As the horses carrying their jockeys lined up behind the starting gates, an enormous roar rose from the crowd.

Kyla’s heartbeat began to quicken.

The vague fear she had felt about the horse race was gradually becoming real before her eyes.

Inside her gloves, her palms had grown damp with sweat.

“Kyla, are you alright? You don’t look well….”

Jayden, seated beside her, studied her face with concern.

“Ah… yes, Brother. It’s just a little hot. I’m fine now.”

Kyla forced the corners of her lips upward, trying to reassure him.

‘That’s right. It’s just the heat. The race hasn’t even started yet.’

‘It’s fine. It’s fine….’

She repeated the words silently to herself.

“Yes, the weather’s nice today, but it is rather warm. I’ll go get some lemonade. Miss Rothermere, would you like some as well?”

Jayden rose from his seat, glancing at Penelope, who was fanning herself.

“Yes, please. It really is quite hot today.”

Penelope smiled in gratitude.

The moment Jayden left to buy the lemonade, the first race began.

Bang!

With the sharp sound of the starting signal, the gates flew open.

Sixteen horses burst forward at once, charging ahead at tremendous speed.

The thunder of their hooves, racing with frightening intensity, shook the ground beneath them, cutting through the roar of the crowd.

Kyla’s heart pounded violently in her chest.

She realized then that she had been terribly wrong.

This was madness.

She should never have come to the racecourse.

The horses were running far faster than she had imagined.

And worse, they were racing so close together that their bodies seemed almost pressed against one another.

If either the jockey or the horse made even the slightest mistake, it felt as though the animals would collide instantly, causing a terrible accident.

The competition was fierce. Every jockey had lifted themselves from the saddle, almost standing as they urged their horses forward.

Two horses running at the front were especially intense—surging ahead, then falling behind again—so close they seemed on the verge of brushing against each other.

Both the riders and the horses looked as though they had staked their very lives on the race, whipping and spurring forward at terrifying speed.

Then, the shouting of the crowd began to fade.

Until she could hear nothing at all.

In Kyla’s ears, only the pounding of her own heartbeat echoed loudly.

It felt as though her entire body were throbbing with it.

Before her eyes appeared the image of a horse collapsing after being struck by a polo stick.

Her hands trembled violently.

She clasped them together so tightly that her nails dug into her skin, but the shaking would not stop.

The coppery stench of blood from the dying horse filled her senses.

She knew it was impossible.

She knew the smell existed only in her memory—only in the terrible fear rising from the past. But the sickening scent seemed to grow stronger and stronger.

Feeling nauseous, Kyla suddenly stood.

“E-excuse me… just a moment.”

“Oh my, Miss Feilding, the race is reaching its cl*max.”

“Yes… I’m sorry. I just need to… fix my makeup.”

“Ah, I see.”

Penelope looked up at her in surprise for a moment, but the race had entered its final stretch, and her attention quickly returned to the track.

Silas also seemed to glance in her direction, but Kyla—on the verge of collapsing—had no room left to care about his gaze.

All she could do was leave the viewing stand without staggering, pretending everything was normal. She forced strength into her trembling legs and walked slowly forward.

‘Don’t fall.’

She did not want Jayden to worry.

And…

she did not want to collapse in such a humiliating way in front of that man.

Gripping the hem of her dress tightly, Kyla stepped out of the viewing area.

The moment she reached the corridor outside, she leaned heavily against the wall and gasped.

“Hah…!”

She had not even been running, yet it felt as though her heart might burst from her chest.

Her breath caught painfully in her throat.

Her vision turned white, and she felt as though she might faint at any moment.

The more desperately she tried not to remember, the more vividly every moment of that day resurfaced.

And then—

she saw her father’s face, lying on the carpet soaked in bright red blood.

‘No… if I collapse here… please… please calm down….’

Because the race was in full swing, almost no one was in the corridor outside the stands. At least, she thought so. Her vision and hearing were too blurred to be certain.

“Hah… hah….”

At this point, it no longer mattered.

Her mind felt completely empty.

She could barely breathe.

The terror that she might die like this made her consciousness begin to fade.

Just then—

someone approached.

A large shadow fell across her.

Black tails of a formal coat came into view.

“…….”

The owner of the shadow seemed to be saying something, but Kyla could barely hear it.

“Hah… hah….”

She felt the man lightly shake her shoulders.

The motion nearly made her collapse, but he caught her and steadied her upright.

‘Jayden…? Why is he here already? I didn’t want him to see me like this….’

Her eyes burned.

When she finally raised her head to see the man’s face, he took hold of her hand.

It was Silas.

Strangely, Kyla felt relieved.

Relieved that the person standing before her was not Jayden.

Relieved that it was him.

The warmth of his bare hand spread directly through her own.

She should have scolded him for such improper behavior.

What kind of man seized a lady’s bare hand without gloves?

It was utterly unacceptable.

And yet, she did not want to let go.

Kyla felt the large hand gripping hers firmly.

It was warm.

For a young man and woman—neither children nor engaged—to hold hands without gloves was something that simply did not happen.

But even so, she found that she did not mind.

“Hah… hah….”

“…Breathe.”

His voice gradually reached her ears.

“Miss Feilding, you need to breathe out.”

“Hah….”

Kyla looked at his face again.

Her vision was blurred with tears.

“Miss Feilding, can you hear my voice?”

“Hah… hah….”

“Try to breathe out slowly. Long and steady.”

“Haa….”

“Good. Once more.”

“Haa….”

“Longer.”

“Haa… haa….”

He reached out and gently brushed her face.

Was he trying to wipe away her tears?

Her face must have been a complete mess, soaked with them.

But somehow, that no longer mattered.

“Are you feeling a little better now?”

“Yes….”

Kyla nodded slowly.

Only then did he release the hand that had been holding hers.

“Your Grace… thank you.”

“Forget the thanks. Do you realize you nearly died just now? If you weren’t feeling well, you should have said something. What were you thinking, walking out here alone and collapsing like that?”

Silas unleashed a long string of scolding words without even pausing for breath, his face twisted with frustration.

“Ah… I’m sorry. But….”

Seeing the anger on his face, the tension inside her suddenly loosened, and she let out a small laugh.

It was weak—barely more than a breath of sound—but it was still laughter.

“You find this amusing?”

He was genuinely angry.

“I’m sorry. It’s just….”

Looking at Silas’s distorted expression, Kyla spoke slowly.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen it… Your Grace… speaking this much.”

A faint smile lingered on her lips, but Silas’s deeply furrowed expression did not ease.

His shadowed eyes were unsteady.

For the first time, she realized that this cold, impenetrable man could also be shaken.

Well, of course he could.

Anyone would panic if someone stood there gasping for breath and crying like that.

Kyla felt touched.

No—truthfully, she felt very touched.

But he would probably return to his usual indifferent self soon enough, saying something that turned a person’s insides upside down.

He was always a man of sudden moods.

Perhaps this concern was simply another one of those whims.

“Miss Rothermere must be waiting inside… Your Grace should go back. I think I’ll go downstairs and rest for a while.”

“In your condition, walking down all those stairs alone would be unreasonable. I’ll escort you.”

“There’s a handrail on the stairs for exactly that purpose. Please don’t worry.”

She looked at him with a faint smile.

Immediately, his brows knit together again.

“If Miss Feilding didn’t insist on such absurd stubbornness, I wouldn’t have to worry.”

“Absurd stubbornness…?”

She was dumbfounded.

She wanted to argue with him, but perhaps because she had nearly collapsed earlier, all the strength had drained from her body. Even glaring at him properly was beyond her now.

In truth, her legs were still trembling.

And if she tried to descend the stairs alone and fell—or twisted her ankle—it would only cause trouble for everyone.

“Alright… then, if you don’t mind… I’ll accept your help for a moment.”

Holding the stair rail with one hand, Kyla placed her other hand lightly on Silas’s arm as they slowly descended the stairs together.

“You can hold on tighter, Miss Feilding.”

“Ah… yes.”

At his words, her face grew strangely warm.

She suddenly remembered the moment in the study when he had caught her as she nearly fell.

Trying to push that memory out of her mind, Kyla bit the soft flesh inside her lip.

When she tightened her grip on Silas’s arm, she felt the firm muscles beneath the fabric shift.

Startled, she quickly released her hand.

Silas simply took her hand again and placed it back on his arm.

Kyla lowered her head, her face flushed with heat.

She did not even know what expression she was making.

But one thing was certain she absolutely did not want him to see it.

“I heard from Riona that you can’t ride horses, Miss Feilding, so I wondered… Was the reason you never attended a horse race because of what happened that day?”

Silas’s voice was slightly hoarse, as though it had caught in his throat.

“Not entirely because of that… but I suppose it isn’t unrelated.”

“Then from now on, it would be best if you didn’t attend horse races. Tell Jayden the truth.”

At Silas’s firm tone, Kyla lifted her head.

“But… my brother will worry a lot.”

“He’ll worry less than if you collapse because you kept the truth from him.”

“Ah… I hadn’t thought of it that way…. You’re right, Your Grace.”

When she immediately accepted his words and nodded, Silas stared at her with a straight face before letting out a short chuckle.

“You’ve changed a lot since you were young. I thought you’d burst into tears and argue, saying, ‘No! That’s not right!’“

Kyla suddenly stopped in the middle of the stairs.

“Don’t tell me… you were just imitating me?”

“You figured it out quickly. Was it fairly accurate?”

He chuckled softly.

Then his eyes met Kyla’s as she glared at him.

Kyla was dumbfounded.

The fact that he still remembered something she had said so long ago surprised her more than anything.

“You’ve changed a lot too, Your Grace. I thought you were someone who liked to argue logically… someone rather serious.”

At Kyla’s remark, Silas burst into laughter.

Kyla pressed her lips together tightly, her face growing hotter and hotter.