I Don’t Care About the Story, I Want a Cat ~Transmigrated into an Otome Game~ - Chapter 10
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- I Don’t Care About the Story, I Want a Cat ~Transmigrated into an Otome Game~
- Chapter 10 - Horse Riding
Horse Riding
No matter how many times she pinched the back of her hand, it always hurt. ‘So this is real… it really isn’t a dream,’ she thought dejectedly. A Royal Carriage had come all the way to the estate of Count Northland to pick her up, and was now silently making its way towards the Palace’s riding grounds.
Amy was wearing a recently tailored navy blue riding dress. She sat in the carriage with her hands clasped tightly on her knees, letting out a sigh as she took in the luxurious interior of the carriage.
“Hey, mom, I’ve gotten quite fat, right?”
“That’s right. You’re so cute and round now.” Her mother agreed, squishing her cheeks with her hands.
That’s not it, Amy thought as she looked up at her mother with watery eyes.
The idea of a princess in the Royal family being overweight was inconceivable. This was the reason Amy had purposely gained weight; she wanted to disqualify herself from the Third Prince’s fiancee candidates. The fact that her weight gain also stabilised her magical powers was an added bonus. It had seemed the perfect plan. And yet…
“All the girls at the tea party were slender and cute. He was supposed to be taken by the other girls, but then why is it that I’m the only one invited today?”
A messenger from the Palace had come all the way to their estate to personally deliver the invitation. Even their butler, Claude, who always treated unexpected guests in a cool, unfazed manner, was taken aback at the arrival.
At that time, she had asked him how many other girls will be joining the riding… “You’re the only lady.” He had replied with a smile.
“C-could it be the Prince has a thing for chubbier girls……? I-it could be a f-fetish!”
“Hahaha. Amy, I know a lot of people from court, you know. I can assure you I have never heard of such a story.”
Her mother replied with a broad grin, pulling on both of her cheeks playfully. At any rate, if this was the case she never would have suggested for Amy to get fat, she assured her.
“Then, why did he invite me out today?”
“That’s because you replied to him with ‘Yes, thank you!’”
She had just assumed he was bidding farewell to her; it hadn’t even occurred to her that he was inviting her for a ride.
Actually… now that she’d calmed down, if she thought back to it, he might have just said that to be polite. Her careless reply may have forced him to go with it. It could be entirely possible that he was thinking of the outing with her as an unexpected annoyance he had to get over with.
“Come now, we made such a lovely dress for you. And you like horses too, right? Didn’t you always made your grandfather take you for rides?”
“Yes, I do like horses but…”
“You were able to talk normally with him during the tea party. Today should also be fine.”
“Yes but that day we talked about animals that’s why.”
“So talk about animals today too.”
Amy wished she could do that but she still felt apprehensive about the meeting. Isabel stroked her cheek in reassurance before moving to pull back the curtain covering the small window of the carriage.
She glanced at the surroundings to see where they were before she started speaking like a conductor.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching Royal Stables Station, this is the last stop of our journey. Please make sure to take all luggage with you when you exit… come on Amy, don’t even think of escaping. We’ve come this far, you cannot chicken out now.”
“I’m not going to!” Amy said, finally letting out a laugh.
Her mother’s teasing had made her more at ease. When the groomsman stopped the carriage, and came to open the door, he could hear the sound of laughter coming from inside.
The two stepped out with smiles still on their face. However, Amy froze once again when she saw that the Third Prince was waiting outside to greet them.
“Y-Your Highness!”
“Nice to see you. I told you to call me Ed.”
“E-Ed.Thank you s-so much for inviting me today…”
Edward smiled and held out his hand for her. Looking at him, Amy couldn’t detect anything that might suggest he was just being polite, or acting out of a sense of obligation. He seemed sincere.
Could it be possible that he genuinely wanted to hang out with her today……? Feeling a bit lost, Amy allowed him to take her hand and followed awkwardly as he escorted her to the stables. Her mother followed behind them, escorted by one of the Prince’s knights.
Unlike the day of the tea party, the sky today was covered by thin clouds. However, the slightly cloudy weather seemed perfect for spending the day outdoors in large, open fields. They were led to a large stable with huge riding grounds in the background. The stalls were filled with various horses, some of them being groomed, some eating hay, etc.
As expected, all of the horses were of exceptional breed. Amy was so caught up by gazing at them that she forgot the Prince was still holding her hand.
“Wow……”
“That balck horse over there is Vintus.”
The Prince led her close to one of the stalls. Edward slightly raised his hand and the black horse came happily trotting towards them. Amy’s heart skipped a beat as the horse walked gracefully towards them.
The nearby attendant, also noticing them, catched up to the horse as it arrived at the other side of the fence.
“This is Marvin, the Head Groom. Marvin, this is the Countess Northland and her daughter, Miss Amy.” Edward introduced the attendant to them.
Marvin was a middle aged man with white hair and a white beard. He had a tall, sturdy body, and his hands holding the bridle of the horse were large giving him a sense of security. He reminded Amy of her grandfather, so, without feeling shy, she smiled and gave a polite greeting.
“I am Marvin Douglas. Young lady, you seem to be quite fond of horses. See that, Vintus? You should say hello to her.” He said to the horse.
Vintus, who stretched his head over the fence towards Edward and lightly shook his head up and down, seemed to be quite clever. His lustrous black coat suggested that he was well looked after.
Edward patted his snout as if praising him, a gentle look in his eyes. It didn’t look much different than Amy when she was with Tiger.
As she was gazing at them, Vintus’ eyes suddenly met hers. Amy startled. His eyes, framed by long eyelashes, were so charming!
Although various kinds of magic existed in this world, there was no magic that could allow one to talk to animals. Amy had searched quite a lot for it, and was disappointed to learn it wasn’t possible. It would have been so wonderful if she could talk directly to animals.
At any rate, the horse was quite lovely, she thought. He looked quite happy to be petted by Edward. She couldn’t help but mutter out, “How cute……”
“Do you want to try petting him?”
“I-is that okay? Ah, I’d love to… Hey Vintus, is it ok if I pet you?”
Led by Marvin, Vintus slowly approached Amy as she introduced herself. She gently stroked his neck. His pelt was warm and smooth under her hand.
Although it was different from the fluffy fur of Tiger, it felt very good to pet him.
As she petted him happily, Vintus also nudged closer to her face, puffing small bursts of air through his nose.
“Ahaha, it tickles.”
“Oh my, looks like he really likes you, young lady. You must be experienced with horses; with this, you can ride one right away.”
“Ah, I beg your pardon but my daughter cannot ride by herself yet.” Isabel quickly interjected as the groom beckoned Amy to the horses, ready to see them off riding.
Edward seemed to perk up at her words. “Then Miss Amy can ride with me.”
“What? Uh, but how can I…”
Surprised, but still not letting go of Vintus, Amy quickly tried to excuse herself in a small voice.
But Edward just smiled back at her refusal. “I don’t mean to brag but I’m quite skilled at riding. I won’t let you fall, I promise.”
“His Highness can even ride bareback. You have nothing to worry about, my lady.”
“Wow, that sounds impressive.” Her mother said.
Amy also thought it impressive that he could ride without a saddle, that wasn’t the issue here! Wasn’t her mother too easily impressed!?
Amy’s face turned red, her mouth opening and closing like a fish as she tried to think of something to say. The head groom, Marvin, seeing her trouble, came to her help.
“Well it would be fun to do so, but I have to say, even if His Highness is skilled at riding it is true he isn’t used to riding with someone on the same horse. How about you ride with this old man, young lady?”
“That sounds good. She’s always riding with her grandfather, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem for her.”
Her mother was smiling calmly as if this had been her plan all along. Amy let out a sigh of relief at this.
She thought she spied a little disappointed look on Edward’s face, but she forgot all about it as soon as another horse was brought up to them.