I looked in front of at the four horses. One was white, one was brown, one was black and the other one was white with brown markings on its body. Apart from that, nothing else caught my attention.
“Co, Rin. Let’s get closer so that you can engage with them,” Ren suggested as he pulled on my arm, urging to follow him.
The horses were bigger up close although smaller than Ren’s horse. I began to panic a little now that I was so close. Needless to say, I wasn’t used to horses.
“Try petting them...” Ren said gently.
“Umm...” I hesitated.
“There’s no need to be scared. I’m here,” Ren said as he took my hand and slowly guided it towards the horse.
Slowly, Ren placed my hand on the horse’s neck. The horse looked quite calm, and I could feel it’s fur and the warmth of its neck beneath my palm. Ren helped do the sa with all the horses, but I still couldn’t get a sense of which one was compatible with .
“Let them sll you,” Ren said.
I stood in front of each horse as it slled . I guess the black one that started to nuzzle its nose against my hand might have developed a liking for ?
“Does this an that she likes ?” I asked, hopefully.
“He, My Lady. This one is a male, and yes, he seems to have taken a liking to you,” Hans replied proudly.
OK, great. I just jumped to assu that she’s a girl since she seed very friendly. I guess, Hans was right, the gender of the horse doesn’t matter as much as other traits. I smiled at the black horse as I patted its head softly and fondly.
“Try walking with him,” Han said as he gestured for the man holding the reins of the horse to escort .
I glanced at Ren, unsure of how to proceed. Ren nodded at knowingly.
“Co. You just have to talk next to the horse. Don’t worry, the helper will still hold its rein,” Ren said as he let go of my hand.
“You’re not coming with ?” I asked.
“You’re going to be the horse’s master, not . You can do it, Rin,” Ren said encouragingly.
I guess, I had to live up to his expectations...
I walked up and stood next to the horse’s neck as the helper began walking the horse. Just as Ren had instructed, I walked along and started patting the horse’s neck as instructed by the helper. After a while, I felt quite comfortable with this horse. It never occurred to that I could feel such a natural connection to a horse like this. His eyes are so big, and his eyelashes are so long too, he’s so cute and very beautiful.
“Have you decided?” Ren asked after I returned to his side.
“Yes!” I replied confidently as I nodded at him.
“Have you got a na in mind?” Ren asked.
Oh, right. I need to give my horse a na. To be honest, I didn’t have anything in mind at all. I was pretty bad at naming, and I’ve never really had a pet before either.
“I’ve got absolutely no idea, to be honest,” I admitted, a little sadly.
“Maybe we skip to the riding part first for today. I doubt you’ll be able to ride him today anyways,” Ren said as he looked skeptically at .
“You can co pick him up another day,” Hans said with a smile.
“We’ll do that. For today, I want to take Rin riding with first so that she can get used to being on a horse,” Ren said.
Oh, that makes sense. I haven’t gotten used to sitting on a horse, so it was probably difficult for to manage one on my own.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Sowhere fun and relaxing,” Ren said as he patted my head.
I had no idea what he had in mind at all, and it looked like Ren wasn’t willing to share.
We thanked Hans and got on Ren’s horse again.
...
“We’re going outside?” I asked, surprised.
“The forest is officially part of the royal palace, although it’s on the outskirts of it. So, we’re not really going outside...” Ren clarified.
“I see...” I whispered as I sat in front of him on his horse.
“Hold the reins,” Ren said.
“What?” I exclaid in shock.
“Don’t be so loud. You’ll alert the horse,” Ren hissed softly into my ear.
Without waiting for to respond, Ren took my hands and placed the reins in them.
“Umm...I don’t think that I should,” I protested softly.
“The horse is just walking so it should be ok,” Ren explained.
True, the horse was just walking right now. I wondered where we were going exactly. The forest surrounding the palace was supposed to be very large or so I had heard.
The horse followed the path deeper and deeper into the forest. Ren’s horse seed super obedient and easy to manage. I an, he’s just walking along, and I didn’t have to do anything.
“Your horse seems very well-behaved,” I complinted.
“He wasn’t like this when he started. Those were so fun days,” Ren said with a laugh as if recalling so fond mories.
“I hope my horse would be this obedient too...” I said hopefully.
“You’ll both get there soon enough,” Ren said without any worries.
“Umm...where are we going, Ren?” I asked again.
“You’ll see when we get there,” Ren replied.
I knew that he wouldn’t just co out and tell .
The path started to get narrower and more winding. Although the horse was still walking slowly, it felt more difficult for to balance myself on the horse. I gripped the reins tighter in my hand. It was then that I realized that Ren no longer had his arm around .
“Is this part of the exercise?” I asked, suspiciously.
“Correct. This path will only get more difficult for the horse to walk on and less smooth for its rider. Good luck, Rin,” Ren said before winking at .
“What if I fall off...” I muttered, a little scared and unsatisfied.
“I’ll catch you...hopefully,” Ren replied with a chuckle, and I knew that he was having so much fun.
--To be continued...
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