Lewd Courtship - Chapter 35

‘This is too nice to be just a stable.’

Killian looked around, inwardly surprised. The kingdom’s stables resembled a showroom. The walls were built with light gray bricks, and the corridor was finished with high-quality wood, giving off a refined yet calm atmosphere.

On either side of the central corridor, there were individual stalls, each housing a single horse. The stalls, built with iron bars, looked far better than an average commoner’s home.

The maintenance was nearly perfect. Despite the number of horses, there was almost no trace of that typical animal smell. Not just the corridor, but even the stalls where the horses were kept were clean enough for people to live in.

‘The king must really love horses. He even named them.’

Each stall door had a nameplate bearing the horse’s name. Killian examined the nameplates and the horses one by one.

A strong black stallion, flaunting its muscular build, was named “Lawrence.” It was the name of a knight famed across the continent for his skill.

Beside it, on the stall of a brown horse with a tail like a broom, there was a nameplate that read Swello. This too belonged to a renowned mage.

It seemed the king had a habit of naming horses after great figures. Just as Killian was thinking the king had a rather eccentric sense of naming, he spotted a white horse named Rahel.

It was a truly exceptional steed with lustrous, silky white mane. The muscles on its long, straight legs were strikingly defined, and its round eyes shimmered a deep green, like emeralds.

That eye color…

Killian instantly realized whose horse it was. Though it belonged to a woman he didn’t particularly like, its beauty was so captivating he couldn’t look away.

As Killian stared, mesmerized, Rachel quietly approached him.

“Impressive, isn’t she? She’s mine.”
“So it is your horse, after all?”
“Yes, my father gave her to me on my coming-of-age ceremony.”

There was a gentle light in her eyes as she looked at Rahel. Noticing that warmth, Killian voiced his doubt.

“I thought you didn’t like horses?”
“Eh? I don’t dislike them. I don’t particularly like them either, though.”
“Oh, I just assumed you didn’t ride because you hated horses.”

“…It’s not that I’m not doing it, it’s that even when I do, it doesn’t work.”

At the sudden shift in topic to horseback riding, Rachel’s cheeks flushed slightly. Embarrassed, she avoided Killian’s gaze. Killian found her reaction puzzling and asked another question.

“You mean you practiced riding but still can’t do it?”

“…That’s what I’m saying.”

“Don’t you just get on a horse and ride?”

Killian looked genuinely confused. When he spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Rachel shook her head and sighed.

“Wow, you should apologize to everyone on the continent who can’t ride a horse.”

“….Why should I?”

“You’re really the worst. Never mind, I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Just enjoy the pretty, well-behaved horses.”

“Mm…..”

Rachel sulked and grumbled. Killian fell silent, trying to figure out what had upset her. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand. If she didn’t hate horses, then she could just ride them.

The mood grew cold, and after hesitating a while, Killian quietly opened his mouth. He didn’t know the reason, but if he had hurt her feelings, it seemed right to apologize.

“Princess.”

“Why?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“If you didn’t hear, then forget it.”

Startled, Rachel stole a glance at Killian’s profile. His face, turned back toward Rahel, was as expressionless as ever. It didn’t seem like he was joking. He wasn’t the kind of man to joke in the first place.

‘What’s gotten into him?’

Her chest felt oddly ticklish, and she suddenly wanted to change the subject. Just as she was about to babble about Rahel, who stood right in front of them, she noticed Rahel’s green eyes fixed on Killian.

The way the horse and the man looked at each other strangely felt… tender.

‘Rahel is mine, though… This feels weird.’

She liked that her horse recognized someone else, but at the same time, the odd sense of being left out made her feel strangely conflicted. Rachel shrugged her shoulders as she watched the two continue to gaze at each other.

‘Ah… they’ve fallen for each other at first sight.’

Rahel was already pitiful—being a fine steed locked up in a stable all this time. And since the Emperor truly seemed like someone who rarely spoke, the fact that he had plainly apologized made her consider offering him a little gift.

“Your Majesty.”