Chapter 14: Good News! Malong’s Respect for Mia Grows Even Further

“We of the Equestrian Kingdom are joined with our horses. We journey through life and over land as one. Horses free us from all bonds and fetters, allowing us to ride endlessly toward the vast expanse of the great beyond, but they also ground us. No matter where we go, our horses link us to the earth. The horse is our soul. Therefore, we must always treat them with the utmost respect.”

These were the words that Malong had inherited from his grandfather, the chief of their clan, whose teachings had been ingrained into his soul. The Central Orthodox Church’s sphere of religious influence was vast, and his homeland, the Equestrian Kingdom, was well within its borders. Consequently, like everyone in the neighboring nations, his people also believed in the Holy Deity as the one true God and sole creator of the earth. This also meant that they did not deify horses. However, they did possess a unique view of the creatures that was not shared by their neighbors, which made their entire belief system somewhat special. Like the Lulu of the Tearmoon Empire, who saw God through the trees of their forest, the people of the Equestrian Kingdom saw God through horses. To them, horses were the greatest of the powers that God lent them. The creatures were both treasures of priceless value as well as the spiritual link that connected them to their creator. When preachers of the Central Orthodox Church read verses from the Holy Book that spoke of God’s greatest blessing, the people of the Equestrian Kingdom understood it to mean horses.

It went without saying then that they cherished their horses far more than any other nation, and Malong was no different, having been taught so since he was little.

That was why when he’d overheard one of the academy’s noble girls grousing about how “Horses are so filthy” and “It’s honestly preposterous how they let those smelly beasts roam around inside the academy,” he could not find the grace within himself to forgive her. Back when he’d first enrolled at Saint-Noel, his indignation had gotten him into dispute after dispute, causing a lot of friction between him and his peers. Slowly, however, he’d come to understand that in this academy—and, indeed, throughout the rest of the nations—the opinion professed by that girl was so prevalent as to be “common sense.”

In the Equestrian Kingdom, people were accompanied by horses from the day they were born. Horses were family, and they spent their lives with them. In other kingdoms, horses were treated as mere livestock or, in some cases, weapons. Men who rode into battle might develop an affection for the steed that bore them through swords and arrows. For merchants and farmers, horses were valuable sources of labor and likely treated with an appropriate amount of care. For the daughters of nobles though, horses were nothing more than foul-smelling animals.

Sure, these girls were often charmed by young foals, but their adoration was a distant one, the same impersonal appreciation they afforded a fine vase or a neighbor’s pet. To them, the ideal object of affection should be sterile, devoid of odors and other such physical unpleasantries. A picture, perhaps. Or a stuffed toy. Beautiful to look at and fun to play with, but without the demands of flesh and blood.

So long as a creature lived, it would eat and defecate. It would smell, no matter how clean it was. That was what it meant to be alive. And yet, these people were so narrow-minded that they couldn’t even accept nature—the very sights and scents of life itself. Before he knew it, he’d begun to distance himself from people like that.

Needless to say, Mia’s first appearance at the horsemanship club had thrown him for a loop. At first, he’d been wary of her, thinking she might try to harm the horses. There’d previously been a noble girl who’d stepped on some horse dung and screamed at him in a fit of rage, demanding that the horses infesting the academy be exterminated. He had of course dismissed her hysteria with a laugh, but the experience had not been pleasant. The thought that he might have to deal with the same nonsense again weighed on his mind.

Then the incident had happened, and through no fault of Mia’s own to boot. She hadn’t stepped in horse dung out of her own carelessness; she’d been minding her own business. It was the horse who had clopped over and let loose a big sneeze, coating her in snot and ruining her clothes. Despite suffering a far worse affront, however...Mia did not scream or rage. She’d laughed.

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s no big deal,” she’d said, brushing the incident off as if it were no more than a stray hair on her shoulder.

Her willingness to forgive the horse had been shocking enough, but she’d gone further. Unfazed by the slimy affront, she remained eager to try riding, going so far as to join the horsemanship club. Since then she’d put forth an honest and persistent effort toward improving her riding skills, the sight of which left him secretly impressed. Lately, having witnessed her increasingly diligent practice routine, his respect for her had grown further.

This girl really is something...

The frequency with which she and Kuolan went through the sneeze-and-scream routine bordered on comedy, but it never deterred her from climbing onto the rheum-prone horse. Time and again, she’d suffer a slimy fate at his nostrils, only to return and continue riding him. Not only that...

Recently, it seems like she’s even trying to read the horse and match his rhythm.

She didn’t turn bitter or blame Kuolan for not listening to her. Rather than grouse, she chose to confront the problem head-on and strove to overcome it. That was what he appreciated the most—the sincerity that underpinned her attitude toward horses. It drew from him a tender fondness, usually reserved for his younger sisters back home, that now permeated all his interactions with her.

Mia didn’t stop there. She kept diving deeper, now even asking if she could be involved in the care of the horses.

I swear, it’s almost like she gets a kick out of defying my expectations or something. This girl...

Ordinary noble girls wouldn’t touch a horse stall with a ten-foot pole. It was smelly, they’d say. And icky. And all sorts of other unpleasant adjectives. Mia, as the princess of a mighty empire, should by all rights be even more fastidious than them when it comes to cleanliness. Yet here she was, asking if she could help take care of the horse because she knew giving birth was an arduous process. He saw the way she looked at Kayou as she asked, tender concern swirling in her eyes. Of course, she was a complete amateur. There was no doubt that she’d be of little if any help. But it was the thought that counted, and it was a thought that bore right into his core, evoking a deep happiness.

“All right... Sure, why not. Let’s have you help then. Don’t feel any pressure though. Just do what you can.”

Malong’s heart stirred with gratitude and admiration. Mia, meanwhile...

Oho ho! Target ingratiated! Mission accomplished!

...Also stirred, although in her case, it was her mind stirring with calculation and self-interest.

Thus was it decided that Mia would start taking care of Kayou.