As Martin had warned, Evelyn’s daily routine became completely filled with lessons about Bait.

In the morning, she studied Bait’s political situation with Martin. After lunch, she met with Baroness Hermann to learn etiquette, culture, and dance.

And finally, the day to learn horseback riding arrived.

From her position at the riding arena where she had come early to wait, Evelyn saw Reynard approaching, leading a horse.

“Did you wait long?”

Reynard asked with a slight smile.

“No, I just got here,”

Evelyn replied, shaking her head, then turned her gaze to the horse he had brought. The horse was Epha—the same one she had ridden during their journey to Bait.

“That’s Epha, right?”

She asked, stepping toward Epha with a delighted expression.

“Yes, that’s right. I figured it would be best for you to ride a horse you’re already familiar with. And more than anything, Epha is a gentle horse—perfect for beginners.”

Indeed, Reynard was right.

From the few days she had spent riding Epha, Evelyn knew the horse to be gentle, intelligent, and fond of people. Epha was well-suited for someone like Evelyn, who was still new to horseback riding.

With a warm heart, Evelyn approached Epha. As if the horse remembered her, Epha stepped forward and rubbed its head against her cheek.

Evelyn laughed softly and stroked the bridge of Epha’s nose, and the horse let out a pleased sound.

Watching the scene unfold, Reynard smiled quietly.

After greeting Epha, Evelyn suddenly had a question and turned to look at Reynard.

“May I ask you something, Your Majesty?”

“As much as you’d like.”

“When I joined you before, the carriages were all destroyed, so I had no choice but to ride with you on Epha to the next village. So at the time, I thought horseback riding was just unavoidable.”

“That’s true.”

“But now that we’re in the imperial capital, is there really any need for me to ride a horse? If necessary, I could just use a carriage.”

That was the heart of Evelyn’s question.

After all, she was now the Empress. Was there any reason for someone in her position to ride a horse instead of using a carriage? She wasn’t going to remain Empress forever—at most, a year.

As Reynard had said, she would only be in the capital for a few months. Under those circumstances, she was skeptical about whether it was truly necessary to learn horseback riding.

“Well, that’s a reasonable thought. I was thinking the same thing. But it turns out you’ll need to ride a horse next month.”

“There’s a need to ride next month?”

“Yes. There’s a hunting tournament hosted by the capital.”

“A hunting tournament?”

Evelyn asked, startled by the unfamiliar term. Reynard nodded.

“It’ll be held in less than a month. Originally, it was going to be postponed because of the Hesta incident, but since you’ve returned, it’ll proceed as scheduled.”

“I see.”

“Well, on the day of the event, we’ll have to ride on horseback to get to the hunting grounds. If you’d prefer me to give you a ride again, you don’t have to learn. Is that what you want?”

“No! Not to that extent…”

Evelyn, recalling the memory of riding with Reynard on the way to the capital, turned her gaze away, her face growing hot. Seeing her flustered reaction, Reynard chuckled.

“Any other questions?”

“No, that’s all.”

“The horse you’ll use for training and for the tournament will both be Epha, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“All right.”

Reynard led Epha by the reins to the center of the riding arena, and Evelyn walked alongside him.

“It’s best to start with learning how to mount the horse. Up until now, I’ve helped you, but this time, you’ll need to do it on your own.”

After saying this, Reynard stopped Epha and began explaining the parts of the saddle. Evelyn focused intently on his words, determined not to forget a thing.

“When you mount, you place your foot on this stirrup here and then swing yourself up like this.”

Reynard finished his explanation and demonstrated the move. With ease, he mounted the horse in one fluid motion, prompting Evelyn to let out a small gasp of admiration and nod.

“What do you think? Does it seem doable?”

“I’ll have to try and see.”

There was no confidence in Evelyn’s voice. She had never mounted a horse without help before, so her hesitation was natural.

Reynard dismounted and stepped back to give her space to try. Evelyn recalled exactly what he had done and stepped forward, placing her foot on the stirrup and preparing to mount.

“Ah!”

But instead of getting onto the horse, she merely hopped in place and landed back down.

Flushed with embarrassment at her first failure, Evelyn glanced at Reynard.

Finding her flustered expression incredibly endearing, he let out a soft laugh.

“It’s just because it’s your first time, so you don’t have to be so shy.”

“…Yes.”

“Then try again.”

This time, Evelyn, having made up her mind, jumped once more to mount the horse. However, she couldn’t quite reach the necessary height to get on.

“It’s okay. Try a few more times.”

“Yes.”

Reynard encouraged Evelyn. Though she felt shy and embarrassed, she had to learn how to ride a horse regardless, so Evelyn kept stomping her feet and jumping.

But unfortunately, as someone unaccustomed to using her body, mounting the horse felt especially difficult for Evelyn.

It was when she failed for the seventh time.

“Epha?”

As Evelyn failed repeatedly, Epha, who had been standing still, suddenly turned in place and then folded his legs to sit down on the ground.

Seeing that, Reynard burst into loud laughter.

“Looks like Epha felt sorry for you.”

Epha wasn’t trying to reject Evelyn with that gesture. In fact, it was the opposite. He was being considerate so Evelyn could get on her back more easily.

Evelyn’s face flushed with embarrassment, but more than that, she felt so grateful that Epha recognized her struggles and helped her that she was nearly brought to tears.

“Go on, try getting on.”

Evelyn nodded and gently mounted Epha. Once she was properly seated in the saddle, Epha, who had been sitting with his legs folded, slowly stood up.

Evelyn was briefly startled by the horse’s motion, but she soon realized she was stably mounted and looked at Epha in awe.

“Thank you, Epha.”

She gently stroked Epha’s mane. Epha gave a light snort in response.

“You probably won’t have to worry about mounting anymore. Right?

Reynard, having seen Epha’s thoughtfulness, spoke in a satisfied tone.

It was a little embarrassing, but if not for Epha’s help, Evelyn would have had to keep jumping for quite a while, so she quietly agreed to herself.

“Then let’s move on to riding. Keep your back straight and look straight ahead.”

Reynard said as he placed a hand on Evelyn’s waist. Feeling his touch, Evelyn straightened her back and looked forward.

“There’s a handle on the saddle, so hold onto that for now.”

“Yes.”

Reynard then gently pulled on the reins. Epha began walking slowly in the direction he guided.

Her steps were careful, as if not to startle Evelyn, who might still be clumsy at riding.

“Relax your waist. Like I said before, if you’re tense, the horse will be tense too. That’s how accidents happen.”

Noticing Evelyn was still tensing her waist despite trying to relax, Reynard gave her a reminder. She had heard this before.

“I’ll be careful.”

Once he confirmed Evelyn had relaxed her waist, Reynard began leading the horse again.

“How is it? It’s kind of fun, right?”

Reynard asked with a gentle smile. Evelyn gave a small nod, her face slightly flushed.

“Yes, a little.”

Perhaps it was because Epha was adjusting to Evelyn. Riding felt quite enjoyable.

“We should probably stop here for today.”

How much time had passed? Reynard, judging the time, spoke to her.

Epha, sensing that it was time for Evelyn to dismount, came to a stop. Then he bent his legs to sit and help Evelyn get down.

Evelyn dismounted and gently stroked the bridge of Epha’s nose.

“Rest for today.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Reynard handed the reins to the stable keeper and left first.

Only then did Evelyn move on to her next schedule.