Raina's face contorted menacingly with humiliation. Seeing this, Lucas hurriedly stepped between them.
"By now, they should have understood."
Thalia instinctively took a step back.
Before she knew it, Lucas had grown so tall that she had to crane her neck to meet his face. She was momentarily overwhelmed by his physique, which had become almost as sturdy as Barcas's, and she involuntarily swallowed hard, but Lucas suddenly turned his head and this time issued a warning to Raina in a stern voice.
"You stop it, too. If you keep causing trouble, I can't cover for you anymore.'
"What did I do? I just...!"
"You're the one who provoked your sister-in-law into participating in this reckless race."
Lucas shot coldly at Raina's face.
"If your sister-in-law had been seriously injured, the responsibility would have fallen entirely on you. How did you intend to handle the aftermath of causing such trouble?"
Raina's face flushed red. Trembling with anger at being publicly humiliated, Raina retaliated fiercely by poking Lucas's chest with her fingertips.
"It was that woman who insisted she could ride a wolf! Why should I take responsibility for the danger she brought upon herself?"
"If you hadn't started the fight first, this whole commotion wouldn't have happened!"
Lucas, who had retorted in an irritated voice, now glared at the guards.
"You guys are just the same. What on earth were you thinking, just watching without stopping them?"
"... I'm sorry."
The men hung their heads in unison, unable to find any words to explain themselves.
Lucas, who had been watching the scene with a cold gaze, turned his eyes to Thalia this time.
"Please return to the castle now. I will call a carriage right away."
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Thalia, who had been silently watching the situation, burst into a snort of disbelief.
"How dare you order me around? Do you think you're someone special?"
"This is not an order, but a request. You just rolled down a slope. You may look fine right now, but problems could arise later. Please return to the castle first and get a medical checkup."
"I don't need it. I'll take care of myself, so stop interfering and take care of your younger sibling."
Thalia, having cut him off coldly, turned away as if he was no longer worth dealing with. Then, stroking the nape of Khan's neck, who was pressed close to her, she walked toward the meadow, but Lucas strode in front of her to block her path and grabbed her wrist.
"You wouldn't want this to reach your brother's ears either, would you?"
Thalia's face froze in an instant.
"Are you threatening me right now?"
"I am merely trying to fulfill my responsibilities. My sister-in-law is the Grand Duchess of the Sheerkhan family, and I have a duty to look after your safety on my brother's behalf. If any problem arises with you, I have no choice but to report it to my brother in detail."
Thalia gritted her teeth.
If this matter reached Barcas's ears, she might be forbidden from leaving her room. In the worst-case scenario, she might be prevented from keeping Khan by her side.
In the end, Thalia had no choice but to follow his will without complaint.
"Okay. We can just go back to the castle."
“Good idea.”
Lucas, pulling the corners of his mouth up with a smile, let go of her wrist and gave instructions over his shoulder.
"Hurry up and bring the carriage!"
Then, he immediately turned around and headed toward the roadside.
Thalia reluctantly followed behind, looking around. The onlookers were murmuring amongst themselves, their faces still filled with excitement. It was clear they had been deeply impressed by the sight of her galloping like the wind on her direwolf.
Thalia felt the joy of victory welling up in her heart once again as she looked at Khan, who was standing close to her side.
Khan still seemed completely absorbed in checking on her condition. Thalia, lightly patting the wolf's head with her palm as he continued to sniff and run his nose down her back, legs, and the nape of her neck, whispered in a small voice.
"You did very well earlier. When you return to the castle, as a reward, I will let you eat a whole large deer hind leg."
Khan's pointy ears twitched as if he had understood what she said. However, he did not look particularly pleased. Thalia playfully tugged at Khan's ear, who was frowning as if displeased about something, and asked.
"Why isn't a deer enough?"
A growling sound came from Khan's throat. It seemed he was quite startled to see her stomping her feet.
Thalia gently stroked the nape of Khan's neck, who was repeatedly sobbing as if his mood was not improving, and spoke in a soft voice.
"Don't be so spiteful. I'll be careful not to fall next time."
Khan's ears twitched and trembled at the word 'next time'.
Thalia giggled softly.
"It really felt like I was flying earlier. You have to keep giving me rides often in the future."
Khan, who had been furrowing his brow, soon rubbed the bridge of his nose against the nape of her neck, as if he could not bring himself to refuse her request.
Thalia let out a small laugh and tightly hugged the wolf's fluffy body. Then, suddenly feeling an intense gaze, she looked up. Lucas, who had been giving instructions to the riders, was watching her with a strange expression.
Thalia tightened her grip on Khan, feeling an inexplicable sense of unease. As if noticing her wariness, Lucas turned his head back to the riders as if nothing had happened.
How long did she stare suspiciously at that composed profile? She saw a carriage approaching in the distance. Thalia soon shook off the uneasy feeling.
It wasn't the first time that her strange brother-in-law had been acting so annoyingly. There was no reason to be overly sensitive about it.
She cleared her mind of thoughts about Lucas and climbed onto the carriage. As she leaned back against the seat, Khan, who had followed her into the carriage, crouched at her feet.
Thalia, having squeezed his large body into the carriage and pulled the seat up to her chest, wore a satisfied smile on her lips.
***
From that day on, Thalia would often ride Khan around outside the castle walls.
Although she didn't have to run at full speed like when racing Raina, just quickly crossing the brown meadows while feeling the autumn breeze or strolling leisurely along the forest paths made her feel like she could breathe again.
What she liked most was the fact that she could go wherever she wanted freely, without being constrained by a limp or leg pain.
At times, Khan's body felt like a part of herself. When running across the fields with Khan, her weak and awkward body seemed to be reborn as a complete physical being, and she felt a sense of liberation, as if she had escaped from everything that had bound her.
It was a freedom she had felt for the first time in her life. Her closed and cramped world seemed to expand infinitely because of Khan. And that new experience completely captivated her.
Thalia spent the whole day wandering outside the castle with Khan, and came to know every nook and cranny of Kalmor better than anyone.
The hills and fields surrounding the fortress, the seemingly endless eastern plains, and the pure white birch forest stretching long to the west like a fence.
Windmills perched on a hill, pastures where flocks of sheep graze, ranches where horses are grazed, rugged yet simple people, and the prosperous city they have built...
All of that gradually became a familiar sight to her. And it seemed the same was true for the residents of Kalmor. From a certain point on, it became more frequent for the villagers to greet her or strike up a conversation first.
Among them were some who shyly offered freshly baked bread or ripe fruit.
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