As Xia De continued to wander around the banquet, people would occasionally ask him about the details of the horse race, then laugh loudly, praising the extravagance and expense of the banquet.
Of course, no one would consider this a waste. In the eyes of the nobles, this was an excellent opportunity to display their family’s prestige. Moreover, looking at the royal family’s attitude, after this wedding, Duke Eisberg would probably further control the power of the Northern Army and be more highly regarded by the King.
Xia De was just very curious why Larus III, who had always been wary of others gaining too much power, and could even mercilessly execute his own son, had no precautions against Duke Eisberg at all.
Xia De didn't wander for long. Less than ten minutes after the horse race ended, he met his neighbor, Mr. Smith, by a long table in the courtyard.
Mr. Smith was dressed in an old-fashioned black suit with a bow tie. Before his retirement, he was the chief secretary of the Kingdom’s Ministry of Finance. After retiring, he not only received the Kingdom Contribution Medal but also earned the honorary title of Baron.
Although he was only an honorary Baron whose title could not be inherited, relying on his contributions and connections before retirement, this old gentleman, who would go out walking his dog with his wife every day and greet Xia De warmly when they met, actually had more prestige than those impoverished hereditary nobles.
