-A Day At The Stables-

The tea party ended off pretty smoothly. Alex and I got to try the luxurious desserts and they were delicious, really putting my family’s desserts to shame. I should try to remember some recipes from my last life so I can give my family business a push. Anyways, I got to refuel my Claudium gauge and the rest of Saturday was wasted away on doing assignments. Sunday was supposed to be my relaxing day before classes start again, but…

“Seriously?” I asked.

“I really need help.”

“But today is my relaxing day.”

Alex gave me the puppy dog eyes, “Please! If I could ask someone else I would, but you’re the only one!”

I only sighed, “Fine. Just let me get changed into something else. I don't think wearing a dress would be suited for what we’re gonna do.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Alex hugged me out of gratitude.

“Yeah, yeah, get off of me.”

After changing into a black blouse and some shorts, Alex and I walked out of the dorms and towards the back of the main campus where the stables are located. There was a large fenced off field with hurdles and barrels. Entering the large wooden building, I was met with rows of different colored horses. It’s been a while since I saw so many horses in one place.

“So which horse are you having trouble with?” I asked.

“Angel.” Alex walked over to the white horse. “I was assigned to this horse named Angel.”

Angel snorted as it nodded her head. I smiled and held up both my hands. Once the horse got a clear view of having nothing in my hands, I walked up to her and gently petted the side of her neck. “What a good girl.”

“How did you do that so easily? I always have trouble petting her. She would sometimes try to bite my fingers.”

“I made sure to show her that I wasn’t bringing her food. Most horses assume that you are either here to feed them or ride them. If you just suddenly reached out your hand, there's a good chance the horse might bite you. It’s better to show that you have nothing in your hands and go for the side of the neck.”

“Oh! That’s a horse expert for you!”

“Anyways, is it just petting that you have trouble with?” I asked.

“Just letting me near her is the problem.”

“How do you even approach her?”

“Like this…” Alex slowly walked up to Angel. I could tell that her form was very tense and she was nervous. Angel moved back and neighed. She stomped her foot and swayed her head side to side.

“Alex, back away,” I ordered.

“Angel acts like that every time I get close to her,” explained Alex as she moved back.

“It’s because you’re too tense. Angel can sense that you are nervous. Animals can sense human emotions through our body language. Because you were nervous, Angel became nervous. You should relax your muscles more.”

“Relax. Okay, I need to be relaxed…” Alex took a deep breath and stood up straight while extruding confidence. She walked forward like how she would normally, only that she had a really stern look on her face. Angel snorted and moved back. This caused Alex to pause and look at me with crying eyes, “Reiré…”

I only sighed. “You look like you were gonna yell at the poor horse. Calm your expression.”

“Right.” Alex turned back to Angel and smiled. She smiled so bright that it could put the sun to shame. It honestly ticks me off. Why do all these characters’ smiles make you feel so inferior? I don’t have that skill. Why am I the only one without a sparkly smile? Oh, it’s because I don’t exist in this story in the first place. No need to smile like that when you don’t even have screen time.

“Hey, Angel.” Alex held up her hands as she walked up to the horse. “Can I pet you. Sorry, I didn’t bring you any snacks this time.”

Angel softly neighed as she nudged Alex’s cheek. Alex giggled as she petted the horse’s mane. So she can be good with animals. I guess it was just the nervousness that got in the way. Alexandra had a calming aura that animals loved, that's why she was good with animals. As long as Alex stays relaxed, her natural aura will draw in the animals. At least, that’s how the novel explained it.

“Oh, I didn’t think I’d see anyone here on the seventh day of the week.”

Hmm? Turning around I was met with a young noble boy in a white dress shirt and black pants. He had light brown hair and deep blue eyes. He looked familiar, but I don’t think I’ve met him before…

“Ah! Philip!”

When Alex called out his name, I almost choked on air. Philip Martin, the son of Viscount Vaine Martin who’s also the leader of the Royal guards. No wonder he looked familiar. His face was on the cover of the novel, but he was drawn pretty small in the corner so he didn’t really stand out. Now that I remember, didn’t the heroine first meet Lord Philip in the horse stables? Doesn’t that mean this is a scene? I missed Alex’s first encounter with Lord Raphael, Prince Clovis, and Prince Leonhardt, I’m not gonna miss this. I should’ve bought some popcorn and sat down as I watched their encounter unfold. Wait… Do popcorn even exist yet?

“What are you doing here?” Alex asked.

“I’m here to do some practice. I don’t think I’ve seen you ladies around here before.”

“Ah, my name is Alexandra Bailey. I’m actually in Horseback Riding I.”

I greeted right after, “I am her friend, Reiré Norman. I’m only here to help her. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Philip.”

“Philip Martin, the pleasure is mine,” he greeted back. “So you are here to ride as well, Lady Alexandra?”

“Oh, no. I’m still on the bonding stage with Angel,” Alex clarified.

“Angel, huhn…” Lord Philip walked up to the white horse and gently petted her muzzle. “She’s a good horse.”

Hmm… “Shall we practice together?” I asked.

“Eh? Reiré, I don’t know how to ride yet,” voiced Alex.

“You know how to put on a saddle?” I questioned.

“The teacher showed us how, but Angel never let me get close to put it on her,” she explained.

“Well, now’s your chance to try. And besides, I was a gold medal horse rider, I can steer Angel while you just experience what it’s like to ride on a horse.”

Alex was still hesitant, “I don’t know…”

“Lord Philip can help us,” I suggested.

“I don’t mind. I’m in Horseback Riding III. Helping the underclassmen is the job of the upperclassmen.”

“Okay. It could help me catch up with the rest of the class,” said Alex.

“I’ll go grab the saddles from the other building,” Lord Philip offered.

“Thank you, Lord Philip.”

We watched Lord Philip leave the stables in a light jog. He didn’t need to rush, he could have walked. We have all day after all.

“I didn’t think I’d meet Philip so soon,” said Alex.

“Your dialogue with him was slightly different from the novel-”

“The game too,” she added.

“But Lord Philip was the last male lead you met. With this, you have encountered all the love interests.”

“I’m still going for Prince Leon. So having these encounters aren’t helping. It’s not like I’m trying to get the reverse harem ending.”

“Is it bad to get the reverse harem ending? Isn’t that where everyone avoids heartbreak?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want so many boys. I just want one, where he can give me his undivided attention, like what a good boyfriend does.”

“Uh… I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Whatever the case, it’s bad that I’m raising the flags of the other targets, I need to avoid them so I can avoid the reverse harem ending.”

I only shrugged, “I don’t really care what ending you get, because, in all of them, Lady Claudia dies. My only objective is to make sure she avoids that.”

“If I were you, I just make sure that the protagonist doesn't get close to the targets then, since they are the trigger for Claudia’s death. I’m surprised that you have not sabotaged any of my encounters yet.”

“It’s not like I’m an antagonist, I’m a side character,” I stated. “Besides, I’m not that shallow as to ruin a thirteen-year-old’s chance at love.”

“Fifteen!” she corrected. “I might have remembered my thirteen-year-old self, but biologically, I am fifteen right now!”

I rolled my eyes, “My mistake.”

Alex sighed, “At least, you aren’t a bad person. It’d be bad for me if we were at opposite ends like what you read in mangas with this kind of plotline.”

Now that I think about it… “That’s actually true. In almost all light novels I’ve read with this kind of plotline, the reincarnated or transmigrated are always put against each other. But they’re always in the heroine and the villainess position, so I guess it would make sense that they are put at odds? Though, even as a side character, they somehow still get into trouble with the person that became the heroine.”

“Right? I’m so glad that’s not the case in real life.” Alex sighed with relief. “I feel like you could easily beat me, Reiré.”

I giggled, “Fufufu. I may be fifteen, but I have a brain of an eighteen-year-old thanks to regaining my past memories of my past life. I have way more experience in the love department than you, Alex.”

“You say that, but have you actually dated anyone?”

I smirked, “As a matter of fact, yes.”

“Was it a girl?” she asked curiously.

“No, it was a boy,” I answered. “Every girl I liked, turned me down because they were straight. I’ve only gone out with guys.”

“Ooooh! So mature!” Alex praised.

“That’s right, I’m your senpai when it comes to love!”

“So then you must be sad that you left your boyfriend right? I would be sad too if I suddenly died without saying anything.”

“Guh!” I gloomily looked down at my feet. “Actually, he broke up with me during the start of senior year. He said he couldn’t handle long-distance relationships since we’ll be going to different colleges.”

“Ah… I’m sorry for your loss?”

“Like hell I care! I’m not hurt at all!”

“But Reiré, you looked super hurt,” Alex said.

“I’m not! I have Lady Claudia now! I was reborn! I shouldn’t care about my love life in my past life. Nothing is better than the present!” I stated.

“Sooooo, did you date anyone in this life?”

Losing my enthusiasm, I dropped my head and answered, “No.”

Alex chuckled, “I guess getting another partner isn’t all that easy.”

“You could say that again. What’s worse is that I’m also babysitting you.”

Alex took offense to my words. “Hey!”

I sighed, “Well, I guess it's better than being alone. I don’t know how long my sanity would take if I didn’t have anyone to talk to about this.”

“It is nice to have someone in the same situation as you. Though, I always wondered if we’re the only ones. It's already rare enough for one of us to reincarnate but for both of us to end up in the same world is like a long shot.”

That’s kind of true… What would happen if we met another reincarnator? Would they be an ally or a foe? Would they think that this world was based on Fight for Love and Acceptance too? Would they start spreading the twenty-first-century knowledge to try and get rich? What if they used that knowledge to gain power? There are so many possibilities that can happen depending on the type of person that was reincarnated.

I stared at Alex to see her giving me a cute head tilt. I’m just happy Alex isn’t like that. It would be a pain to deal with someone that has ulterior motives. “Alex, I appreciate you so much. So so much.”

Alex blinked in confusion. “Eh?”

I clasped her hands in mine and voiced, “So so very much.”

“Reiré, you’re scaring me.”