'This feels nice!' Yvonne breathed in the fresh air around her as she stepped forward.

There was lush green grass all around her and the clear blue skies made it a great day to be outside.

'Even the air feels better out here!' The little girl inhaled a long breath to prove her point.

For the last two days, she had spent her entire time either on the bed or in the dining hall to have her meals.

She had not been allowed to do anything else other than eating and resting for two straight days.

These restrictions were due to the instructions given by Captain Desmo Reel which were made for her to rest and recover before his next class.

These instructions which made her feel like she was under house arrest were strictly followed under the watchful eye of the Earl.

He made sure that she would be perfectly fine before her next class that would take place after two days.

Just as he had promised, he was proud when saw that she was alright on the day that she was meant to meet the Captain.

Yvonne stared at her feet which had been bruised and red but now they looked better than they did a few days back.

'That paste from Mr. Toone was of great help.' She remarked as she trudged along.

She had been asked to meet her tutor at the stables which were at the far end of the mansion and thus she had set out alone to make this journey.

The clothes she wore today were the same as she had done on the first day.

The only exception was that the shoes were remade in a slightly larger size to ensure that they would not hurt her even after her exercises with the Captain.

A white shirt tucked into the similar-looking brown trouser with the knee-high boots made her look like a tiny cowgirl but in a world where no one knew what a cowgirl was.

The mark on her forehead had disappeared after Mrs. Jacinth's constant efforts of applying ice and cooling balms over it.

Hence, Yvonne was rocking a high styled ponytail today.

���I wonder why they refused to accompany me when I had asked them to do so?' The little girl wondered as her feet kept moving ahead.

Since she had decided to treat the parents of this body better as a result of their considerable actions when Marquess Samed had come to meet her…

She had offered that they could carry her over to the place where she was supposed to meet the Captain.

Contrary to what she had expected, they had declined her offer in a straightforward manner and asked her to get to the place by herself.

This behavior was sure to attract her suspicion and it had done exactly that.

'Something isn't right!' She speculated and her feet came to a halt.

This was due to the large shed she could see at a short distance away from her.

'The stable!' She exclaimed and hastened her steps as she power-walked in its direction.

Soon she was at the entrance of the stable and her eyes wandered as she took in the sight of the place.

The stable looked the same as she had seen often in her old world, a wooden shed with compartments within to hold each horse.

The horses she found inside were glorious as they stood tall and turned in the direction of the newcomer.

Her feet slowed down as she moved along the long line of horses that stared down at her.

Neighs could be heard as she stopped every so often before each horse.

"Too tall…"

"Hmm… Looks at me weird…"

"A sassy horse?"

"Nope!"

The little child expressed her dissatisfaction with every horse she saw.

Though they were great to look at, she wished to find the horse that was made for her.

'Finding your horse is like finding your soulmate. One and done!' She nodded as she moved ahead.

Unknown to her, there was someone who was sitting at a short distance away from where she was and was observing her actions.

____

The day that Captain Desmo had returned home after his trial class with the daughter of the St. Claire family, he had received a letter from his old friend.

Desmo was still not sure about what could have been addressed in that letter so he did not waste time and began reading it.

In the beginning, he had a neutral face but by the time he had reached the end of the letter, his teeth were gritting against each other and his fists were crushing the letter.

"He wants me to sneak in and out of the St. Claire estate to make sure that no one gets word of this new class his precious daughter is taking!?" He snarled as he tossed the letter aside.

In his anger, he had written a fitting reply to the request of being a 'dirty little secret' made by his old friend, Rutherford.

The letter sent to his friend had not done anything to calm his fury and this was affecting the people around him.

Ever since he had received that letter, the air surrounding him had been cold and menacing and the ones to suffer his wrath were the knights in his squad.

The training for the past two days had been worse than what they had faced for years now.

When word reached Duke Tanner that a number of the knights in training had been diagnosed with fatigue and were mandated to rest well by the physicians, he knew that something had to be done.

Hence, the Duke had commanded the Captain to take a week-long break to cool his mind while his trainees recovered.

This meant that from today, he was on a vacation that had been forced onto him by his senior.

'This is all thanks to that child's stubborn demands!' He scowled as he was about to make his way to the St. Claire mansion.

However, remembering the 'orders' that his old friend had given, he got off his carriage and moved towards his stable.

His frown softened and a subtle smile appeared on his face when he saw the purebred spotless white horse standing tall in one of the compartments.

'My precious!' He called out to her and as though she had heard him, his horse turned in his direction.

Thus, one horse carrying its master made its way towards the St. Claire's mansion.

They galloped across the roads that led towards Yvonne's house and instead of taking the road to the entrance of the estate, Desmo steered his horse in the other direction.

Coming to a halt at the back entrance of the mansion, Desmo Reel sneered as his horse neighed in equal arrogance.

"There, there, my precious." He comforted her with a soft, mellow voice.

His hand that ran over her mane made her feel relaxed and she stomped her feet in the same position.

Soon the gates were opened by one of the servants and once again Desmo Reel and his Precious stormed off at a high pace.

__

Captain Desmo Reel pulled the reins on his Precious when he saw the small figure trudging towards the stable.

He could make out how she had stopped and glanced at the bright sky, pausing to take in the beauty of her surroundings before she began moving once again.

'What an idiot!' He scoffed when he saw the childish actions of the child.

He had been watching her from a distance as she entered the stable.

Not being able to see what she was doing inside, he patted his Precious's head lightly who understood his command.

The horse neither stomped her feet too hard nor did she neigh as she walked towards the stable.

She was smart enough to discern what her master wished for and halted her feet by a window.

From this window, Desmo had a perfect view of the child who was stopping before each horse, gauging it then moving on to the next one.

'So what if you choose a horse? The horse also has to accept her as its master.' He sneered as he watched her arrogant rejections.

Inside the stable, Yvonne was beginning to feel disheartened when she saw that none of the horses spoke to her.

'I did not feel a connection with any of these horses!' She stomped her feet in displeasure.

Desmo stifled his chuckle when he saw her actions and hastened to lower his head when she suddenly turned in his direction.

'I swear that I thought there was someone right there!' Yvonne glared at the window where she was sure that she had just seen some movement.

As far as she was aware of it, there had been no one in the surrounding area when she had entered this place so the chances of this shadow being a stable boy were non-existent.

Fearless and extremely curious at who this sudden and disgusting peeping Tom was, she sneaked her way towards the door.

A single turn from the door and she could have caught the Captain red-handed as he stayed ducked in the same position.

Fortunately for the man who was signaling his horse to take cover behind the stable, the child never had the opportunity to catch him in the act.

'Whoa…!' Yvonne exclaimed the moment she set foot outside the stable.

The scenery before her eyes made her feel as though she was pulled into a trance with her feet stepping forward before she knew it.

'Where is she going?' Captain Desmo wondered when he heard the footsteps moving in the other direction of where he had been crouching over his Precious.