Chapter 9
“A kiss?”
“Yes. She figured it should end with an ‘s’ sound like your name, so she immediately decided on ‘Kiss.'”
Mabel shrugged.
She named the horse “Kiss” after his own name?
Daring to echo a royal name?
She clearly had guts.
Rix let out a baffled laugh, and Scarlet shook her head.
“We tried to stop her, but she was very insistent.”
“So that horse is like my sibling now?”
“…”
“Do I have to compete with that guy too?”
“Um…”
Mabel and Scarlet both shut their mouths, as if unsure how to answer.
Rix smirked.
Once he started laughing, he couldn’t stop. He laughed so hard his stomach hurt.
It had been a while.
As the laughter finally settled, Rix recalled the moment when she had collapsed. At the memory, his smile faded.
Ren had trembled, pale and drenched in cold sweat. Just before passing out, she clung to Rix’s clothes with tears in her eyes. It seemed like she hadn’t even realized what she was doing.
To an outsider, it would’ve looked like an outrageous scene—someone daring to touch a prince. But Rix couldn’t shake her off when she desperately pleaded in a trembling voice, “Please save me.”
Every time he tried to get up and call for help, she shook in fear like a helpless baby bird fallen from its nest.
She didn’t even recognize who he was, yet clung to him like he was her lifeline.
And now, that very girl had the audacity to name a horse after him. As if that previous moment had never happened.
A girl who was dead serious when shooting, but completely crumbled in front of fire.
What had happened between those two sides of her?
Even he couldn’t quite put a name to this discomfort.
Ren’s plan to sneak back quietly fell apart completely.
Rix had lent her a carriage, but it was clearly screaming, “I’m from the royal palace!” It glittered with gold, jewels, and other extravagant materials that drew everyone’s attention wherever it went.
People even knelt as the carriage passed, not even knowing who was inside. Every time she peeked out the curtain, she saw that absurd sight—it was maddening.
Since when was she playing the role of a princess?
Fernandez, on the other hand, was unfazed. He tilted his head at Ren, who looked embarrassed.
“You’ll have to get used to this now!”
No, this kind of attention was way too much.
Then came the second hurdle.
The horse Rix had given her—the one she named “Kiss.”
The temple had nowhere to keep a horse. So Kiss had to wait outside on the stairs the whole time. And since the horse couldn’t go in, neither could Ren.
Hatasha firmly informed her there were no stables in the temple.
Apparently, when temple priests needed to travel, the palace sent carriages, so there was no need to raise horses.
Still, Ren had brought Kiss—it was her responsibility!
She even saw Hatasha sigh.
She wished she could crawl into a hole.
“Why don’t you return him to the prince for now?”
Ren shook her head furiously.
Hatasha thought for a moment, then said,
“There’s no stable here. We can build a small one, but where will you keep him in the meantime?”
While Ren was lost in thought, Kiss neighed, as if understanding his own fate.
Feeling guilty, Ren looked into Kiss’s eyes and nodded.
“I’m sorry. I guess I brought you here without thinking.”
She hugged Kiss’s head tightly, rubbing against him. Kiss calmly accepted her affection.
“Then how about learning some manners and riding skills back at the palace?”
A familiar voice rang out.
Mabel, Scarlet, and the red-haired Rix appeared—this time on a brown horse.
Ren, still hugging Kiss, said,
“Don’t tell me you’re going back on your word!”
“What are you talking about? I just meant I was temporarily taking care of ‘Kiss.'”
He dismounted with a snort and patted Kiss, smiling.
“‘Kiss’ because it ends with an ‘s,’ huh?”
Ren felt the back of her head sting.
“You didn’t even give him a proper name.”
“Names are important, you know. I was thinking about what to name him, and he grew up in the meantime.”
Rix shamelessly continued.
“You were just being lazy.”
Ren pouted.
“Still, it’s not a bad name.”
Ren whispered to Pani, complaining about her irresponsible horse-naming master.
Since Pani couldn’t speak, she just smiled awkwardly.
“Come to my palace starting tomorrow. I’ve already informed Countess Mafla—”
“Count Mafla?!”
Oh, no.
Ren clapped her hands over her mouth. Rix frowned at the interruption.
“You know Count Mafla?”
“Of course I do!”
Because the second male lead in The Saint’s Dilemma is Count Mafla’s eldest son!
A chill ran down her spine. She knew this was the world of that novel, but this moment made it painfully real.
She was going to be trained by Countess Mafla? That must mean the second male lead was still a child. How old was he now?
Unable to hold back her curiosity, Ren asked,
“Does Count Mafla have children?”
Rix answered like it was obvious.
“The eldest is Victor, the second is Viol—”
“Victor?!”
Ren shouted for the first time, truly excited.
Behind her, Hatasha cleared her throat meaningfully.
After suffering burns, Ren had developed a sharp awareness of people’s attention. She quickly clasped her hands and shut her mouth.
But inside, she was screaming.
Victor—the name of the second male lead! So the female protagonist might not even have appeared yet.
“How do you know Count Mafla? You don’t know anything about the royal family.”
“Um… he’s kind of famous where I’m from.”
Although the crown prince—the main lead—was technically more popular. But in her past life, Min-su Ji from Korea had a deep obsession with second leads.
Ren awkwardly laughed, avoiding Rix’s gaze.
“Don’t forget the terms of our bet.”
Her excitement plummeted in an instant. She nodded quietly, and Rix signaled Hatasha with his eyes.
“Don’t you think it’s time?”
Hatasha frowned. She still wasn’t satisfied.
It didn’t look good for a girl, not yet officially recognized as the Saint, to be constantly visiting a prince’s palace—especially his.
But time wasn’t going to wait for them.
Hatasha sighed and nodded. Ren, unaware of Hatasha’s response, asked,
“So, can I visit Kiss tomorrow?”
She clutched Kiss tightly with both arms.
“Sure.”
Rix answered in Hatasha’s place.
“A Saint should at least know how to ride. Don’t you think so, old woman?”
It was a question with a predetermined answer. Hatasha stared at him, sighed again, and nodded. Ren beamed with joy—until—
“But.”
Hatasha’s firm voice cut off her happiness like a blade.
“Do it in your Saint uniform. A Saint must maintain her dignity.”
“In that frilly thing?”
Hatasha didn’t bother responding to Ren’s protest and turned away.
Just then, Rix handed the brown horse’s reins to Mabel and climbed onto Kiss’s back. Ren, glancing between Hatasha and Rix, stomped her foot and yelled after him,
“Kiss is my horse now!”
Rix just waved without looking back. Ren pouted at his unclear response.
It would take two weeks for Count Mafla to arrive in the capital.
So Ren spent the entire week commuting to the palace—partly waiting for the Count, partly because of the stable construction.
Of course, she had the perfect excuse: horseback riding lessons.
After all, Kiss was her horse now.
Thanks to that, she got to learn to ride in a spacious field.
Horseback riding required more finesse than she expected.
Building rapport with the horse was key.
Luckily, she and Kiss worked well together. Or maybe Kiss just had a lot of patience.
Still, there were a few obstacles between her and Kiss.
For example, the ridiculously expensive Saint uniform (which apparently cost 10,000 gold!) that got torn and frayed every day but magically reappeared new the next morning—how many of those did they even have?
Or—
“If you keep sitting like that, you’ll break the horse’s spine and kill it.”
—Prince Rix saying terrifying things like that.
Didn’t he have anything else to do?
Still, Kiss’s spine was precious, so she followed his instructions closely.
She wasn’t yet used to rising and sitting in rhythm with Kiss’s gait.
And Kiss was so big her legs couldn’t wrap around him properly.
Rix sighed.
“Honestly, I think starting with a foal would be better—for him too.”
“He’s not ‘him,’ he’s Kiss!”
Why did he keep referring to Kiss with words like ‘that guy,’ ‘he,’ or ‘it’? But Rix ignored her and kept going.
“Reins are loose.”
“Ahhh!”
Thankfully, the clever Kiss stopped on his own. Ren grabbed the reins tightly again.
Riding was rougher than she thought. In just a week, she’d already developed calluses on her palms.
She steadied her breath and straightened her back. Then nudged Kiss’s side with her foot. It wasn’t a strong push, but Kiss began walking slowly.
Come to think of it, this muscular horse used to run wild under Rix, but now he only walked slowly with her. She felt guilty.
Kiss probably didn’t behave like this when he was with Rix.
As her thoughts drifted, Fernandez called from a distance.
“Saint!”
Turning her head, she saw Fernandez, Tina, and Pani waving from afar. Tina held a warm-looking cloak, probably because of the chilly night air.
“It’s time to go back!”
Fernandez smiled brightly. His smile always gave Ren peace of mind. Without thinking, she waved back.
“Okay!”
She tugged the reins, and Kiss stopped.
She turned him toward Fernandez and gently led him forward. He obediently followed, moving one step at a time in sync with her.
Fernandez, Tina, and Pani’s cheeks were flushed from the cold. Their clothes looked far too thin for the weather.
Kiss stopped next to the steps. To mount him, Ren still needed those steps, since her feet didn’t reach the stirrups on their own. She thought, I need to get rid of these stairs before Count Mafla arrives. With that in mind, she released the reins.
She grabbed her heavy dress and stepped down onto the stairs—
And at that moment, her foot caught on the hem.
