"Threatening me?"
While Shad was chatting with Ajelina, the middle-aged nobleman who was originally leading the second echelon and wearing a cowboy hat, but was actually a count, suddenly slowed down, and then turned towards the slope beside the road while kissing his female companion on horseback, and even began to touch indescribable parts with his hands.
Shade had no idea what they would do next, because he had already passed two people and inexplicably moved forward one more.
"I know. My sister must have something against you, so she is blackmailing you, right? For example—"
The little princess sitting in front of Shade continued, then pinched her throat and changed her voice:
"Knight, you don't want your cat to suddenly disappear, do you?"
She tried hard to imitate Leicia's voice, and Shad didn't know which thing shocked him more now.
He only heard the laughter and teasing of others behind him, and then heard the count's curses at the bottom of the slope, which became smaller and smaller as the distance got farther:
"Aren't girls more interesting than this damn competition? Go ride your horses! Don't send anyone after me later!"
Perhaps his views can be agreed with by most people.
Seeing that Xia De didn't say anything, Ajelina continued:
"How could a gentleman like you who is upright, kind, honest and brave suddenly fall in love with Sister Leicia? She doesn't have this kind of charm."
She probably underestimated the charm of Resia, and since she certainly didn't know the secrets of Resia and Dorothy, she couldn't guess that the story of Shad and Resia was far more than what she saw. In addition, every time she saw Shad and Resia together, Resia was always relatively "strong", so she had this illusion.
Xia De wanted to clarify this misunderstanding, but the dirt road ahead was quite difficult to walk on. The ground was bumpy and not as smooth as the road in front of Lake View Manor. He had to concentrate on riding:
"Ajelina, actually I..."
"I know that you actually have a crush on Sister Leixia."
She finally said the right thing, and as she spoke she looked up at Xia De's face. Xia De held the reins nervously and did not dare to look around, for fear of a "traffic" accident.
"Mr. Hamilton, don't you think that your situation is very similar to mine? My sister is also trying to control me by fighting for my freedom, but she is also really kind to me. I also like my sister very much, but I always want to gain true freedom without any constraints."
At this time, more than half of the race had passed. On the bumpy horseback, Shade held Ajelina tightly with both arms to prevent her from falling off. But Ajelina's riding skills were obviously much better than Shade's, and this level of bumps was not a problem for her at all.
"I know Sister Leixia's ambition. She needs me and I need her. But I really want to... Mr. Hamilton, we are actually standing together."
The little princess is trying hard to make her point.
"Um...what do you want to do?"
Xia De hesitated before asking, suspecting that the sixteen-year-old princess had the idea of "I can take her place".
Ajelina Cavendish's face lit up:
"Let's help each other in the future and keep it a secret from Sister Leicia. If there is something we don't want her to know, we can communicate without her."
She spoke in a low voice, as if she was worried that Leicia, who was far away in the manor, would hear it. Shade breathed a sigh of relief. Although most of the descendants of the Cavendish family were ambitious, they were still sixteen years old and didn't think too much.
"no problem."
He nodded and agreed. Ajelina Cavendish just didn't want her marriage to become a bargaining chip in the hands of the king. Helping her was a just act, and the outsider was happy to help. As for private communication, Shade didn't think Ajelina could really bypass Leicia. She probably didn't know how many tricks Leicia had.
Seeing that Xia De actually agreed, the little princess seemed very happy. She stretched out her hand to hold the reins that Xia De was pulling, and said sideways:
"Knight, it seems that what you said about not being good at riding a horse was really a lie."
There was a light tone in his words:
"Let go, I'll take control. We've only run half a lap now, we still have a chance."
As he spoke, he opened his arms slightly and actually forced Xia De to let go of the reins.
Under the setting sun, the female knight's long red hair also looked so shiny. Originally, Shade and Ajelina were already the first in the second echelon. Now Shade suddenly accelerated and caught up with Baron Brady who was in the first place.
The Baron's magic was quite sophisticated, his only weakness was that every time he reached out to pick up the paper on the pole, he would subconsciously slow down. But this was not a problem for Ajelina at all, she didn't even need Shade to reach out, she could easily pull the paper off when she passed by the servant at high speed.
The second half of the horse race ended with Baron Brady gradually slowing down and Shad and Ajelina getting closer and closer.
When they returned to the straight road in front of Lake View Manor and could see the people waiting at the finish line from afar, Ajelina let go of the reins and let Shad control the rhythm of riding again.
Because Shade and Ajelina were in second place from beginning to end, no one noticed that the rider had changed. On the final acceleration straight, this horse carefully selected from the Lemaire racecourse showed excellent straight-line acceleration skills.
When accelerating on the straight, it was still a full length behind Baron Brady in front of it, but when it finally crossed the finish line, it was actually a whole head faster than Baron.
When Shade pulled the reins to slow down, cheers came from behind. While Shade was frantically trying to stop the horse, Baron Brady easily stopped behind Shade:
"Knight, I didn't expect that you are not only good at playing Rhodes cards, but also have such superb riding skills."
Although the baron lost the game, he still spoke very decently. Of course, he got a kiss when he helped his wife get off the horse, which was probably why the middle-aged noble was in a good mood:
“The final straight-line acceleration was great.”
He took off his gloves, stretched out his hand and shook hands with Xia De, who felt a little embarrassed.
"Yes, Rejade's Hamilton is a pretty good rider."
Ajelina, who had already got off the horse, said with a smile. After she stood firmly on the ground, she imitated the actions of the female companions of other riders who had arrived one after another, stood on tiptoe, and kissed Shad on the side of his cheek.
Although Shad was rumored to be Miss Carina's lover, it was normal to give a kiss to the knight who won the horse riding competition at the wedding banquet. So, although Shad felt more embarrassed, everyone else thought it was quite normal.
The people who came back one after another congratulated Shade, and the people who watched the race also praised Shade's final straight-line acceleration as quite professional. It seems that Queen Diana had told everyone about his horse racing experience at Lemaire in the fall. Therefore, people assumed that Shade was really good at riding horses and were not surprised at this result at all.
Only Xia De himself knew that the victory had little to do with him, but was mainly due to the excellent bloodline of the horse.
But no matter what, amidst everyone's praise, he did win the championship of the first major game of tonight's banquet.
The middle-aged butler of the manor very politely handed over the prize. Under the onlookers, Shade put away the gold-plated silver brooch and handed the small mirror to Ajelina.
Shade took his cat back, and the little princess took the mirror and didn't give it to her maid for safekeeping. Just as the housekeeper said when they set out, the sunset completely disappeared at this time, and the starry sky was shining above their heads. Princess Ajelina blushed slightly, and said goodbye to Shade with her empty hand:
"Knight, enjoy the banquet tonight. I'm going to change back into my skirt. This dress is convenient for riding, but it's really ugly... I'm having a lot of fun."
She said the second half of the sentence as if she was a little shy, then walked back to the manor with her maid and quickly disappeared into the crowd in the brightly lit courtyard.
Xia De looked at the silver brooch in his hand, and pinned it on his chest while accepting people's congratulations:
"Does this count as proof of strength?"
How can riding a horse prove your strength? No, it is not enough.
Xia De looked at the bustling and lively courtyard in front of him, listened to the music and laughter, and a smile appeared on his lips:
"Yes, that doesn't count. I want to win the next round myself!"
There is still a long time tonight, and Xia De still has a lot to do.
After the horse race, the news that Shade had won the race became known to everyone in a short time. While Shade continued to stroll around the banquet, people would occasionally ask about the details of Shade's horse race experience, then laugh loudly and praise the extravagance and expense of the banquet.
Of course, no one would think this was a waste. In the eyes of the nobles, this was a good opportunity to show off the family's prestige. And judging from the attitude of the royal family, after this wedding, Duke Esberg would probably further control the power of the Northern Army and be more valued by the king.
But Shade was very curious, why Larousse III, who was always afraid of others gaining too much power and could even execute his own son without mercy, was not at all wary of Duke Esberg.
Shad didn't hang around for long. Less than ten minutes after the horse racing ended, he met his neighbor, old Mr. Smith, at the long table in the courtyard.
Mr. Smith was dressed in an old-fashioned style, wearing a black suit and a bow tie. He was the chief secretary of the Kingdom's Ministry of Finance before his retirement. After retirement, he not only received the Kingdom's Contribution Medal, but was even awarded the title of honorary baron.
Although he is only an honorary baron that cannot be inherited, thanks to his contributions and connections before retirement, this old man who goes out on time with his wife to walk the dog every day and greets Shad warmly when he meets him is actually more prestigious than those impoverished hereditary nobles.