Oof, the black horse looks intimidated.
My gaze incidentally dropped to the prince, who was standing at my side. I could feel his stare drilling into me, exasperation writ plain across his face. It was probably my fault for throwing his weight around without permission.
“Um, Kariya... It seems like you actually have quite the sharp tongue,” he commented wryly.
“I wasn’t born to nobility or anything in this life or my last...” I explained. This was a little embarrassing. “Sorry. I have a potty mouth.”
Oh, so that was what he was bothered about. Yep, I did have a tendency to say whatever the hell I thought. Things just bubbled up to the surface sometimes. Maybe I’d offended him. But after I studied him for a quick second, His Kind and Magnanimous Highness seemed unbothered.
Actually, he looked more happy than anything. Or maybe “amused” would be more appropriate. He must not have been used to hearing rougher language.
“Hey! I’m still standing here! Stop ignoring me!” the bayard shouted.
“Oh, sorry, packhorse. I forgot you were there,” I responded nonchalantly.
“I am no such beast of burden!” the bayard snapped before remembering himself. “No, I will not quarrel with you about that. I am busy asking to take this lovely, fair maiden to be my wife—and I have been for a while now, had you been listening!”
I turned my attention from Wald back to the direction of the indignant whinnying. There was the white mare—she was doing her best to nestle up close to the bayard on the other side of the barrier.
She looked at me, seemingly a little apologetic, and then looked at the bayard. I swore she’d have been blushing if she could.
Oh, I see, I thought as I stared off into the distance. So your heart’s been captured by his courting, huh, Princess? He’s a real gallant stallion, isn’t he?
The bayard’s comportment was stately, dignified. His stature and physique were magnificent, and his coat had a lustrous shine. He must’ve come from fine stock.
He’s a little on the foolish side, but if he says he loves you, then all the better to be with someone devoted, right?
“Wal, do you mind if we skip the horse trader?” I asked, looking at the young man at my side.
“She came following you, Kariya. So do as you will,” he replied with a smile.
I shifted my gaze from him to the white mare. “Do you want to go with him?” I asked her.
Since she had been born in our ordinary world, she couldn’t put her thoughts into speech. But even so, her feelings shone through to me.
“All right,” I said after a moment and then called to the bayard. “Hey, packhorse!”
“I am no packhorse!”
“I don’t mind leaving her in your care, but on one condition: You have to take all of the horses here with you.”
“All of them?” he asked. “I do believe many of my retainers have taken a shine to a number among them as well, but some are geldings and may not satisfy as a mate.”
“This is her herd, and she’s their leader. Don’t make her lonely by dragging her off to your world as a bride without them.”
He huffed in excitement and nodded vigorously. Did the bayard really understand what I was getting at?
“Oh, and one more thing,” I added, “You better make her happy. I don’t know how long bayards live for, but if you’re taking her to be your wife, then at least stay by her side for as long as she lives. Be faithful to her and only her. Love and treasure her more than anything else.”
“We are not like you humans; we bayards take only one mate, and we mate for life. I swear I will make this fair maiden happy.”
I looked back at the mare. “Well, you heard him. Aren’t you a lucky girl?”
She slowly stepped toward me and gently pressed her face against my body. This must’ve been her way of saying goodbye.
I softly stroked her dazzling mane. To think that she’d been in such a sorry state when we’d first met... Now, she was a lovely maiden who’d captured a prince’s heart at first sight.
Eventually, she pulled away from me and trotted toward the herd of bayards. I released the barrier, and the horses all began to fade into the depths of the roiling mist.
I figured the bayard would leave immediately, but he—and the white mare, who was snuggled up beside him—turned to look in my direction.
“Hey,” he began. “You were her second master, weren’t you?”
“In a way, I guess.”
“She’s grateful to you. Because you took revenge for her slain first master and saved her from death’s doorstep.”
I nodded in acknowledgment.
I see...
Her original owner must’ve been killed by those border guards. She was a much finer horse than anything the mercenaries would’ve been able to afford, so she must’ve been stolen. And because of that, they hadn’t cared for her well.
“She says she’d like you to give her a new name—and this is despite the fact that I told her I’d give her a name myself if she wanted one! But she insisted her name be from you,” the black horse huffed angrily.
Oh, she was a clever girl. I glanced at her, my lips curled into a smile. She seemed to be smiling back just as cheekily.
In the spirit realm, the closer one was to spiritual godhood, the more significant it was to have a name. If he gave her a name, that could become a chain to bind her. She was better off receiving one from me.
“In that case... ‘Yuki.’ For a noble lady as white as snow. May you go in happiness...”
✦ ✦ ✦
“They’re gone.”
Once the horses vanished into the other realm, the fog that had consumed the forest began to clear. Sunlight filtered down through the trees, cutting through the mist.
The prince had stood alongside me as we saw the horses off together and finally turned to look at me. “What you said earlier about marriage... Is that your stance on it?” he asked.
“Huh?” I wasn’t too sure what he was getting at.
“I mean, the oath about dedicating your whole life to loving a single partner and making them happy,” he said, clarifying his question.
“Oath?!” I echoed in surprise. The way he’d phrased it had shaken me to my core.
Now that I think about it, this world practices polygamy! It doesn’t matter how many husbands or wives a person has; it’s all okay!
On top of that, this pretty boy right in front of me was royalty. Once he reached a certain age, he could take as many wives as he wanted. He could even surround himself with lovers!
The prince looked at me expectantly, and I realized I hadn’t yet answered his question.
“W-Well, for commoners, people take only one partner as a rule,” I stammered out. “Plus, in my old world, cheating was really frowned upon once a person was married. Adultery—which is sleeping with another once you already have a partner—was basically forbidden.”
“Right,” he said in understanding. “The adventurer’s guild stipulates that if a man takes a transmigrator for a wife, she must be his one and only wife.”
“Uh, by the way... Since people made the mistake before, I just want to remind you that I wasn’t a woman in my old life.” I decided to refresh the prince’s memory just in case, recalling the way things had been miscommunicated back at Tachyrinn.
“I’m a guy,” I continued, “and I always have been. But even though it looks like people can have as many partners as they want in this world, I’d be happy with just one. And I want my partner to be happy with just me too.”
I’m not bitter over the fact that my engagement was broken off eight years ago because I wasn’t good enough on my own or anything. Really.
Man... I really had to go and open old wounds with my big mouth. I just think cheating is wrong, okay?