Chapter 3 (Part 6)

As the sound of horses neighing reached them from a distance, Reinis’s face lit up with anticipation rather than showing signs of fatigue.  

She had never learned horseback riding, and the only times she had seen horses up close were when riding in carriages. Once, after receiving an invitation to Chloe’s riding class, she had watched girls her age freely riding horses and thought to herself that she wanted to learn to ride too.  

‘When I told Mother that I wanted to learn horseback riding, she scolded me, saying, “Do you have any idea how expensive horses are? Our family could go bankrupt because of you.”’  

At the unpleasant memory, Reinis’s expression turned gloomy as she stopped in front of the large stables.  

“Could it be… are all of these horses?!”  

From the distant sounds of neighing, she had guessed there were several, but even at a glance, there seemed to be dozens of them.  

For Reinis, who had been told that even a single horse could bankrupt a family, the sight was overwhelming.  

As she stood outside, unable to step into the seemingly endless stables, Heldor stopped beside her. The stable hands, who had been working, all turned their gazes toward the entrance simultaneously.  

One of the older stable hands ran up to the two of them.  

“Oh my, Lady, what brings you all the way here… Ah, are you here to see the horses?”  

When an elderly servant appeared, Reinis bowed her head politely to greet him. Heldor, stepping in front of her, spoke firmly.  

“We’re just stopping by for a short break on our way from the training grounds to the main building. Be careful not to act rudely while the lady is here.”  

At those words, Reinis quickly interjected.  

“Oh, no… Please don’t worry about me. I didn’t come here to be a bother.”  

“A bother? It’s an honor that you have taken the time to visit us directly, Lady.” 

The servant replied respectfully.  

Reinis, smiling at his polite demeanor, said,  

“If it’s not too much trouble for you all, I’d like to take a look around… Would that be alright?”  

“Trouble? Not at all. I’ll call someone to guide you so that you can look around comfortably.”  

* * *  

Before following after Reinis, Theodore, who had been discussing her private tutor with Rio, suddenly fell into deep thought with a serious expression.  

“You know how intimidating you look when you frown like that? Even when you’re expressionless, you’re scary enough.” 

Rio remarked in a serious tone, addressing Theodore, who was furrowing his brow.  

“Am I really that scary?”  

“It’s not like you haven’t heard it before, so why are you asking now?”  

“Scary, huh…” 

Theodore muttered to himself, pressing his fingers to his forehead.  

He recalled the times when knights training in the arena had asked if he was angry because of his stern, expressionless face.  

‘Surely, the lady doesn’t find my face frightening too, does she?’  

Lowering his hand, Theodore silently gazed in the direction Reinis had gone.  

“Why don’t we go and see the lady as well?” 

Rio suggested, noticing Theodore’s concern.  

Thanks to Rio’s words, the two of them set off to find Reinis.  

After walking for a while, they found themselves heading toward the stables, where they could hear laughter. As they drew closer, Reinis’s voice became clearer.  

“How can you be so beautiful? So obedient, too. You said this one’s name is Ken, right?”  

“Yes. By the way, this is truly amazing. Ken has never allowed anyone other than his master to touch him before.”  

“Really? But he’s so gentle!”  

Hearing Reinis’s voice, Rio and Theodore couldn’t hide their surprise as they approached. 

Reinis was stroking the white horse, Ken, who was nuzzling his face against her hand, as if he found her endearing.  

“That’s definitely the same horse I know, right? The one who, just like his master, absolutely hates being touched by anyone other than you.” 

Rio said, watching the scene.  

Without responding to Rio’s comment, Theodore slowly approached her.  

“It seems the horse likes the lady.”

Startled by Theodore’s sudden appearance, Reinis quickly withdrew her hand from Ken and stepped back.  

“C-Commander? What brings you here…?”

Her reaction, as though she were frightened, reminded Theodore of the conversation he had with Rio earlier.  

‘I need to make sure the lady doesn’t find me scary… I should relax my expression.’  

Filling his mind with such thoughts, Theodore tried to lift the corners of his lips. However, there was a stark difference between a natural smile and one forced with conscious effort—it gave off a completely different atmosphere.  

“I admit it was wrong of me to touch your horse without your permission, Commander… But surely, there’s no need to be so angry about it.” 

“Angry? I’m smiling at you right now…”  

Before Theodore could finish his sentence, Rio’s face popped up beside him. Watching Theodore’s expression, Rio frowned and stepped back.  

“Wow… That’s seriously terrifying. Why are you so angry?”  

Theodore, now scowling, glared at Rio.  

‘Angry? I’m trying my best to smile here.’  

Despite his thoughts, the expressions of those around him—Reinis, Rio, and even the stable keeper—were all grim.  

Realizing that he had unintentionally made a strange face, Theodore sighed. Misunderstanding the meaning of his sigh, Reinis lowered her head with a troubled expression.  

“I’m sorry. From now on, I won’t go anywhere without your permission, Commander. And of course, I won’t touch your things without asking either. I’ll just take my leave now.”  

“I’m not angry…!”  

Before he could finish his words, Reinis had already left the stable.  

Heldor, who had been watching the situation from the side, hurriedly approached Theodore.  

“Commander, no matter how much you dislike Ken’s attachment to the lady, you shouldn’t get so angry.”  

“I told you, I wasn’t angry!”  

Frustrated, Theodore shouted out loud. However, what he received in return were Rio’s reaction of shaking his head as if he found Theodore pathetic and Heldor’s response of bowing his head with an expressionless face.  

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can side with you this time, Commander. I’ll follow after the lady.”  

Theodore felt wronged. He had only tried to smile as much as possible, thinking that she was scared of his face, but now he was being misunderstood as being angry. At that moment, he noticed a young boy who had been guiding Reinis through the stable.  

“You, what’s your name?”  

“R-R-Roni… Sir….” 

The boy stammered.  

“Do I look angry to you?”  

Terrified to even look directly at Theodore’s furrowed brow, Roni began trembling and suddenly bowed deeply, shouting, 

“I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!”  

Theodore let out a short sigh at the sight.  

He was a bit shocked at how scared the boy seemed to be of him. And then, he felt even more disheartened, imagining what Reinis must have thought while looking at him like that.  

For a moment, the image of Reinis and Rio laughing happily together flashed through his mind. It was a smile completely different from the one she showed when she was with him.  

“Damn it.”  

Consumed by the misunderstanding that she couldn’t smile brightly because she was afraid of him, Theodore muttered a curse under his breath and ruffled his hair in frustration.  

Meanwhile, as Reinis walked away with determined steps, she couldn’t stop the tears welling up in her eyes.  

‘It’s true that touching the Commander’s horse without permission was my fault… But Roni and the other stable keepers said it was okay to touch him… No matter how angry he was, did he really have to scowl like that…?’  

Thinking back to how Earl Plarad, the Baroness, or even her father had treated her, a simple scowl was nothing.  

But for some reason, Theodore’s reaction left her feeling deeply hurt.  

Hot tears began to spill from her eyes, and she found herself resenting Theodore, who had looked at her with such a scowling expression. It was the first time she had felt such sadness and anger toward someone other than herself, but Reinis was completely unaware of that fact.  

‘He said he wanted to protect me, but I didn’t expect him to get so angry just because I touched his horse…’  

Engulfed in distressing emotions, Reinis halted her steps at the sound of footsteps chasing after her.  

“Sir Hel, why didn’t you stop me from touching Ken? You knew that he was the Commander’s cherished horse, didn’t you? Why… why didn’t you tell me that someone like me touching something precious to the Commander would upset him?”  

Her head hung low as she suppressed her emotions, pressing them down tightly while asking her question. Hel could not find the words to respond.  

He had no idea what he could say to ease Reinis’s feelings.  

“There’s no need to keep an eye on me. I’ll just go back to my room and stay quietly there.”  

When no response came, Reinis bit her lower lip tightly and spoke.  

Unable to find any words of comfort, Hel had no choice but to follow after her from a distance, far enough that she wouldn’t sense his presence, as he watched her retreating figure.  

“Young Lady, what’s wrong?”  

Upon seeing Reinis return to her room with tear-streaked cheeks, Yuria exclaimed in shock.  

The moment she saw Yuria, Reinis burst into even more sorrowful sobs.  

Hearing her cries, Emma rushed over in alarm and looked at Yuria as if to ask what had happened. However, Yuria returned the look with an equally puzzled expression, indicating she had no idea either.  

Sensing that something must have happened, Emma stepped outside the room and spotted Theodore walking toward the room from a distance. Emma quickly approached Theodore with a worried expression and asked,  

“The young lady started crying sorrowfully the moment she returned to her room. What on earth happened? Did something happen to her outside?”  

Hearing the question, Theodore pressed his lips together tightly and rubbed his forehead.  

‘Something definitely happened between the two of them. I need to stop Master from entering the young lady’s room before things escalate.’  

Theodore, who had been glaring coldly at Emma as she blocked his path to Reinis’s room, let out a sigh and said,  

“I need to see her. Step aside.”  

“Please come back later. It’s not proper to enter a lady’s room without permission when she’s crying like that.”  

“I said, move aside.”  

“If you go in now, it might upset the lady even more. Are you okay with that?”  

At Emma’s question, Theodore let out a short sigh and turned around without saying a word, heading to his office.