I Became a Clothing Designer in Another World - Chapter 32

Early in the morning, I left the town house and went to a field about 2km by 2km in size, located about 5km north of Hwangdo.

"It's a fresh... meadow."

"It used to be a pasture."

It was a place where grass grew exceptionally well, used as a pasture before the conquest of the north, and now a playground for nobles.

The reason I, who am far from outdoor activities, came here was, of course, to ride a horse.

As befitting Hwangdo, which has many nobles, there are plenty of places to ride horses, but this is the only place where you can run freely, so I left early in the morning to do what I had to do before it got crowded.

"It's been a while since I've been here."

As I stood next to the carriage with Emily, looking at the field, Rachel approached with a wistful expression.

"Did you come here often in the past?"

"Before I became a knight, I used to come here often with my father to ride horses."

"That must have been a good memory."

"Yes, thanks to that, I had a dream of becoming a knight."

The corners of Rachel's lips curled up softly.

And after reminiscing about the past while looking at the field for a while, Rachel put away her smile, looked at me, and opened her mouth.

"This is a silly question, but what brings you here?"

"I came to ride a horse."

"You, Gongja?"

"Yes."

Rachel looked me up and down with a dubious expression.

And then she opened her mouth with a confident expression.

"I recommend you don't ride."

"Don't worry too much, even though I look like this, I've learned how to ride."

The reason why I haven't been kicked out even though I hate meeting people and only play in my room is because I've been doing what I had to do.

I can do the basic skills of a noble, including horseback riding, hunting, and foreign languages, as well as others.

If I had neglected even this and played around, I would have probably been torn to death by my mother.

Even though I look like this, I'm a decent groom, except for the fact that I'm a room-bound loser.

It's just that the rumors don't circulate in society, and I'm a room-bound loser to the point where I have almost no presence.

"That's not what I meant... Well, the regret is Gongja's, so it's not my business."

When I looked at Rachel with a triumphant expression, Rachel narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

Then, with an indifferent expression, she shut her mouth and looked at Charles, the coachman, who was pulling a horse and approaching.

"Young master, the horse is ready."

"Thank you, Charles."

Charles stopped the horse in front of me and lowered the footrest.

I patted Charles on the shoulder and approached the horse, gently grabbing the reins.

"A two-person saddle?"

While I was carefully stroking the horse to figure out its temperament, Rachel glanced at the saddle with two concave parts and questioned in a voice full of embarrassment.

"Yes, we plan to ride together."

"One is a side-saddle, are you really okay with that?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

I waved my hand, smiling reassuringly at Rachel, who was pointing at the saddle as if she was uneasy.

Then, looking at Emily who was slowly approaching, I knelt down next to the footrest and crossed my hands so that my palms were facing up.

"Emily."

"Yes."

Looking up at Emily as if to say I was ready, Emily nodded, stepped on the footrest, and stepped on my hands.

Emily kicked off my hands and the saddle, sat on the saddle, stretched her legs to the left of the horse, put her left foot in the stirrup, and placed her right leg on the protruding part of the saddle.

After confirming that Emily was sitting stably on the saddle, I followed Emily, stepped on the footrest, put my left foot in the stirrup, and climbed onto the saddle.

I put my other foot in the stirrup, grabbed the reins with both hands, and put Emily in my arms.

Then, Emily leaned her back against my body and grabbed the handle on the saddle.

"Okay..."

"Oh-"

Rachel exclaimed as I got on the horse perfectly.

I chuckled and glanced to the side, and I could see Rachel looking at me with wide eyes as if she was surprised.

"Both of you have impeccable riding posture."

"I told you that you didn't need to worry too much."

"Well, it seems fine so far."

"It will be fine later too."

"I hope so."

After saying that, Rachel stepped away from the horse with Charles, who had removed the footrest, and stuck close to the carriage.

"I'll just take a light lap."

"Yes."

"I'm going to slowly increase the speed while riding, so tell me if it hurts."

"Yes."

After seeing Emily nod, I tapped the horse's belly with my heel.

That became the signal, and the horse, which had been slightly lowered, lifted its head and began to move forward gently.

The body swayed slightly up and down according to the horse's movement.

"How is it so far?"

"I usually ride this much easily, so you can increase the speed more."

"Okay."

I once again gave a signal by kicking the horse's belly with my heel.

The horse's feet moved faster, and as the speed increased to the point where a person could run lightly, the shaking became more severe.

"How is it? Are you okay?"

Because Emily didn't have a corset that fit her body, she would have had a hard time even at this speed, so I kept paying attention to the reins so that I could stop at any time while watching Emily.

"I'm fine, you can increase the speed more."

"Are you really okay?"

"Yes."

"Then, I'm really going to increase it?"

"Yes."

"..."

It's my first time increasing the speed like this with two people, so I'm nervous.

I swallowed once and spurred the horse again.

A speed that is slightly faster than a person sprinting.

The shaking intensifies, and as the speed increases, the sound of the hooves becomes louder, and I can vividly feel the wind flowing through my cheeks and hair, and the surrounding scenery gradually becomes blurry.

"Wow~!"

Emily, who grabbed her hair, which had begun to flutter in the wind as the speed picked up, exclaimed in a voice full of excitement at the speed she was feeling for the first time in her life.

"How is it?"

"It's so, so exciting!"

That wasn't the impression I wanted, but when I glanced back and saw Emily's bright smile, I felt like I didn't need to hear it.

"Then let's go all the way around like this!"

"Yes!"

Realizing that there was no need to ride slowly on purpose, we continued to run across the field.

First one lap, then another lap.

We kept shouting 'one more time' and excitedly rode the horses, and we were only able to get off the horses after the sun had risen high in the sky and the coachman stopped us, saying that we couldn't do it anymore.

"Young master, can we ride again next time?"

"If you want, we can do it anytime."

"Hehe..."

Leaving behind a little regret and a promise for the future.

_

I wonder if I was excited because I rode a horse after a long time.

Or maybe I got carried away without realizing it because of Emily's bright smile and enjoyment.

Technically, there was no problem, but physically, I forgot that I was out of shape and excitedly drove the horse.

"Ugh..."

The muscles all over my body were screaming.

Even when I was lying still, my back and thighs throbbed, and I felt a pain as if I was forcibly squeezing my muscles even if I moved just a little.

"Ugh..."

"Young master, I brought you your meal."

"Today's Gongja doesn't look so well."

While I was writhing in pain, and writhing in pain caused the pain to rise in a vicious cycle, Emily and Rachel came into the room without knocking.

"Thank... Ugh..."

"Oh my..."

Emily looked at me with a look of pity at the sight of me writhing in pain as I tried to raise my hand to express my gratitude, and put the tray with food on the table next to the bed.

And Rachel, who was watching this from the side, frowned as if she had seen something unsightly and shook her head slightly.

"It seems more serious than I heard."

"I felt like you looked cool yesterday, but it's amazing how you can become ugly again in just one day."

"I expressed my concern because everyone who rides a horse after a long time looks like that... and it was as I expected."

"Why is the young master dying when I, who rode the horse with you, am fine?"

"Isn't it because you don't have any physical activity usually..."

I didn't know that I would get such severe muscle pain from riding a horse for a couple of hours, even though I'm weak.

"Even so... I didn't know it would be like this..."

"If you're sick, just stay still."

"Hmph..."

I tried to defend myself by appealing to my injustice, but all that came back was Emily's firm words.

"You won't be able to eat properly in this state."

"Just, just one piece of bread is enough..."

"Hmph, I'll just take care of it."

Emily glared at me as if I was talking nonsense and chuckled, then picked up a fork and started touching the food on the tray.

"...?"

I ignored Emily, who I didn't know what she was trying to do, and looked at Rachel, saying in a subdued voice as if I was sorry.

"Rachel, as you can see, there's nothing I can do today, so I think you should just go back..."

"I think that would be better too."

"Yes..."

"I hope you get well soon."

Rachel bowed her head and said goodbye, then turned around and walked towards the door.

"Ah, right, I almost forgot that."

Rachel, who had her hand on the doorknob, stopped, twitching her body, then turned around again and approached the bed.

Then, she rummaged through her arms, took out a small glass bottle that fit in one hand, and placed it on the table where the tray was placed.

"This is something His Majesty the Prince Consort bestowed, he said it was something Gongja needed and ordered me to deliver it."

"This to me...?"

I frowned and struggled to turn my head to look at the bottle, because I didn't ask the Prince Consort for anything separately.

I don't know exactly what it is, but judging from the pitch-black color and the viscous texture, it was definitely medicine.

"Is it... medicine?"

"Yes, he said it's a good medicine for pain and inflammation."

"Ha..."

A hollow laugh came out.

He must have been informed of my story through various channels and prepared it.

Medicine that the Prince Consort personally prepared.

I was so grateful that I felt like I was going to cry.

"... Please tell His Majesty the Prince Consort that I am so grateful for his grace."

"Okay, then I'll really go now."

"Yes, goodbye."

After exchanging greetings again, Rachel opened the door and left the room, disappearing from view.

"She's gone."

Emily, who was quietly cutting the food, checked that Rachel was gone and sat on the bed, placing the tray on her lap.

"Now you have to eat, right?"

"Huh?"

"Just open your mouth."

"No, wait a minute, I'm going to eat... Ugh..."

I desperately tried to raise my body because I didn't want to experience the shame of being fed like a baby bird at this age, but as soon as I lifted my body slightly, I couldn't even lift my head properly and collapsed because of the screaming in my waist.

"Should I watch a little more?"

"... Sorry."

"Say ah~."

"Ah..."

I squeezed my eyes shut and opened my mouth slightly, and a piece of meat that had been cut into bite-sized pieces came right into my mouth.

The clattering sound I had been hearing a little while ago was the sound of cutting the food...

"......"

I slowly chewed the meat that came into my mouth.

I'm not a knight, and I'm weaker than a maid, so I'm being taken care of. It's embarrassing.

Ah... I'm so embarrassed that I want to die.