Subliminal Wayfarer

A horse? What did she mean by that…

Transformed into a horse?

“Could you repeat what you just said…?”

Grace stumbled over her words, prompting Selena to respond with a gentle, somewhat puzzled smile.

“I was asking if you weren’t startled to find Lucas has turned into a horse.”

Gasp!

A breath, sharp and urgent, from an unknown source, pierced the quiet drawing room. A heavy silence fell like a cold shroud.

Grace tried to piece together the incomprehensible words she’d just heard, asking slowly.

“So, what you’re saying is, His Excellency has become… a horse, but, surely not.”

Hiiing!

Finally, Lucas exploded.

He reared and kicked furiously, as if denying the reality. Though limited to the actions of a wild animal, he managed to create a complete mess in the room.

“Milord! Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Please calm down!”

Gabriel, shocked, tried to soothe him, but it was futile. Jaime, who was nearby, was so startled he fell back clumsily.

Good heavens, what on earth is going on!

Julie, who had been at a distance, ran towards Grace in alarm.

“Milady, are you all right?”

Surprisingly, Selena was the most shocked of all.

She stared, eyes wide and rigid, at her son’s sudden wild behavior. Lucas had always controlled his temper ever since he was a little child—he hardly ever got angry or frustrated.

But why was he causing such a commotion now?

“Goodness, why is he like this today? Is he frustrated because he can’t speak?”

Selena muttered in confusion and took hold of Grace’s hand, which was still.

Selena’s words, the conversations she had shared with Lucas, and Luki’s behavior were all swirling in Grace’s head.

“Grace, it seems Lucas is feeling a bit impatient. It looks like we might need your help to return him to normal. Will you help?”

“Me? Return to, to normal?”

What exactly did it mean to return to normal?

Grace muttered, pale and unable to even glance at Luki.

Selena pointed at Grace’s arm.

“Yes, that arm. I heard the curse had transferred over here.”

Bhrr! BHRR!

Lucas shook off Jaime and Gabriel who were holding him and stepped back.

He started rearing again as if to protest, kicking out when he couldn’t find an escape.

“Ah, be careful! Be careful! The Elder Madam and Lady Grace might get hurt!”

“Milord, please calm down for a moment…!”

‘Milord?’

Gabriel had addressed the horse as ‘Milord’.

Now that she thought about it, he had called Luki that before too.

Grace slowly looked down at her arm, marked with archaic runes.

“Is this what you’re talking about?”

“Yes, that. Wow, looking at it now, it really is fascinating. Anyway, the fact that the riding crop’s runes have transferred to you suggests that its role has passed onto you, Grace. So, it seems you might have to take the riding crop’s place. Is that okay?”

A hand meant to substitute for the riding crop?

Grace’s eyes flickered in confusion as she cautiously opened and closed her right hand, marked with runes.

Selena kindly asked her,

“Would you like to try hitting Lucas with that hand as a test?”

“Hit…? Wait, you mean to hit with this hand? You mean, His Excellency, who’s turned into a horse? So, I… I should hit him…?”

Grace’s voice was filled with confusion, and only then did Selena realize something might be terribly wrong.

“Oh my goodness?”

She clapped her hand over her mouth and asked cautiously,

“Could it be… Grace, you didn’t know yet?”

Meeting Selena’s eyes, Grace managed a trembling, difficult smile.

It seemed both like a laugh and a grimace, and Selena brought a hand to her forehead.

‘Oh, Lucas. How could you not have told her yet?’

Of course, the family’s secret was a heavy burden.

Since there was yet no formal betrothal to share the weight of House Blacke’s secret, it was right to tread carefully with the truth.

But now, already entangled in the curse, the two were inseparably linked.

With things as they were, the fact that he could turn into a horse should have been revealed without concealment.

‘He’s not even the kind of man who’d keep quiet about such things, so why hasn’t he told… Ah.’

Suddenly, Selena recalled a scene, uncharacteristic of Lucas, where he was excessively affectionate towards Grace.

Hadn’t he just recently nuzzled his head against Grace’s cheek?

Such a display was unimaginable if he had been in his human form.

‘Oh dear. So, he hasn’t spoken because they’re not yet close? But Grace seemed to appreciate his equine form.’

Only then did Selena, who had put the pieces together, cast an incredulous glance at the black stallion.

However, Lucas’s anxious gaze was firmly fixed on Grace, not wavering in the slightest.

‘Hmm… I wonder if I inadvertently caused a fight.’

She was too excited to properly gauge Grace and Lucas’s relationship. Selena felt profoundly sorry for the two young ones, who were now shocked by her ignorant actions.

“I got too carried away and failed to assess the situation. I’m sorry, Grace. And to you as well.”

Selena gently caressed Lucas’s neck as she apologized. The drawing room, which had been a scene of chaos, quieted in an instant.

“……”

Jaime covered his face, not knowing what to do, the butler quietly bowed his head, and Julie tried to look as if she had heard nothing, pressing her lips tightly together.

Of course, the most shocked among them all was Grace.

An awkward and heavy silence pressed down on the drawing room.

Grace’s gaze slowly fixed on the black horse that had been causing a ruckus in the center of the room until just a moment ago.

After gathering her breath, Grace, with pale lips, called out to Lucas.

“…Your Excellency.”

The blue and violet eyes met.

“Your Excellency… You need to answer.”

—…Grace.

Lucas’s voice resonated in her mind.

At that moment, Grace definitely saw it.

The trembling blue eyes of the horse as he whispered her name.

‘Oh, heavens.’

Grace closed her eyes tightly, trying to regain her composure.

Her head was spinning too much to even stand properly.

“I’m sorry… I’m just too confused right now…”

Grace took a deep breath and lifted her pale face.

“Can we talk about this tomorrow? I… I need some time to think.”

With a face drained of color, Grace backed away.

She was literally too bewildered to stand.

“Oh— Grace. Yes, go inside and rest for a bit.”

“Thank you, Elder Madam.”

Grace rushed out of the room in a daze.

Julie hurried after her.

“I’m sorry, Julie. I just need to be alone for a moment.”

“Milady…”

Julie couldn’t bring herself to hold her back.

The shock was huge for her, but for Lady Grace, it must have been several times greater.

Grace apologized with a pale smile and then ran towards the garden.

She needed fresh air.

Fearing that Lucas’s voice might reach her again, Grace forcibly suppressed all thoughts of him.

Soon after, she heard something running behind her.

The footsteps weren’t human.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Grace yelled and hid behind a tree in a corner of the garden.

Clip, clop…

The horse, having approached nearby, halted and could not come any closer.

The sound of restless hoofbeats was heard, but it dared not advance further.

“Stay there, just wait there.”

Grace steadied her breath and calmed her racing heart.

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

As her erratic heartbeat gradually stabilized, she emerged from behind the tree.

The black horse stood as if rooted to the spot.

Grace glared at him with eyes laden with suspicion and said,

“Is it really you… Your Excellency?”

“……”

“Have you been deceiving me all this time?”

Even as he said not a word, the eyes staring back at her were enough to show his anguish.

She wanted to urge him to speak, but in his current state, it was evident he couldn’t say anything.

However… he had already been conversing with her in another way.

Whenever he wanted.

“Why didn’t you tell me? You had plenty of opportunities.”

Grace’s voice, though calm, quivered slightly, betraying her tumultuous emotions.

Her eyes began to redden.

She had trusted him.

Trusted his deep, solemn voice.

Trusted the voice that laughed with her.

Even when he wasn’t physically present, his voice had always felt like a steadfast presence by her side.

‘…So, you were actually beside me.’

With a bitter smile, she pressed her heated eyelids.

Was His Excellency mocking her? No, why would he tease her?

Then why? Why didn’t he tell her?

“…Say something, Your Excellency!”

Grace raised her voice in frustration, but he just continued to look at her silently.

She stared at him for a moment, then strode determinedly towards the horse.

The hand cursed to substitute for the riding crop, Selena had suggested she strike Lucas with it.

It must be that striking him was the key to lifting the horse’s curse.

There was no reason she couldn’t do it.

Suddenly, a spark of blue fire ignited in a corner of Grace’s heart.

For someone with such a high tolerance for everything, it was rare for such flames to flicker within her.

‘Alright… If you won’t speak, I’ll make you.’

With each step, filled with suppressed resentment, she approached him.

“Fine. Then I’ll make you speak, Your Excellency.”

Sensing her ominous intent, the horse—no, Lucas—recoiled.

“Don’t even think about moving.”

As if her words were a magical incantation, Lucas froze, unable to move. Her smoldering violet eyes and his confused blue eyes clashed in the air.

She raised her hand sharply in front of the black horse. Then, in an instant, her palm firmly slapped against the sleek skin of the horse.

Smack!

The sound of her hand striking the horse echoed loudly in the dark garden.

At that moment, a flash of light burst before Grace’s eyes. She reflexively raised her hand to shield her eyes from the piercing brightness.

“……”

As the blinding light slowly faded,

“Grace…”

A voice, not a telepathic thought but a real, auditory whisper, softly murmured her name.

The voice of the man, Lucas Blacke, vividly reached her ears.

Grace slowly lowered her hand.

And then, for the first time in so long, her eyes captured the man.

“……!”

But her trembling eyes soon widened, and then her face turned bright red.

Grace, flushed like a beetroot, hastily covered her face with both hands and shrieked.

“K-Kyaaaah!”

…N-Noooo!

You should have warned me if you’re going to be naked!!